Tonkaya Ryabina from Tania Opland by Tania Opland

Tonkaya Ryabina
words: I. Surikov

Shto stoish', kachayas', Tonkaya ryabina,
Golovoy sklonyayas' do samovo tina?
Why do you stand, swaying, slender ash tree,
your head bent over your roots?
A cheryez dorogu za ryekoy shirokoy
Tak zhe odinoko dub stoít vyisokiy.
And across the way, over the broad river,
likewise alone, stands a tall oak tree.
Kak bui mnye, ryabinye, k dubu pyerebrat'sya?
Ya b togda ne stala gnut'sya i kachat'sya.
How could I, as the ash tree, go to the oak?
I wouldn't then stand bowing and swaying.
Tonkimi vyetvyami ya b k nyemu prizhalac'
I s evo listami dyen' i noch' sheptalas'.
With my slender branches I'd press against him,
and with his leaves, whisper day and night.
No nel'zya ryabinye k dubu pyerebrat'sya,
Znat' sud'ba takaya- vyek odnoy kachat'sya
But it's impossible for an ash tree to move to the oak.
This is its fate- forever alone, swaying.

• Celtic
• Folk
• World
• hammered dulcimer
• hurdy gurdy
• longing
• medieval folk
• russian
• trees
• Suquamish