Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Пусть бегут неуклюже

The song we sing in class to celebrate someone's birthday (С днём рождения тебя!/Happy Birthday to You!) is NOT the "authentic" Russian song, though nowadays it's sung very frequently. Here's the "real" birthday song, which is from the animated series and children's book, Чебурашка (Cheburashka -- something like "tumbly bumbly"). The song here is sung by Гена the crocodile, one of Cheburaska's friends:


Пусть бегут неуклюже
Пешеходы по лужам,
А вода — по асфальту рекой.
И неясно прохожим
В этот день непогожий,
Почему я веселый такой.

(Rough translation: Let the clumsy pedestrians run among the puddles. and let the water go across the asphalt like a river. And it's unclear to the passersby on this foul-weather day, why I am so happy.)

Припев:
Я играю на гармошке
У прохожих на виду…
К сожаленью, день рожденья
Только раз в году.

(Chorus: I am playing on an accordion in plain view of the passersby. Too bad birthdays only happen once a year.)

Прилетит вдруг волшебник
В голубом вертолете
И бесплатно покажет кино.
С днем рожденья поздравит
И, наверно, оставит
Мне в подарок пятьсот «эскимо».

(A wizard will probably arrive suddenly in a light-blue helicopter and show a film for free. He'll congratulate me on my birthday and will, probably, give me a present of 500 Eskimos.*)

(Ескимо here refers to a kind of ice cream... on a stick.)

Many thanks to Inna Campbell for the link!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Windows 7 Key It is wonderful right here. good research. I've been searched this kind of information for quite a while. thanks