We sat drinking at random
"Madieru", "starka", "zveroboi" -
And suddenly we are all called to the mine face.
We have a - Stakhanovite, a Gaganovite,
Zagladovite - and it is ironic,
That it was him who was overwhelmed.

He’s a former junior officer
They used him as an example,
He was, like a young pioneer, always ready! -
And here straight from the ship
He came to give the country coal, -
But today, it looks like things got out of hand.

Went down into the tunnel, and the former prisoner -
High-risk person -
Said: "The trouble is for all of us, for all of us the same:
We’ll dig him out - and he again
Will begin to fulfill three quotas,
He will begin to give coal to the country, and we’re all fucked.

So, brothers, to not bother,
Let’s not work hard -
One for all and all for one".
...He served in Tallinn under Stalin -
Now lies under rubble
We are humanly sorry for him...