Varlam Shalamov
Baratynsky

Three Robinson Crusoes
in an abandoned shack,
we found a real find —
a single, battered book.

We three were friends
and we quickly agreed
to share out this treasure
as Solomon decreed.

The foreword for cigarette paper:
one friend was delighted
with a gift so unlikely
he feared he was dreaming.

The second made playing cards
from the notes at the back.
May his play bring him pleasure,
every page bring him luck.

As for my own cut —
those precious jottings,
the dreams of a poet
now long forgotten —

it was all that I wanted.
How wisely we'd judged.
What a joy to set foot in
a forgotten hut.

Translated by Robert Chandler