"Alexander Pushkin in english translation" - читать интересную книгу автора

A Fairytale About A Dead Princess, By: Aleksander Pushkin (1833)
1

The czar bid farewell to his wife,
Packing for the road of strife,
And czarina by the door
Sat to wait for him alone.
There she waits from dawn till nighttime,
Sees the fields, and thus from sighting
Her bright eyes are filled with blight
From the sunrise till the night;
Her dear friend cannot be seen!
Only blizzards whirl and spin,
On the fields the snow is falling,
And the pale earth is glowing.
Thus she sits there nine long months
Never leaves her post, not once.
Then from God on Christmas Eve,
She a daughter would receive.
Early morn, the cherished guest,
Long awaited in unrest, -
Finally, from lands afar
Came back home the father-czar.
She would gaze at him one time,
Uttering a heavy sigh,
All this joy she could not bare
And she died right then and there.
The czar for long would feel distress,
But he is sinful like the rest,
The dire year had passed and hence
He had married someone else.
His younger wife, I have to say,
Was a czarina all the way:
Tall and slender, pale white,
Smart, 'most everything was right,
Only she was proud, zealous,
Willful, obstinate and jealous.
As a present, to her passed
There's a mirror that she has
But this mirror is unique
It has slowly learned to speak.
Only with it would she be
Tender, thoughtful and free
With it, friendly she would joke
Self-admiring, she spoke:
Oh my light! My mirror, say
And don't hide the truth away:
Am I the prettiest on earth?