Tuesday, December 13, 2005

He liked three things in life - Anna Akhmatova

Original in Russian:

ïî ìàâéì...
ïÎ ÌÀÂÉÌ ÔÒÉ ×ÅÝÉ ÎÁ Ó×ÅÔÅ:
úÁ ×ÅÞÅÒÎÅÊ ÐÅÎØÅ, ÂÅÌÙÈ ÐÁ×ÌÉÎÏ×
é ÓÔÅÒÔÙÅ ËÁÒÔÙ áÍÅÒÉËÉ.
îÅ ÌÀÂÉÌ, ËÏÇÄÁ ÐÌÁÞÕÔ ÄÅÔÉ,
îÅ ÌÀÂÉÌ ÞÁÑ Ó ÍÁÌÉÎÏÊ
é ÖÅÎÓËÏÊ ÉÓÔÅÒÉËÉ
...á Ñ ÂÙÌÁ ÅÇÏ ÖÅÎÏÊ.

9 ÎÏÑÂÒÑ 1910, ëÉÅ×

áÎÎÁ áÈÍÁÔÏ×Á. óÏÞÉÎÅÎÉÑ × Ä×ÕÈ ÔÏÍÁÈ.
íÏÓË×Á, "ãÉÔÁÄÅÌØ", 1996.

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Literal Translation:

He liked three things in life:
Evening choral, white peacocks
And worn out maps of America.
He couldn’t bare children crying,
Nor raspberry-tea,
Neither woman’s hysterics.
. . . And I was his wife.
Or (. . . I used to be his wife)

(L)

**********

My rendering:

He liked three things in life:
An evening chorus, white peacocks
And old maps of America.
He could not stand crying children,
Tea made out of raspberries
Or womanish hysteria.
…And I was his wife.

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