LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,284)
  • Text Authors (19,813)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,116)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

by Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799 - 1837)

Besy
Language: Russian (Русский) 
Our translations:  ENG
Mchatsja tuchi, v'jutsja tuchi;
Nevidimkoju luna
Osveshchajet sneg letuchij;
Mutno nebo, noch' mutna.
Jedu, jedu v chistom pole;
Kolokol'chik din-din-din...
Strashno, strashno ponevole
Sred' nevedomykh ravnin!

„`Ej, poshjol, jamshchik!...“ — „Net mochi
Konjam, barin, tjazhelo;
V'juga mne slipajet ochi;
Vse dorogi zaneslo;
Khot' ubej, sleda ne vidno;
Sbilis' my. Chto delat' nam!
V pole bes nas vodit, vidno,
Da kruzhit po storonam.

Posmotri: von, von igrajet,
Dujet, pljuet na menja;
Von — teper' v ovrag tolkajet
Odichalogo konja;
[Tam verstoju nebyvaloj
On torchal peredo mnoj;
Tam sverknul on iskroj maloj
I propal vo t'me pustoj“.

Mchatsja tuchi, v'jutsja tuchi;
Nevidimkoju luna
Osveshchajet sneg letuchij;
Mutno nebo, noch' mutna.
Sil nam net kruzhit'sja dole;
Kolokol'chik vdrug umolk;
Koni stali... „Chto tam v pole ?“ —
„Kto ikh znajet? pen' il' volk?“

V'juga zlitsja, v'juga plachet;
Koni chutkije khrapjat;
Vot uzh on daleche skachet;
Lish' glaza vo mgle gorjat;
Koni snova poneslisja;
Kolokol'chik din-din-din...
Vizhu: dukhi sobralisja
Sred' belejushchikh ravnin.]1

Beskonechny, bezobrazny,
V mutnoj mesjaca igre
Zakruzhilis' besy razny,
Budto list'ja v nojabre...
Skol'ko ikh! kuda ikh gonjat?
Chto tak zhalobno pojut?
Domovogo li khoronjat,
Ved'mu l' zamuzh vydajut?

[Mchatsja tuchi, v'jutsja tuchi;
Nevidimkoju luna
Osveshchajet sneg letuchij;
Mutno nebo, noch' mutna.]1
Mchatsja besy roj za rojem
V bespredel'noj vyshine,
Vizgom zhalobnym i vojem
Nadryvaja serdce mne...

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   D. Smirnov 

View original text (without footnotes)
1 omitted by Smirnov.

Show a transliteration: Default | DIN | GOST

Note on Transliterations

Show untransliterated (original) text

Text Authorship:

  • by Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799 - 1837), "Бесы" [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 Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948 - 2020), "Бесы", op. 20 no. 4, published 1976 [ voice, flute, percussion, violin, and cello ], from Pechal' minuvshikh dnej, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • ENG English (Dmitri Smirnov) , "The demons", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Martha Gilbert Dickinson Bianchi) , "Goblins on the steppes", appears in Russian Lyrics, first published 1916


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-01-16
Line count: 56
Word count: 217

Gentle Reminder

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

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2025 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris