Goldfinch, friend, I'll cock my head —
let's check the world out, just me and you:
this winter's day pricks like chaff;
does it sting your eyes too?
Boat-tailed, feathers yellow-black,
sopped in colour beneath your beak,
do you get, you goldfinch you,
just how you flaunt it?
What's he thinking, little airhead? —
white and yellow, black and red!
Both eyes check both ways — both! —
will check no more — he's bolted!
Мой щегол, я голову закину —
Поглядим на мир вдвоем:
Зимний день, колючий, как мякина,
Так ли жестк в зрачке твоем?
Хвостик лодкой, перья черно-желты,
Ниже клюва в краску влит,
Сознаёшь ли — до чего щегол ты,
До чего ты щегловит?
Что за воздух у него в надлобье —
Чёрн и красен, жёлт и бел!
В обе стороны он в оба смотрит — в обе! —
Не посмотрит — улетел!
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