White churches stand tall and there’s resonant, glistening ice,
And the cornflower-blue is abloom in my son’s precious gaze.
Nights strung with diamonds hang high on the ancient town’s heights,
More yellow than linden-flower honey the sickle-moon’s rays.
Dry blizzards blow in from the fields past the faraway river,
And people, like angels, rejoice in the Lord’s Holy Day.
They’ve tidied the parlor, lit icon lamps, flames all aquiver;
They’ve placed the Good Book on a table of oak, and they pray.
There dour-faced memory, forthrightness now apt to abhor,
Did open her sanctum sanctorum and bowed low to me;
But I ventured not in, and I slammed shut the hideous door,
While the town was suffused with the bells of Nativity’s glee.
Там белые церкви и звонкий, светящийся лёд,
Там милого сына цветут васильковые очи.
Над городом древним алмазные русские ночи
И серп поднебесный желтее чем липовый мёд.
Там вьюги сухие взлетают с заречных полей,
И люди, как ангелы, Божьему празднику рады,
Прибрали светлицу, зажгли у киота лампады,
И Книга Благая лежит на дубовом столе.
Там строгая память, такая скупая теперь,
Свои терема мне открыла с глубоким поклоном;
Но я не вошла, я захлопнула страшную дверь;
И город был полон весёлым рождественским звоном.
«My sweet black midget gave me many pleasures / And was so good in worshipping my feet, / I trusted him my gold and other treasures / To keep them in my gilded chest so neat. But day has come, and he began to grow / And grew so big that broke my lady nest. / I kissed his feet, but all I he...»
«When partners can't agree / Their dealings come to naught / And trouble is their labor's only fruit. Once Crawfish, Swan and Pike / Set out to pull a loaded cart, / And all together settled in the traces; / They pulled with all their might, but still the cart refused to budge! / The loa...»
«A Rascal-Monkey / Donkey / Billy Goat / And klunky Bear / Set out to play a string Quartet. / They found some scores, viola, bass, two violins / And sat down in a lea beneath a linden tree / To charm the world with art. / They struck their strings, and sawed with all their heart. / ...»
«Along the streets Big Elephant was led, / To show him off, most likely. / Since Elephants are not a common thing to see / A crowd of gapers followed on his heels. / All of a sudden Pug springs up in front of them. / And seeing Elephant, it raises a great rumpus, / It lunges, barks and h...»