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Перевод
Far Away
Precious pearls in three long strings enlaced me
Round the neck, round the neck 1
You said: ‘You’ll be only mine or nobody’s’
-‘No way, no way!’
You were Deer and Lion from a tribe of the proud2
Who live over there, at the line of sky blue
Where nights are wings-paired and winds shaggy-haired 3
And among men the most valiant is you
My own palm let go off dust and ashes
-they got lost in stone deep-
Of the words that to you they’d been telling
About me, about me
That my shoulders warm out, my speeches are proud
My sharp pointed candles4 burning high in the dark
My piety is guarded where it lightens and thunders 5
However you try hard – you’ll never reach out
I will let afloat a wreath with a candle 6
In a light easy way
To meander with streams-polynyas 7 on your tail
Far away, far away
Polynyas of blue sky it will lighten 8
High up there, high up there
In the land to where I have let you wander
Far away, far away
Where nights are wings-paired and horses long-haired
Where shields, swords and armour like the Song of Songs clang
Under sails cruise the vessels, under peacock tail feathers 9
Come witches who are prettier and sweeter than me
Their shoulders warm out, 10 their boldness speaks out
See the candles melting slow in the dark high up there
Where steeds are wings-paired and winds shaggy-haired
And all this is far, far away, far away
- 1. In pagan Russia a string of pearls was used as praying beads or a proposal gift from a man.
- 2. In pagan pictorial art the lion symbol stood for a king or a tribe chief, the image of a deer referred to Suomi Land
- 3. That’s a hint on Stribog, (Stri meaning Senior), the god of the wind who was depicted as an old shaggy-haired man. The tribes who worshipped Stribog were seafaring. All in all it gives a picture of the man as king of a Varagian people, i.e. Vikings who inhabited the Baltic Sea area
- 4. stars
- 5. The girl says she serves Perun/Veles, the patron of thunder lightning and the Ruler over all the other gods
- 6. Russian pagan fortune-telling. If a candle got blown off it spoke of misfortunes or death. If the girl used fortune-telling she wasn’t just a one-god priestess, she was one of the Magi who might be men as well as women in pagan Russia. They were called “volhvy” – from the name Veles, but in fact, volhvy didn’t serve one god like priests. They were intermediates between gods and people. They could also witchcraft, heal, tell fortune etc. Pagan people treated them like gods themselves
- 7. a Russian loanword meaning a patch of water free from ice in winter
- 8. it’s a contextual metaphor meaning a patch of blue sky free from clouds
- 9. a peacock is a feminine image in old Russian folklore. A symbol of a laid-back imposing beauty
- 10. Pagan Magi were believed to be ESP people who could give out energy and heal with it, so the verb here sounds a bit unusual
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Добавлено 
sandring в 2017-06-27
sandring в 2017-06-27 В последний раз исправлено sandring в 2019-09-06
sandring в 2019-09-06✕
Melnitsa: Топ 3
| 1. | Баллада о трех сыновьях (Ballada o trekh synnov'yakh) |
| 2. | Королевна (Korolevna) |
| 3. | Прощай (Proschay) |
Idioms from "Далеко"
| 1. | long haired |
Комментарии
Ivan U7n 
Eagles Hunter
ср, 28/06/2017 - 15:23
Can foreigners understand Mel'nitsa's songs directly without any explanations? I doubt it.
What do you think?
Thanks for the beautiful explanation. It's clearer now :)
netokor 
venus aversa
чт, 29/06/2017 - 17:20
О переводчике
So the song is about love between the king of a Varagian people and a pagan volhva girl who gave up love for her sacral Magi mission.