Песня про белого слона [Pesnya pro belogo slona] [English translation]

From ancient olden times in India lived

Wild huge grey elephants.

The elephants elephanted in the jungle without a path

One of them was white for some reason.

With kind eyes, a quiet disposition, he was different,

With his mind and noble suit.

Among his grey fellows, the white elephant

Was certainly a white crow.

And the lord of India, there were times,

Gave me an elephant out of respect.

"Why do I need an elephant?" I asked the foreigner,

And he said "The elephant has a big heart."

The elephant performed a curtsy, and I in my turn bowed

My speech was not evil and quiet.

Because exactly this white elephant

Was also a white female elephant.

I looked great sitting on the elephant

I went around India, a fairy-tale country,

Oh, where didn't we roam together

In distress got along perfectly.

And sometimes as we went to sing under someone's balcony,

The ladies all jumped out of the bedrooms.

I must tell you, that this white elephant,

Was extraordinarily musical.

The map of the world I'm sure you've seen,

You know that in India too there is a river.

My elephant and I drank mango juice

And somehow got lost in the wilds of the Ganges.

I rushed to the river, forgetting food and sleep ,

Irretrievably ruined my health.

And then they told me "Your white elephant

Met a white elephant herd."

I was offended for a long time, and then there you have it,

The ruler of India sent me an elephant again.

In the form of an ornament for a cane,

A white elephant, but made of ivory.

It is said that having seven elephants is good from,

On the shelf as a means against something bad.

It's better to let the white elephant stroll in a white herd,

It's better if he does not bring good luck.