So many years, so many years Always the same again: There is no money, there are no women, And that cannot be possible. So many years I have stolen, So many years I took pains, - Instead to save together a capital, Well and I - became a drunkard. Neither house nor home And an awful ugly man, Neither friends - no bugger*, And that cannot be possible.. Only vodka for three, Only - spades as hearts... All my pan-cakes are lumps, And not only the first one.
© Elisabeth Jelinek. Translation, 2018