Let's all go have a nice long rest. .. .
I've got no strength . . . this weary breast
Finds even joy at times excessive,
Not only woe.. . . It's true, my dear,
I'm good for nothing now, I fear;
When one gets old, life turns oppressive.'
And all worn out, she wept a bit,
Then broke into a coughing fit.
43
The sick old lady's kindly smile
Left Tanya moved; but she felt sad
Within this strange new domicile
And missed the room she'd always had.
In bed, beneath her silken curtain,
She lies there sleepless and uncertain;
And early church bellswhen they chime,
Announcing dawn and working time
Rouse Tanya from her bed to listen.
She sits before the windowsill.
The darkness wanes, but Tanya still
Can't see her fields and valleys glisten:
She sees an unknown yard instead:
A stable, fence, and kitchen shed.
44
And now they trundle Tanya daily
To family dinners just to share
With grandams and granduncles gaily
Her languid and abstracted air.
Those kin who've come from distant places
Are always met with warm embraces,
With shouts of joy and welcome cheer.
'How Tanya's grown! It seems, my dear,
So short a time since I baptized you!' '
And since I dried your baby tears!'
'And since I pulled you by the ears!'
'And since my gingerbread surprised you!'
And with one voice the grannies cry:
'Good gracious, how the years do fly!'
45
In
The same old patterns still are met:
Old Aunt Elena never falters
And wears that same tulle bonnet yet;
Still powdered is Lukrya Lvvna;
A liar still, Lyubv Petrvna;
Ivn Petrvich ... no more bright;
Semyn Petrvich . . . just as tight;
And Anna Pvlovna, as ever,
Still has her friend, Monsieur Finemouch,
Her same old spouse, and same old pooch
