Samuil Marshak
Hushabye-hush

Soft, on stealthy feet comes Sleep:
Through a cranny it will creep

Bringing dreams that promise joy
To every little girl and boy.

It shows us fairy picture-tales
Which only those can see
Who go to bed and close their eyes
Tight as tight can be.

But little folk who will not climb
Into bed at the proper time
Get acquainted by-and-by
With Sleep’s big brother Hushabye.

“Ssssh,” says Hush to girls and boys,
“Go to sleep, don’t make a noise.”

All the streets are dark and silent
While in bed the children lie.
Off to sleep go trams and trolleys.
Driven home by Hushabye.

“Time to sleep,” he tells them sternly,
“Don’t forget, you get up early.”

And the trams and trolleys, yawning,
Trundle home and sleep till morning

Wherever there’s a hue and cry
Promptly hurries Hushabye.
Any trouble in the night
Hushabye will soon put right.

Telling people to lie down
In the country and in town,
Out on ocean-going ships
And in trains on distant trips.

In a darkened railway car
You may find him, near or far,
“Sssh,” says Hush and wags his head
At children who won’t go to bed.

On goes Hush from house to house,
Stepping softer than a mouse.
Sometimes, too, he takes a flight
In an airplane late at night.

Through the sky the airplanes zoom,
Speeding forward in the gloom.
To the engine’s even drone
People sleep as if at home.

Late one night Hush sat alone,
When they called him to the phone.

“Hush, please come,” the caller said,
“Help us put a boy to bed.
His name is Melnikov, Anton.
Our patience with him’s almost gone!

“He doesn’t want so sleep at night.
He won’t let Dad switch off the light.
He laughs and chatters without cease,
We never have an hour of peace.

“People tell him: stop your noise.
Go to bed like other boys.
If you act the way you do,
Hushabye will deal with you!

“But all he ever does is boast:
Who’s afraid of a silly ghost?
Fear a fairy-tale? Not I!
Touch me? Let him only try!”

Everybody goes to bed:
Timmy, Tommy, Ed and Ned,
Tom-tit, swallow, goose and swan.
Everyone except Anton.

All night long his light will burn,
All night long he’ll twist and turn,
Listening how in the dark
Cats miaow and watch-dogs bark.

Once, to while away the time,
He sang, then took a book of rhyme
But not a letter could be seen:
The lamp was shaded by a screen.

The book closed up, he let it drop,
And so his reading had to stop.

Even now he wouldn’t doze.
But began to count his toes;
Once and twice and thrice, but then
Felt too tired to count again.

Here the door-bell rang outside
And Anton’s eyes opened wide.

Creeping softly through the door,
Stepping lightly on the floor,
Hushabye slipped to the bed,
A toy balloon above his head.

Or maybe no balloon at all.
But a lantern like a ball
Shining with a bluish light.
Flying like a magic kite.

"Pitter-pat,
Pitter-pat,
Who’s not sleeping in this flat?
North and South, East and West,
Everybody has to rest!”

Now the lantern shone no more.
But from its teeny-weeny door
Thrushes fluttered in a crowd,
Chirping very, very loud.

Swish! Above his drowsy head
Whirring wings like lightning sped.
“Let me have one. Hush,” he asked
As the birds went flying past.

“No, my boy, these birds you see
Come in dreams to you and me.
You’re already sleeping, child.
Happy dreams to you!” he smiled.

When the moon is in the sky.
To the woods goes Hushabye.
Into every nook he’ll peep
To see if all the woodfolk sleep.

In the drowsy groves and copses
Any little sleepyhead
Still awake in nest and burrow
Hushabye will put to bed.

He wags his head at fledgeling jays
And warns the fledgeling linnet:
“Don’t you leave your nest at night,
Not even for a minute.

“Baby blackbirds going off
Alone on moonlit nights
Can easily be caught by owls
Out on hunting flights.”

At night old Hush keeps careful watch
With younger brother Sleep.
Yet even when the day begins
His vigil he must keep.

What’s going on at school today?
Perhaps the teachers are away?

There’s such a din in the first form.
You’d think there was a thunderstorm.

“Sit still,” the monitor cries out,
But no one listens to his shout.

“Silence!” all together cry
Yura, Shura, Nikolai.

“Stop the din!” Then cry in chorus
Olya, Valya, Galya, Boris.

“Do be quiet!” in a bass
Yells the best-behaved Taras.

Very soon the singing-teacher
Could no longer stand the din.
Up she got to leave the classroom,
When our faithful Hush came in.

He looked at everybody sternly
And for all to hear he said:
“Don’t tell others to be silent.
Keep your own mouth shut instead.”

Translated by Dorian Rottenberg