Russian translation?

March 24, 2012 1:26 PM

Song from a Russian film score - lyrics translation wanted.

I watched The Return last night and will be thinking about it for at least a few days, if not longer. I'd recommend it for any film lover.

This brief song (whose title is "Old Man," according to the YouTube comments) is played right before the final credits start to roll. If any Russian speaker out there is so inclined, I would love a translation, no matter how rough.

Спасибо! (I learned at least one thing from the Internet today...)

posted by Currer Belfry to Media & Arts (4 answers total)

Best answer: I can't listen to your linked clip, but I did find (what the Internet claims to be) the lyrics in Russian. I've added the line-by-line translations trying to imitate the folk sing-song tone. I hope this isn't an entirely different song that I've just translated for you!

Не из саду было,
(Not from a garden)
Саду зелёного,
(A garden green)
А не из лесу было,
(Nor from a forest)
Лесу тёмного.
(A forest dark)

Не из лесу было,
(Not from a forest)
Лесу тёмного,
(A forest dark)
А не два сокола
(Like two falcons)
Вылетали.
(They flew)

Не два сокола
(Not two falcons)
Вылетали,
(Flying)
И два родных-то братца
(But two dear brothers)
Ворожали.
(Feuding)

Два родных-то братца
(Two dear brothers)
Ворожали,
(Feuding)
И приезжали они
(Came upon)
К Дунай речке.
(The Danube-river)

Приезжали они
(Came they)
К Дунай речке,
(To the Danube-river)
И уважали они
(To pay respect)
Дунай речку.
(To the Danube-river)

Уважали они
(They did pay respect)
Дунай речку.
(To the Danube-river)
posted by Nomyte at 1:48 PM on March 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

> I hope this isn't an entirely different song that I've just translated for you!

Nope, that's the one in the clip (and now I want to see the movie).
posted by languagehat at 2:49 PM on March 24, 2012

Response by poster: Nomyte, thanks. Those lyrics make sense in the context of the film's plot, about which I will say no more because someone like languagehat might want to see it!
posted by Currer Belfry at 4:18 PM on March 24, 2012

And now that I've had a chance to listen to that clip, I find myself thankful for the transcribed lyrics. The singer's variety of Russian is divergent enough from the standard to be pretty jarring. I'm hearing "сокыела вылятали" for "сокола вылетали." That's pretty bizarre. I can only guess that it's an example of a dialect from the Novgorod group. But since all non-normative dialects of Russian are very heavily deprecated, I've never heard it in actuality.
posted by Nomyte at 12:40 AM on March 25, 2012