From Guntis Šmidchens

Harri’s songs
Guntis Šmidchens

Harri was my teacher, too. I’m one of the lucky people who studied Estonian language and culture in his classes at Indiana University. We shared a passion for the study of folksongs – Estonian regilaul and Latvian daina. We agreed that it’s impossible to translate this poetry into English without losing most of the meaning. But maybe, just maybe it’s possible to communicate between the two languages, Latvian and Estonian.

Harri translated these Latvian dainas into Estonian. The first song, three stanzas long, is about overcoming grief by singing: “I put my troubles under a rock, and walked across them, singing; the more difficult life became, the more beautifully I sang.” The second is a funeral song. In Latvian folk tradition, songs about the deceased are often sung in the first person. The living can thus sing about the dead, or empathize with the dead. Or we can imagine that the dead speak to us. “So many people have arrived, everyone is here, they are carrying me to the cemetery. Sing while you carry me, don’t cry, so that my soul may fly to heaven, singing.”


Läti rahvalaulud
tõlkinud Harri Mürk

Bēdu manu, lielu bēdu, Mure, mure, suur mul mure,
Es par bēdu nebēdāju! Ei ma murest hoolinud:
Liku bēdu zem akmeņa, Mure panin kivi alla,
Pāri gāju dziedādama. Astsin üle laulessa.

Es negāju noskumuse Ei ma läinud kurva meeli
Nevienā(i) vietiņā: Ei ma nuttes kuhugi:
Ar dziesmiņu druvā gāju, Läksin lauluga kesale,
Ar valodu sētiņā. Aias käisin kõnega.

Jo man sūri, jo man grūti, Mida mõrum, mida raskem,
Jo es koši padziedāju, Seda laulsin kaunimin(i),
Jo es koši padziedāju, Seda laulsin kaunimini,
Asariņas slaucīdama. Kui pisara pühkisin.





Pilla sēta sirmu zirgu, Täis on aeda täkkusida,
Pilla kaltu kamaniņu: Täis on kauneid korjusida:
Dēli, meitas sabraukuši, Pojad, tütred koos on tulnud,
Vedīs mani kalniņā. Toovad minu kalmule.

Vedat mani dziedādami, Tooge minda laulaessa,
Nevedati raudādami. Ärge tooge nuttaessa.
Lai iet mana dvēselīte Mingu minu hingekene
Pie Dieviņa dziedādama. Jumalale laulaessa.