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by Aleksei Konstantinovich Tolstoy, Count (1817 - 1875)

Kaby' znala ya
Language: Russian (Русский) 
Our translations:  ENG
Kaby' znala ya, kaby' vedala,
Ne smotrela by' iz okoshechka
YA na molodcza razudalogo,
Kak on exal po nashej ulice.
Nabekren` zalomivshi murmolku,
Kak lixogo konya bulanogo,
Zvonkonogogo, dolgogrivogo
Suprotiv okon na dy'by' vzdy'mal!

Kaby' znala ya, kaby' vedala,
Dlya nego by' ya ne ryadilasya,
S zolotoj kajmoj lentu aluyu
V kosu dlinnuyu ne vpletala by',
Rano do svetu ne vstavala by',
Za okoliczu ne speshila by',
V rose nozhen`ki ne mochila by',
Na prosyolok tot ne glyadela by',
Ne proedet li tem prosyolkom on,
Na ruke derzha pyostra sokola?

Kaby' znala ya, kaby' vedala,
Ne sidela by' pozdnim vecherom,
Prigoryunivshis` na zavaline,
Na zavaline, bliz kolodezya,
Podzhidayuchi, da gadayuchi,
Ne pridyot li on, nenaglyadny'j moj!
Napoit` konya studenoj vodoj!

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Note on Transliterations

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Text Authorship:

  • by Aleksei Konstantinovich Tolstoy, Count (1817 - 1875) [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 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893), "Кабы знала я", op. 47 (Семь романсов = Sem' romansov (Seven romances)) no. 1 (1880) [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "If only I'd known better", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Laura Prichard [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 25
Word count: 120

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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