Recordings from the Estonian Folklore Archives 3

A Bird Came to Comfort Me

Hella Keem learned from Ann Ismael, Kanepi (1966)

Iki, iki mina vaenõ,
iki alla mar´aaida.
Kes sis minno kaema tul´li?
Sinisilmä tsirgukõnõ,
ilma päätä pääs´okõnõ.

Mi esi sõsaritsi,
üte-, katõ-, kolmõkese,
üten meile vüü vöeti,
üten koeti pallapoolõq.
Suga ütel´: “Mul ol´l surma,”
nitsevarvam: “Meil ol´l vaiva.”

I cried, woe is me,
I cried in the berry patch.
Who came to see me?
A little blue-eyed bird,
a headless little sparrow bird.

We are all of us sisters,
the one, the two, the three of us,
together sashes were made for us,
together linen shirts were woven.
The sley said: “I was mourning!”
The heddle said: “We brought woe!”

ER < Tartu l. < Kanepi khk., Kooraste v., Karste k. – O. Kõiva Eesti Raadios 1966. a. < Hella Keem, 52-a. < Ann Ismael.
[LP V c 1; CD2-12].