Monotonously the bell is sounding

 
     
 

Adnazvutshno gremit kalakoltshik,
i daroga pýlitsa slekhka,
i unýlo po rovnomu polyu
razlivayetsa pyesn yamshtshika.

Monotonously the little bell is sounding,
and the dust on the way is stirred up a bit,
and sadly over the plain field
flows the song of my coachman.

 
 

Stolko tshufstva v toi pyesnye unýloi,
stolko tshufstva v napyewe radnom,
schto v grudyi moyey khladnoi, astýloi,
razgaryelosya sertse agnyom.

There was so much feeling in this song,
so much feeling in the familiar tune,
that in my cool breast
my heart inflamed.

 
 

I pripomnil ya notshi drugiye
i rodnýe palya i lyesa,
i na otshi, davno uzh sukhiye,
nabyezhala, kak iskra, slyeza.

And I recalled other nights,
and the fields, and the woods of my home,
and into my eyes which had been dry so long
a tear rose like a spark.

 
 

Adnazvutshno gremit kalakoltshik,
izdali otdavayas slekhka,
i umolk moi yamshtshik, a daroga
predo mnoi daleka, daleka.

Monotonously the little bell is sounding,
slightly echoing from afar,
and my coachman fell silent, but the way
in front of me is still so long, so long.

 
     
 

Words and Music: Russian folksong
Pronunciation:
       a as in "bar", e as in "bed", i as in "bid", o as in "bore", u as in "blue"
       y = as in "yellow" / ý = dull i, as in "bill"
       s = always voiceless, as in "son" / z = voiced, as in "zone"
       sh = voiceless, as in "mesh" / zh = voiced, like the s in "measure"
       kh = mostly rough, like the ch in Scotch "loch", but smooth when "e" or "i" follows
       a, e, i, o, u, y = the underlined vowel signifies the stressed syllable of a word.
Transcription and analogous translation: Kai Kracht
Comment:
       The monotonous bell belongs to a troika – three horses side by side in front of a light coach – which is usually dashing along the far Russian roads at such a speed that clouds of dust are stirred up. The little bell which is tinkling all the way keeps the horses running, and the coachman has time enough to sing one of these soulful Russian folksongs.
© Kai Kracht 2002