The ancient singer went
lamenting through the forest
-heard the birch wailing.
Now drawing nearer he asks the sacred birch tree
-"Why art thou weeping?"
-Giving wood a shape of a harp!
Weep no more thou sacred birch tree,
grieve no more, my dear friend and my brother.
I will turn thy grief to joy and fortune!
Make thee laugh and sing with gladness and joy!
The ancient singer made
a magic harp from birch wood,
fashioned of summer.
He takes the harp in his hands,
turns the arch up, looking skyward.
-And magic notes follow!
Weep no more thou sacred birch tree,
grieve no more, my dear friend and my brother.
I will turn thy grief to joy and fortune!
Make thee laugh and sing with gladness and joy!