These aren’t your plains here, it’s a different clime Avalanches happen one after another And rockfall roars after rockfall And one can turn aside, skirt the precipice But we choose the difficult path Dangerous as a military trail Who hasn’t been here, who hasn’t risked it Hasn’t truly tested himself Though down below he may have grasped the stars in the sky Down there you won’t encounter, no matter how you reach In all your happy life The tenth part of these beauties and wonders There are no crimson roses or funeral ribbons And unlike a monument Is the stone that brought you eternal peace Like an eternal flame, by day glitters The summit’s emerald ice Which you still haven’t conquered And let people talk, yes let them talk But no - no one dies for nothing Better this way than from vodka or a cold Others will come, having exchanged comfort For risk and inordinate labor They will pass where you have not Sheer cliffs -- well, don’t stand there gaping! Don’t rest your hopes on luck here In the mountains you can’t rely on stone, nor rock, nor cliff We hope only in the strength of our arms In the hand of a friend and the hammered-in hook And we pray that the safety rope won’t fail us We chop out our steps. Not one step back! And our knees are shaking with exertion And our hearts are ready to break for the summit from our chests The whole world’s in your hands, you’re happy and speechless And only a little envious of those Others, for whom the summit is still ahead
© ?. Translation, 2023