Памяти Василия Шукшина [Pamyati Vasiliya Shukshina] [English translation]

It's not yet cold, all rivers flow,

The snowball tree1 is scarlet colored.

But one more man now sleeps below

The Novodévichy2 warm ground.

He, likely, never was afraid

Of common silly superstitions:

That Death at first will grant admissions

To those who played their death onstage.

If so, Makárych3, why this haste?

Let loose your strings, and ease on gripping.

You should refilm, replay, rephrase,

No matter what but keep on living!

He carried lead inside his stomach,4

And groveled like a faithful dog.

While tears were forcing men to choke,

The snowball branches gently bowed.

That snowball tree was scarlet colored.

Death always marks the ones who’re worthy,

Then picks on random, one by one.

A truly great today is gone! -

He paid his toll and now it’s done:

So he won't rebel and won’t worry.

And maybe Rázin5 would be filmed…

Where would you go? Onéga? Nárach6

It’s all chit-chatting talk7, Makárych,

And such a lad has failed to live!8

And, with a minute hesitation,

Doom spoke between the gritted teeth:

“Stop guarding one who has high cheeks.

It seems that he could not care less

For all his funeral processions.

Let’s take the one whose soul is beaming,

Who carries burden on his back;

So, he won't longer tempt the fate;

He’s ours for grabs while he's still sleeping!"

And after a mandatory bathing9,

All ready for the God’s ordeal,

He suddenly has died for real,

Much more determined than while acting.

1. The Red Snowball Tree is a 1974 Soviet drama film, written and directed by Vasily Shukshin. It is one of the highest-grossing Soviet films of all time. V. Shukshin also played the lead role of a former convict. This film was re-released in 2019 for the 90-year anniversary of the Shukshin's birth.2. a famous cemetery in Moscow where many actors, artists and writers are buried.3. colloquial pronunciation. A patronymic of Vasily Makarovich Shukshin4. this stanza describes the final scene of The Red Snowball Tree movie.5. a cancelled major movie picture, based on the Shukshin's novel about Stenka Razin, a Cossack who lead a major uprising against his tsar. Its production was approved right before Shukshin's death in 1974.6. Lake Onega is located half-way between St. Petersburg and the White Sea. Nárach is a scenic lake in Belarus.7. This line in the original features a catch-phrase used as a title of the Shukshin's movie, known in the West as Happy Go Lucky.8. a ref. to the Shukshin's movie There Is Such a Lad, which was based on a collection of his stories.9. In the original: banya, traditional Russian sauna. Likely, a nod to the Shukshin's origins - the Altay region of southern Siberia.