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

Ja li v pole da ne travushka byla
Language: Russian (Русский)  after the Ukrainian (Українська) 
Our translations:  ENG FRE
Ja li v pole da ne travushka byla,
Ja li v pole ne zelenaja rosla;
Vzjali menja, travushku, skosili,
Na solnyshke v pole issushili.
Okh, ty, gore moje, gorjushko!
Znat' takaja moja doljushka!

Ja li v pole ne pshenichushka byla?
Ja li v pole ne vysokaja rosla?
Vzjali menja srezali serpami
Sklali menja na pole snopami
Okh ty gore, mojo gorjushko
Znat' takaja moja doljushka.

Ja li v pole ne kalinushka byla,
Ja li v pole da ne krasnaja rosla;
Vzjali kalinushku, [polomali]1,
[I]2 v zhgutiki menja posvjazali!
Okh, ty, gore moje, gorjushko!
Znat' takaja moja doljushka!

Ja l' u batjushki ne dochen'ka byla,
U rodimoj ne cvetochek ja rosla;
Nevolej menja, bednuju, vzjali,
[I]2 s nemilym, sedym povenchali!
Okh, ty, gore moje, gorjushko!
Znat' takaja moja doljushka!

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")

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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