Шёл через лес сатир. Он тонконог,
И волосы достали до груди.
Лукавый смех в глазах. Почуять мог
Он шорохи любые позади.
Оглядывался он по сторонам
И крался. Вдруг, прикрыв ладонью рот,
Беззвучно засмеялся, пополам
Согнувшись. Словно в нём порок живёт.
Греху подобен: робок, гибок, дик,
Как лань или как малое дитя -
Ногам покоя не дал, озорник:
Козлом скакал и танцевал шутя.
Он танцевал с оглядкой, но на звук,
Что, хрустнув веточкой, издал я, в тень
Метнулся в три прыжка огромных вдруг
И в зелени исчез, как тот олень.
James Stephens
The Satyr
There came a satyr creeping through the wood,
His hair fell on his breast, his legs were slim:
His eyes were laughing wickedly, he stood
And peeped about on every side of him.
He peeped about, he minced upon the ground,
He put a thin hand up to hide a grin:
He doubled up and laughed without a sound;
The very bodiment of happy sin.
The bodiment of sin: timid and wild
And limber as a goat: his pointed feet
Were not at peace an instant: like a child
He danced and glanced, and like a goat was fleet.
He danced, he peeped, but at a sound I made,
A crackling twig, he turned and suddenly
In three great jumps he bounded to the shade,
And disappeared among the greenery.
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