Ведьма
Мельница Lyrics

Как у ведьмы четыре крыла, платье до пола, ой, до пола.
Just as a witch has four wings and a dress that reaches down to the floor, so too does this woman (likely the singer) have a presence that is otherworldly and striking.

Свили гнезда в её рукавах совы, соколы да перепела.
In her very sleeves even owls, falcons, and quails have made their homes, drawn to her magic or perhaps to her aura of wildness.

Ай, дурная голова, в волосах листва, и руки красны.
Her mind is troubled, evidenced by the leaves tangled in her hair, and her hands red perhaps from work, or perhaps bloodshed.

Просит беса незрячей луны, чтобы за зимой не было весны.
She pleads with the demon of the sightless moon, asking that there be no spring after winter, whether out of some deep sorrow or as part of some grander scheme only she sees.

Эй-эй, пока ещё жива…
Hey hey, while I'm still alive… a repeated refrain that serves to punctuate the song with a sense of urgency or danger, as if the singer senses that her being alive is a fleeting state.

Там, где ведьма, там жито не свячено, кони не подкованы.
Wherever a witch is, the crops are not blessed and the horses are not shod, as if her presence were an omen of ill fortune or a warning that some laws of the universe are being broken.

Прахом пусть улетает, бродячая, во четыре, ой, стороны.
Let her wander the four corners of the earth, blown about like ash, unable to find a place to rest or be at peace.

Как завертит суховеем танец смерти, что иных древней,
As if the swirling dance of death, which some say has been performed since ancient times, were about to sweep up the singer or the listener and carry them away into oblivion.

Ведьма спляшет, а с верою нашей не справиться да не сладить ей.
The witch will dance her dance, and we will be powerless to stop her or even to understand her, though she seems to be moving to a melody of her own making.

Напейся пьяною нашего гнева.
Drink from our cup of wrath, as if this potion could make you understand something of our anger or our spirit.

Танцуй! Сегодня ты королева.
Dance! Today you are a queen, as if this were a purer, truer sort of royalty than earthly crowns and titles could ever confer.

Пусть хмель и корица, и змей, и лисица
May hops and cinnamon, and snakes and foxes too, celebrate the arrival of the (spring) equinox.

На первой зарнице прославят сестрицу —
On the first dawn of the new season, they will extol the sisterhood, as if finally it would recognize the witch as akin to them.

Аллилуйя Огненной Деве!
Hallelujah to the fiery goddess, the patroness of those who dance and sing and celebrate the arrival of the light.

Как у ведьмы четыре крыла, а и за плечами воздух дрожит.
Like a witch, the singer too has wings, and the air trembles behind her or around her, bristling with magic.

Нынче ей полыхать синим пламенем, как она горела во лжи.
Today she will blaze with a blue flame, like the fire of deception that once burned within her, or perhaps like the luminance of a seer or a prophet who seeks to show others the way forward.

Нет предела милости огня, и Господь помилует нас,
There is no end to the mercy of the fire, and God will show us compassion, too, perhaps as a reminder that even in the darkest times, beauty and life can be reborn.

Чтобы рожь высока родилась, чтобы за зимой вновь была весна.
So that the crops might grow tall again, so that a new spring will come after winter, as if this were the eternal cycle of renewal to which all are subject, including the witch and the singer.

Танцуй, ведьма…
Dance, witch… a final plea or exclamation, as if the singer is unwilling to let go of the magic or the power embodied in the figure of the witch until the very last moment.

Танцуй, ведьма, танцуй!
Dance, witch, dance… a repetition of the earlier refrain, as if the singer knows that the witch will indeed keep dancing and that the song will continue to echo through time and space, long after the singer has left this plane of existence.