Yunna Morits
On the Other Side of the Wall
He said I love someone else.
Don’t cuddle up to me, dear.
I am in her clutches now,
She is going to be my wife.
And with her I shall leave this place,
So I do not have too see,
dear Lyuda, how each day,
You take my child to the crÍche.
As my new bride has commanded,
I shall cut myself off from you,
So my heart should not grieve overmuch,
Or try to find a way back.
She whispered: Dearie, Don’t you fret!
Get up and pour us some wine.
My heart is weary of you,
You needn’t feel sorry for me.
Nor is it in my power
To make you do anything, friend.
Your fancy and your loving’s
As firm as the passing snow.
And it bores me, to tell the truth,
Means nothing at all to me.
I’d much rather this goodbye now,
Than to purr like a cat on heat!
He said:
Here’s to you, then!
Good health and good luck as well!
And a fifty-rouble bill
He laid by the child’s sleeping head.
And, like a wild creature, Lyudmila yawned
Gnawed through the invisible strand,
And dozed for a thousand years
Before washing down the porch.
Translated by Daniel Weissbort
Page(s) 133
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