This story is my translation of the poem "The Key" by Boris Slutsky. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did while working on the translation and the video for it. Big thanks to all the people who helped make it happen.
"The Key" by Boris Slutsky
I had a room with a separate entry,
I lived all alone, single, no help.
At moments of lust, no double entendre,
I held that door open for ladies to step.
My married buddies lived with mothers-in-law,
And wives that were looking like mothers-in-law
Some overly fat, some overly skinny
But comfy like rain, though they looked pretty weary
Watching them turning another year older
Bearing more daughters and sons to behold
Wives turned into muses of travails and scolding
Symbols of sufferings kept untold
My married buddies cherished their wives,
More and more often they wanted to know
If I get married, saying ‘Idiot, jeez!
Marriage is bliss, can’t you see it, my bro?’
My married buddies resented their wives,
They yearned for ladies with unwrinkled hands,
Ladies, with eyes like wells deep enough
To fall into the abyss and never get back.
I felt repulsed by the thought (well, you know me),
But opted to mind my own business instead.
They needed a room with a separate entry
And I gave them the key from the room with a bed.
The original text:
"Ключ" Борис Слуцкий
У меня была комната с отдельным ходом,
Я был холост и жил один.
Всякий раз, как была охота,
В эту комнату знакомых водил.
Мои товарищи жили с тещами
И с женами, похожими на этих тещ, -
Слишком толстыми, слишком тощими,
Усталыми, привычными, как дождь.
Каждый год старея на год,
Рожая детей (сыновей, дочерей),
Жены становились символами тягот,
Статуями нехваток и очередей.
Мои товарищи любили жен.
Они вопрошали все чаще и чаще:
- Чего ты не женишься? Эх ты, пижон!
Что ты понимаешь в семейном счастье?
Мои товарищи не любили жен.
Им нравились девушки с молодыми руками,
С глазами, в которые, раз погружен,
Падаешь, падаешь, словно камень.
А я был брезглив (вы, конечно, помните),
Но глупых вопросов не задавал.
Я просто давал им ключ от комнаты.
Они просили, а я - давал.