Alexander Pushkin Quotes

But really, this is no great sorrow, particularly, you’ll agree, when wine’s imported duty-free.

For whom are you preserving your secret? For your grandsons? They are rich enough without it; they do not know the worth of money. Your cards would be of no use to a spendthrift. He who cannot preserve his paternal inheritance, will die in want, even though he had a demon at his service. I am not a man of that sort; I know the value of money. Your three cards will not be thrown away upon me. Come!” ... He paused and tremblingly awaited her reply. The Countess remained silent; Hermann fell upon his knees. “If your heart has ever known the feeling of love,” said he, “if you remember its rapture, if you have ever smiled at the cry of your newborn child, if any human feeling has ever entered into your breast, I entreat you by the feelings of a wife, a lover, a mother, by all that is most sacred in life, not to reject my prayer. Reveal to me your secret. Of what use is it to you? . . . May be it is connected with some terrible sin, with the loss of eternal salvation, with some bargain with the devil.... Reflect, — you are old; you have not long to live — I am ready to take your sins upon my soul. Only reveal to me your secret. Remember that the happiness of a man is in your hands, that not only I, but my children, and grandchildren will bless your memory and reverence you as a saint. . . .” The old Countess answered not a word. Hermann rose to his feet. “You old hag!” he exclaimed, grinding his teeth, “then I will make you answer!” With these words he drew a pistol from his pocket.

The illness with which he'd been smitten
should have been analysed when caught,
something like spleen, that scourge of Britain,
or Russia's chondria, for short.

Ныне то и другое кажется мне в порядке вещей. В самом деле, что было бы с нами, если бы вместо общеудобного правила: чин чина почитай, ввелось в употребление другое, например: ум ума почитай? Какие возникли бы споры! и слуги с кого бы начинали кушанье подавать? Но обращаюсь к моей повести.

Amintire

Când zarva zilei se preface-n şoapte,
Şi-n pieţele, de linişte-acum pline,
Şi-aşterne umbra străvezia noapte,
Iar somnul cu răsplata trudei vine,
Atunci începe truda mea şi chinul,
Şi ceasurile picură-n tăcere:
În nemişcarea nopţii simt veninul
Mustrărilor arzând pân' la durere.
În cugetul meu trist, noian de vise,
Sfâşietoare gânduri s-au ivit.
Iar amintirea iese din abise
Rostogolindu-şi ghemul nesfârşit.
Şi recitindu-mi viaţa mea în silă
Blestem şi mă cutremur, plâng amar,
Dar rândurile triste de pe filă
Răsar prin pânza lacrimilor iar.

.. you mark the fate

Days when I came to flower serenely
in Lycée gardens long ago,
and read my Apuleius keenly,
but spared no glance for Cicero.

لم تكن لديه رغبة فى الكد سعياً وراء عظمة عميقاً فى قذارة الأيام

Нравственные поговорки бывают удивительно полезны в тех случаях, когда мы от себя мало что можем выдумать себе в оправдание.

A magic moment I remember:
I raised my eyes and you were there,
A fleeting vision, the quintessence
Of all that's beautiful and rare
I pray to mute despair and anguish,
To vain the pursuits world esteems,
Long did I hear your soothing accents,
Long did your features haunt my dreams.
Time passed. A rebel storm-blast scattered
The reveries that once were mine
And I forgot your soothing accents,
Your features gracefully divine.
In dark days of enforced retirement
I gazed upon grey skies above
With no ideals to inspire me
No one to cry for, live for, love.
Then came a moment of reinessance,
I looked up - you again are there
A fleeting vision, the quintessence
Of all that's beautiful and rare

– Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, “A Magic Moment I Remember,” The Poetry of Alexander Sergeyevich (Portable Poetgry, January 27th 2014) Originally published 1821

I have come to you against my wish," she said in a firm voice: "but I have been ordered to grant your request. Three, seven, ace, will win for you if played in succession, but only on these conditions: that you do not play more than one card in twenty-four hours, and that you never play again during the rest of your life. I forgive you my death, on condition that you marry my companion, Lizaveta Ivanovna.

We still, alas, cannot forestall it-
This dreadful ailment's heavy toll;
The spleen is what the English call it,
We call it simply, Russian soul.

في كل يوم .. في كل ساعة
صار عادة لي أن أقتفي أفكاري
أحصي عددها ومنه أخمن
أي سنة يأتي معها موتي
وفي أي مكان سوف يرسله القدر لي
هل في معركة .. أفي أسفاري
أم في البحار ؟
أو لعله الوادي القريب .. سيحتضن رماد جسدي البارد ؟
لا فرق لجسد هامد
في أي أرض فناؤه سيكون
لكن رغم ذاك ..
الى جوار بلادي الحبيبة أحب ان ارقد
ولتمرح الحياة اليانعة على الدوام
بالقرب من مرقدي
ولتشرق الطبيعة التي لاتمييز عندها بين البشر
بالجمال السرمدي

"Ecstasy is a glass full of tea and a piece of sugar in the mouth."

[From: 19 Lessons On Tea]

Но так и быть — рукой пристрастной Прими собранье пестрых глав, Полусмешных, полупечальных, Простонародных, идеальных, Небрежный плод моих забав, Бессониц, легких вдохновений, Незрелых и увядших лет, Ума холодных наблюдений И сердца горестных замет.