My neighbor traveled widely in our country, He sought something, well, maybe fame. I never stick my nose into other people’s business, But to me it’s painful. What a shame! On his windows you see plush and silk, His woman is wealthy and so cunning. In Moscow I’d find uranium and more, If I only had so much money. And I think that often people lie, He thinks he has everything. That’s funny. But where does all that money go? Oh, such tremendous pretty money! And last night their sarcastic son Fell near our door, hitting his head, And on purpose he broke my decanter, They better pay me big bucks for that. He’d get a ruble, while I a nickle, Let him pay the fine, that bastard. I m not one bit jealous of him - I m for the sake of pure justice. But all right I’ll give them comforts soon, He will move away from this apartment. He doesn’t know what to spend his money on, While we don’t have enough for vodka.
© Nathan Mer. Translation, 1991