a tale from Karasjok, from J. A. Friis, Lappiske Sprogprøver (1856)

Told in North Sámi at Kárášjohka (Karasjok) and printed by Jens Andreas Friis in 1856, in Sámi only, this tale begins with a poor fisherman who grows rich by promising away what his wife is carrying. It follows the son through his escape from the devil, his drift to a golden city across the sea, the bride he wins there and loses by breaking her one command, and the giant's shoes and garment with which he finds her again.

Translation

Two men lived in the same village, one rich and the other poor. And the poorer one owed a great deal to his richer neighbour. Then one time the two of them rowed out to the open sea to fish. The rich man pulled up a lot of fish in a short while and rowed to shore. But the poorer neighbour stayed on fishing, and did not pull up a single fish.

Then he had to row to shore; but as he was rowing to shore, the boat stuck fast, and a voice was heard from under the boat, which said: "If you promise what is inside your wife, then you shall become as rich as your neighbour; and then cast your line to the bottom!" He promised, and cast. At once a fish was hooked, and heavy that fish was as he pulled it up; and when its head came up over the gunwale of the boat, at once money began to pour out of its mouth into the boat. And at once he cast his line again and straight away pulled up the next fish, which had no money in it; and in half a flood-tide he pulled up a boatful of fish, and rowed to shore, and walked up to his home.

Then he saw that there were many goods in the house, and he asked his wife where those goods had come from; but his wife did not know where they came from, for she had been asleep the while the goods came. Then he walked over to his neighbour and asked him: "Do I owe you much? I mean to pay the whole debt at once." And when he had found out, he went home again, and fetched the payment, and paid his debt.

Then his neighbour took fright, and thought the other had stolen that money from him. So he looked through all his buildings, to see whether anything of his had gone missing; and he saw that nothing of his had gone missing. Now when the poor man had paid off his debt entirely, he went home again to his wife, and noticed that his wife was with child, which he had not supposed. And when the time was fully come, she gave birth to her firstborn son, who had been promised to the devil. And a short time after that, he put him to school with the priest.

The boy grew very fast and was eager to learn; but when eight years were fully past, as had been agreed with that devil, the devil came to fetch him in a boat, rowing along as a green fire. When they began to see him coming, the priest began to write a letter for him, with which he was to go out to meet the devil. Then the boy walked out at once to meet him, and held the letter out before him the moment the devil called to him and said: "Come now, my dear boy, come with me." But he did not dare to take him, because the boy had that letter; he had to scratch his head and lament: "Oh, that on account of this devil of a priest I could not take my child! Then take a little boat, my dear boy, and row off with me!"

The priest stood there and watched how the two of them were getting on now. Then the priest said: "Take that little boat for yourself, and go out on the sea with him!" But when the two of them came out on the sea, a strong wind rose at once, so that the boy could not row anywhere, but had to drift with the wind. The devil too drifted near him for a short while, and then he rowed over to the boy and said: "Come now, my dear boy, into my boat!" But the boy only held out the priest's letter. Then the devil grew angry at the priest, pushed himself off and away from the boy's boat, and rowed home again as a green fire.

The boy was left still drifting out on the sea with the wind, and knew nothing until he came to some strange shore. Then he walked up and looked about: there stood a golden city, and he noticed a door by which he might get in. And on that door golden letters were written, which he read. Then he went in, and came to the kitchen, and found the kitchen maid, and saw that she was beautiful. But the maid forbade him to speak loudly, because her mistress was asleep inside.

And he went into the chamber and found the chamber maid, who was more beautiful still than the kitchen maid; and the chamber maid too forbade him in the same way to speak loudly. Then he went on in, all the way to the mistress, and saw that she was far more beautiful than the kitchen maid and the chamber maid. Then the two of them began to talk together, at first; and right after that they took a liking to each other, and began to think of marrying, and agreed on the marriage.

