Song from the film ‘A cruel romance’ performed by Nikita Mikhalkov.

Mochnatiy Shmyel

Mokhnatyy shmel’ – na dushistyy khmel’,
Tsaplya seraya – v kamyshi,
A tsyganskaya doch’ – za lyubimym v noch’,
Po rodstvu brodyazh’ey dushi.

Tak vpered – za tsyganskoy zvezdoy kochevoy,-
Na zakat, gde drozhat parusa,
I glaza glyadyat s bespriyutnoy toskoy
V bagroveyushchie nebesa.

I vdvoem po trope – navstrechu sud’be,
Ne gadaya, v ad ili v ray.
Tak i nado idti, ne strashas’ puti,
Khot’ na kray zemli, khot’ za kray.

Tak vpered za tsyganskoy zvezdoy kochevoy,
Na svidan’e s zarey, na vostok,
Gde, tikha i nezhna, rozoveet volna,
Na rassvetnyy vpolzaya pesok!

Tak vpered za tsyganskoy zvezdoy kochevoy,-
Do revushchikh yuzhnykh shirot,
Gde svirepaya burya, kak bozh’ya metla,
Okeanskuyu pyl’ metet!

Tak vpered – za tsyganskoy zvezdoy kochevoy,-
Na zakat, gde drozhat parusa,
I glaza glyadyat s bespriyutnoy toskoy
V bagroveyushchie nebesa!

A hairy bumble bee (Translation)
A hairy bumble bee – on the aromatic hops,
A grey Heron – in the reeds,
But a gypsy’s daughter – for her beloved, to the night
By kinship of a wondering soul.

So go ahead, after the gypsy’s nomadic star,
To the sunset, where the sails tremble,
And eyes look on with homeless longing
To the erubescent heaven!

And the two of us on the path toward destiny
Not guessing – to hell or to heaven,
So we should go, without fear of the journey
Be it to the edge of the earth, even over the edge.

So go ahead, after the gypsy’s nomadic star,
To the rendezvous at dawn, to the east,
Where, quietly and tenderly, the waves turn pink
At dawn crawling over the sand!

So go ahead, after the gypsy’s nomadic star,
Before the roaring southern latitudes,
Where a fierce storm, like a God’s broom,
Sweeps the ocean’s dust!

So go ahead, after the gypsy’s nomadic star,
To the sunset, where the sails tremble,
And eyes look on with homeless longing
To the erubescent heaven!

• Translation by Olga Formalnova