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Кто честной бедности
своей
Стыдится и все прочее,
Тот самый жалкий из людей,
Трусливый раб и прочее.
При всем при том,
При всем при том,
Пускай бедны мы с вами,
Богатство -
Штамп на золотом,
А золотой -
Мы сами!
Мы хлеб едим и воду пьем,
Мы укрываемся тряпьем
И все такое прочее,
А между тем дурак и плут
Одеты в шелк и вина пьют
И все такое прочее.
При всем при том,
При всем при том,
Судите не по платью.
Кто честным кормится трудом,
Таких зову я знатью,
Вот этот шут - природный лорд.
Ему должны мы кланяться.
Но пусть он чопорен и горд,
Бревно бревном останется!
При всем при том,
При всем при том,
Хоть весь он в позументах, -
Бревно останется бревном
И в орденах, и в лентах!
Король лакея своего
Назначит генералом,
Но он не может никого
Назначить честным малым.
При всем при том,
При всем при том,
Награды, лесть
И прочее
Не заменяют
Ум и честь
И все такое прочее!
Настанет день и час пробьет,
Когда уму и чести
На всей земле придет черед
Стоять на первом месте.
При всем при том,
При всем при том,
Могу вам предсказать я,
Что будет день,
Когда кругом
Все люди станут братья!
Literal Translation
Honest Poverty
One who his
honest poverty
Is ashamed of
and so forth,
Is the most
pitiful of persons,
A cowardly
slave and so forth.
Notwithstanding all of this,
Notwithstanding all of this,
Though you and I be poor,
Affluence
Is a stamp on a gold [coin],
While you and I
Are the gold!
We eat bread
and drink water,
We clothe
ourselves in rags,
And lots of
other so forth,
While
meanwhile some fool and some cad
Are dressed
in silk and drink wine,
And lots of
other so forth.
Notwithstanding all of this,
Notwithstanding all of this,
Judge not [a person] by dress,
He who honestly feeds himself by his
labor,
That’s who I call the aristocracy.
Take that
lout—he’s a lord by genealogy.
To him we
have to bow.
But even
though he’s supercilious and proud,
A blockhead
is still a blockhead!
Notwithstanding all of this,
Notwithstanding all of this,
Although he’s dressed in gold braid and
lace,
A blockhead remains a blockhead,
Even wearing medals and ribbons!
A king his
lackey
Designates a
general,
But no way he
can designate
Anyone to be
a decent fellow.
Notwithstanding all of this,
Notwithstanding all of this,
Awards, flattery
And so forth
Cannot replace
Intelligence and honor
And all such so forth!
The day will
come and hour strike
When intelligence
and honor
Will have
their turn all over the earth
To stand in
first place.
Notwithstanding all of this,
Notwithstanding all of this,
I can predict for you
That there will come a day
When all over
All people will be brothers!
d
Literary Translation/Adaptation by U.R. Bowie
The Honorable Poor
A man who’s
poor but honest poor,
Yet cowers in
shame, and so forth,
Pathetic is he,
full of rot at the core,
A coward, a slave,
and so forth.
Be that as it may in the wet month of
May,
Be that as it may on a horse that says
“neigh,”
Though you and I be poor,
Wealth
Is a stamp on a coin of pure gold,
While you and I,
We’re the gold!
We eat our
bread and water drink,
We clothe
ourselves in rags, not mink,
And such and
so and so forth,
While
meantime scoundrels, low-down cheats
Drink wine
and sleep on silken sheets,
And so on,
such and so forth.
Be that as it may in the moist month of
May,
Be that as it may on a day making hay,
You can’t judge a man by the clothing he
wears,
If a bloke earns his way by the sweat of
his brow,
He’s a grandee by gum, and a man of
affairs!
Of manor born
a lord, but a lout,
To him we
needs must bow and scrape,
He’ll preen
and he’ll swagger like all get-out,
But he’ll
still be a great-big dumbbell ape!
Be that as it may in the dank month of
May,
Be that as it may on a rain-sodden day,
Although he’s outfitted in gold braids
and lace,
He’ll still be a moron, a woebegone drudge,
Though in ribbons and medals encased.
Let’s say a
king his lackey base
Promotes to
be Supreme Marshmallow,
But
notwithstanding his power and grace,
He can’t make
a toady a decent fellow.
Be that as it may in the warm month of
May,
Be that as it may as we stray and then
pray,
Lickspittle fawning befitting a twit,
And such and so and so forth,
Cannot be a match for pure honor and
wit,
And all of that so on and so forth!
The day will
come, the hour strike
When through
the world and on this earth
Pure wit and
honesty, belike,
Will merit
their true worth.
Be that as it may in the bright month of
May,
Be that as it may on a Mayday that’s
gay,
I have for you a prognostication:
The day will come when brotherhood
Reigns o’er all God’s creation!
d
Tune - "For a' that,
and a' that."
I.
Is there, for honest poverty,
That hangs his head, and a' that?
The coward-slave, we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a' that!
For a' that, and a' that,
Our toils obscure, and a' that;
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The man's the gowd for a' that!
II.
What tho' on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin gray, and a' that;
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine,
A man's a man, for a' that!
For a' that, and a' that,
Their tinsel show, and a' that;
The honest man, though e'er sae poor,
Is king o' men for a' that!
III.
Ye see yon birkie, ca'd - a lord,
Wha struts, and stares, and a' that;
Though hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a coof for a' that:
For a' that, and a' that,
His riband, star, and a' that,
The man of independent mind,
He looks and laughs at a' that.
IV.
A king can make a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, and a' that,
But an honest man's aboon his might,
Guid faith, he maunna fa' that!
For a' that, and a' that,
Their dignities, and a' that,
The pith o' sense, and pride o' worth,
Are higher ranks than a' that.
V.
Then let us pray that come it may -
As come it will for a' that -
That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth,
May bear the gree, and a' that;
For a' that, and a' that,
It's comin' yet for a' that,
That man to man, the warld o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that!
Robert Burns
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