A chapter, from Russia with love.
Find the songs and listen to them (follow the links). It won't have the same effect if you don't listen to the music – it creates the mood for each little drabble.
This site doesn't let me post the link, so just paste what you see under the titles after youtube . com (obviously without the spaces)
Enjoy.
XXIII. Eight Postcards from Russia
The Sun
/watch?v=6Rmw2rM2U4Q
(by me)
Oh, don't wake me, a young girl,
Early in the morning,
At dawn.
"Don't wake me yet. I want to dream."
"But don't forget, Johanna. Tonight! Tonight you'll be free…"
"I will dream about that."
Wake me then,
When the sun comes up.
When the bright sun peeks through,
The dew will fall,
On the Earth.
"Stay a while with me, wake me, wake me when the sun rises."
"But it will still be early…"
"I love the sunrise. Years of looking out of a window, and one tends to learn that the world is most beautiful in the early hours."
The shepherd will come out
Onto the plain, and play the horn…
"He will come back soon, I must leave, Johanna…"
"No, he never comes back this early."
"I know."
"How curious. Why did you say that then?"
"I wanted you to…think I was leaving…"
"So that…?"
"Kiss me."
The Geese are flying
/watch?v=V5tUQimjTq0
Choir
The geese are flying,
The geese are flying,
Geese, and two ganders.
«Missus? Jus' came ter check on ye..»
«Black crows are circling above me, Nellie. Anywhere I go...»
«Oh, come now missus...»
«The birds have flown south, except one white dove, do you see it, right there? The little thing? It's cowering, cowering beneath the echelons of circling crows...»
«Oh my God, missus, what is that in yer hand? What is that bottle?»
Him, whom I love,
Him whom I love,
I will never see again..
«I used to take myself out of bed for my daughter. Work for her. Now, why must I stay? Him, I will never see him again...»
«Ye mustn't talk that way, missus, ye never know...»
«I do. It's impossible to escape. I will never see him again. Never. And I cannot bring myself to forget him.»
My love has gone away
Gone away, beyond Voronezh...
Oh, now I cannot have him back,
I cannot have him back.
"If he had gone to Scotland, or Wales, or even France…but he is gone, beyond reach, and I cannot have him back."
"Give that ter me, missus,"
"No."
Oh, how hard,
How hard,
It is to be separated.
Oh, my eyes look,
My eyes look,
The tears fall.
"My eyes hurt, Nellie. I can't look anymore. I can't breathe."
"Well, missus, I told ye ter give it ter me."
"Thank you, Nellie."
Steppe all around
/watch?v=SpG9sPZ7Xi4&feature=related
Choir
Steppe all around
Heart is overcome with sorrow
A coachman is singing
About the wide steppe,
About how, in that steppe,
Another coachman was dying
And he, to his friend,
Was giving his order…
"It was desert all around, all around. And he was in my arms. He was dying, there was blood everywhere. My friend. Our friend."
"I take me' at off fer 'im. Folks die all the time about 'ere, Ben, old boy."
"But…he was our friend. Your friend, too."
"Friends, foes, death knows no such words, old boy. You'll learn, ye new 'uns are all the same."
You, my friend,
Forget the bad times,
And bury me.
Bury me,
In this quiet steppe,
And take the raven-black horses
Home.
"If I die…"
"Ye could. Thatcher truth fer ye."
"If I die, you won't forget me, right?"
"I won't 'old nothin' against ye, old boy…I'd be sorry yer gone, mind yeh. I'm not a monster, ye know."
Take the horses home,
Give them to my father,
And, for me, bow low,
To my mother.
To my young wife,
Tell her, my friend,
Tell her that I will not come home.
And also, pass her my word,
Give her my wedding ring.
Whoever is sweet to her heart,
Let her marry him,
And marry,
With my wedding ring.
"And my wife, my wife, back home. If you get out…you're not here for life, are you…"
"No, another three years an' I'm out if me sorry carcass ain't in some grave."
"If you get back, find her. Please. Find her and tell her I love her and want her to be happy. If I die, give her my wedding ring. Take it off my finger before they get it."
"Hm…I suppose I could, Ben. Sure, ye 'ave me promise."
Steppe all around
Heart is overcome with sorrow
A coachman is singing
About the wide steppe…
Not for you
/watch?v=twBDnkSZabo
(Pelageya)
Not for you,
Will come spring,
Not for you,
The river Don with spill out,
And the girl's heart will beat
With exhiliration of love,
But not for you.
"He's a commoner. Have you seen him? I won't let him have anything. She will be mine, he doesn't deserve her. How dare he take what is meant for me."
"Of course, my lord, of course."
"That woman's heart will beat only for me…"
"Oh, and a tender heart it is."
…
Not for you,
Will come Easter,
At the table the family will gather,
And the wine will flow into the glasses,
That life isn't for you.
