Listen, my little one, to what I’ll tell you:
There’s just a small chance of happiness for our kind.
Only in fairy-tales, through trials and hardships.
But you, believe me, will achieve it.
It is time, Sadko, for us to part,
a cruel time, when roads divide.
Go get to know darkness and distress
so you may finally climb to the heights.
*
Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there was
a boy, a dark-haired boy.
There was no one he knew, no friends or relatives,
his parents long ago deceased.
He lived in darkness where Night reigned as Queen.
And Night fell in love with him, and thus she spoke:
„Never leave me, forget the days and mornings,
don’t look for them, for their light cannot heal what I have broken.“
So she spoke, and deep within him a longing arose for the sunlight,
but merciless Night denied him even the smallest freedom.
So he thought by himself: „As powerful as you may be, I will defeat you,
for from now on I will become just as merciless and powerful.“
He renounced her love and every love that was
and searched for arts even darker than night.
And he became a man who felt nothing except being driven –
but capable now of smiting the bonds of magical might.
So there came the day when he pronounced the magical words.
The chains that held him shattered immediately.
He left the dark land and the years of oppression behind
and ascended to the kingdom of sunlight.
And light hit his eyes, but in his heart there was only coldness.
Indifferently he watched the splendid golden morning.
The longing which had once burned inside him had turned to ashes,
and he had forgotten what had caused him to come here.
He thought hard, and soon he realized what sacrifice he had made,
and he evoked anew that which he had denied for years.
Oh, it came, and the beauty of the sunrays hit him like a stabbing pain –
and died away, for the light of his eyes was lost forever.
*
| Listen, my little one, to what I’ll tell you: | Слушай, мой милый, что я тебе скажу: | There’s just a small chance of happiness for our kind. | Счастье дла наших не существует. |
| Only in fairy-tales, through trials and hardships. | Только во сказке, а там и не сразу. |
| But you, Sadko, | Но счастье будет, тебе |
| will achieve it. | счастье будет. |
Crystal 10/2004