Fortune
("Ty ne lukavyla zo mnoiu")
You never played, me false, I swear it:
You grudged to me a brother, sister.
And even a friend; you took me early
And led me as a little boy
And put me in a school for peasants.
Where 1 might learn from drunken clerk,
"Work hard, my darling! You will later
Become a man!” — These were your words,
And I obeyed, I studied hard,
And learned my lesson.
And you lied I
What sort of man! It was all in vain.
We never played you false, I swear it,
We lived our life! And never, never
Left any seed of lie behind us...
So let us go, my humble fortune,
My friend so poor, so free from guile,
Let us go on; ahead is glory
And glory is my only guide.
Taras Shevchenko
"Ty ne lukavyla zo mnoiu"
("Ти не лукавила зо мною")
1858, Nyzhnii Novhorod (Нижній Новгород)
Translated by Clarence A. Manning
Original publication:
Taras Shevchenko. Zibrannia tvoriv: U 6 t. — K., 2003. — T. 2: Poeziia 1847-1861. — S. 261; 698-699
Source:
Taras Shevchenko. Works. Volume 12. Shevchenko's poetry in translations.
Edited by Bolidan Krawciw. Printed by Mykola Denysiuk Printing Company
Chicago, Illinois — USA, 1963, page 68.