Yes, I had loved those meetings of the nights —
Upon small table a glass filled with ice,
Above black coffee thick and smelly steam,
From the red heater heavy winter heat,
The stinging mirth of literary parable
And first look of the friend, helpless and terrible.
А. Л.
Да, я любила их, те сборища ночные, —
На маленьком столе стаканы ледяные,
Над черным кофеем пахучий, зимний пар,
Камина красного тяжелый, зимний жар,
Веселость едкую литературной шутки
И друга первый взгляд, беспомощный и жуткий.
«For a long time I stood without moving / Peering at the distant stars, – / Between those stars and me / Unbidden, there grew a bond. I thought... but what, I recall not; / I heard a mysterious choir, / The stars, they silently trembled, / I’ve loved them from that moment on...»
«Oh, if it’s true that in the night / When living men are sleeping, / And from the sky the pale moonlight / Slides over the gravestones, / Oh, if it’s only true that at that time / The silent graves open, / I call the shade of Leila and wait for her: / To me, my dear, come here to m...»
«The moon's cold gold, / The perfume of the oleander and gillyflowers. / It's pleasant to wander in such calmness / Of a blue gentle land. Faraway there's Baghdad, / Where Scheherazada lived and sang. / But now she needs nothing, / An ancient rung garden has rung away. The faraway lands...»
«In Horossan there are such doors, / Where the porch is thrown over with roses. / There, lives a thoughtful peri. / In Horossan there are such doors, / But I couldn't open those doors. I have enough force in my hands, / And in my hair both gold and bronze. / The peri's voice is tender an...»