The mother flies home,
But the tree ... and the fledgelings ...
The nest.... She is calling,
Lamenting and calling;
She circles around,
She is sobbing and moaning;
She circles so quickly,
She circles so quickly,
Her tiny wings whistle. 30
The dark night has fallen,
The dark world is silent,
But one little creature
Is helplessly grieving
And cannot find comfort;--
The nightingale only
Laments for her children....
She never will see them
Again, though she call them
Till breaks the white day.... 40
I carried my baby
Asleep in my bosom
To work in the meadows.
But Mother-in-law cried,
'Come, leave him behind you,
At home with Savyeli,
You'll work better then.'
And I was so timid,
So tired of her scolding,
I left him behind. 50
"That year it so happened
The harvest was richer
Than ever we'd known it;
The reaping was hard,
But the reapers were merry,
I sang as I mounted
The sheaves on the waggon.
(The waggons are loaded
To laughter and singing;
The sledges in silence, 60
With thoughts sad and bitter;
The waggons convey the corn
Home to the peasants,
The sledges will bear it
Away to the market.)
"But as I was working
I heard of a sudden
A deep groan of anguish:
I saw old Savyeli
Creep trembling towards me, 70
His face white as death:
'Forgive me, Matrona!
Forgive me, Matrona!
I sinned.
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