Чистый nonsense (сборник) - страница 26

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But oh! I can't, because my legs

Are so extremely short.

And I'm afraid the King and Queen

(One in red, and one in green)

Would say aloud, “You are not fit,

You Fly, to come to court a bit!”

IV

'O Mr. Daddy Long-legs,

Said Mr. Floppy Fly,

'I wish you'd sing one little song!

One mumbian melody!

You used to sing so awful well

In former days gone by,

But now you never sing at all;

I wish you'd tell me why:

For if you would, the silvery sound

Would please the shrimps and cockles round,

And all the crabs would gladly come

To hear you sing, “Ah, hum di Hum”!

V

Said Mr. Daddy Long-legs,

'I can never sing again!

And if you wish, I'll tell you why,

Although it gives me pain.

For years I cannot hum a bit,

Or sing the smallest song;

And this the dreadful reason is,

My legs are grown too long!

My six long legs, all here and there,

Oppress my bosom with despair;

And if I stand, or lie, or sit,

I cannot sing one little bit!

VI

So Mr. Daddy Long-legs

And Mr. Floppy Fly

Sat down in silence by the sea,

And gazed upon the sky.

They said, 'This is a dreadful thing!

The world has all gone wrong,

Since one has legs too short by half,

The other much too long!

One never more can go to court,

Because his legs have grown too short;

The other cannot sing a song,

Because his legs have grown too long!

VII

Then Mr. Daddy Long-legs

And Mr. Floppy Fly

Rushed downward to the foamy sea

With one sponge-taneous cry;

And there they found a little boat,

Whose sails were pink and gray;

And off they sailed among the waves,

Far, and far away.

They sailed across the silent main,

And reached the great Gromboolian plain;

And there they play for evermore

At battlecock and shuttledoor.

Комар-долгоног и Муха-жик

I

Раз мистер Комар-долгоног,

В буро-сером своём,

По прибрежному шёл песку

Невзрачным летним днём.

И там средь голышей

При колючем ветре том

Глядь – мистер Муха-жик идёт,

Весь в сине-золотом.

К обеду выпили до дна

Бутыль цветочного вина

И долго резались потом

То ль в воланбол, то ль в волантон.

II

Вдруг мистер Комар-долгоног

Спросил у Мух-жика:

«Что ж при дворе вас не видать?

Прошу ответьте-ка.

Такой наряд пленяет взгляд,

Он создан для двора.

Зачем не ходите туда?

Пора, давно пора!

Там блеск такой, что жаль очей!

Ковры! И кубки! Жар свечей!

И Королевская Чета,

Тот – в красном, и в зелёном – Та!»

III

«О мистер Комар-долгоног, —

Мух-жик в ответ ему, —

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