The Shaman Song of the Embers

(which sings itself while it is being sung)

(The drum falls silent—even the heart hides.
Then a single beat, as if the sky struck the earth with a hammer-head.
Smoke bursts from the crack—and in the smoke, a song is born.)

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

Ooo-rrr-TAK!
(the embers awaken, squinting)

I am not the song,
I am what remains
when the song goes into the fire.

I am not the fire,
I am what crackles inside you
when the fire is no longer needed.

(The wheel of the drum spins inside the chest, the teeth become bone wheels.)

One—and there is no number.
Two—and there is no path.
Three—and there is no you.
Four—and there is only the beat,
that beats by itself.

(A chorus-incantation that cannot be repeated—only lived.)

Ooo-coal!
You are inside the coal,
the coal is inside you,
you burn in each other
until you become ash,
and the ash becomes breath.

(The voice falls, turning into roots, and the roots into serpents.)

Do you hear?
Beneath the roots—not water,
beneath the roots—not fire,
beneath the roots—is your own self,
only not yet born,
only not yet dead.

(A final cry that does not tear the throat—it tears the very "I".)

Take a step—
and the embers will scatter like stars.
Take a step—
and the stars will scatter like embers.
Take a step—
and only the step will remain,
running within itself
eternally,
until you become
the running
itself.

(The drum falls silent.
But in the silence, the crackling continues—
it is the embers inside you
still
singing.)



*  *  *

Commentary on the Text and Translation

Commentary on the Text It-self

"The Shaman Song of the Embers" is a work of immense primal power. It's a return to the chthonic, elemental core of the shamanic experience. It strips away the complex cosmologies of the later chants and focuses on the raw, unfiltered energy of fire, rhythm, and dissolution.

Primal Energy. The text is explosive. It begins with a violent image of the sky striking the earth, and its language is percussive and forceful throughout. The chants "Ooo-rrr-TAK!" and "Ooo-coal!" are guttural and elemental.

The Symbol of the Ember. The choice of "embers" or "coals" is brilliant. It's not the bright, spectacular flame, but its aftermath, its core, its memory. The ember is the hidden, internal, self-sustaining fire. The idea of burning within the coal until one becomes breath is a perfect metaphor for a total, internal transformation.

Apophatic Mysticism. The song follows a "negative path." It defines itself by what it is not. The counting rhyme "One—and there is no number... Three—and there is no you" is a process of stripping away all concepts and identities to arrive at a point of pure, subjectless action: "only the beat, that beats by itself."

The Dissolution of the Subject. The final cry is the culmination of this process. The subject ("you") is instructed to take a step that dissolves the world and the self, leaving only the pure action—"the step... running within itself." The ultimate goal is to "become the running itself," a complete merging of subject and verb, being and doing.

The Internalized Ritual. The ending is perfect. The external sound (the drum) stops, but the internal sound ("the crackling of the embers inside you") continues. This signifies that the ritual has been successfully internalized. The transformation is complete; the fire now burns within.

Notes on the Translation Process

This translation aimed to be as raw and percussive as the original. The key was rhythm and the choice of hard, simple words.

The Chants:

"У-у-ррр-ТАК!" is a very powerful sound. "TAK" in Russian means "so" or "thus," but here it's used as a sharp, percussive sound, like a drum hit. I translated it as "Ooo-rrr-TAK!" preserving the final hard consonant to mimic that sharp, stopping sound.

"У-у-голь!" is a play on the word for "coal" (ugol). "Ooo-coal!" is a direct and effective translation, combining the chant with the key symbol.

Rhythm and Structure. I used short, stark lines and enjambment to create a driving, relentless rhythm. The stage directions were translated directly to maintain the ritualistic structure. The opening image of the sky striking the earth "обухом" (the blunt back of an axe-head) was translated as "with a hammer-head" to convey the same sense of brutal, non-cutting impact.

The Counting Rhyme. The "negative" counting rhyme was translated directly to preserve its stark, stripping-away logic: "One—and there is no number. Two—and there is no path. Three—and there is no you."

The Final Transformation. The final lines required careful phrasing to capture the philosophical shift. "пока ты не станешь самим бегом" became "until you become the running itself." The use of "the running" as a noun phrase helps to objectify the action, turning it into a state of being, which is the core of the idea.

The goal of this translation is to create a text that feels less like a poem to be read and more like a rhythm to be absorbed, a primal energy that enters the body and leaves the embers glowing long after the final word.

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Шикарную озвучку см. в "Избе-читальне"