Иван Человеков [Ivan Chelovekov] [English translation]

Ivan Chelovekov was a simple man

He only looked to the world,

And when he said "Yes", he meant it.

And when he said "No", he meant it.

He knows what tomorrow will bring him

Working eight-to-five.

And if after five,

A mountain would try to get in his way

He would never try to get around it

When Ivan came home he saw, 1

Right next to the garbage can,

Death staring at him from the hatch.

He understood that he'll die tomorrow.

So he wrote in his notebook for death to meet him,

Tomorrow at exactly twelve o'clock

He couldn't stand work undone,

He'll suffer for all the things he said in vain.

I know this woman :

One called her "freedom"

For others she's fate,

And for the first, she's a slave

And for the second, she's a sacred judge

I know this woman.

I know this woman.

Ivan Chelovekov's face was clean-shaven

He wore his best suit and waited

Pale but calm

And death startled him

He forgot where he lived.

For a long time he waited, but he soon tired out

In vain, he waited and left for home,

Once meeting death he didn't greet her

Like he did to everyone who has wronged him.

I know this woman :

One called her "freedom"

For others she's fate,

And for the first, she's a slave

And for the second, she's a sacred judge

I know this woman.

I know this woman.

And when they first tried to capture her

They tried to force her to wash their socks

But the second they knew what a decay this decay is

And they lived without anguish.

1. The "saw" comes from the next line.