My sweet black midget gave me many pleasures
And was so good in worshipping my feet,
I trusted him my gold and other treasures
To keep them in my gilded chest so neat.
But day has come, and he began to grow
And grew so big that broke my lady nest.
I kissed his feet, but all I heard was "No!"
He walked away and took with him my chest.
Мой черный карлик целовал мне ножки,
Он был всегда так ловок и так мил!..
Мои браслетки, кольца, серьги, брошки
Он убирал и в сундучке хранил.
Но в черный день печали и тревоги
Мой карлик вдруг поднялся и подрос...
Вотще ему я целовала ноги —
И сам ушел, и сундучок унес!
«Time's river in its rushing current / Sweeps all the human deeds away, / And fills an abyss of oblivion / With nations, kingdoms and their kings, / But if there is something remaining / Through sounds of lyre or trumpet’s air, / Will enter the Eternal gullet — / And will not fle...»
«O, burst out laughing, laughers! / O, set your laughing, laughers! / You who laugh with laughter and you who laugh off laughably, / O, laugh away laughingly! / O, laughable laughing-stocks' — the laughter of laughsome laughers! / O, laugh-in enlaughingly, the laughter of outlaughing lau...»
«Farewell, farewell, unwashed Russia, / The land of slaves, the land of lords, / And you, blue uniforms of gendarmes, / And you, obedient to them folks. Perhaps beyond Caucasian mountains / I’ll hide myself from your pashas, / From their eyes that are all-seeing, / From their ever...»
«Farewell! — unwashed, indigent Russia, / The land of slaves, the state of lords, / And you, its navy-coated marshals, / And you, their dedicated herds. Perhaps, behind Caucasian ridges / I will be safe from your emirs, / From their all-overseeing preachers, / From their all-overhe...»