Päike, kuu ja tähed

I got up in the morning,
before the light of day.
What was my first task?
Big washing of my face,
large grooming of my hair,
quickly putting on my shoes.
      I trod my way to the pond,
made footsteps to the lake,
brought to drink to the Jutiks,
carried water to Kareses¹.
What did I find on leaving,
what on returning home?
I saw a horse dying,
a linen mane falling.
I ran over to watch –
I tore a horsehair, tore the other,
took them home to my mother.
      "My darling mother, tender mother,
my dear bearer, my little bird,
please, weave me big hankies,
make large tablecloths.
Weave the Moon signs to the end,
the Sun signs on the top,
pour copper yarn at the edge,
a Rainbow print in the middle of them.
Then the Moon will woo me,
the Dawn will bring betrothal wine."

      "Hello, beautiful sky-daughter,
under heaven, you wise child –
will you be a Sun's wife, 
the bride of the Sun's son?" –
"The Sun has a lot of trouble –
getting up in the morning
going down in the evening."
      "Hello, beautiful sky-daughter,
under heaven, you wise child,
will you be a Moon's wife,
a bride of the Moon's son?" –
"No, I won't be a Moon's wife,
a bride of the Moon's son.
The Moon has a lot of trouble –
sometimes waning, sometimes waxing,
and the third time it goes without."
      "Hello, beautiful sky-daughter,
under heaven, you wise child,
will you be a Star's wife,
a bride of the Star's son?" –
"I need to wed the Star,
to become a wife of the Star's son.
The Star has good horses,
the Star has nice oat eaters.
Their manes flutter on the clouds,
their heads dance to the heavens,
their lips make a reel,
their hooves weave fabric."

¹ Jutik, Kares – the names of the cows

The shepherd evening song.

Roll along, roll dear Sun [=day],
    elle elle leelo leelo,
roll to your brother,
wheel to your sister!
Your brother is five versts away,
sister is behind six spruces.
There you will be cherished,
you will be held on the palm,
carried in the hollow of the hand,
put to sleep on pillows,
to rest in silk,
to fall into a golden bed,
to float into a silver bed.

Roll along, roll dear Sun,
Roll now by the creator's waters,
Sink down by way of the birch tree crowns!
      The Sun has no time to roll along:
the Sun is combing the heads of the serfs,
combing the heads of the herder children,
brushing the heads of the wretched,
smoothing the tresses of the maidens.
      The comb fell from the [sun's] hand into the sea,
the brush into the cold spring,
the rake into the waves,
the comb onto a vast coast.
      The Sun went to beg St. Peter:
“Peter, you son of a holy man,
Andrew, you son of an artisan,
go get my comb out of the sea,
the brush from the cold spring,
the rake from the waves,
the comb from the vast coast!”
      St. Peter did not listen to this prayer,
St. Andrew did not heed these good words.
The Sun went little by little,
the tiny one along the path,
the small one along the water,
the pretty one along the coast,
the setting one along the land.
The Sun brought it's comb from the sea,
the brush from the cold spring,
the rake from the waves.

On long winter evenings, when the spinning wheels are merrily whirring in front of virgins and in hands of grandmothers, when the silver-clear Moon shines in the sky, old people have much to tell about the Moon Maiden. The younger ones even eat these words with their ears, when the grandmother talks about how the have come onto the Moon.
Long ago there lived an orphan. She lived in the house of very unkind people. At dawn, she was the first to leave for work and at dusk, she was the last to lie down to sleep. Even on  Saturday afternoons she could not go to the sauna* with the others, but was only allowed to go there much, much later.  Once, after she’d taken her sauna, she crossed the yard, carrying her birch whisk and pail, and she begged of the Moon,  

Moon my dear, Moon my love,
Take me away, take me to thee!
Scant is my food in summer,
Freezing are my feet in winter!  

Whereupon the Moon gathered the orphan up and she was lifted all the way to the Moon. Ever since then, we’ve been able to see a little girl, with a birch whisk and a pail, in the Moon.  If another child on earth as good as she can be found, the Moon will gather that child up as well. However, since then no child that good has ever been found.
 

