Beside the hut the cherries are in bloom
("Sadok vyshnevyj kolo khaty")
Beside the hut the cherries are in bloom,
And May bugs over them dance.... The peasants from
The fields return with weary step.... This late....
The young maids as they go sing songs.... At home
The tables have been laid, and supper waits.
A family at table sit without....
Dusk slowly comes, the evening stars are out.
The daughter serves, but seems to take too long;
The mother is impatient and about
To scold, when lo! - a bird bursts into song.
The darkness cloaks the heavens overhead...
Beside the hut her little ones to bed
The mother puts, and then, afraid that they’ll
Not sleep, lies down nearby....
The world seems dead;
All’s still save for the maids and nightingale.
Taras Shevchenko
"Sadok vyshnevyj kolo khaty"
("Садок вишневий коло хати")
1847, S - Peterburg (С.- Петербург)
Translated by Irina Zheleznova
Original publication:
Taras Shevchenko. Zibrannja tvoriv: U 6 t. — K., 2003. — T. 2: Poezija 1847-1861. — S. 11-20; 549-570
Source: Taras Shevchenko. Selected poetry. Kiev, Dnipro, 1977, p.205