Oh, not for nothing it is said: The master is not afraid of the work, - That work may be afraid Vanya is the master of the parquet! Don’t begin, if you are not able, Are you not able - don’t touch, If you don’t grease - you don’t arrive, If you grease - you may fall! Even in this Five-year plan The children play on the floor, - The children shed tears Because of some splinters. May our children crawl, May they play with the peg-top On the polished parquet - On the waxed floor. It is said, people will soon forget The title of floor polisher, - In our time this opinion is A fateful mistake. In the midst of our native epoch You dance on the floor brush, - To make jokes about the female sex is bad, But about polishing is good!
© Elisabeth Jelinek. Translation, 2018