Cross-firing behind the hills:
Both camps watch, theirs and ours;
In front of Cossaks on the hill
Dashes 'long brave Delibash
O Delibash, not to the line come nigh,
Do have mercy on thy life;
Quick 't is over with thy frolic bold,
Pierced thou by the spear shalt be
Hey, Cossak, not to battle rush
The Delibash is swift as wind;
Cut he will with crooked sabre
From thy shoulders thy fearless head.
They rush with yell: are hand to hand;
And behold now what each befalls:
Already speared the Delibash is
Already headless the Cossak is!
Перестрелка за холмами;
Смотрит лагерь их и наш;
На холме пред казаками
Вьется красный делибаш.
Делибаш! не суйся к лаве,
Пожалей свое житье;
Вмиг аминь лихой забаве:
Попадешься на копье.
Эй, казак! не рвися к бою:
Делибаш на всем скаку
Срежет саблею кривою
С плеч удалую башку.
Мчатся, сшиблись в общем крике.
Посмотрите! каковы?....
Делибаш уже на пике,
А казак без головы.
«Our court nightingale, / beak open wide, / can let out the loudest / trills in the world. The creature is stunning / by what pours from his throat – / but it was he who spurred / Derzhavin to write that praise and flattery / are by no means the same: / a slave can flatter / but...»
«Three Robinson Crusoes / in an abandoned shack, / we found a real find — / a single, battered book. We three were friends / and we quickly agreed / to share out this treasure / as Solomon decreed. The foreword for cigarette paper: / one friend was delighted / with a gift so unlik...»
«And so I keep going; / death remains close; / I carry my life / in a blue envelope. / / The letter’s been ready / ever since autumn: / just one little word — / it couldn’t be shorter. / / But I still don’t know / where I should send it; / if I had the address, / m...»
«All that is human slips away; / everything was mere husk. / All that is left, indivisible, / is birdsong and dusk. / A sharp scent of warm mint, / the river’s far-off noise; / all equal, and equally light — / all my losses and joys. / Slowly, with its warm towel / the wind drie...»