Translation of the Russian letter and poem in "My Sergei"
Ekaterina's dedication at the beginning of the book
Translation 1:
"I dedicate this book to my Seryozha. To my beloved, my husband, the father of my child, a great athlete and my best friend. In his short and rich life, Seryozha was able to give many people many wonderful moments. He lived for earthly love and could give it to others, because that was the natural state of his soul. I am grateful to Seryozha for each day spent next to him, for each of his smiles and gentle words. Seryozha, I will treasure the wondeful fairy tale in which we lived, and will tell it to our daughter!"
Translation 2:
"I dedicate this book to my Seriozha. To my lover. my husband, the father of my child, a great sportsman and my best friend. During his short and intense life Sergei managed to give to many people some minutes of beauty. He lived for love and could give it to people because love was his natural state. I am grateful to Seriozha for every day I lived at his side, for every smile, every kind word. Seriozha, I'll treasure our wonderful fairy tale which we both lived and I'll tell it to our daughter!"
The Poem (by Anna Akhmatova, 1915)
Translation 1 (by Judith Hemschemeyer):
I no longer smile,
A freezing wind chills my lips,
One less hope becomes one more song.
And this song, against my will,
I devote to desecration and mockery,
Because it is unbearably painful
For the soul to love silently.
Translation 2:
I smile no more,
Frosty wind chills the lips,
There's now one hope less,
There will be one song more.
And, unwillingly, I'll
Give this song up to laughter and ridicule,
Because the loving silence
Is unbearably painful to the soul.
Translation 3:
I do not smile anymore
Cold wind chills my lips,
I lost one more hope,
But now there is one more song
And this song I will give away
For sarcasm and critics,
Because silence about my love
Causes an irresistible pain in my soul.
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