Pushkin's Eugene Onegin. Book III. Stanzas 4-6.

PUSHKIN'S POEMS

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EUGENE ONEGIN

(In this edition he is called Yevgeny Onegin).

BOOK III Stanzas 4-6.

IV

Они дорогой самой краткой
Домой летят во весь опор .
Теперь послушаем украдкой
Героев наших разговор:
- Ну что ж, Онегин? ты зеваешь. -
- "Привычка, Ленской". - Но скучаешь
Ты как-то больше. - "Нет, равно.
Однако в поле уж темно;
Скорей! пошел, пошел, Андрюшка!
Какие глупые места!
А кстати: Ларина проста,
Но очень милая старушка,
Боюсь: брусничная вода
Мне не наделала б вреда.

IV
By the shortest road on their homeward way
They hasten home at utmost speed.
And we may now eavesdrop indeed
On what these heroes have to say.
"Well then, Onegin. I see you're yawning."
"It's habit, Lensky." - "But it seems you're bored
Much more than usual." - "No. It's nothing to me.
Although in the fields it's dark, I see.
Quickly, Andryushka! Get a move on! Shift!
What stupid countryside this is, and ghastly!
But you know that Larin woman is okay,
Simple, but decent, in an old fashioned way.
But that cranberry water I rather fear
Will cost my stomach something dear.

V

Скажи: которая Татьяна?"
- Да та, которая грустна
И молчалива, как Светлана,
Вошла и села у окна. -
"Неужто ты влюблен в меньшую?"
- А что? - "Я выбрал бы другую,
Когда б я был, как ты, поэт.
В чертах у Ольги жизни нет.
Точь-в-точь в Вандиковой Мадоне:
Кругла, красна лицом она,
Как эта глупая луна
На этом глупом небосклоне.
Владимир сухо отвечал
И после во весь путь молчал.

V
But tell me, which one was Tatyana?"
"The one who, with a face of sorrow,
And silently, just like Svetlana,
Came in and sat beside the window."
"Can it be that you really love the younger ?"
"Why not?" - "Well, it's the elder I would choose,
Being a poet, like you, and in your shoes.
That Olga has rather lifeless features,
Just like the madonna of Van Dyck,
A beautiful and round-faced creature,
Like this round moon, banal and pointless
Lying on the pointless, flat horizon."
Vladimir thought his friend was wrong,
But for the rest of the journey he held his tongue.

VI

Меж тем Онегина явленье
У Лариных произвело
На всех большое впечатленье
И всех соседей развлекло.
Пошла догадка за догадкой.
Все стали толковать украдкой,
Шутить, судить не без греха,
Татьяне прочить жениха;
Иные даже утверждали,
Что свадьба слажена совсем,
Но остановлена затем,
Что модных колец не достали.
O свадьбе Ленского давно
У них уж было решено.

VI

Meanwhile the appearance of Onegin
At the Larins, had of course produced
On all a suitable impression,
And all the neighbours were transfixed.
One surmise followed on another,
All stealthily began to mutter,
To joke, to make an errant guess,
To betroth Tatyana a new lover;
Some even stated positively
That the marriage was agreed, no less
But only put off temporarily
As modern rings were in short supply.
As for Lensky's marriage, (surely you know)
They all had agreed on it long ago.