The threshing barn is stifling and hot,
I laugh, but in my heart, I weep from spite.
My old friend mumbles to me: “Jinx it not,
Can’t you discern that luck is on our side!”
I listen to my old friend’s words with doubt.
He’s lost his sight, he’s ludicrous and vile.
He spent his whole life trampling the ground
Of long and dreary trails in denial.
My fragile voice is crying out with sorrow,
The ringing voice of those who knew no better:
“Our knapsacks are all emptied and tomorrow
Just promises more hunger and foul weather!”
Под навесом тёмной риги жарко,
Я смеюсь, а в сердце злобно плачу.
Старый друг бормочет мне: «Не каркай!
Мы ль не встретим на пути удачу!»
Но я другу старому не верю.
Он смешной, незрячий и убогий,
Он всю жизнь свою шагами мерил
Длинные и скучные дороги.
И звенит, звенит мой голос ломкий,
Звонкий голос не узнавших счастья:
«Ах, пусты дорожные котомки,
А на завтра голод и ненастье!»
«Again he came, he looks at me with scorn / (I don't know who he is, just Someone in a cape) / And he laughs, "Oh, this is getting tiresome, / The circumstances cry to end it all. / I'm tired of watching you in wretched battle, / The minutes of my time have now been numbered. / Your circ...»
«Now he's different when he comes. / He assumes a slave-like guise. / And bows down so very humbly, / Sits down quietly in the corner, / At a distance from me, on the floor, / Snickering insincerely. He whispers: "I dropped by, my love, / Just like that, just to have a look. / I won't ...»
«Be silent. Be silent. Don't talk to people, / Don't lift the veil from your heart. / All the people on earth — please understand! — / Are not worth one single word. Don't cry. Don't cry. Blessed is he / Who chose to hide his pain from people. / This world's not worth a single tear, / ...»
«It seemed I would never again / Disturb the silence of my soul, / But a star flared up in the window, / And again I pity my soul. Everything died long ago in my soul. / Hatred and anger burned out. / O, my poor soul, just one thing / Is preserved in it: scornful contempt.»