PROLGUE II & III

 

 

II

 

Quietly flows the quiet Don,
Yellow moon slips into a home.

He slips in with cap askew,
He sees a shadow, yellow moon.

This  woman  is ill,
This woman  is alone,

Husband  in the grave, son in prison,
Say a prayer for me.






        III

No, it is not I, it is somebody else who is suffering.
I would not have been able to bear what happened,
Let them shroud it in black,
And let them carry off the lanterns ...
                Night.

1940 

Trans. Judith 

 

2
Gently flows the  gentle  Don,
Yellow  moonlight leaps the sill,

Leaps the sill and stops aston-ished as it sees the shade


Of a woman   lying ill,
Of a woman  stretched alone.

Son  in irons and husband clay.
Pray. Pray. 

3

No,  it is not I, it is someone else who is suffering.
I could not have borne it. And this thing which has
     happened,
Let  them cover it with black cloths,
And  take away the lanterns ...
                              Night. 

 Trans. D.M. Thomas