The English is Shakespeare’s original. The song sings it in Russian, the “stricken deer” quatrain twice: Boris Pasternak’s translation, then Mikhail Lozinsky’s as reworked for the film Pokrovsky Gates and reworked once more for the song.
Рука тверда, дух чёрен, крепок яд
Ruka tverda, dukh choren, krepok yad
Удобен миг, ничей не видит взгляд…
Udoben mig, nichey ne vidit vzglyad…
Теки, теки, верши свою расправу
Teki, teki, vershi svoyu raspravu
Гекате посвящённая отрава
Gekate posvyashchonnaya otrava
Спеши весь вред, который в травах есть,
Speshi vesʼ vred, kotory v travakh yestʼ,
Над этой жизнью в действие привесть!
Nad etoy zhiznʼyu v deystviye privestʼ!
Пусть раненый олень ревёт
Pustʼ raneny olenʼ revyot
А уцелевший скачет
A utselevshiy skachet
Где – спят, а где – ночной обход
Gde – spyat, a gde – nochnoy obkhod
Кому что рок назначит
Komu chto rok naznachit
Пускай подстреленный хрипит
Puskay podstrelenny khripit
А тот что жив резвится
A tot chto zhiv rezvitsya
То караулит, этот спит
To karaulit, etot spit
И так весь мир вертится
I tak vesʼ mir vertitsya
Удушлив смрад злодейства моего
Udushliv smrad zlodeystva moyego
На мне печать древнейшего проклятья
Na mne pechatʼ drevneyshego proklyatʼya
Он вне себя. Не трогайте его
On vne sebya. Ne trogayte yego
Так похоть даже в ангельских объятьях!
Tak pokhotʼ dazhe v angelʼskikh obʼyatʼyakh!
Быть или не быть
Bytʼ ili ne bytʼ
Быть или не быть
Bytʼ ili ne bytʼ
Быть или не быть
Bytʼ ili ne bytʼ
Быть или не быть?!
Bytʼ ili ne bytʼ?!
Lucianus, the poisoner in “The Mousetrap,” the play Hamlet stages before the court to catch the King’s conscience: he pours poison into the sleeping king’s ear, as Claudius did to Hamlet’s father. Act III, scene 2; sung in Boris Pasternak’s translation.
, drugs fit, and time agreeing;
Confederate season, else no creature seeing;
Thou mixture rank, of midnight weeds collected,
With Hecate’s ban thrice blasted, thrice infected,
Thy natural magic and dire property
On wholesome life usurp immediately.
Hamlet’s ditty the moment the King breaks off “The Mousetrap” and storms out: the trap has worked. Act III, scene 2; sung in Boris Pasternak’s translation.
,
The hart ungalled play;
For some must watch, while some must sleep,
So runs the world away.
The same quatrain again, sung in Mikhail Lozinsky’s translation as reworked for the film Pokrovsky Gates, and reworked once more.
,
The hart ungalled play;
For some must watch, while some must sleep,
So runs the world away.
This line and the next are Claudius alone, failing to pray: he owns to his brother’s murder and knows there is no pardon while he keeps what it won him. Act III, scene 3; sung in Boris Pasternak’s translation.
, it smells to heaven;
It hath the primal eldest curse upon’t,
The King and the Queen to Laertes, as Hamlet leaps into Ophelia’s grave and grapples with him. Act V, scene 1.
. For love of God forbear him!
The Ghost to Hamlet, of Gertrude: lust, though linked to a radiant angel, will sate itself in a celestial bed and prey on garbage. Act I, scene 5; sung in Boris Pasternak’s translation.
, though to a radiant angel link’d,
The opening of Hamlet’s soliloquy. Act III, scene 1.
To be, or not to be
To be, or not to be
To be, or not to be?!
Music: Vova Zakharov
Lyrics: William Shakespeare, Boris Pasternak, Mikhail Lozinsky, Mikhail Kozakov, Vova Zakharov