The Nursery

Tell me, Nanny, tell me, [my] dear,
About that terrible wolf:
How that wolf wandered in the woods,
How that wolf carried children into the woods
And how he gnawed on their white bones,
And how the children screamed, cried!
Nanny! So [was it the case that], those children the wolf ate,
They offended their old nurses,
Not [even] listening to their Papa and Mama?
So [is that why] he ate them, Nanny?

Or [how about] this: Tell me instead about the Tsar and Tsarina,
Who lived by the sea in a fine palace.
The same Tsar who walked with a limp,
How [whenever] he stumbled, a mushroom would spring up,
About the Tsarina who had such a runny nose
That she sneezed the window glass into smithereens!
You know, Nanny:
Don’t tell me any more about the wolf! God bless him, [peace be] with the wolf!
Tell me [another story], nurse, something funny!

Oh, you mischief-maker!
The skein of wool has been unwound, knitting needles lost,
Oh, you! The stitches have been dropped!
The stocking is all splashed with ink!
In the corner! In the corner!
Go stand in the corner!
Prankster!

I didn’t do anything, Nanny,
I didn’t touch your knitting, Nanny!
The wool stocking was unwound by the little kitten,
And the needles were lost by that kitty,
But Mikey was a good boy,
Mikey was a clever boy.
But Nanny is angry, old,
and her nose is dirty.
Mikey is clean, well-combed,
But Nanny’s cap is crooked.
Nanny hurt Mikey’s feelings,
and now he has to stand in the corner.
Mikey doesn't love Nanny anymore, so there!

Nurse, Nanny!
what happened, dear Nurse!
I was playing over there in the sand,
near the gazebo, by the birch trees,
I’d built a house of the finest maple pieces,
Those, that my own Mama herself cut out for me.
The little house was finished being built,
A little house with a roof, a proper little house, when all of a sudden...

Onto the same roof, a beetle lands,
Huge, black, so fat,
wiggling his moustache in such a scary way,
And right at me, he was looking!
I was frightened! But the beetle is buzzing, angrily,
His wings spread, he wants to grab me! . . .
And he flew, and right here in the temple, he hit me!
I crouched down, Nanny,
sat down, afraid to move!
Only one of my eyes opened a bit,
And what’s more, look, Nanny:
The beetle is lying there, with folded legs,
his nose in the air, on his back,
And it’s not at all angry, and his moustache doesn’t move,
And he’s definitely not buzzing, only the wings are trembling.
So? He died? Or he was pretending?
What was it, what, tell me, Nurse, 
What happened to the beetle? He hit me, and he fell!
What happened to him, that beetle?

Tyapa, bye, bye, Tyapa, bye, bye,
Calm yourself down! Tyapa! You need to sleep!
Tyapa, sleep, sleep, Tyapa, or the boogeyman will come
a big wolf will come, and carry you into the dark forest.
Tyapa, sleep, go to sleep!
What you see in your dreams, tell me about it:
About a wonderful island, where you don’t need to reap nor sow,
Where pear trees bloom and ripen,
Day and night golden birds sing!
Bye, bye, hushabye, bye, bye, Tyapa!

“Lord have mercy on Papa and Mama
and save them, Lord!
Lord have mercy on [my] little brother Vasya
and [my] brother Misha!
Lord have mercy on my old grandmother,
Give her good health,
Grandma’s so good,
Grandma’s so old, Lord!
And save, our God, Auntie Katya,
auntie Natasha, auntie Masha, auntie Parasha,
Aunties Lyuba, Varya, and Sasha, 
and Olya, and Tanya, and Nadya,
Uncles Petya and Kolya, uncles Volodya
and Grisha, and Sasha, and everybody else,
Lord, save and have mercy on
Filya, and Vanya, and Mitya, and Petya,
and Dasha, Pasha, Sonya, Dunyushka...
Nurse! Hey, nurse! What else, Nurse?”

“You see, how naughty you are!
How many times do I really need to repeat:
'Lord have mercy and protect me!'”

“Lord have mercy and protect me!
That’s it, Nanny?”

“Hey! Trot, trot! Hey, giddyap! Hey! Hey!
Ta, ta, hey! Та, ta, giddyap!
Whoa! Stop! Vasya, Vasya!
Listen, come over to play today!
Only ... it's late!
Well, you trot on! Trot! Bye, Vasya!
I went to Yukki...
But I’ll [get there] before night falls,
We’re put to bed early, extremely early... 
Come, see!
Ta, ... ta, hey! Tа, ..., ta, let’s go!
Trot! Hey, giddyap! Hey, hey, let’s go! Hey, hey! Crushed!
Oh, it hurts! Oh, [my] leg!” 

“My dear, little boy, what’s wrong?
Well, enough to [make you] cry!
Come, my friend!
Hang on, stand on the right foot:
There, child! Look, how lovely!
Do you see?
In the bushes to your left! Аh, what a divine bird!
What plumage!
Do you see? … Over there? It’s gone?” 

“It’s gone! I rode to Yukki, Mama!
Now we need to hurry home ...
Trot! Trot! Guets are coming ... Trot!
We need to hurry! ...”  

Hey, hey, hey, hey, Mama, dear Mama!
I was going to find [my] parasol,
Mama, it’s very hot, I dug around in the chest
and looked in the table: no, on purpose!
I quickly ran to the window,
maybe the parasol had been forgotten out there...
Suddenly I see it, on the windowsill, our cat “Sailor,” 
climbing on the birdcage, scratching [at it]!
The bullfinch trembles, hides in the corner, peeps.

I was furious! “Hey, brother, before you polish off the little bird!
No, wait, you’re caught. I see you, cat!” 
As if nothing had happened, I stand still, look to the side, 
Only keeping one eye on him:
what a strange creature!
The cat calmly looks me in the eye,
And his paw reaches into the cage anyway:
only thinking about grabbing the bullfinch,
so I slapped him!
Mama, how hard the cage [was]!
My fingers hurt so much, Mama!
Mama! Right on the tips, right here,
it’s aching, it aches right here...
No! What a bad cat, Mama, right?