My neighbor has traveled the entire Union - Searching for something, but for what - I have no idea, - I dislike getting involved in other people’s affairs, But nevertheless I am hurt and dispirited. On his windows are curtains of silk and velvet, His woman roams around in a robe, - With a pickaxe, I would have found uranium in Moscow If I had such an extraordinary salary! And it seems, that all around people lie, - He deliberately doesn’t look for anything: Why should he? - Money flows to him - Oh, and what money! Yesterday, in the kitchen, their son Fell headfirst at our door - And deliberately broke my decanter, - And I told his mother - you will pay triple the price. So, for him - a ruble, while I only get a nickel?! Let him now pay the penalty for the damage! I don’t do this out of jealousy, I do it out of a sense of fairness, that’s all. ...Don’t you worry, I’ll give them comfort - Soon enough they’ll run away from these apartments, - They have such a fortune, While we don’t have enough money even for vodka!
© David Kotler. Translation, 2021