Oh, the rumors that keep battering our senses!
Oh, the gossip that brings thinking to a halt!
Rumors say that, 
soon, all things will get expensive - maybe double! -
Especially potatoes, milk, and salt.

Like mosquitoes
In the air,
Rumors greet us
Everywhere,
And the toothless hags repeat ’em
Street to street and square to square.

Deep underground, they’ve built a brand-new city! -
In case, I gather, of atomic war;
While, by an order of the Health Committee - nosy bastards -
No public baths will open anymore.

Like mosquitoes
In the air,
Rumors greet us
Everywhere,
And the toothless hags repeat ’em
Street to street and square to square.

Mamykin, I’ve been told, will do hard labor,
For drunkenness, corruption, or some such.
I hear, as well, they will arrest your neighbor - that poor devil -
Because he looks like Beria too much.

Like mosquitoes
In the air,
Rumors greet us
Everywhere,
And the toothless hags repeat ’em
Street to street and square to square.

The Earth, some people claim, is getting hotter;
And harmful rays are coming from our phones.
French spies, they say, have poisoned all the water - but with vodka,
While bread, these days, is made of scales and bones.

Like mosquitoes
In the air,
Rumors greet us
Everywhere,
And the toothless hags repeat ’em
Street to street and square to square.

Some scary lies are whispered by deceivers;
Some scary tales, passed on by the naive.
Bad rumors never fail to find believers, for some reason,
The good, however, nobody believes.

So, like mosquitoes
In the air,
Rumors greet us
Everywhere,
And the toothless hags repeat ’em
Street to street and square to square.

Always growing, like malignant tumors,
Rumors echo far and wide across the land.
I hear gossip that there’ll soon be no more rumors - never ever;
I hear rumors that all gossip will be banned.

But... like mosquitoes
In the air,
Rumors greet us
Everywhere,
And the toothless hags repeat ’em
Street to street and square to square.