“Stariy Pedjak” translated from the Russian as “Old Jacket”:
I’ve worn my jacket far too long,
It’s getting shabbier and frailer.
And so I take it to a tailor
To see if something can be done.
I tell him, “Now it’s up to you
To remedy the situation.
The magic art of alteration
Should make my life as good as new.”
It was a joke – but he takes on
The task with single-minded passion,
Bringing my jacket up to fashion
As best he can. The funny man.
He trims and sews without a word,
With such meticulous precision,
As if upon a sacred mission
To have my happiness restored.
He thinks I’ll try the jacket on,
And then – the clouds will part above me,
And I’ll believe that you still love me…
Well, think again. The funny man.
A possibly more accurate translation provided by Google Translate:
I’ve worn this jacket for many years;
It’s long since worn and no longer new.
So I summon the tailor to my side
And ask him to remake the coat.
I say to him, half-joking:
"Recut it all in a different style!
The art of tailoring and sewing
Promises me new strokes of luck."
I was only joking. Yet he
Remakes the jacket with such gravity,
While inwardly fretting all the while:
*What if something goes wrong?*—The eccentric!
In his silent, diligent toil,
He has but one true concern:
That I might look happy—
In that jacket—for as long as I live.
He envisions it this way:
The moment I try the jacket on,
I’ll believe in your love once more.
—*As if!*—The eccentric!
I’ll believe in your love once more...
—*As if!*—The eccentric!
Lisa Roney
Joyous Crybaby 