Whilst you are here in the bath-tub with glazed tiles Wash, coddle, get warm, - In the cold he himself with the scalpel Cuts out the appendix. He sees every motion And sees, how the heart bounds, - Oh what a pity, hold on, citizen, Just look into the mirror!         To the aim nearer and nearer, - If the pain would be easier to bear! .. Oh, it’s easier to cut on the rupture For all who conquested Antartica!                 You all brawl drinking vodka With big-big gulps, And he sews himself up - do you understand? With big-big stitches. He is a hero! Now grasp the point: Nowhere they are able to bring about so much, - What is für us Antartica with Artica, What is for us Albania with Poland!
© Elisabeth Jelinek. Translation, 2018