Fishes

My dear brother, my young brother,
my young brother, my weak brother,
he went to the sea [the lake of Peipsi],
he went to Piusa shore.
The ruffes were singing on the rocks,
the crayfish from the strait were speaking:
"Seine, seine, young men,
net, dear young Võnnu boys!"
       They took a seine from the quoin,
a hundred-eye from the pole.
They went to sea to fish,
to see the fishing beach.
They went fishing on the holiday,
to fish in precious time.
They threw here, threw here,
casted he Creator's meshes,
St. Mary's traps.
How many hundred will be there,
how many thousand will come?
A hundred hundred comes,
thousand thousand comes.
They got a boatload of bleaks,
the dugout full of burbots.
       The brother took them to the wall for sale,
for goods on the weighing table.
He broke the weight studs,
and tore the weight rope.
Burgers jumped there to look,
matrons to wonder:
"What's for sale on the wall,
goods on the weighing table?
Why did it break the studs,
tear the weight ropes?"
       That's where the brother skimmed the edge1,
from there my brother creamed off.
He got hats with ribbons on his head,
he got straight boots on his feet,
got blue shirts on,
liverbrown full-length shirts. 

1  the fattest part of cream in the wedge