Once a poor woman had seven sons
She went to day labour work day after day
One day all she earned there
Was a single mug of sour milk
She inculcated in her seven sons
That all the food they had that day was that modicum of milk
So it couldn’t be touched
Before it was mixed with flour to make it more plentiful
She came home in the evening and there wasn’t a single drop of milk left
In anger, she said to her sons
„Now that you consumed all the milk,
Turn into seven ravens, all seven of you”
But then she was grieving, how could she
Curse her sweet blood so cruelly
The seven ravens had flown away never to come back
So she was left with no children anymore
When she looked at the Sun she couldn’t see her seven pretty sons
When she looked at the Moon the Wind would weep over her sorrow
Her soul won’t find silence, nor will crying console her
The seven ravens won’t come back from the skies
When she looked at the Sun she couldn’t see her seven pretty sons
When she looked at the Moon the Wind would weep over her sorrow
Her soul won’t find silence, neither will crying console her
The seven ravens won’t come back from the skies
Boulders, rocks, so speak now!
Trees, stars, don’t be silent either!
Find my blood, my seven pretty raven-sons!
You cannot see your seven pretty sons anymore
You cannot know where they are going
If they had a brother, a bird, a titmouse, he might help
At last her *táltos son set off
To find trace of his brothers
He went to the house of the Sun, then to the house of the Wind
Finally the Wind told him what he should do:
Their bodies are being ground by the mill, but they don’t die
Drip your blood into their meal
That will break the curse of the seven sons
You’ll be together with them forever
Eight stars will shine on brightly up in the sky
They might shine there till the end of the world
Woman, if the summer night comes
You’ll see, looking up, your eight sons there together
The Pleiades will shine on brightly up in the sky
They may keep shining until the end of the world
Nothing can disperse them anymore
Their light will forever shine all over the summer night
The Pleiades will shine on brightly up in the sky
They may keep shining until the end of the world
Nothing can divide them anymore
Their light will forever shine all over the summer night