In the forbidden and sleepy Terrible forests of Murom All kinds of evil spirits Wander at will, Sowing fear in passersby. They howl like the living dead, If you hear a nightingale - it’s a nightmare. ’Tis terrible, oh, horror! In enchanted swamps Dwell night frights That’ll tickle you to death Or drag you off To the bottom of the river. Be you on foot or on horseback, They’ll grab you. The wood goblins Ramble through the forest so. ’Tis terrible, oh, horror! And a peasant or a merchant or a warrior Comes along in the enchanted forest, Drunk or for some other reason, Stupidly crawling into the grove. And for one reason or another They disappear Never to be seen again. Vanish. ’Tis terrible, oh, horror! They’ve come from all over the world, From places that are downright hell, Where the demons are so evil They all but eat each other up, In order to get together And share their evil experiences. ’Tis terrible, oh, horror! Solovei-Razboinik, chief among them, Arranged a stormy feast. Zmei Trekhglavyi was there And his servant, a vampire. They drank brew from skulls, ate bagels, Danced on graves, the blasphemers. ’Tis terrible, oh, horror! Zmei Gorynych climbed a tree, Just to rock it back and forth. Bring on the girls, Razboinik, Let ’em show their stuff! Let the wood goblins dance and sing. Otherwise, you mother, I’ll rot them all. ’Tis terrible, oh, horror! Solovei-Razboinik was something else. He whooped and whistled: Dope! Pig! Foreign parasite! To Zmei Gorynych swinging in a tree: Get out of here, scram, And take your vampire with you! Tis terrible, oh, horror! They all started yowling like bears: "We’ve suffered!" "All these years!" "Are we witches or not?" "Patriots or not?" "Roll your eyes, bloodsucker, you got yours!" "He was ogling our ladies, too!" Tis terrible, oh, horror! But now the grey-haired folk Recall previous affairs: The evil spirits clambered all over each other Till they were trampled to death. The clamor was silenced forever. A man comes fearlessly into the forest. Ant ’tisn’t terrible the least bit!
© H. William Tjalsma. Translation, 1982