But then the boy took a mind to go and visit his father and his foster-father, the priest; but he did not know where the two of them might be. Then his bride said to him: "I have such a ring, it is on my finger now, with which one can go wherever one thinks of, and wish for whatever one wants." Then the bridegroom took the ring on his hand, and wished himself to his father and his foster-father, the priest; and at once he was there, where he wanted to be. But when he got there and told them all the things that had happened since he had gone away from them, they would not believe it, although he did show them the ring; still they did not believe.

Then it came to be the time of the evening meal; and when they had finished eating their evening meal, he could not hold himself back, although his bride had strictly forbidden him: "You must not wish me to where you yourself are." But he said: "If only my kitchen maid would come now and take the scrap plate away from in front of me!" At once the kitchen maid came and took the scrap plate away, and at once the maid went out, and never came in again; but they did see that the girl was beautiful. Then it came to be bedtime, and he wished: "If only my chamber maid would come now and make the bed for me!" At once the maid came and made the bed for him. The people saw that the chamber maid was far more beautiful than the kitchen maid; and when she had finished making up the bed, at once she went out, and was never seen any more.

Then he lay down in the bed and wished: "If only his bride would come and sleep beside him!" At once his bride came, took him round the neck, kissed him, took the ring away from the bridegroom's hand, and went out, and was never seen again. Then he was left alone. Then he began to want to go to his bride, if only he knew where he was to find her again. All the same he set off wandering in some direction.

First he came to the king of the fish, and called out: "Good evening, old uncle-in-law! Do you know any news of the golden city?" But the king of the fish answered him: "I know no news until I call my fish together." And then he whistled his fish together.

But when they came together to their king, they knew no news at all of the golden city. But the wolf-fish was still missing. Then it came too. The king asked: "Where have you been missing so long?" The wolf-fish answered: "I had got caught by an otter, and I was held up fighting with it." Nor did the wolf-fish know any news of the golden city.

Then the man set off again, wandering farther, and then he came next to the king of the birds. There he called out: "Good evening, old uncle-in-law! Do you know any news of the golden city?" "I do not know, until I call my birds together." And then he whistled his birds together; but they knew no news of it; but the swan was missing the longest, because she had been laying, and people had set a snare in front of her; that was what held her up and kept her away, until she barely got loose from the snare. But when she came back to her king, she did not know any news of the golden city either.

Then the boy set off again, wandering on still farther, without knowing where he was going. As he was wandering along, he noticed two Giant's sons wrestling. He came up to them and asked them: "What are you two doing between you? As I see you, you seem to me like two who are wrestling each other. It seems to me as if you two were brothers. Why then do you wrestle, when you may well be brothers? What is there between you, then, that you two are fighting for?"

The two of them answered the boy together, with one accord: "We are brothers!" "I can see that well enough, more or less, that you are brothers; but what is it, all the same, that you are fighting over?" This, then, was what they had decided: whichever was the stronger and could beat the other should get the two shoes and the garment that had been left to them after their father, when their father died. Then the boy thought he would ask what powers these clothes were supposed to have; for the boy was a very cunning and sensible and well-learned man.

Then the two of them answered the boy: "These shoes are such that wherever a person wants to leap, there he reaches; there he comes at once. And this garment again is such that with it a person can go about unseen." Then the boy said: "Lend them to me, so that I too may try whether it is true or not." The two of them hardly dared to lend the boy their inheritance, because they were strangers to the boy. Yet they let themselves be talked into it by him, and the boy promised that he did not mean to go too far with them, only for a trial. Then they gave in to the boy, as he asked, and trusted that he would not deceive them.

But as soon as the boy had got those clothes on, he leapt away to the golden city, and he saw that there in the bay lay a great, richly adorned golden ship, in which a king's son had come to woo the beautiful mistress of the golden city. Then, unseen, he came all the same into the city and into the manor, and saw the king's son courting the boy's own bride. Then he stayed there unseen right until bedtime came; and then he saw his bride go to bed to lie down. At once the king's son too went over to her, to the bed, and lay down beside her to sleep.

