Missing Verses

So, I've worked out which two verses weren't translated (not difficult even with my woeful vocabulary) - the third and the fifth. Here they are, along with my rather vague translation:

Так живя без радости, без муки,
Помню я ушедшие года,
И твои серебряные руки
В тройке, улетевшей навсегда...

So lives without happiness, without suffering,
I remember the fleeing years,
And your silver arms
In the troika, flying away forever…

Дни бегут, печали умножая,
Мне так трудно прошлое забыть.
Как-нибудь однажды, дорогая,
Вы меня свезете хоронить.

The days fly by, multiplying grief,
so it is hard for me to forget yesterday.
Somehow, one day, sweetheart,
You .... to bury me.

I can't get свезете to fit sensibly but it obviously agrees with Вы. Multitran tells me the verb means to take or bring, I'll have to pass on that one.

I mentioned that the song was known, in English as 'The Endless Road'. In Russian that's 'Дорогой длинною', which translates more strictly as 'The Long Road', so there's a bit of poetic license in there maybe...

пока !

Comments

[Julia]

Hi,

I just landed on your page, and what a surprise it is to see you translating this text. I'm Russian, and in fairness, there are a lot of versions of this song. The one you quoted may be the longest; I know a shorter one, which is also slightly different. I've been living in the UK since 2003, and I can testify that, together with Kalinka, this song is the best-known Russian song.

May I offer a bit of comment, please? The two verses you quote in this post render as:

Thus, living without happiness or pain/suffering,
I recall the past years,
And your moonlit hands
In the troika that had gone forever.

The days fly by, multiplying sorrows/grief,
And it's so hard for me to forget the past.
And one day, my dear,
You will take me to the graveyard.

Basically, the song is a kind of Russian chanson, which would be performed in a Russian equivalent of a pub, often by the Gypsy singers. The image evoked in the chorus is that of the troika ride in moonlight, hence 'silver hands', i.e. hands as seen in moonlight.

'свезете' derivates from "везти", to take by cart (or by car recently), and it refers to the funeral train. You're right that it agrees with Вы, the singer speaks of his beloved, and Вы is You, expressing a high degree of respect to the woman in question.

Thanks a lot for being interested in Russian language and Russian culture. If you visit my English blog, there'll be a link to my Russian blog, although unfortunately I don't much time to write it (sigh)!

All the best,

Julia

[Ian H]

Hello Julia, thanks for your kind comments and help with the song. As you'll note from the blog I took a bit of a break there but my interest didn't exactly wane so I've picked up the books again. Every little word retained in memory is a step in the right direction but my +50 year old brain is nowhere near as absorbent as it used to be !