as performed by The Household Appliances Orchestra conducted by Stepan M. Pechkin as performed by The Household Appliances Orchestra conducted by Stepan M. Pechkin
To those willing to improve the sound of the HAO, all necessary materials will be provided.
I have set for an endless way
I have put in my mind a lore:
Be a merry man if you may,
But become an old man before.
Under moon an old mand feels good
And beneath the noon's sunlit skies
He will laugh his foe in the eyes,
And will trample him under foot,
And will crush him until he dies.
(Every home offers me a stay
With warm bread and blanket and tea,
And a kiss or two by the way
If the husband cares not to see.
Every man seeks to shake my hand
Asking questions about my steed
Wish I had respect for those men
As much as they have it for me).
Squint my eyese like splints in a wood,
Such a face I bear I hate worst:
Be a sad man now if you should,
But become a scoundrel first.
Make me see the world for its worth,
Take me to the furthest of far –
Lo, there are no fools on the earth,
And no wise men either there are.
Swings before me the endless way.
(And the lore inside of me swings:
– If you long for someone to stay,
If you recall some passed-by thing –
Hit your temple with your great fist,
Hit with mighty knife your broad chest!
Fall in dust, and death do not miss).
Music: Winter 1995
* "Year of the Monkey" ("Zhazushii", Alma-Ata 1967).
© Stepan M. Pechkin 1995