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by Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936)
Translation by Otokar Fischer (1883 - 1938)

The Ballad of Fisher's Boarding‑House
Language: English 
    That night, when through the mooring-chains
       The wide-eyed corpse rolled free,
    To blunder down by Garden Reach
       And rot at Kedgeree,
    The tale the Hughli told the shoal
       The lean shoal told to me. 

'Twas Fultah Fisher's boarding-house,
   Where sailor-men reside,
And there were men of all the ports
   From Mississip to Clyde,
And regally they spat and smoked,
   And fearsomely they lied.

They lied about the purple Sea
   That gave them scanty bread,
They lied about the Earth beneath,
   The Heavens overhead,
For they had looked too often on
   Black rum when that was red.

They told their tales of wreck and wrong,
   Of shame and lust and fraud,
They backed their toughest statements with
   The Brimstone of the Lord,
And crackling oaths went to and fro
   Across the fist-banged board.

And there was Hans the blue-eyed Dane,
   Bull-throated, bare of arm,
Who carried on his hairy chest
   The maid Ultruda's charm --
The little silver crucifix
   That keeps a man from harm.

And there was Jake Withouth-the-Ears,
   And Pamba the Malay,
And Carboy Gin the Guinea cook,
   And Luz from Vigo Bay,
And Honest Jack who sold them slops
   And harvested their pay.

And there was Salem Hardieker,
   A lean Bostonian he --
Russ, German, English, Halfbreed, Finn,
   Yank, Dane, and Portuguee,
At Fultah Fisher's boarding-house
   They rested from the sea.

Now Anne of Austria shared their drinks,
   Collinga knew her fame,
From Tarnau in Galicia
   To Juan Bazaar she came,
To eat the bread of infamy
   And take the wage of shame.

She held a dozen men to heel --
   Rich spoil of war was hers,
In hose and gown and ring and chain,
   From twenty mariners,
And, by Port Law, that week, men called
   Her Salem Hardieker's.

But seamen learnt -- what landsmen know --
   That neither gifts nor gain
Can hold a winking Light o' Love
   Or Fancy's flight restrain,
When Anne of Austria rolled her eyes
   On Hans the blue-eyed Dane.

Since Life is strife, and strife means knife,
   From Howrah to the Bay,
And he may die before the dawn
   Who liquored out the day,
In Fultah Fisher's boarding-house
   We woo while yet we may.

But cold was Hans the blue-eyed Dane,
   Bull-throated, bare of arm,
And laughter shook the chest beneath
   The maid Ultruda's charm --
The little silver crucifix
   That keeps a man from harm.

"You speak to Salem Hardieker;
   "You was his girl, I know.
"I ship mineselfs to-morrow, see,
   "Und round the Skaw we go,
"South, down the Cattegat, by Hjelm,
   "To Besser in Saro."

When love rejected turns to hate,
   All ill betide the man.
"You speak to Salem Hardieker" --
   She spoke as woman can.
A scream -- a sob -- "He called me -- names!"
   And then the fray began.

An oath from Salem Hardieker,
   A shriek upon the stairs,
A dance of shadows on the wall,
   A knife-thrust unawares --
And Hans came down, as cattle drop,
   Across the broken chairs.

.       .       .       .       .       .

In Anne of Austria's trembling hands
   The weary head fell low: --
"I ship mineselfs to-morrow, straight
   "For Besser in Saro;
"Und there Ultruda comes to me
   "At Easter, und I go

"South, down the Cattegat -- What's here?
   "There -- are -- no -- lights -- to guide!"
The mutter ceased, the spirit passed,
   And Anne of Austria cried
In Fultah Fisher's boarding-house
   When Hans the mighty died.

Thus slew they Hans the blue-eyed Dane,
   Bull-throated, bare of arm,
But Anne of Austria looted first
   The maid Ultruda's charm --
The little silver crucifix
   That keeps a man from harm. 

