Sunday, October 28, 2018

Near the Cross I Want to Stand — У Креста Хочу Стоять



1. У креста хочу стоять,
U kresta khochu stoyat',
Near (by) [the] cross [I] want to stand,
Созерцать душою,
Sozertsat' dushoyu,
Contemplate [the] soul]
Как с Голгофы благодать
Kak s Golgofy blagodat'
As with Golgatha's grace
В мир течёт рекою.
V mir techot rekoyu.
In / to [the] world flows river

У креста, у креста
U kresta, u kresta
Near (By) [the] cross, near (by) [the] cross
Честь моя и слава.
Chest' moya i slava.
Honor mine and glory.
Там спасенья полнота,
Tam spasen'ya polnota,
There salvation full / complete
На блаженство право.
Na blazhenstvo pravo.
On bliss / blessedness right / good.

2. У креста меня нашли
U kresta menya nashli
At / near [the] cross me found
Благодать и сила. Светлая
Blagodat' i sila. Svetlaya
Grace and Might. Bright
Твоя звезда
Tvoya zvezda
Your star
Путь мой озарила.
Put' moy ozarila.
Path my lit up (dawned upon / brightened)

3. У креста открылся мне
U kresta otkrylsya mne
Near (by) [the] cross opened to me
Кроткий Агнец Божий.
Krotkiy Agnets Bozhiy.
Meek / gentle Lamb [of] God.
Он привлёк меня к Себе,
On privlok menya k Sebe,
He drew me to Himself,
Стал всего дороже.
Stal vsego dorozhe.
Became (planted itself) most costly/expensive.

4. У креста я буду ждать
U kresta ya budu zhdat'
Near (by) [the] cross I will wait
С верой и надеждой,
S veroy i nadezhdoy,
With faith and hope,
Пока Бог велит принять
Poka Bog velit prinyat'
As long as God wills to accept
В царство безмятежных.
V tsarstvo bezmyatezhnykh.
In [the] kingdom [of the] serene.


And here is a link to the Hymn with the Russian lyrics.



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God Be With You — Бог с Тобой



1.
Бог с тобой, доколе свидимся!
Bog s toboy, dokole svidimsya!
God [be] with you, until we meet [again]!
Путь твой Он да охраняет,
Put' tvoy On da okhranyayet,
Path yours He may guard
Каждый шаг твой направляет;
Kazhdyy shag tvoy napravlyayet;
Every step [of] yours directs;
Бог с тобой, доколе свидимся!
Bog s toboy, dokole svidimsya!
God [be] with you, until we meet [again]!

Припев:
Доколе мы свидимся
Dokole my svidimsya
Until we meet [again]
Мы свидимся у ног Христа;
My svidimsya u nog Khrista;
We will meet at the feet [of] Christ;
Доколе мы свидимся
Dokole my svidimsya
Until we meet [again]
Бог с тобой, доколе свидимся!
Bog s toboy, dokole svidimsya!
God [be] with you, until we meet [again]!

2.
Бог с тобой, доколе свидимся!
Bog s toboy, dokole svidimsya!
God [be] with you, until we meet [again]!
Душу Он да ободряет,
Dushu On da obodryayet,
[Your] soul He may encourages,
Манной свыше Сам питает;
Mannoy svyshe Sam pitayet;
Manna [from] above [He] Himself nourishes [you];
Бог с тобой, доколе свидимся!
Bog s toboy, dokole svidimsya!
God [be] with you, until we meet [again]!


3.
Бог с тобой, доколе свидимся!
Bog s toboy, dokole svidimsya!
God [be] with you, until we meet [again]!
Он от зла тебе защита,
On ot zla tebe zashchita,
He from evil your protection [is],
В Нём вся жизнь твоя сокрыта;
V Nyom vsya zhizn' tvoya sokryta;
In Him all life yours hidden;
Бог с тобой, доколе свидимся!
Bog s toboy, dokole svidimsya!
God [be] with you, until we meet [again]!


4.
Бог с тобой, доколе свидимся!
Bog s toboy, dokole svidimsya!
God [be] with you, until we meet [again]!
На Христа, иди, взирая,
Na Khrista, idi, vziraya,
On Christ, go/walk, looking, (Standard English: Looking on Christ, walk)
Всем любовь Его являя;
Vsem lyubov' Yego yavlyaya;
[To] all love [of] His show;
Бог с тобой, доколе свидимся!
Bog s toboy, dokole svidimsya!
God [be] with you, until we meet [again]!

Final words shown on the video:
Because the Lord Himself, at the proclamation, at the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God, will descend from heaven, and then raise the dead in Christ ....

Then we, the survivors, will be delighted with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so will we be ...

