My heart was aching with grief
So I reached to grab my scabbard
Only it had been empty for a while
My sword lying in a bog somewhere
I wanted to adorn my chest with armor
But my vest had become rusty
Lying in the cellar for years
And getting damp
I wanted to mount my horse
But the poor old creature collapsed
It could only see with one eye
And its legs could not hold it
So I walked from village to village
Wearing my bast shoes
And each time I was chased away
Once I fell asleep under an oak tree
And someone took my bast shoes, too
For thirty years I roamed the trails
Then I decided to go back home
But I'd forgotten what my starting point was
Back when I still wore my bast shoes
Oy-oh, fool!
Oy, o-o-o...
And so I walked for three more years
Wearing my old, ragged clothes
Then I got on the road
Leading to my family's hut
But the hut was nowhere to be found
Just a few logs and a well
From which you couldn't drink a shit
Because it was filled with earth
So I sat on a maple tree stamp
All tired and hungry
And there was a witch looking at me
Shaking her crooked stick
Saying: "Well, you fool,
you didn't appreciate what you had.
You set out on a road
while there was so much work at home.
Now sit and wait for your demise,
all dirty, with no bast shoes.
Death is not too far away.
It will be here before you know it!"