First published in Week's News, March 1888

Text Authorship:

  • by Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936), "The Ballad of Fisher's Boarding-House" [author's text not yet checked 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):

    [ None yet in the database ]

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

  • CZE Czech (Čeština) (Otokar Fischer) , "Balada o krčmě rybářské"


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-02-06
Line count: 109
Word count: 586

Balada o krčmě rybářské
Language: Czech (Čeština)  after the English 
To v krčmě bylo rybářské,
kde matrosů je dům,
tam ze všech krajů sedali —
od Golfu k Ostrovům —
a prášili a bafčili
a pili gin a rum.

O moři lhali ohnivém,
kde bez pomoci jsou,
o zemi lhali pod nebem
a hvězdách nad hlavou —
kdo chtějí rum a pijí líh,
jak promluví, tak lžou.

O vrazích lhali, o vracích;
a jak a kam kdo plul,
kus bajky Bohem dokládal
a peklem druhou půl;
a spílali a bouchali,
až otřásal se stůl.

Tam sedal Jens, měl býčí šíj
ten modrooký Dán
a na huňatých prsou měl
Ultrudin talisman —
ze stříbra křížek, chránící
od neštěstí a ran.

Tam sedal Pamba Malajec,
tam bezuchý byl Jake
a Luz i kuchtík Flandera,
co po africku pek,
a Jack, co haldy prodával
kalhot i kazajek.

Bostonský Salem Hardieker,
ten kůže byl a kost,
pak Fin, pak Rus, pak míšenec,
pak z Portugalska host —
u Fulty bylo, rybáře,
čertovských chlapů dost.

Jim Anka byla šenkýřkou
a s muži znala hrát,
šla do Collingy z Tarnova
svou lásku prodávat,
zde v Jaun-Bazaru přemnohý
ji námořník měl rád.

Už víc než tucet prstýnků
jí v odměnu byl dán,
též bluz a řetízků a spon;
teď na týden jí pán —
tak zákon chtěl to přístavní —
byl Salem Bostoňan.

Však nekoupil si jistotu,
že sám jen Anku má;
jak na souši, tak v přístavech
je láska vrtkavá,
též Jens, ten modrooký tur,
lákání její zná.

Kdo muž jsi, nuž — co muž, to nůž,
zde platí boj a pěst,
a zemřít může do rána,
kdo za dne propil čest,
zde v krčmě Fulty rybáře
se řádí o sto šest.

Měl býčí šíj, měl chladnou krev
ten modrooký Dán
a smál se, až se Ultrudin
mu házel talisman —
ze stříbra křížek, chránící
od neštěstí a ran.

„S bostonským držíš Salemem
a teď jsi jeho, vím.
Hleď, zítra na loď nasedám
zpět se poplavím
skrz Kategat a přes Hjelm
až k rodným vodám svým.“

Zhrzený cit když přejde v zášť,
je muž jak bezhlavý.
„S bostonským držíš Salemem“ —
však ona, toť se ví,
jen křičí: „On mi nadává,“
pokřik strh se zlý.

Zařičel Salem z Bostonu,
na schodech někdo vřísk,
po zdi se tanec stínů mih,
pojednou nůž se blýsk
a přes židli se kácel Jens,
jak holí by ho třísk.

Zemdlená hlava poklesá
a padá Ance v klín.
„Já zítra ráno nasedám
a k velikonočním
já svátkům domů dojedu.
A Ultruda, já vím,

mne bude čekat. Proč je tma?
Kdo mně to udělal?“
Dochroptěl hlas a uváz dech,
jen z Anky pláč se dral
v rybářské krčmě, když tam Jens,
ten silák, dodělal.

A tak byl zabit Jens, ten tur,
ten modrooký Dán,
a hned mu Anka ukradla
Ultrudin talisman —
ze stříbra křížek, chránící
od neštěstí a ran.

Confirmed with KIPLING, Rudyard. Písně mužů, translated by Otokar Fischer, Zlín: Tisk, 1946. pages 18-22.


Text Authorship:

  • by Otokar Fischer (1883 - 1938), "Balada o krčmě rybářské" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in English by Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936), "The Ballad of Fisher's Boarding-House"
    • Go to the text page.

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

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2019-08-09
Line count: 102
Word count: 467

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

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