Then the boy, unseen, went to the other side of the bed, beside the bride, so that the bride came to be between them. Then he stayed unseen in the bed, and once he kicked the king's son in the teeth. The king's son did not know at first what that could be, the first time the boy kicked him in the teeth. Then he lay a short while longer beside his bride; but then the boy kicked him in the teeth a second time, with those hard Giant's shoes.

Then the king's son began to wonder, for he could see nothing but his bride; and he began to think that his bride was doing it, and he asked his bride: "Why are you kicking me in the teeth?" The bride answered him that she had not done it. But the boy, who was lying beside the two of them, laughed without a sound. Then the third time he kicked the king's son still harder in the teeth and nose, so that the blood poured out from both his nostrils and his mouth; and at once the king's son got up out of the bed, and went out of the manor and out of the whole city into his great splendid golden ship, and went home.

Then the boy too walked out of the manor, and behind the manor he quickly took off all those Giant's clothes. Then he came in again, began to talk with his bride, and asked her: "What strange man was that, who came here in the meantime, while I was away?" Then his bride told him: "That was a king's son, who had come to woo me." "Why didn't you take him?" "I had indeed already accepted him, but he took fright at me himself." "Why did the king's son take fright at you?"

"I don't know why he should have taken fright at me; but I heard him say to me that I was kicking him in the teeth in bed, as we were lying side by side, and this I saw: that blood was flowing from his nostrils and his mouth. He leapt up in haste out of the bed and ran out. I did not trouble to follow him out, for I knew that I was innocent of it." Then the boy began once more to speak those same words of wooing as before, and the two of them agreed on the marriage. Then the boy married the very beautiful mistress of the golden city, and became master over the house of the golden city.

Colophon

Translated from the North Sámi of Lappiske Sprogprøver: en Samling af lappiske Eventyr, Ordsprog og Gaader, edited by J. A. Friis (Christiania: J. W. Cappelen, 1856), pp. 48–53, from the group printed under the running head Gârâsjok (Karasjok). Friis printed it in Sámi only. The text was transcribed from the page images of the New York Public Library copy, and Friis's own corrections for pp. 48 and 49 were applied (oanekis for oanekës, vælgolaš for vælgalaš, Mutto for Mutte); slips his list does not mention, among them gonasgas-bardne for gonagas-bardne and a doubled de de, are kept as printed, and Friis's text has no opening quotation mark before the wolf-fish's answer. Words were checked in the Sámi–Norwegian glossary that Friis printed at the back of the same book, and in his larger Ordbog over det lappiske Sprog (1887): birru and bærgalak are both the devil; favle is the deep open sea; darvanet is to stick fast; vađđo is a fishing line; roakkaset is to be caught fast on a hook; ripo is the top edge of a boat's side, the gunwale; cacce-bagje is the six hours from full ebb to full flood, and lâkke a half, so čacce-baje lâkkest is "in half a flood-tide"; nuöllen is "with child"; šaddiš is quick-growing, thriving, and oapalaš eager to learn; šittujuvvut is to come to an agreement; ballit is to be able, to get the chance; mænodet is to behave, to carry on; rievdat is to drift before wind or current; gejgit is to stretch out; âbmâs or âmâs is strange, unknown; æmed is the mistress of a house; moallo is scraps or leftovers, and a tallerk a plate; maššat is to hold oneself still, to contain oneself; Vare is "would that"; čæve is the neck; a vuoppa-bælle, which the 1887 dictionary gives as one's father-in-law's brother, is the "old uncle-in-law" by which the boy greets the kings of the fish and of the birds; the stajnar is the wolf-fish (Friis: Stenbid, Havkat), and the čævre the otter; giella is both "language" and "snare", here a snare, and guöddet is used of birds laying; faggadet is to wrestle, and gilbodet to contend; vuoittet is to win, to beat; fillihallat is to let oneself be talked into something; gielastallat is to deceive; gæjdost is "invisibly"; vakke is a bay; hærvahuvvum is adorned; irgastallat is to court; hirbmastuvvat is to wonder, and boagostet to laugh; vigetæbme is guiltless; viššat is to bother, to trouble oneself; and ised is the master of a house. Several readings rest on context. The devil's cry Voj, go dam birru papast im ballim mannam valdet! is read with dam birru papast as "this devil of a priest" (birru, the devil, set before a noun as in dam birru givsadusast in another tale of this book) and mannam as "my child" (manna, child); in this tale the word "about" is always spelled birra. Læǯǯat in "may be" is read as a potential form of læt, "be", which neither dictionary gives. Âlbmaid in the boy's question is read as "man", the singular the sentence needs. Sugadedin, "rowing", is taken from sukkat, to row. When the boy wishes for his bride, the Sámi has him say "his bride ... beside him", and so does the English. The Sámi word son does not mark whether a person is a man or a woman; the one who puts the boy to school is given as "he".

