I Rested the Horse lyrics and meaning

Pailsau žirgelį
Pailsau ir kitą,
Pasakyk mergela,
O kas bus ir šįkart?
Pasakyk mergela, tieselį,
Ar eisi tu jauna už mani? /2×2

Kų aš tau, berneli,
Tieselį sakysiu,
Kų aš tau, jaunasai,
Tieselį sakysiu.
Pas manį pasogos tai nėra,
Aš mergužėlė sirata. /2×2

Man tavo pasogos,
Mergelį, nereikia,
Man tavo pasogos,
Jaunoji, nereikia.
Man tavo pasoga tu pati,
Kaip ant dangaus žvaigždelė šviesi. /2×2

Dar sakai, berneli,
Kad šviesi žvaigždelė,
O paskui sakysi,
Negera dalelė.
Jei ne tu sakysi, tai mama,
Nereikėjo imtie sirata. /2×2

I Rested the Horse: song interpretation

This song can be understood as a courtship dialogue between a young man and an orphan girl. At the beginning the young man, having rested one horse and another, asks the girl to tell him the truth: will she marry him? Resting the horses can be read as repeated courtship visits.

The girl answers that she has no pasoga, no dowry, because she is an orphan, a sirata. This answer can be understood as fear over the absence of a marriage portion.

The young man says he does not need her dowry, because she herself is his dowry, bright as a little star in the sky. Yet the girl worries that later he or his mother will reproach her, saying that he should not have taken an orphan. This fear can be interpreted as the insecurity of an orphan and the expectation of being humiliated for poverty. That is one possible reading, but the orphan's lot and the courtship motif are clear.

I Rested the Horse: symbols and phrases

Resting the horse
The repeated resting of horses marks repeated courtship visits.
Pasoga
The dowry the orphan lacks. It marks the wealth that can determine a woman's marriage value.
Sirata
An orphaned girl without parents, marking a vulnerable and poor social position.
"You yourself are my dowry, bright as a star"
The young man values the girl above property. It marks love set against dowry requirements.

I Rested the Horse: song history

"I Rested the Horse" belongs to love and courtship songs. It is built as a dialogue between a young man and a girl: after resting the horse "and another," the young man asks her to tell the truth, whether she will marry him, while the orphan girl worries that she has no dowry. This alternating question-and-answer conversation, the horse image, and the theme of kraitis or pasoga are common features of courtship lyric.

The exact recording place and time are not given on this page, so the song is presented through genre traits. Woven into the courtship conversation is the orphan's lot: the young man replies that he does not need her dowry, because "you yourself are my dowry, bright as a star in the sky," but the girl still fears being shamed for poverty. The motif of love placed above wealth, combined with an orphan's insecurity, is frequent in song variants from different regions.

sources

  • Lietuvių liaudies dainynas, vols. 1-23, Vilnius 1980-2011 (LLTI)
  • Catalogue of Lithuanian Folk Songs, 6 vols., Vilnius 1972-1986

I Rested the Horse: sources