For you,
A piece of lead,
Will pierce your white flesh,
And bitter tears will flow,
That is the life that awaits you…
"But she does not want me. Avoids me, ignores me, tramples on the flowers I send her."
"Surely, my lord, some time…"
"She has had enough time. You see, my friend, if she is not mine, she will be no-one's. If she is not mine, I promise her she will have no family, and only bitter tears to cry."
"But my lord, the lady surely is a fool to refuse you."
"True, my friend. She is. Otherwise, why would she have married that simpleton?"
Thin Ryabina
/watch?v=oVvRnbpT4zg
(Lyudmila Zykina)
Why do you stand swaying
Thin Ryabina – tree
Bowing your head
Right down to the earth
"Why are you always alone, mum? Anytime I come in, you're all on your own."
"Nonsense, dear, you know I always have company."
"If 'e's smart and smilin', it don't mean 'es good company."
"Don't know what you mean, love."
Over the road
Beyond the wide river
Just as lonely
Stands a tall oak
"Why don't you go into town, mum?"
"No dear, I'd better stay here. Got work to do."
"Many lonely gentlemen out there."
"Ye don't understand a thing, love."
How could I, the Ryabina,
Move over to the oak?
Then I wouldn't
Bend, and sway
"I wonder and I wonder, what does he want? How can I…oh, bother, look what I'm doin', I've messed up all the dough."
"No matter mum, I'll eat that one."
With my thin branches,
I would press close to it,
And I would whisper,
Day and night, with its leaves.
"If 'ed only let me…how I'd take care of 'im…come on, dear, ye'll get flour all over yeself."
"No matter, mum. Flour comes off easily. Look, dust, dust, it's off!"
"That's my boy."
But the Ryabina
Cannot move to the oak
So, such is her fate
To sway alone
For a century.
Not a single path crosses the field
/watch?v=gMLK0eA45qQ
(Choir)
Not a single path crosses the field.
In the field, once, there lay one path…
It lay, that path.
"Have you been in the orphanage ever since you remember yourself, then, Davy?"
"Yes, Mrs. Barker."
"Hm…you never think about your parents?"
"I did once. Not any more, ma'am."
That path, it became overgrown,
In that field,
That path, it disappeared.
"Really? Hm, perhaps that's for the better. That way you aren't sad."
"Why would I be sad? They're gone, and I have my dreams to think about."
"You talk like a grown up, Davy."
"Thank you, ma'am."
And now you can't,
You can't find that road,
Cannot walk on it.
"You know you can always come back to us for help, Davy. If anything should…"
"I'll take care o'myself, ma'am."
Spinner
/watch?v=QhmynDdWtMw (choir) /watch?v=ABmR6r99i3U (Boris Shtokolov – a more operatic voice). Choose which one you like.
In a low window,
A fire burns,
A young spinner,
Sits by it.
"I saw her by the window, ye know. She was sitting there, leaning against the window frame…"
"Plenty 'o girls sitting by night at windows with candles."
"Oh, will you stop chewing that?"
"Leave it, Bertie, you're in love, and there's only one cure for that…oi! That hurt!"
Young, and beautiful,
Brown eyes,
Across her shoulders,
A long braid of ash…
"She seemed so young…beautiful…the deepest brown eyes, a halo of dark red curls around her head…"
"Hm…didn't know yer eyesight's so good, bro."
"I must see her again…I should invite her.."
"Ey, beautiful, 'ave a couple of stale pies…"
"You're beginning to irritate me."
"It's my job."
Ashen head,
Thoughts without end,
What do you dream of,
Beautiful girl?
"I wonder what she was thinking about…"
"How fat you are."
Black Raven
/watch?v=9ApaeSUqCSA&feature=related .
(Maxim Troshin)
N.B.: You will not understand this if you have not read chapter 10, «Manuela».
Black raven, Black raven,
Why are you circling
Above my head…
You won't get
Your prey,
Black Raven,
I am not yours.
"Why did you have to go, Manuela? Mein herz, why?"
"Sir? Who are you talking to? Would you like something?"
"I feel it in here, inside, in the middle!"
"Sir, don't grab me like that, it hurts…!"
"I won't let it take me. But I know she will win in the end."
Fly to my land,
…Take the bloody handkerchief
To my beloved Lyubushka,
Tell her, tell her she is free,
I married another.
"She? Who is 'she', sir?"
"Manuela. She has come back. In that room full of…them…the children…"
"Sir, let me go, there is uproar, one of the girls…she has run away with some boy!"
"Manuela? No! She did not see me! If she did, she would stay! Take this to her! It even has my blood upon it! She knows, she knows."
The hot arrow wedded us
I see that my death is approaching
Black Raven,
I'm all yours!
"I don't know what you are talking about, sir!"
"No…she could not have run away…"
"No, sir, stop, don't…help! Help!"