Text & Translation
Voron, 'The Raven'
Russian source:
Alexander Pushkin
Voron voronu kričit:
«Voron, gde b nam otobedatʹ?
Kak by nam o tom provedatʹ?»
Voron voronu v otvet:
«Znaju, budet nam obed;
V čistom pole pod rakitoj
Bogatyrʹ ležit ubityj.
Kem ubit i otčego,
Znaet sokol lišʹ ego,
Da kobylka voronaja,
Da hozjajka molodaja».
Sokol v roŝu uletel,
Na kobylku nedrug sel,
A hozjajka ždet milógo,
Ne ubitogo, živogo.
One raven to another flies
English translation ©
Philip Ross Bullock
One raven to another cries:
‘Raven! Where should we dine out?
How are we to make that choice?’
The other raven replies in turn:
‘I know where dinner can be had;
In the open fields, beneath a willow,
There lies the body of a knight.
Who killed him and why
Only his falcon knows,
And his jet-black mare,
And his maiden fair.
The falcon flew off into the grove,
His enemy sat astride his mare,
And his maiden awaits her sweetheart,
Thinking him still alive, not dead.’
Voron, 'The Raven'
Russian source:
Alexander Pushkin
One raven to another flies
English source:
Philip Ross Bullock
Voron k voronu letit,
One raven to another flies,
Voron voronu kričit:
One raven to another cries:
«Voron, gde b nam otobedatʹ?
‘Raven! Where should we dine out?
Kak by nam o tom provedatʹ?»
How are we to make that choice?’
Voron voronu v otvet:
The other raven replies in turn:
«Znaju, budet nam obed;
‘I know where dinner can be had;
V čistom pole pod rakitoj
In the open fields, beneath a willow,
Bogatyrʹ ležit ubityj.
There lies the body of a knight.
Kem ubit i otčego,
Who killed him and why
Znaet sokol lišʹ ego,
Only his falcon knows,
Da kobylka voronaja,
And his jet-black mare,
Da hozjajka molodaja».
And his maiden fair.
Sokol v roŝu uletel,
The falcon flew off into the grove,
Na kobylku nedrug sel,
His enemy sat astride his mare,
A hozjajka ždet milógo,
And his maiden awaits her sweetheart,
Ne ubitogo, živogo.
Thinking him still alive, not dead.’
Composer
Nikolai Medtner
Nikolai Karlovich Medtner (5 January 1880 [O.S. 24 December 1879] – 13 November 1951) was a Russian composer and pianist. Although he fell into relative obscurity after his death, he now recognised as one of the most significant Russian composers…
Poet
Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (6 June 1799 – 10 February 1837) was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era who is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. Pushkin was born…