Idët devočka – sirotka, tjaželo vzdychaet, a nad neju goremyčnoj, lastočka letaet. I letaet, i ščebečet, nad golovkoj v'ëtsja, v'ëtsja, kroška, i krylami v kosu čut' ne b'ëtsja. "Čto ty v'ëš'sja nado mnoju, nad sirotkoj, ptaška? Ach, ostav' menja, – i tak mne žit' na svete tjažko!" – Ne ostavlju, ne ostavlju! Budu ja kružit'sja, – ščebetat' tebe pro brata, čto v tjur'me tomitsja. On prosil menja: “Sletaj-ka, ptaška, v kraj rodimyj, poklonis' moej sestrice, gorjačo ljubimoj. Vse l' menja ona, golubka, dobrom vspominaet? vse l' ona eščë o brate slëzy prolivaet?”
Note (provided by Laura Prichard): Although this is an adaptation of Teofil Lenartowicz’s poem “Jaskółka” (Swallow), in the Russian version, Ivan Surikov transforms the girl from a carefree, pretty village girl to an abandoned orphan. Both Tchaikovsky and Taneyev referred to this song in their letters as “сиротка” (“orphan girl”). Surikov also chose to omit part of the brother’s (Polish) question: “Does she still wear a white rose in her hair?”– this image would not be consistent with the uses and colors of symbolic flowers in Russian folk peotry.
Show a transliteration: Default | DIN | GOST
Note on TransliterationsShow untransliterated (original) text
Text Authorship:
- by Ivan Zakharovich Surikov (1841 - 1880), "Ласточка" [an adaptation] [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Polish (Polski) by Teofil Lenartowicz (1822 - 1893), "Jaskółka [II]"
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), "Ласточка", op. 54 (Шестнадцать песен для детей = Shestnadcat' pesen dlja detej (Sixteen songs for children)) no. 15 (1883), also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Hans Schmidt (1854 - 1923) ; composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "The swallow", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "L'hirondelle", 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: 2003-11-03
Line count: 24
Word count: 92