2020 г. Крошка Бо Пип

Little Bo-Peep ("Сказки матушки Гусыни", 1805 г.)

Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep,
And can't tell where to find them;
Leave them alone, and they'll come home,
Bringing their tails behind them.

Little Bo-Peep fell fast asleep,
And dreamt she heard them bleating;
But when she awoke, she found it a joke,
For they were still all fleeting.

Then up she took her little crook,
Determined for to find them;
She found them indeed, but it made her heart bleed,
For they'd left their tails behind them.

It happened one day, as Bo-Peep did stray
Into a meadow hard by,
There she espied their tails, side by side,
All hung on a tree to dry.

She heaved a sigh and wiped her eye,
And over the hillocks she raced;
And tried what she could, as a shepherdess should,
That each tail be properly placed.


Крошка Бо Пип (мой перевод, 2020 г.)

Крошка Бо Пип плачет навзрыд –
Разбежались ее овечки.
Забудь свое горе,
Вернутся вскоре
Виляя хвостами, овечки.

Крошка Бо Пип крепко спит
И слышит, как блеют овечки.
Бежит в загон,
Но это был сон –
Потерялись ее овечки.

Крошка Бо Пип в дорогу спешит –
Искать, куда делись овечки.
Поход был удачен,
Но вот незадача –
Нашлись без хвостов овечки.

Крошка Бо Пип у соседей гостит
И с нею ее овечки:
Здесь на дубу,
На широком лугу,
Забыли хвосты овечки.

Крошка Бо Пип страшно ворчит –
Утомили ее овечки.
С пастушеским пылом
Хвосты им пришила,
И прежними стали овечки.*

* Иллюстрация автора.