| Latvian song | Free translation | Word-for-word translation |
| Seši mazi bundzinieki Jāj pa ceļu bungodam'. | Six young drummers Rode along the road, drumming as they went. | six-nom.pl.masc. small/young-nom.pl.masc. drummer-nom.pl. ride-3rd.p.pres. along road-acc.sg. play-drum-pres.ppl.(masc.pl.) |
| Visiem sešiem sirmi zirgi, Visiem caunu cepurīt's. | All six had silver-grey horses; All wore hats of *marten fur. | all-dat.pl.masc. six-dat.pl.masc. grey/silver-nom.pl. horse-nom.pl. all-dat.pl.masc. marten-gen.pl. hat-dim.(nom.)pl. |
| Visi seši sajājuši Mana tēva sētiņā. | All six rode Into my father's **yard. | all-nom.pl.masc. six-nom.pl.masc. ride-into-pst.ppl.masc.pl. my-gen.sg.masc. father-gen.sg. homestead/yard-loc.sg. |
| Visi seši lec no zirga Sniedz man zelta $pātadziņ'. | All six leapt from their steeds And offered me a $gold-handled riding crop. | all-nom.pl.masc. six-nom.pl.masc. jump/leap-3rd.p.pres. from horse-gen.sg. offer/reach-3rd.p.pres. me-dat.sg. gold-gen.sg. whip-dim.(acc.sg.) |
| Ne es ņemšu, ne man vajag, Tik jaunami skuķēnam. | "I won't take it; I don't need it, A girl as young as I am. | not I-nom.sg. take-fut.1st.p.sg. not me-dat.sg. needed-3rd.p.pres so young-dat.sg.***i girl-dim.dat.sg. |
| Pārnāks mājā, prasīs māte: Kur tu ņēmi? Kas tev dev'? | When Mother comes home, she'll ask: 'Where did you get it? Who gave it to you?' | back-come-3rd.p.fut. house-loc.sg. ask-3rd.p.fut. mother-nom.sg. where you-2nd.p.nom.sg. take-pst.2nd.p.sg. who you-2nd.p.sg.dat. give-pst.(3rd.p.) |
| Man iedeva ciema puiši, Mani mazu mīlēdam'; | The local lads gave it to me, Because they love me, young as I am; | me-dat.sg. give-pst.3rd.p. village/neighbourhood-gen.sg. boy-nom.pl. me-acc.sg. small/young-acc.sg. love-pres.ppl.(nom.sg.masc.) |
|
Mani mazu mīlēdami, Sevīm lielu audzēdam'. | Because they love me, young as I am, They're willing to wait until I grow up". | me-acc.sg. small/young-acc.sg. love-pres.ppl.nom.sg.masc. self-dat.sg. big/adult-acc.sg. raise-pres.ppl.(nom.sg.masc.) |
* The marten (or 'pine marten'; in Latin Martes martes) is a member of the weasel family. It is often trapped for its soft, thick fur (which is not surprising, considering it is related to the ermine). For more information see: Wikipedia article: Pine Marten.
** Literally sēta (or the diminutive form sētiņa) means a 'fence' or a 'hedge'. However, in this context it means the courtyard in the middle of the complex of buildings which make up the farm or the holding.
*** The syllable -i or -ji is added simply to fill out the metre of the verse; it has no meaning.
$ Many variants of this song have gredzentiņ', which is the diminutive form of 'ring'. Actually, it does make more sense to offer a young girl a golden ring rather than a golden riding-crop, especially if your intentions are honourable. However, the version my father sang had a riding-crop rather than a ring, so that's the version I'm sticking to.
To see the explanation of the grammatical abbreviations used in the "word-for-word" translations, go to → Grammatical Abbreviations
Country of Latvia | Travel in Latvia | Latvian Language | History of Latvia | Latvian Cuisine | Latvian Folklore and Folk Costumes | Latvian Music, Songs, and Dances
Last revised September 16, 2008