Сергей Александрович Есенин.
Перевод стихотворения Песнь о собаке на английский язык.

The Bitch

In the morning the bitch whelped
Seven reddish-brown puppies,
In the rye barn where a row
Of bast mats gleamed like gold.

Licking their pelts smooth,
And underneath her, the snow
Melted out in the heat.

But at dusk, when the hens
Were roosting on the perch,
There came the grim-faced master
Who stuffed the pups in a sack.

The bitch bounded alongside him,
Over the snow-deep fields,
And the icy surface of the water
Shuddered a long, long while.

And when at last she struggled home,
Licking the sweat from her sides,
To her the moon above the house
Seemed like one of the pups.

Whimpering loudly she gazed up
Limpidly into the dark,
While over the hill, the slender moon
Slid into the fields beyond.

And softly, as when someone,
Jesting, throws her a stone,
Her tears, like golden stars,
Trickled down into the snow.

Song about a Dog

In the barn corner early one morning,
Where rush matting covers bare earth,
А bitch to a litter of seven
Small reddish-brown puppies gave birth.

All day until dusk she fondled them
With her tongue going to and fro,
In the warmth of her underbelly
The snowflakes would melt and flow.

But when dusk fell and the fowls took
Their places on perch and rack
The farmer came out and scowling
Put the puppies into a sack.

The bitch ran over the snowdrifts,
Keeping up with his measured рace…
And ripples long after quivered
On the pond's ice-free surface.

And as the bitch homeward tottered,
Licking sweat from flanks that steamed,
The moon shining over the cottage
Was one of her puppies, it seemed.

And fixing on deep-blue heaven
Her steady gaze she whined
And the slender moon went floating off
Over the far hillside.

And dully, as when they'd throw her
Not bread but a stone for a lark,
The eyes of the bitch went rolling
ln the snow like golden stars.

Песнь о собаке

Утром в ржаном закуте,
Где златятся рогожи в ряд,
Семерых ощенила сука,
Рыжих семерых щенят.

До вечера она их ласкала,
Причесывая языком,
И струился снежок подталый
Под теплым ее животом.

А вечером, когда куры
Обсиживают шесток,
Вышел хозяин хмурый,
Семерых всех поклал в мешок.

По сугробам она бежала,
Поспевая за ним бежать...
И так долго, долго дрожала
Воды незамерзшей гладь.

А когда чуть плелась обратно,
Слизывая пот с боков,
Показался ей месяц над хатой
Одним из ее щенков.

В синюю высь звонко
Глядела она, скуля,
А месяц скользил тонкий
И скрылся за холм в полях.

И глухо, как от подачки,
Когда бросят ей камень в смех,
Покатились глаза собачьи
Золотыми звездами в снег.

Последние стихотворения