In the forbidden and sleepy
Terrible forests of Murom
All kinds of evil spirits
Wander at will,

Sowing fear in passersby.
They howl like the living dead,
If you hear a nightingale -
it’s a nightmare.
’Tis terrible, oh, horror!

In enchanted swamps
Dwell night frights
That’ll tickle you to death
Or drag you off To the bottom of the river.

Be you on foot or on horseback,
They’ll grab you.
The wood goblins
Ramble through the forest so.
’Tis terrible, oh, horror!

And a peasant or a merchant or a warrior
Comes along in the enchanted forest,
Drunk or for some other reason,
Stupidly crawling into the grove.

And for one reason or another
They disappear
Never to be seen again.
Vanish.
’Tis terrible, oh, horror!

They’ve come from all over the world,
From places that are downright hell,
Where the demons are so evil
They all but eat each other up,

In order
to get together
And share their evil
experiences.
’Tis terrible, oh, horror!

Solovei-Razboinik, chief among them,
Arranged a stormy feast.
Zmei Trekhglavyi was there
And his servant, a vampire.

They drank brew from skulls,
ate bagels,
Danced on graves,
the blasphemers.
’Tis terrible, oh, horror!

Zmei Gorynych climbed a tree,
Just to rock it back and forth.
Bring on the girls, Razboinik,
Let ’em show their stuff!

Let the wood goblins
dance and sing.
Otherwise, you mother,
I’ll rot them all.
’Tis terrible, oh, horror!

Solovei-Razboinik
was something else.
He whooped and whistled: Dope!
Pig! Foreign parasite!

To Zmei Gorynych swinging in a tree:
Get out of here, scram,
And take your vampire
with you!
Tis terrible, oh, horror!

They all started yowling like bears:
"We’ve suffered!" "All these years!"
"Are we witches or not?"
"Patriots or not?"

"Roll your eyes, bloodsucker,
you got yours!"
"He was ogling
our ladies, too!"
Tis terrible, oh, horror!

But now the grey-haired folk
Recall previous affairs:
The evil spirits clambered all over each other
Till they were trampled to death.

The clamor was silenced
forever.
A man comes fearlessly
into the forest.
Ant ’tisn’t terrible the least bit!