So comfort each other with these words ...
1 Thessalonians 4:18


---------- Better English approximation of the Russian hymn ----------

1. God be with you till we meet again;
May He guard your path,
Every step of yours direct;
God be with you till we meet again.
Chorus:
Until we meet again,
We meet at the feet of Christ;
Until we meet again—
God be with you till we meet again.
2. God be with you till we meet again;
May He encourage [your] soul,
He Himself feeds [your soul] with manna from Above;
God be with you till we meet again.
3. God be with you till we meet again;
He is your protection from evil,
In Him all your life is hidden;
God be with you till we meet again.
4. God be with you till we meet again;
Looking on Christ walk,
To all His love showing;
God be with you till we meet again.
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Index to Translations of Simon's Songs












Many of Simon Khorolskiy's renditions of songs have become favorites of mine—some familiar and many previously unknown to me.  He has placed the names of the composers by a few of the songs, but many have no source nor composer listed.  I asked him about this.  He wrote back:
"All of these songs, besides the ones that have 'original songs' by them, are old Russian hymns from 50-100 years ago that were sung by our grandparents back in the Soviet Union.  I am merely just reviving them.  Thanks for kindly asking, but, you don't even need my permission to translate them. Go forth!"
Thus I have carte blanche to translate these and make them accessible to people here in the States.  It is especially sweet to think that some of these songs were sung during the darkest days of the communistic oppression.    And it increases my desire to make these available to the Body of Christ within the English-speaking world.

NOTE: There will be many songs in both categories.


NOTE:  Many new translations in the Third Section Below.

Metrical Translations —

(Fits the translation to the music)


Transliteration and Word-For-Word Translations —

(Does not fit the music)

Each line of the song will expand into 3 lines:
   1st Line:  The actual Russian (in the Cyrillic alphabet)
   2nd Line: The Russian represented by English letters
   3rd Line: The translation.
              Words that have to be supplied are in [square brackets].







Other Russian Songs Translated Word-for-Word —

 

Some words about Russian and Translating —

Russian is far different from English, even though both are Indo-European languages.  Some of the difference is superficial: Russian uses the Cyrillic alphabet, whereas English uses the Roman alphabet.  But the deep-seated differences lie in word order and what happens to words as they are showing different roles in a sentence.  I don't want to delve into the details of Russian grammar, but I want to help you appreciate some of what the Russian language is doing.

For English, the language is strongly dependent on word order:
I book a place.            OR                 I place a book.
These two sentences have vastly different meanings.  In Russian this is not possible because verbs have verb endings that reflect not only the tense (past, present, future, etc.) but also who the subject of the sentence is.  Likewise, nouns have noun endings that mark them as being a subject or an object of a verb or showing possession.  Thus Russian can move words around in ways that seem unnatural to the English mind.  This allows for flexibility in poetry, allowing the cadence to move better.  It also allows something to take focus by placing it first or in a position that highlights its role differently than you could do with English.

Other difference that show up in doing a word-for-word translation are:
  • Russian has no articles: no a, an, nor the.
  • Russian does not (usually)  use the verb to be in the present tense.
    • All you do is put the noun next to the other noun or an adjective
    • "The house is green."   Becomes word-for-word translated: "House — green."
  • Sometimes the preposition that we use in English is embedded in the noun's ending.  In other words, the Russian language does not need to say "The dog of the man."  Instead the noun "man" would be modified to show that it was possessing something: usually the noun just before it.
  • You will see a number of words that look like single consonant letters.  Eg, s, k, v.  They are stand alone words, often prepositions.  However in pronunciation, they are run together with the word that follows.  For example:
    • Бог с Тобой — transliterated:  Bog s Toboi
    • but  this would be pronounced more like Bṓg stəBṒY
    • and the Word-for-Word translation:  "God [be] with you"
  • The English letter transliterations are approximate.  For instance:
    • zh is used to represent   Ж   —  a soft French "j" sound, as in Jacque.
    • sometimes a sound becomes voiced or unvoiced depending on what letters is next to it.  In other words, making it easier to say.
      • For instance: V  voiced   is  similar to  F  unvoiced
      • Likewise:  B  voiced   is  similar to  P  unvoiced
      • etc.
    • And the consonant will become voiced or unvoiced depending on what's immediately in front or after it.
    • "Г" usually pronounced /g/ as in /good/, but sometimes is pronounced /v/ in some words that end in something like: "его"!
      • Thus его ("his") is pronounced /yevo/.

Resources:




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Monday, October 22, 2018

Near the Cross

I am rather taken with this rendition of the old hymn, "Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross."  I love the tender treatment that Simon Khorolskiy gives it.  I also love the Russian lyrics that tell the same story with a slightly different focus.  I decided to take the Russian and translate it back into English and force it into the musical meter.  Although I did not attempt to rhyme it each quatrain.

Regrettably, Simon only sings the first two verses and the choruses. 

