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С тех пор как вечный судия Мне дал всеведенье пророка, В очах людей читаю я Страницы злобы и порока. Провозглашать я стал любви И правды чистые ученья: В меня все ближние мои Бросали бешено каменья. Посыпал пеплом я главу, Из городов бежал я нищий, И вот в пустыне я живу, Как птицы, даром божьей пищи; Завет предвечного храня, Мне тварь покорна там земная; И звёзды слушают меня, Лучами радостно играя. Когда же через шумный град Я пробираюсь торопливо, То старцы детям говорят С улыбкою самолюбивой: «Смотрите: вот пример для вас! Он горд был, не ужился с нами. Глупец, хотел уверить нас, Что Бог гласит его устами! Смотрите ж, дети, на него: Как он угрюм и худ и бледен! Смотрите, как он наг и беден, Как презирают все его!»
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Note on TransliterationsAuthorship:
- by Mikhail Yur'yevich Lermontov (1814 - 1841), "Пророк" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Sergey Vasilyevich Aksyuk (1901 - 1994), "Пророк" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by César Antonovich Cui (1835 - 1918), "С тех пор, как вечный судия", op. 55 (Восемь романсов = Vosem' romansov (Eight romances)) no. 8, published 1897 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Belaieff [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Vladimir Mitrofanovich Ivanov-Korsunsky (1891 - 1942), "Пророк" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Kasyanov (1891 - 1982), "Пророк" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sergey Aleksandrovich Trailin (1872 - 1951), "Пророк" [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (John Montanus) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-09-14
Line count: 28
Word count: 128
Since the time that the eternal Judge Gave me the omniscience of a prophet, In people’s eyes I read The pages of malice and vice. I began to proclaim Love And Truth’s pure teachings: All my neighbors Furiously threw stones at me. I sprinkled my head with ashes And fled from the towns, a beggar, And now in the desert I live, Like a bird, by God’s gift of food. Keeping the precepts of my prophecies, The earthly creatures there are submissive to me, And the stars listen to me, Their beams playing about with joy. But when through the noisy town I hastily force my way, Then the old men say to the children With a self-satisfied smile: “Look: there’s an example for you! He was proud, couldn’t put up with us. The fool, he wanted us to believe That God spoke with his lips! Look well at him, children: How gloomy he is, and thin and pale! Look, how naked and poor, How everyone despises him!”
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Translation of title "Пророк" = "The prophet"Authorship:
- Translation from Russian (Русский) to English copyright © 2017 by John Montanus, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in Russian (Русский) by Mikhail Yur'yevich Lermontov (1814 - 1841), "Пророк"
This text was added to the website: 2017-06-03
Line count: 28
Word count: 168