Marina Tsvetaeva
Don Juan. 3. Aren`t you tired, after so many roses...

3

Aren't you tired, after so many roses,
Cities and toasts
To love me? You're almost a skeleton,
I'm almost a ghost.

And why should I know, that you had to call
On a higher power?
And why should I know, that there was smell of Nile
In my hair?

No, I better tell you a tale:
January it was.
A monk with a mask carried a flashlight.
Someone threw a rose.

Someone's drunken voice at cathedral walls
Prayed and swore.
Don Juan of Castille met Carmen
At this hour.

Translated by Ilya Shambat