No complete English translation of Friis's collection is known to us.

© 2026 Tianmu Anglican Church. This English translation is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0: you may share and adapt it for non-commercial use with credit to the Good Works Library, tianmu.org. The source text keeps its own terms. For other uses, see Rights and Reuse.

🌲

Source Text: Vajvaš bardne, birru ja golle-gavpug

North Sámi text as printed by Friis (1856), pp. 48–53, in his orthography, with Friis's corrections for pp. 48 and 49 applied; line-end hyphens are joined. Friis's single paragraph is divided here at the same places as the English.

Guökte âlbma læiga ovt sidast, nubbe riggës, ja nubbe vajvaš. Ja dat vajvašabbo læi ollo vælgolaš dam riggasab sida-guojbmasis. De soaj sugaiga muttimin favlai oaggot. Dat riggës âlmaj gesi gulid ollo oanekis gaskast ja sugai gaddai. Mutto dat vajvašabbo sid'-guojbme baci ejn oaggot ja ige gæse ovtage guöle.

De ferti sukkat gaddai, mutto go sukkamen læ gaddai, de darvani vânas gidda, ja gullui jedna vâdnas vuölde, mi celki: „Jus don loppedak, mi du aka sist læ, de de galgak šaddat sæmma riggës go du side-guojbme, ja de suppe vađod bodnai!“ Son loppedi ja suppi. Dallanaga roakkasi guölle, lossad læi dat guölle, go son gesi bajas, ja go oajve bođi vâdnas ripo ala, dallanaga ruđak golgagotte njalmëst erit vâdnas sisa, ja son dallanaga fast suppi vađos ja gesi dallan dam nubbe guöle, man sist i læm mikkege ruđaid, ja son čacce-baje lâkkest gesi dievva vâdnas gulid ja sugai gaddai ja vaʒi bajas vissusis.

De ojni, galvo læi ollo viesost, ja jærai akastes, gost dat galvo læ boattam; mutto akka i diettam, gost bođi, dastgo son læi oađđemen dam bodda, go galvo bođi. De son vaʒi side-guojmes lusa ja jærai sust: „Ollogo mon læm vælgolaš dudnji? Ajgom mafset dallanaga buok vælge.“ Ja dego oaǯoi diettet, de son manai fastajn ruoftod ja vieǯai mavso ja mavsi vælgës.

De su side-guojbme suorgani ja doajvoi, atte duot læ sust suoladam daid ruđaid. De son gæčai buok su vistides, lægo sust mikkege javkam, ja de son ojni, atte sust i læm javkam mikkege. Go dal dat vajvaš olmuš læi mafsam vælgës buokrakkan, de son manai fast ruoftod akas lusa ja fuomaši, atte su akka nuollën læ, maid son i gaddam. Ja go ajge ollasi dievai, de riegadatti son su vuostriegadam bardnes, mi læi birrui loppeduvvum. Ja dast oanehis ajge maŋŋel bijai son su papa lusa skulli.

