At the gates of Zion, over Kedron,
There is a windswept hillock;
And where the wall gives temporary shade,
I happened to sit down beside a leper,
Who was eating toxic seeds.
His stench was indescribable.
The fool was poisoning himself.
But he would smile, for all that,
Looking blissfully around
And muttering: “Praise be to Allah!”
Merciful God, wherefore did you give us
Feelings, thoughts, and cares,
A thirst for action and amusement?
Happy are the cripples and the idiots,
And happiest of all — the leper!
У ворот Сиона, над Кедроном,
На бугре, ветрами обожжённом,
Там, где тень бывает от стены,
Сел я как-то рядом с прокажённым,
Евшим зерна спелой белены.
Он дышал невыразимым смрадом,
Он, безумный, отравлялся ядом,
А меж тем, с улыбкой на губах,
Поводил кругом блаженным взглядом,
Бормоча: «Благословен аллах!»
Боже милосердный, для чего ты
Дал нам страсти, думы и заботы,
Жажду дела, славы и утех?
Радостны калеки, идиоты,
Прокаженный радостнее всех.
«Sie liebten beiden, doch keiner / Wollt'es dem andern gestehn. / Heine Their love was so gentle, so long, and surprising, / With pining, so deep, and zeal, like a crazy uprising! / But, much like foes, they shunned their meetings, confessions… / And were cold and empty their short conve...»
«The sail is whitening alone / In blue obscurity of sea: / What did it leave in country own? / What does it want so far to see. The wind is strong, the mast is creaking, / The wave is playing with the wave... / But not a fortune is it seeking, / Nor from this fortune is its way. By it a...»
«There is a blest place: by the trace / In wilderness, in a little glade’s middle, / Where in the eve, mists twine and bristle / In moony silver’s easy lace… / My friend! You know that glade, fair; / There dig a pit and let me rest, / When I will cease to breathe in air. Give to...»
«When my life is arduous, / If sadness freezes blood, / I say one prayer marvelous, / I learned it all by heart. There's vigor unbelievable / In living words' accords, / And breathes unfamiliar / And holly charm in words. A heart becomes not troublesome, / And doubts go awry, / And ...»