stukje russisch, vertaald

The dervish opened the Book Of Skies and found Nurredin’s star, what constellation it belonged to, and how far it was from the Earth.
When the star was found, the dervish looked up the fate it was assigned; so, he opened a different book – the Book Of Magic Signs, where on a dark page, a fiery circle emerged: many stars shimmered on the inside and the outside the circle, some closer to the center, others on the ring itself; Nurredin’s star was placed in the very center of the fiery circle.
On seeing that, the dervish pondered, and then addressed Origell with the following words, “You are doomed, Tsar, as your foe is invincible, and no magic can deprive him of his happiness; for his happiness is stored inside his heart, and his soul is strong, and all his intentions are destined to be fulfilled; never had he desired the undesirable, never had he indulged in wishful thinking, never had he fancied the ethereal - so, no magic has power over him!”
“However,” the dervish proceeded, “I could demolish his happiness, I could entangle him into my charms, I could cast a spell on him, should there exist any beautiful maiden, who would inflame him with such love it would lift him beyond his mortal life, and inspire in him thoughts beyond expression, sensations unbearable, and words unspeakable; only then would I be able to destroy him.”
“I could destroy him if there be an elder to sing a song to him of such quality it would carry him away to the distant lands, where the stars find their shelter.”
“I could destroy him, should there be a place in the world with mountains and hills, with woods and dales, with rivers and valleys so splendid, that Nurredin, admiring them, would forget for a little second all of his daily ordeals.”
“This is when my magic would be of any use. But there is no such maiden, no such elder, no such song, and no such place in the world. This is why Nurredin won’t die. And you, Tsar, even my witchcraft, can’t salvage."


Translated by Ekaterina Shubnaya, RT

This piece spoke to me for whatever strange motivation lured me to Russian literature,
more to come