Bardne læi huj šaddiš ja oapalaš, mutto go gavce jage legje ollasi dievvam, mi šittujuvvum læi daina birruin, de bođi birru vieǯǯat su vâdnasin, ruona dollan sugadedin. Go si oajdnegotte su boattemen, de algi pap sudnji girje čallet, maina son galgai mannat dam bærgalaga oudald. De vaʒi bardne dallanaga dokko su oudald, nakehi su oudi dam girje, dallanaga go bærgalak ravkali su ja celki: „Boađe dal, bardnačam, mu mielde;“ mutto i son duostam valdet su, dainago bardnest læi dat girje, ferti son oajves ruokkat ja vajdalet: „Voj, go dam birru papast im ballim mannam valdet! De valde, bardnačam, ucca vâdnasaš ja sukkal mu mielde!“

Papa dobbe čuoǯǯo ja gæčča, mo dal mænodæva. De papa celki: „Valde dom ucca vâdnasaš aldsid ja vuölge mæra ala su mielde!“ Mutto go soaj bođiga mæra ala, de šaddai garra biegga dallanaga, nu atte bardne i vægjam sukkat gosage, mutto ferti rievdat biega mielde. De rievdadi birru majda oanehis ajge su lâkkâ, ja de sugai son bardne lusa ja celki: „Boađe dal, bardnačam, mu vâdnasi!“ Mutto bardne dušše olgus gejgi papa girje. De suttai birru dam papa ala, hojgadi ječas luovos erit bardne vadnasëst ja sukkai fastenajn ruona dollan ruoftod.

Bardne ajn baci rievdat mæra ala biega mielde, ja ige diettam maidege, oudal go son bođi muttom âmâs gaddai. De vaʒi son bajas ja gæčasti, dast læ ofta golle-gavpug, ja son ajcai uvsa, goggo son galga sisa bæssat. Ja dam uvsa ala legje čallujuvvum golle-bogstavak, maid son logai. De son manai sisa ja bođi kjevkani ja gavnai kjevkan-biga ja ojni, atte son læ čabës. Mutto biga gildi su allaget hallamest, dastgo su æmëd siste oađđemen læ.

Ja son manai kammari ja gavnai kammar-biga, gutte læi čabbasabbo vela go kjevkan-biga, ja kammar-biga majda sæmma lakkai gildi su allaget hallamest. De son manai sisa gidda æmëd lusa ja ojni, atte sagga čabbasabbo læi go kjevkan- ja kammar-biga. De sardnogođiga soaj gaskanæsga algost, ja de dallanaga maŋŋel oaǯoiga soaj miela guabba guojbmasæsga ja arvališgođiga najtalet okti ja šiettaiga najtusa.

Mutto de oaǯoi bardne dam miela, atte ajgoši fidnat ačes lute ja biebmo-ačes, papa lute, mutto i dieđe, gost soaj læǯǯaba. De celki sudnjai su moarse: „Must læ galle daggaraš suormas, læ dal mu suormast, maina olmuš matta mannat, gosa olmuš jurdëla, ja savalet, maid olmuš datto.“ De valdi irge dam suormas giettasis ja savali ječas ačes ja biebmo-ačes, papa lusa, ja dallanaga læi son dobbe, gosa datoi. Mutto go son dokko bođi ja mujtaladdai buok daid dappahusaid, mi šaddam læi dam rajest, go son sist erit læi vuölgam, de æi si dattom jaket dam, vajko son galle čajehi dam suorbmasa; æi si almake jakam.

De šaddai ækkedës malës ajge, ja go si borramest gerge daid ækkedës mallasidesek, de son i maššam, jusjo su moarse læi garraset gieldam su: „Ik galga savalet mu dokko, gost don ješ læk;“ mutto son celki: „Vare dal boađaši mu kjevkan-biga dam moallo-tallerk mu oudast erit valdet!“ De dallanaga bođi kjevkan-biga ja erit valdi dam moallo-tallerk, ja dallanaga manai biga olgus, ige boattam sisa goassege æmbo; mutto si ojdne galle, atte čabës læi niejd. De šaddai oađđastallam-ajge, de savali son: „Vare dal boađaši mu kammar-biga sænga lačet munjai!“ Dallanaga bođi biga ja lači sænga sudnji. Olbmuk ojdne, atte sagga čabbasabbo læi kammar-biga go kjevkan-biga, ja go son gærgai saje lačamest, dallanaga manai son olgus, ige ojdnum goassege æmbo.

