Anthology of Estonian Traditional Music

Three things mother did teach us,
three things she did teach as she lay dying,
as she was being carried out the gate:
“My daughter, darling dickeybird,
this I say to you,
this I teach you and it is right,
keep it in mind even better:
be diligent in the morning,
wash your face, comb your hair,
put your shoes on!
Do not listen for the cocks –
the cocks crow as they please,
sometimes early, sometimes late,
sometimes before it gets light.
When you wake, then wake right up,
when you are aware, then get right up!
The moon is already over the house,
dawn is over the granary,
the Pleiades are sideways in the south.

My daughter, darling dickeybird,
this I say to you,
this I teach you and it is right,
keep it in mind even better;
walk lightly, walk brightly,
walk lightly to the meadow,
walk brightly to the pasture,
walk neatly by the village,
prettily in the village!
You yourself may be poor –
but water is not poor;
you yourself may be mourning –
but lye does not mourn;
you yourself may be sad –
but the churn is not sad.
Wash your shirt in the light of the dawn,
rinse the churn in the light of the moon!

My daughter, darling dickeybird,
this I say to you,
this I teach you and it is right,
keep it in mind even better;
do not make a bed for a serf,
nor plump up the servant boy's pillows –
the serf will invite you into his bed,
the servant boy to sleep on his pillows,
you will soon be a bride [single mother],
you will soon carry a load.
Make a bed for the men from Holland,
undo the shoes of the men from Pärnu,
knit mittens for the men from Kilingi.”