Mykyta was tanning hides.
when people came to him,
in tears:
“O, woe, Mykyta, if only you knew,
such woe, if only you knew!
A dragon-king
has surrounded the city.
what will you say to him?
I’ll show mercy after I drink up your blood.
what can you say to him?”
Anger overcame Mykyta.
he didn’t raise his head,
he tore twelve hides with his bare hands,
he just tore them to shreds!
They came to him a second time:
each one with his nose cut off,
with no ears,
without lips.
And they started to whine shrilly:
“O, woe, Mykyta, if only you knew,
such woe, if only you knew!”
Pity overcame Mykyta—
he called them fools:
fools, stupid fools,
when will they finally become extinct!
And a third time they came to him:
and each one held before him:
a headless wife,
a headless son,
with their legs ambling so horrifyingly, ridiculously.
as if they were still alive...
Here Mykyta abruptly rose and vented.
You’re all headless!
What will come of it if I help you?
Three times you’ve come, three times you’ve been the same.
what fools you are!
Where are your champions?
Ah! – echoed – and silence reigned.
Their eyes gaped – and silence reigned.
“Why are their ears not cut off?”
“Why have their sons not been butchered?”
Ah! – they arose – and silence reigned.
Their eyes agape – and they all conjectured.
(the blood of the dead glistened while they ran)...
They heaped the dead on a pile.
The living stood up separately.
They’ve struck upon a champion!
Mykyta against the king!
And the very earth began to seethe...
1924