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Along the Petersburg Road
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Vdol po Piterskoi,
po darozhinkye,
po Tverskoi-Yamskoi
s kalakoltshikom ...
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Along the Petersburg Road,
along the small lane
to the Tverskoi-Yamskoi Quarter
with a little bell ...
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Pyishit milinikoi
ko mnye gramotku,
ko mnye gramotku,
vyest' nye radostnu:
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He writes to his dear one,
to me, a note,
a small note to me,
a sad message:
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"Nye sidyi, Dunya,
pozno vetsherom,
tý nye zhgi svyetshi
vosku yarovo!
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"Don't sit, Dunya,
so long in the evening,
and don't burn the candles
of the clear wax!
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Tý nye zhgi svyetshi
vosku yarovo –
tý nye zhdi k sibye
druga milovo!"
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Don't you burn the candles
of the clear wax –
and don't wait any longer
for your darling!"
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Vdol po Piterskoi,
po darozhinkye,
po Tverskoi-Yamskoi
s kalakoltshikom ...
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Along the Petersburg Road,
along the small lane
to the Tverskoi-Yamskoi Quarter
with a little bell ...
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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:
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
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