This post by Coral reminded me of one of my favorite Russian songs.
Here's my attempt at translating it. As you can see for yourself, it doesn't readily lend itself to translation. I'm not able to capture its nonsensical spirit, but Coral's post somehow does.
Вы так внезапны, так неотложны. Я ждал вас позже, Хотя вообще не ждал давно. Ну проходите — да не в окно же! Ой, мама, лучше бы в окно. Зачем надели вы это платье? Ах, это шляпа? Ну нифига себе фасон! Сказать по правде, я без понятья, Вы тут вообще на кой резон, Ведь не сезон. Хотите чаю — снимите лыжи. Не жуйте швабру: Она просрочена у нас. Ну как живёте, как ваша крыша? Хотя я вижу, что атас. А вы мне снились в формате трупа В сырой могиле В ста километрах под землёй. Я так проникся, что как-то трудно Воспринимать вас тут со мной Во тьме ночной. Уже спешите? Я так и думал. Вы обознались: Шли не ко мне и не сюда. Себе на память возьмите клумбу. Не возвращайтесь никогда И никуда! | You're so sudden, so urgent. I expected you later, Although I haven't been expecting you at all for quite a while. Do come in—no, not through the window! Oh dear. Through the window would've been better. Why would you put this dress on? Oh, it's a hat? Holy smokes, what a style! To tell you the truth, I have no clue What's the reason you're even here: It's not the season. Want some tea? Then take off your skis. Don't munch on the mop: Ours is past its sell-by date. So what's the crack? How are the toys in the attic? Though I can see you got some. You know, I saw a corpse edition of you in a dream, In a cold grave Hundred miles under. I cottoned to it so much that it's somewhat hard To regard you here with me, In the dark of the night. In a rush already? I figured as much. You mistook me for someone else. You were heading to another person's place elsewhere. Take this flowerbed as a keepsake, And don't you ever come back Anywhere! |
@quassnoi I can totally see what you mean. It has a similar nonsensical vibe and the creepiness I was going for when I wrote my post. Both pieces have that sense of someone existing within the text who doesn’t quite fit into the world of the living.
But let me point out something: even though I wanted to create an unsettling atmosphere, I didn’t use words like “corpse” “grave” or “dark”, and that was exactly what I was going for. Still, there are so many similarities: the “tea”, the “rush”, and the whole idea of a half- expected visit, it’s pretty evident. Both could very well be written using automatic writing.
I’ve never heard that song. My knowledge of Russian musical culture is basically zero. Anyway, I enjoyed writing mine. I hope you enjoyed translating the song. I wrote the second part of “The visitant” right after the first one. I might post it soon.