1) Near the cross I want to stand,
   Contemplate it, O soul,
   There with Calv'ry's gracious grace,
   Flows out to the whole world.

       Near the cross, near the cross
       Dignity and honor;
       There salvation full, complete,
       In its blissful goodness.

2) At the cross I then was found
   By God's Grace and Power;
   Bright Your star, O Cross of Christ,
   Lit my path that hour.
  
3) Near the cross disclosed to me
   Lamb of God so gentle;
   To Himself He drew me close,
   He became most costly.
  
4) Near the cross I'll watch and wait
   Faith and hope surrounding;
   Welcome me then Lord my God,
   To Your Kingdom peaceful!


Simon's beautiful rendition of this hymn




The Russian lyrics:
1. У креста хочу стоять,
   Созерцать душою,
   Как с Голгофы благодать
   В мир течёт рекою.

       У креста, у креста
       Честь моя и слава.
       Там спасенья полнота,
       На блаженство право.

2. У креста меня нашли
   Благодать и сила. Светлая
   Твоя звезда
   Путь мой озарила.

3. У креста открылся мнеto me
   Кроткий Агнец Божий.
   Он привлёк меня к Себе,
   Стал всего дороже.

4. У креста я буду ждать
   С верой и надеждой,
   Пока Бог велит принять
   В царство безмятежных.

Here is a link to the Hymn with the Russian lyrics.




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Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Through His Eyes


Raymond felt her hand again. Kathleen, his wife of fifty years stirred slightly. He smiled as her eyes looked into his. It was her eyes that fascinated him. More than fifty years had passed since he first saw her coming out of a freshman English lecture. Her eyes were bright, full of life, sparkling as he held the door for her. He made sure to be at that door every day before noon that week, just for her. Soon they were studying together, sipping sodas, walking hand-in-hand. They were an item.

He recalled winning her father's approval: “Son, I don't take lightly with someone who doesn't finish the job. If you're interested in dating my daughter, you will have to prove to me that you have the desire and the means to support her and the drive to support her until the end. You start? You finish.”

Raymond closed his eyes again and thought about Kathleen's father: Hard-working, old school, blue-collar worker who had saved up enough to send Kathleen to college. He was also a deeply religious man, though a bit gruff. He eventually warmed up to Raymond once he realized that Raymond played sports in high school only to pad his resume when going off to college. Being an engineering major proved he was serious about school and his future.

“You're smiling again, Love. Thinking of our first date?”

Kathleen's voice brought him back to the present.

“Uh-huh. And....” He didn't finish; she'd know. He saw it in her eyes again just as when they had in the light of the simple burger joint, twinkling brightly with the neon lights above and the flashes of car headlights from the road outside.

“What?” she had asked then laughed. He loved that laugh.

“I like your eyes,” he had replied. “They're full of life!”

She laughed again then looked away.

 “Would you like to take a walk after this?” he asked.

Her eyes glowed brightly. “Sure!” Then she picked up her burger and drink.

Raymond laughed. “That's what I like about you, Kathleen.”

 “That I pick my burger up and start walking?”

“No, that you can have fun and play right along.” He paused and wondered if he should say what else was on his mind. “That and your eyes.”

“My eyes? You've mentioned them twice tonight.”

“You have two of them.”

She smiled then looked away. “It takes more than eyes for a good relationship.”

“Yes, through my eyes I can see your eyes are honest and caring; truth be told, I'd like to see more of you. If you'd like that.”

Kathleen was silent for most of a block. “You'd have to ask Daddy,” she finally said. “And we'd like to know more about you—especially how you set with God, religion, and all.”

He knew what she meant. He had started attending the same church where she went but her family had not observed him very closely yet. From that point on he made sure that he was in the center of activities at that church. Two years later her father had given his blessing on their engagement. Life was sweet but transpired so quickly! Children, then grandchildren! Now they would be separated?

Raymond closed his eyes and set his thoughts on God. “God will take care of Kathleen; he will take care of me too,” he whispered silently to himself. “Watch over us, Lord.”

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

He stirred as he recognized Kathleen reciting a favorite passage of Scripture. Her voice seemed far softer than before; the past weeks had to be wearing on her. They both needed rest.

“He makes me lie down in green pastures...”

“Yes,” he thought. “Quiet pastures—wonderful. I'll just close my eyes and imagine Heaven's bright fields: the Lord, my shepherd, my rest.”

Kathleen continued reciting the psalm then realized the hand she held grew limp and cool.

With a start she checked his pulse and then his eyes. His eyes, once bright, now stared vacantly beyond.

“Dear Lord, he's gone home! Oh, to see through his eyes now!” Tears gathered in her eyes as she leaned forward to kiss his cheek one last time. “Good-bye, my love. For you it's morning.”

D. Benning (c) 2018
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