A pamphlet to foes of the USSR

Alexander Nagniy,
Ирина Леви
Поэтический перевод произведения Ирины Леви «Памфлет противникам СССР»


Oh, tell me, those ones, longing for the leisure,
Who wielded might in 1917,
Who wittingly could share overmeasure,
Among the ones who ever hungry’s been.

Just tell me, who, Kolchak, with heaps of cables,
Kornilov, Kerensky with endless plight...
Who threatened one another gallows’ labels,
While making people ready for the fight...

Just tell, who gave up country’s sacred soil…
No-no! Oh, no! Not Lenin’s very "nests",
But, these were pillars of February’s turmoil,
That meanly placed the Tsar under arrest!

Through people’s blood, as bloody Sunday gulped it,
You placed the Land above the chafing pan!
But why the Tsar was one and only culprit,
To bear the blame for Messieurs’ reckless stand?

Therefore, one thing is getting boiled down,
To bring in Russia something into style,
That people in despair crave a crown,
As if they’ve been flat-headed all the while.

It is all false, your people are of wisdom!
They’ve been oppressed to all your "bravo" quacks,
Not long ago they’ve been in bonds of serfdom,
And carried them on Russian labored backs!

He is the one who raised the Soviet galleys,
Research credentials, schooling, mills and plants,
He was the one to water fields and valleys,
As pioneer raising virgin lands.

What were you thinking in the year of 90,
When you proclaimed the sovereignty of Land?
These very lands have always been your entity,
Since they’ve been mustered as Soviets had planned!

No, they weren’t the ones to mess it all around,
But it’s been you – with "Legend of the White",
Since years down the line an honest ballot,
To Union has given its green light!

So, tell me, those ones longing for the leisure,
Who sentenced fascists in the 45th?
Who couldn’t stand barbaric measure,
And stifled Russia’s enemies?!