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An Attempt at Consolation

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Юрий Левитанский: «Попытка утешенья»...

Yuri Levitanskiy: "An Attempt at Consolation"...


Все непреложней с годами, все чаще и чаще,
я начинаю испытывать странное чувство,
словно я заново эти листаю страницы,
словно однажды уже я читал эту книгу.

More and more inevitably, more and more often, as the years pass,
I keep getting a peculiar feeling,
As if I were leafing through those pages not for the first time,
As if I had read this book once before.

Мне начинает с годами всё чаще казаться
И всё решительней крепнет во мне убежденье:
Этих страниц пожелтевших руками касаться
Мне несомненно однажды уже приходилось.

It seems to me more and more often, as the years pass,
And the conviction grows decisively stronger:
I have had to touch these yellowed pages with my hands
Once before, indubitably.



Я говорю Вам: "Послушайте, о, не печальтесь,
О, не скорбите безмерно о вашей потере,
Ибо я помню, что где-то на пятой странице
Вы всё равно успокоитесь и обретёте.

And I say to you, "Listen, oh, don't be sad,
Don't grieve immeasurably for your loss,
For I recall, that somewhere around page five
You will anyway find consolation.

Я говорю Вам: "Не следует так убиваться.
О, погодите, увидите - всё обойдётся.
Ибо я помню, что где-то страниц через десять
Вы напеваете некий мотивчик весёлый.

I say to you: "You shouldn't torment yourself so,
Oh, wait--you will see, everything will be all right.
For I remember, that ten pages or so later
You are humming some merry tune.



Я говорю Вам: "Не надо заламывать руки,
Хоть Вам и кажется небо сегодня с овчину.
Ибо я помню, что где-то на сотой странице
Вы улыбаетесь, как ничего не бывало."

I say to you: "Don't wring your hands,
Although the world seems oppressive today.
For I remember, that somewhere around page one hundred
You are smiling, as if nothing had happened."

Я и себе говорю - ничего, не печалься.
Я и себя утешаю - не плачь, обойдется.
Я и себе повторяю - ведь все это было,
было, бывало, а вот обошлось, миновало.

And even to myself I say--it's all right, don't be sad.
And even myself I console with this--don't cry, it will be all right.
And even to myself I repeat--all this has happened before,
It happened, it took place, but it has passed, and everything is all right.



Я говорю себе - будут и горше страницы,
будут горчайшие, будут последние строки,
чтобы печалиться, чтобы заламывать руки -
да ведь и это всего до страницы такой-то.


I say to myself--there will be pages more bitter than this,
There will be lines that are the most bitter, the final lines,
So as to cause one to  be sad, so as to cause one to wring one's hands--
but even all that is only until page number so-and-so.




Ю. Левитанский(1985) Художник Иван Славинский. Утащено отсюда, спасибо My_breathing

From [livejournal.com profile] vasily_sergeev ; the poet is Yuri Levitanskiy; painter is Ivan Slavinskiy; translation's mine.

Comments

Mar. 5th, 2011 08:48 pm (UTC)
Thats a lovely poem! Ideal for World Book Month :)
med_cat: (Reading)
Mar. 5th, 2011 08:59 pm (UTC)
Very glad you enjoyed :)
Mar. 5th, 2011 09:06 pm (UTC)
Чудесный перевод, насколько я способен понять :)))
med_cat: (Default)
Mar. 5th, 2011 09:11 pm (UTC)
My pleasure; but you flatter me--it's not in rhyme, as you see--I can't rhyme, unfortunately ;)
debriswoman: (Default)
Dec. 23rd, 2012 10:36 pm (UTC)
Thanks for pointing this one out. An interesting way of revising and reassessing a current situation or grief:-)
med_cat: (woman reading)
Dec. 23rd, 2012 11:25 pm (UTC)
:) Glad if it was of help.

His is from personal experience, one can tell, can't one? He didn't have an easy life...

He has several other poems I like, and I was just reading more of them today, I'll post them in the coming weeks.
debriswoman: (Default)
Dec. 24th, 2012 12:13 am (UTC)
Thank you:-)
med_cat: (Default)
Dec. 24th, 2012 12:19 am (UTC)
:)