by Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (1814 - 1861)
Translation by Ivan Zakharovich Surikov (1841 - 1880)

Ya li v pole da ne travushka by'la
Language: Russian (Русский)  after the Ukrainian (Українська) 
Our translations:  ENG FRE
Ya li v pole da ne travushka by'la,
YA li v pole ne zelenaya rosla;
Vzyali menya, travushku, skosili,
Na solny'shke v pole issushili.
Ox, ty', gore moe, goryushko!
Znat` takaya moya dolyushka!

YA li v pole ne pshenichushka by'la?
YA li v pole ne vy'sokaya rosla?
Vzyali menya srezali serpami
Sklali menya na pole snopami
Ox ty' gore, moyo goryushko
Znat` takaya moya dolyushka.

YA li v pole ne kalinushka by'la,
YA li v pole da ne krasnaya rosla;
Vzyali kalinushku, [polomali]1,
[I]2 v zhgutiki menya posvyazali!
Ox, ty', gore moe, goryushko!
Znat` takaya moya dolyushka!

YA l` u batyushki ne dochen`ka by'la,
U rodimoj ne czvetochek ya rosla;
Nevolej menya, bednuyu, vzyali,
[I]2 s nemily'm, sedy'm povenchali!
Ox, ty', gore moe, goryushko!
Znat` takaya moya dolyushka!

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   P. Tchaikovsky 

P. Tchaikovsky sets stanzas 1, 3-4

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Tchaikovsky: "сломали" ("slomali")
2 Tchaikovsky: "Да" ("Da")

Show a transliteration: Default | DIN | GOST

Note on Transliterations

Show untransliterated (original) text

Text Authorship:

Based on:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

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

  • ENG English (Sofia Peycheva) , "Was I not like grass in the lea?", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "N'étais-je pas un brin d'herbe dans le pré ?", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-03
Line count: 24
Word count: 128