Songs

Vchera moi kot vzglyanul na kalendar
Yesterday my tomcat glanced at the calendar
I khvost truboyu podnyal momentalno.
And in a trice raised his tail like a pipe.
Potom podral na lesnitsu, kak vstsar,
Then he raced out onto the stairs, as in the olden days,
I zavopil teplo i vakkhanalno:
And started to wail ardently and orgiastically:
“Vesenii brak! Grazhdanskii brak!
“Spring marriage! Common-law marriage!
Speshite, koshki, na cherdak!...”
Hurry, my female feline friends, up to the attic!...”

I kaktus moi – o chudo iz chudes! –
And my cactus – oh miracle of miracles! –
Zalityi chayem i kofeinoi guchshei,
Awash with tea leaves and coffee grounds,
Kak novyi Lazar, vyzal da i voskres
Like a new Lazarus just upped and rose again
I s kazhdym dnyom pryot iz zemli vsyo pushche.
And with each new day thrusts ever more out of the soil.
Zelyonyi shum… Ya porazhen:
The sound of spring… I’m struck dumb:
“Kak mnogo dum navodit on!”
“So many thoughts it brings to mind!”

Uzhe s panelei smyorzshuyusya gryaz,
Intrepid street sweepers chip away
Rugayas, skalyvayut dvorniki likhiye,
At the frozen mud on the streets, swearing as they work,
Uzhe ko mne zabryol sevodyna “knyaz”,
And today, the rag-and-bone man even popped by
Vzyal tyoplyi sharf i lyzhi begovye…
To borrow a warm scarf and some skis…
“Vesna, vesna! – poyu, kak bard, –
“It’s spring, it’s spring! – I sing like some bard –
Nesite zimnii khlam v lombard.”
Take all your winter junk to the pawnbroker’s.”

Siyayet solnyshko. Yei-bogu, nichevo!
The sun is shining bright. By Jove, this will do alright!
Vesenyaya lazur spugnula dym i kopot,
The blue of spring has scared off the smoke and soot,
Moroz uzhe ne shchiplet nikovo,
And no one is nipped by the frost any more,
No mnogim nechevo, kak i zimoyu, lopat…
But many people, as in winter, still have nothing to eat…
Derevya zhdut… Gniyot voda,
The trees await… the water stagnates,
I pyanykh bolshe, chem vsegda.
And there are more drunks around than ever.

Sozdatel moi! Spasibo za vesnu! –
Oh my Creator! Thank you for the spring! –
Ya dumal, one ne vozvratitsya,
I thought it would never return,
No… dai sbezhat v lesnuyu tishinu
But… Just let me escape to the silence of the woods,
Ot zloby dnya, kholera i stolitsy!
Away from the malice of daily life, from spleen and from the city!
Vesennii veter za dvermi…
The breath of spring is outside my door…
V kovo v vlyubitsya, chyort vozmi?
Let me fall in love – what the hell!