From this exhausting weakness
Nowhere to go! Nowhere to go!
Which flows around my heart
Like water! Like water!
Was it really written — (and by whom?) —
In the heavens,
That two demons, hope and fear,
Should eat into my soul?
I won't be saved, I have been struggling
For so long! For so long!
I'm sure to fall, let me reach the bottom,
But where's the bottom?
…Нет! из слабости истощающей
Никуда! Никуда!
Сердце мое обтекающей
Как вода! Как вода!
Ужель написано – и кем оно?
В небесах,
Чтоб въедались в душу два демона,
Надежда и Страх?
Не спасусь, я борюсь,
Так давно! Так давно!
Все равно утону, уж скорей бы ко дну…
Но где дно?..
«Give me your paw, Jim, for good luck. / I’ve never seen such paws – not ever. / Let’s sit beneath the moon and bark / at all this boring, noiseless weather. / Give me your paw, Jim, for good luck. / But please, old boy – don’t lick, don’t lick. / Just try and get this simple ...»
«A long ray gushes through the window, / the mighty house stands in the dark, / the fire spreads about, enkindled, / and flashing in its shirt of stone. / the kitchen sheds delightful heat. / Like golden draft horses, today / there ripen, not at all in vain, / baked loafs, and babas, an...»
«Among the other kids outside, / This girl looks kind of like a frog. / Her reddish curls get tangled as she jogs. / Uneven teeth, her mouth is wide, / Her features sharp and fairly ugly. / Two boys outside are smiling smugly; / They have new bikes; their faces gleam, / And now they’r...»
«Among the other children playing here, / she stands apart, just like the ugly duckling / An awkward shirt tucked in, her red hair buckling / Curls scattered wildly, falling to her ears / Her mouth is long, teeth crooked and unsightly / Her face not smooth, her body gangly slightly / A co...»