De vællani son sengi ja savali: „Vare su moarse boađaši su baldi nokkat!“ Dallanaga bođi su moarse, valdi su birra čævat, cumai su ja valdi dam suorbmas irge gieđast erehi ja manai olgus, ige ojdnum goassege šat. De baci son ofto. De adnegođi miela vuölget dokko moarses lusa, go dieđaši, gost galga gavdnat su šat. De almake vulgi vagjolet muttim guvlui.

De bođi son algost guli gonagas lusa ja ravkai: „Buörre ækked, vuop'-bæl' vuoras! Dieđakgo don golle-gavpugi sagaid?“ Mutto guli gonagas fastedi sudnjai: „Im dieđe sagaid, oudal go gulidam ravkam čoakkai.“ Ja de son njurgi gulides čoakkai.

Mutto go dak botte čoakkai gonagasasek lusa, æi si diettam maidege sagaid golle gavpugi. Mutto stajnar læi vel javkosist. De bođi son majda. Jærai gonagas: „Gost don javkik nu gukka?“ Stajnar fastedi: Čævrai legjim fattehallam, ja agjanim suina doarrot.“ Ige stajnar diettam maidege sagaid golle-gavpugi.

De vulgi ajn dat âlmaj vagjolet viddasabbui, ja de bođi son fastajn loddi gonagas lusa. Dast ravkai son: „Buörre ækked, vuop'-bæl' vuoras! Dieđakgo don golle-gavpugi sagaid?“ „Im mon dieđe, oudal go loddidam gočom čoakkai,“ ja de njurgi son loddides čoakkai, mutto æi dak diettam maidege sagaid dokko; mutto njufča javkai gukkemus, dainago guöddam læi, ja olbmuk legje giela bigjam su oudi, daina agjani ja javkai son, go illa bæsai gielast luovos. Mutto go son bođi ruoftod gonagasas lusa, de ige son diettam golle-gavpugi maidege sagaid.

De vulgi bardne fast vagjolet ajn oudas, ige dieđe, gosa son læ mannamen. De læi son vagjolæme, de ajcai guökt Jetanas-bardne faggadæme. Son bođi sodnu lusa ja jærra sodnost: „Maid doaj dakkabætte gaskanæde, go mon oainam dodnu, atte doaj orrobætte muo mielast dego guökt faggadalle gaskastæde? Muo mielast orro naft, dego doaj lifčide vielljaš. Manne faggadallebætte nabbo, go jo læǯǯabætte vielljaš? Mi læ dalle dodnu gaskast, man ditti doaj gilbodæppe?“

Soaj guabbačaga ovta mielalašvuođast fastedeiga bardnai naft: „Moaj ledne vielljaš!“ — „Galle mon dovdam sulla, atte doaj læppe vielljaš; mutto mi læ almake, man birra doaj gilbodæppe?“ De læi naft sodnu arvalus, atte guabba gievrab læ ja vujtiš guojmes, son galga oaǯǯot guöfte skuova ja biftas, mi sodnu ače maŋŋai læi baccam, go ačče jami. De bardne jurdaši atte jærrat, maggaraš famok daina biftasin galgek læt; dastgo bardne læi saggarakkan gavvel ja jierbmaj ja burist oappam âlmaj.

De soaj fastedeiga bardnai: „Dak skuovak læk daggarak, gosa olmuš datto njujkit, dokko ollaha, dokko boatta dallanaga. Ja dat bivtas fastajn læ daggar, maina olmuš gæjdost matta mannat.“ De celki bardne: „Luojke munji daid, bæsam monge gæččalet, lægo duotta dajhe i.“ Soaj illa oskeldeiga bardnai luojkat sodnu arbe-ælosga, dastgo soaj læiga âbmâs dam bardnai. De almake fillihalaiga sudnji, ja bardne loppedi, i son ajgo mendo mannat dai gujm, mutto dušše gæččalambodda. De soaj mieđeteiga bardnai su anestume mield ja oskeldeiga, atte son i gielastala.