Sunturn¹: the darker side of the Sun (=Day) is turned on. --- At sunturn again the lighter side of the Sun is turned on. 

¹ Solstice: it means at first the summer solstice, and later the winter solstice. "Turning the Sun" evokes the idea of ​​someone intervening, also, that the Sun was imagined like a disk with two sides.
 

Babies should not be swaddled during sunset, so that the glow is seen from the window; then there will be an accident.

If the Moon remains visible during the Sun (Day), then it is best to treat (eliminate) crickets and cockroaches.

If you see a red spider, your wish will come true. You can wish for three things. But you also must see the Sun or Moon and a white horse. Two must-sees.

When the Sun, Moon and Stars are in the sky at the same time, then all the wishes will come true.

If the Moon remains in the Sunlight, it's a good time to cut logs for construction, because they will never rot.

If both the Moon and the Sun are in the sky at the same time, then nothing should be sown, because the Moon's gaze will destroy the grains and then there is no ho

Cabbage plants cannot be sown when the Sun and Moon are shining together.

When the Moon and Sun are together in the sky, then peas and beans - these are animal crops - cannot be sown.
 

General law about sowing: do not sow when the Moon sees.

If there is a lunar or solar eclipse, the Moon or the Sun is being eaten. There is a saying: The Moon or the Sun is being eaten = overshadowed. If man wants to see how it is being eaten, water is brought outside with a bucket and looked inside. Then you can see how the big worms are eating the Sun or the Moon.

The Sun enclipse was thought to mean, that it would be eaten. If you look through the glass, you can see one eating the Sun with an alder spoon.

The eclipse of the Sun and Moon was believed to mean that while they were eclipsed, angels were cleaning them. Sometimes only one side is cleansed, sometimes the other side, sometimes even the entire Moon or the Sun; because as soon as spots are visible on the Sun or the Moon, the angels immediately start cleaning. Keeping a smoked glass in front of your eyes, you can see, how the angels are at work.

When there was a lunar or solar eclipse, the ancient people believed that the Moon, or the Sun, was cleaned, because after the eclipse, they shouted to each other: "Look! It's much brighter than before, it's brighter!"

When the crescent Moon was upright, many children would be born.

Slumber comes a-calling,
    villa kombalii,
through the forest a-singing,
    villa kombalii.

Refr:        Villa kompalija,
                villai, villai, villaija,
                villai, villai, villaija,
                villa kompalija.

The sleigh, made of pine,
spoke sticks of juniper.
The path took man went in the forest,
bridleless horse in the swamp,
The reins touched the apple tree,
the rods ran in the cherry tree,
I called the Moon, I asked the Sun,
the Moon didn't hear the calling,
the Sun a lot of asking.
The Moon listened under the dead grass,
the Sun thought behind the forest.

Hello, hello, young Moon,
I'll be young, you'll be old,
I'll get the flea lightness
you an iron weight.

Hello, hello young Moon,
let your eyes be blurry,
my eyes clear!
Let the flour vessel be heavy,
and a slice of bread solid –
of the thickness of the bench and
of the weight of iron.
You become old and
I become young.

Note: These words were sung when the new Moon was seen for the first time, because it secured a good month, so it was believed in Moorama parish.

When the new Moon was seen, the apron was shaken and said: "Hello, hello young Moon! Give me..." Then the desired thing was said.

Let the Moon turn old, me young;
the slice of bread firm, 
and flour vessel durable,
sleep to pig, sickness to gent,
laziness to sheep,
the lightness of a goat to me.

 Jahumatt. Flower vessel.

A fence made during the waning Moon will sink and a fence made during the waxing moon will rise.

Lightning in August during the old Moon ripens the crop.

Sow the peas when the Moon is curved and the days are even.

The Moon changes the weather. 

If the stars of Pleiades and Orion start to go down by Saint George's Day, you have to plant the crop early in spring but if the stars are late, you may be late with planting the crop.

If the Pleiades (Est. 'Sief') set three weeks before Christmas, a good summer is coming.

Nobody has seen tomorrow.

Tomorrow is behind a night and a day after tomorrow it's behind a mountain.

A year has a solstice, a human has a change of mind.