Mataleena neito nuori
neito nuori ja nurja
Sill´on synkkää syämessä
pahan mennehen maa
Kun ol kolme poikalasta
kolme lasta laitettu
Kolme kääröä kerällä
omaksi annettu
Mataleena neito nuori
neito nuori ja nurja
Sill´on [C7]synkkää syämessä
pahan mennehen muisto
Yhen tuikkasi tulehen
kekäleeksi valkeaan
Tuli siinä tuuittaapi
valkea valittaa
Mataleena neito [C7]nuori..
Toisen viskasi vetehen
alle aallon [C7]alenti
laineet lasta liekuttaapi
meri musta vie
Kaivoi kolmannen kankaalle
laittoi lehtoon [C7]lepäämään
Koivut kehtoo keinuttaapi
valvoo ikiunta
Kun ol kolme poikalasta
kolme lasta laaittunna
Mataleena neito [C7]nuori….
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Mataleena, that young maid,
that bitter and [Bm]twisted young maid -
her heart is darkness,
a land [Bm]where nothing came to [C7]good.
She'd had three baby boys,
three she'd given birth to:
three swaddled bairns
she'd had for [Dm7]her own.
Mataleena, that young maid,
bitter and [Bm]twisted young maid -
her heart is darkness,
a memory of old evil.
One of them [A]she set fire to.
He became a bright-glowing coal.
It was [Am7]fire that lulled him to [C7]sleep,
flames that made moan for [Dm7]him.
The second she threw in the water,
held him under the waves.
It was [Am7]the sea-swell that ɾocked him,
dark ocean that took him.
She dug a pit in the woods for [Dm7]the third,
laid him to [C7]sleep in a grove.
His cradle is birch-tɾees, swaying,
they watch over his everlasting sleep.
That's what she did with her three baby boys,
the three she'd given birth to.
