---
title: "Boris Godunov · Борис Годунов"
author: "Alexander Pushkin"
translator: "Alfred Hayes"
title_ru: "Борис Годунов"
author_ru: "Александр Пушкин"
languages: [ru, en]
shelf: "Literature"
section: 3 of 25
url: https://scriptura.si/works/pushkin-boris-godunov/3/
cite: "Alexander Pushkin, tr. Alfred Hayes, Boris Godunov · Борис Годунов, section 3. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/pushkin-boris-godunov/3/"
---

# Boris Godunov · Борис Годунов

*Alexander Pushkin, tr. Alfred Hayes*

Russian: Борис Годунов, Александр Пушкин

A tsar haunted by a murdered child, a runaway monk who claims to be that child, and a people who say nothing: Pushkin’s Shakespearean history play.

> Russian: the two scenes Pushkin cut from the printed play, “Fence of the Monastery” and “Marina’s Dressing Room”, are added from the Academy edition (Pushkin, Polnoe sobranie sochinenii, vol. 7, 1948), in modern spelling (24 October 2026).

## 3. The Virgin's Field · Девичье поле. Новодевичий монастырь (сцена, исключенная из окончательной редакции)

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/pushkin-boris-godunov/3/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/pushkin-boris-godunov/3/#p-N

[¶0] THE NEW NUNNERY. The People.

> Russian: Народ.

[¶1] 1st Person
To plead with the tsaritsa in her cell
Now are they gone. Thither have gone Boris,
The Patriarch, and a host of boyars.

> Russian: Один
Теперь они пошли к царице в келью,
Туда вошли Борис и патриарх
С толпой бояр.

[¶2] 2nd Person
What news?

> Russian: Другой
Что слышно?

[¶3] 3rd Person
Still is he obdurate; yet there is hope.

> Russian: Третий
Все еще
Упрямится; однако есть надежда.

[¶4] Peasant Woman
(With a child.)
Drat you! Stop crying, or else the bogie-man
Will carry you off. Drat you, drat you! Stop crying!

> Russian: Баба
(с ребенком)
Агу! не плачь, не плачь; вот бука, бука
Тебя возьмет! агу, агу!.. не плачь!

[¶5] 1st Person
Can't we slip through behind the fence?

> Russian: Один
Нельзя ли нам пробраться за ограду?

[¶6] 2nd Person
Impossible!
No chance at all! Not only is the nunnery
Crowded; the precincts too are crammed with people.
Look what a sight! All Moscow has thronged here.
See! Fences, roofs, and every single storey
Of the Cathedral bell tower, the church-domes,
The very crosses are studded thick with people.

> Russian: Другой
Нельзя. Куды! и в поле даже тесно,
Не только там. Легко ли? Вся Москва
Сперлася здесь; смотри: ограда, кровли,
Все ярусы соборной колокольни,
Главы церквей и самые кресты
Унизаны народом.

[¶7] 1st Person
A goodly sight indeed!

> Russian: Первый
Право, любо!

[¶8] 2nd Person
What is that noise?

> Russian: Один
Что там за шум?

[¶9] 3rd Person
Listen! What noise is that?—The people groaned;
See there! They fall like waves, row upon row—
Again—again—Now, brother, 'tis our turn;
Be quick, down on your knees!
The People
(On their knees, groaning and wailing.)
Have pity on us,
Our father! O, rule over us! O, be
Father to us, and tsar!

> Russian: Другой
Послушай! что за шум?
Народ завыл, там падают, что волны,
За рядом ряд… еще… еще… Ну, брат,
Дошло до нас; скорее! на колени!
Народ
(на коленах. Вой и плач)
Ах, смилуйся, отец наш! властвуй нами!
Будь наш отец, наш царь!

[¶10] 1st Person
(Sotto voce.) Why are they wailing?

> Russian: Один
(тихо)
О чем там плачут?

[¶11] 2nd Person
How can we know? The boyars know well enough.
It's not our business.

> Russian: Другой
А как нам знать? то ведают бояре,
Не нам чета.

[¶12] Peasant Woman
(With child.)
Now, what's this? Just when
It ought to cry, the child stops crying. I'll show you!
Here comes the bogie-man! Cry, cry, you spoilt one!
(Throws it on the ground; the child screams.)
That's right, that's right!

> Russian: Баба
(с ребенком)
Ну, что ж? как надо плакать,
Так и затих! вот я тебя! вот бука!
Плачь, баловень!
(Бросает его об земь. Ребенок пищит.)
Ну, то-то же.

[¶13] 1st Person
As everyone is crying,
We also, brother, will begin to cry.

> Russian: Один
Все плачут,
Заплачем, брат, и мы.

[¶14] 2nd Person
Brother, I try my best, but can't.

> Russian: Другой
Я силюсь, брат,
Да не могу.

[¶15] 1st Person
Nor I.
Have you not got an onion?
2nd Person
No; I'll wet
My eyes with spittle. What's up there now?

> Russian: Первый
Я также. Нет ли луку?
Потрем глаза.
Второй
Нет, я слюнёй помажу.
Что там еще?

[¶16] 1st Person
Who knows
What's going on?

> Russian: Первый
Да кто их разберет?

[¶17] The People
The crown for him! He is tsar!
He has yielded!—Boris!—Our tsar!—Long live Boris!

> Russian: Народ
Венец за ним! он царь! он согласился!
Борис наш царь! да здравствует Борис!