Звезда [Zvezda] [English translation]

(Dear, )Why aren't you asleep?

I'm praying to the heavens for the two of us

Thus, I am not asleep.

(Darling, )Why are you silent?

Silence is gold

(Since) I'm paying for the two of us, I must stay silent.

(The wife speaks here)

Her girlfriends hissed like snakes: "He'll play till he's bored, and then he'll throw you away";

But their venom did not affect me.

Combing my hair, I daydreamed,

Diving, smiling, deeper, past the surface of the mirror

My white (wedding?) dress sparkled so beautifully the sun seemed to dim.

A dove flapped her wings beneath the old temple's canopy,

"And may only death do us part", (we swore), and (husband's or wife's) mother cried.

(The narrator narrates)

Poplars, fluff, dust. It's summer; two tickets for the plane travelling there

Where it's possible to be happy again, like children.

(There,) (under) the warm yellow sun the waves play with the sand

Like Adam and Eve they walk, barefoot and naked.

Without a need to agonize over where and how to live, forgetting all vanity,

Forgetting about the nation buried six months a year in snow.

Like puzzle pieces, the two became one whole

and this isn't just a metaphor for moments in bed.

With one heart for two souls, with but one wish: may, throughout the turbulence, the (marriage bed)-post withstand it all...

(refrain) (Darling, )Why aren't you asleep?

I cannot sleep, for alone I must beg the heavens, for the both of us.

(Dear, )Why mustn't you speak?

If silence is gold, since I must pay for the both of us; therefore I cannot speak.

This will last forever.

Can you see it, in the distance, that which shines at night, the star?

Together you and I both will see its light for millions more years,

But the star can already now be dead.

(Narrator narrates) she waited for him;

Their cellular provider

probably became rich almost immediately from all their calls.

After the husband's military term ended, they bought an apartment with mortgage,

for their family had increased by another person.

The little miracle gifts them restless nights,

and the man worked days for two, at night taking turns caring for the baby.

Their nerves were taught, like the strings of Semenoch's guitar

It was tedious, one both of them heated, one towards the other:

To not tear away, the hound from his chain, fangs bared, growling.

For when it the storms come, the sailors don't cut the anchor line.

Outside after dusk, certain types would greet you and refuse to let go, pulling you into their car along with them.

Later, the husband runs out the door, socket wrench in hand, slippers on his feet,

and she waited once more for communication, for a verbal exchange.

And they would say in spite of the gales, they lived a long time, and we're together;

But if it can't be in the real world, why not in a song?

(refrain) (Darling, )Why aren't you asleep?

I cannot sleep, for alone I must beg the heavens, for the both of us.

(Dear, )Why mustn't you speak?

If silence is gold, since I must pay for the both of us; therefore I cannot speak.

This will last forever.

Can you see it, in the distance, that which shines at night, the star?

Together you and I both will see its light for millions more years,

But the star can already now be dead.