Idjot devochka – sirotka, tjazhelo vzdykhajet, a nad neju goremychnoj, lastochka letajet. I letajet, i shchebechet, nad golovkoj v'jotsja, v'jotsja, kroshka, i krylami v kosu chut' ne b'jotsja. "Chto ty v'josh'sja nado mnoju, nad sirotkoj, ptashka? Akh, ostav' menja, – i tak mne zhit' na svete tjazhko!" – Ne ostavlju, ne ostavlju! Budu ja kruzhit'sja, – shchebetat' tebe pro brata, chto v tjur'me tomitsja. On prosil menja: “Sletaj-ka, ptashka, v kraj rodimyj, poklonis' mojej sestrice, gorjacho ljubimoj. Vse l' menja ona, golubka, dobrom vspominajet? vse l' ona jeshchjo o brate sljozy prolivajet?”
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.
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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.
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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