I’m forgetting all worries and errands, It’s so hard to get hold of myself: For I love to stand next to the crossroads And deprive passers-by of their wealth! "Hey, my friend, can I borrow your ciggies?" "I don’t smoke. Please excuse me, good-bye!" And then I, without asking permission, Simply pinch the wrist watch from this guy. While pretending that all is forgotten, And retreating for fifty more steps, He will call me a vandal, a hoodlum, Or a bandit, and that will be that. But if I meet a woman while rambling, I don’t ask for a smoke as before, But I tell her politely and calmly: She has nowhere to rush anymore. I’m forgetting all worries and errands, It’s so hard to get hold of myself: Though I love to stand next to the crossroads, It’d be best if no women were met!
© Kirill Tolmachev. Translation, 2023