Mutto dallanaga go bardne læi oǯǯom daid biftasid bagjelassas, de njujki son dokko golle-gavpugi, ja ojni son, atte dast læ vage sist okta stuorra hærvahuvvum golle-skipa čuoǯǯomen, maina gonagas-bardne læi boattam soaŋost golle-gavpug čabba æmeđi. De bođi son gæjdost almake gavpug sisa ja gardën sisa ja gæčasta gonagas-bardne irgastallamen dam su moarsasis. De son oroi gæjdost gidda dassači go oađđastallam-ajge bođi, ja de son ojni, atte su moarse manai sengi vællanet. Dallanaga gonasgas-bardne majda manai su lusa sengi ja vællani su baldi oađđat.

De bardne gæjdost manai nub' bællai sengi moarse baldi, nu atte moarse šaddai gaski. De son gæjdost oroi sængast ja ajn muttimin čievčasta banid vuösta gonagas-bardne. Gonagas-bardne i diettam, mi dat galgai læt algost, go vuostas have bardne čievčasti su banid vuösta. De ajn son vællai moarses baldast ovta oanehis ajge, mutto dast nubbadašši čievčasti bardne su banid vuösta daina garra Jetanas-skuovain.

De hirbmastušgođi gonagas-bardne, dastgo son i oajne maidege æreb go dušše moarses, ja doajvogođi, atte su moarse dakka dam, ja jærai moarsestës: „Manne čievčak muo banid vuösta?“ Moarse fastedi sudnji, i son læk dakkam dam. Mutto bardne, gutte læi sodnu baldast vællamen, son javotaga boagosta. De goalmad gærde čievčasti vel garrasabbut gonagas-bardne banid ja njune vuösta, nuft atte vârrâ golgai sagga olgus sikke njunne-rajge ja njalbme-rajge, ja dallanaga čuöǯǯeli gonagas-bardne sængast erehi, ja olgus vulgi gardenëst ja obba gavpugëst su stuorra hærvas golle-skipa sisa, ja manai ruoftod.

De bardne majda vaʒʒeli olgus gardenëst ja nuolasti gardën duökkai daid Jetanas-biftasid buok eri bagjelistes. De bođi son fast sisa, hallagođi moarsinës ja jærai sust: „Mi læi dat âmâs âlbmaid, mi læi boattam dam gaskast go mon legjim erehi?“ De su moarse mujtali sudnji dam, atte: „Dat læi gonagas-bardne, gutte læi boattam munji soaŋost.“ — „Manne ik valdam su?“ — „Mon gal' legjim juo valdam su, mutto son ješ suorgani must.“ — „Manne suorgani gonagas-bardne dust?“

— „Im mon diettam, manne son læǯǯa suorganam must, mutto mon gullim son celki munji naft, atte mon čievčam su banid vuösta sængast, go vællamen læime baldalagaid, ja dam ojdnim, atte sust vârrâ golgai njunne-rajge ja njalbme-rajge. Son njujki hoapost sængast erehi ja viekkali olgus. Im mon viššam su čuovvot olgus, dastgo mon dittim, atte mon læm vigetæbme dasa.“ De bardne fast riemai ođđasist hallat daid sæmma oudiš soagŋo-sagaid, ja de soaj šiettaiga najtusa birra. De dat bardne najtali golle-gavpug huj čabba æmedin ja šaddai isedën golle-gavpug dalo ala.

Source Colophon

J. A. Friis (ed.), Lappiske Sprogprøver (Christiania: J. W. Cappelen, 1856), pp. 48–53, with Friis's corrections for pp. 48 and 49 from his list of misprints. Public domain. Transcribed from the page images of the New York Public Library copy, digitized by Google (Internet Archive identifier lappiskesprogpr00friigoog); a former owner's handwritten marks in that copy are not part of the text. Friis's letters are kept as printed, including â, ö, ë, č, đ, š, ŋ, and both ʒ and ǯ, which he distinguishes.

🌲