Along the Petersburg Road
Vdol po Piterskoi,
po darozhinkye,
po Tverskoi-Yamskoi
s kalakoltshikom ...
Along the Petersburg Road,
along the small lane
to the Tverskoi-Yamskoi Quarter
with a little bell ...
Pyishit milinikoi
ko mnye gramotku,
ko mnye gramotku,
vyest' nye radostnu:
He writes to his dear one,
to me, a note,
a small note to me,
a sad message:
"Nye sidyi, Dunya,
pozno vetsherom,
tý nye zhgi svyetshi
vosku yarovo!
"Don't sit, Dunya,
so long in the evening,
and don't burn the candles
of the clear wax!
Tý nye zhgi svyetshi
vosku yarovo –
tý nye zhdi k sibye
druga milovo!"
Don't you burn the candles
of the clear wax –
and don't wait any longer
for your darling!"
Vdol po Piterskoi,
po darozhinkye,
po Tverskoi-Yamskoi
s kalakoltshikom ...
Along the Petersburg Road,
along the small lane
to the Tverskoi-Yamskoi Quarter
with a little bell ...
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.
Arrangement for balalaika, musical notation,
transcription and analogous translation: Kai Kracht
Comment:
Dunya has good reasons to be grieved
about her darling
who drives his troika,
which always has a little bell
to keep the horses running,
right to the Tverskoi-Yamskoi Quarter
–
in the times of the Russian Empire,
that was an ill-reputed quarter of Moscow.
© Kai Kracht 2002