In the forbidden and dense, Awful evergreen dark woods, Any kind of evil is roaming, And scares the travellers to death: Some howl together - evil spirits... If there are any nightingales - they are brigands. Terrible, ohhh, dreadful! In the bewitched deep green swamps There are humanoids and demons - They will tickle you to hiccups And will drag you to the bottom. You may be a horseman, you may be a pedestrian - They don’t give a damn, And the evil ugly elfs - Just can’t wait to eat you up. Terrible, ohhh, dreadful! And the peasant, the merchant and the warrior Found themselves in those dark woods. They had to go through the black forest, Some were drunks and some were fools. Some came with a reason, some without it, Hell you will see them again! Vanished without a trace. Terrible, ohhh, dreadful! From the foreign oversea forest Where there’s an existing hell, Where there are such evil demons, That they wack each other’s brains, So they could collaborate On their evil later - They came here to share the experience. Terrible, ohhh, dreadful! The Nightingale the Brigand Had prepared them a feast, And their boss was a Dragon, With his servant, the Vampire. They drank the herbs from skulls, Ate the rotten flesh, Called themselves the blasphemers, Danced on coffins of the dead. Terrible, ohhh, dreadful! The three-headed Dragon Climbed up the highest tree: "Brigand, bring out the women, Let them show what they’ve got. Let the elfs dance and sing, What the heck! Otherwise, sons of bitches, I will wring your necks!" Terrible, ohhh, dreadful! However, the Nightingale, the Brigand Was also drunk and mad - Hehad simply screamed and whistled: "Why you, jerk, you just wait! Get out of here, now, Before I slaughter you! Take all your belongings And the Vampire too!" Terrible, ohhh, dreadful! Everybody soon went crazy: "We’ve had enough of this! Are we witches or aren’t we witches? Are we patriots or not? So, the Brigand, now we know Why you made us drunk - So this way you could steal All the women from us!" Terrible, ohhh, dreadful! But right now the kind people Can recall the past, you know, The evil spirits fought each other, Until its every member died. The disgrace has disappeared Forever. Now the humans walk the woods In safety. Terrible, ohhh, dreadful? Not one bit.
© Nathan Mer. Translation, 1991