Nikolay Zabolotsky
Don’t let your worldly soul get lazy!..

Don’t let your worldly soul get lazy!
Lest it sit twiddling its thumbs
Your soul must work like it's a navvy
Day after day, night after night!
 
Make so it go from door to door,
Drag it from one top onto another
Along a path - all ruts and holes,
Over a pass with snow covered!
 
Don't let it stay in bed, when seeing
The early morning sunshine ray,
Do keep your tightest rein on it,
And treat the loafer like a slave.
 
But if you cut your soul some slack
And let it shirk from daily chores,
The last shirt off your own back
It will then steal with no remorse.
 
If so, just grab it by the shoulders,
Go teach it and nag it till the end,
So that to behave like humans
Your soul will have to learn again.
 
It’s both a slave girl and a queen,
It’s both a worker and your child
It must work on a strict routine
Day after day, night after night!

Translated by George G.