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!»
«Blizzard covers skies with dark mist / swirling snowy whirlwinds; / either howls like a wild beast / or reminds the cry of kids; / cracks by rotten thatch with anger / on the old roof in a fuss, / or as a belated stranger / knocks at window to us. This old hut sank into sadness / an...»
«The storm covers skies in darkness, / Spinning snowy whirlwinds tight, / Now it wails like a beast wildest, / Now it cries like a week child, / Now suddenly it rustles / The old roof’s dry thatching mass, / Now, a traveller, late and gusty, / It knocks at our window’s glass. Our h...»
«Three apples. They’re beloved of tradition, / Three symbols of rebellion here on earth, / In ancient garden, knowing new fruition, / They burn beneath dreams’ gusting trembles’ birth. O you, primeval woman’s fatal apple! / You tore the light of Eden from her eyes, / Upon us sheddi...»
«When troubled spell afflicts my life / And sadness grips my heart: / One pleasing prayer relieves my strife — / To say it then I start. There is a God-sent blessed strength / With lively words in tune, / And holy charm breathes through their length / Whose source remains unknown. And...»