“Mishka from Odessa”

It is a song about …OK, let it will be “about the defense of Odessa”.

Commonly it is a song about the soldiers and seamen who fought in the coast of the Black Sea. 
They had to retreat again and again but they believe that they will return in their home cities.

[Rem. AMVAS - It's a song- ballade about brief history of life of one person - Mishka from Odessa from his 
childhood to the preiod of evacuation from the town. Remember about the time (1942) when this song had been written.]

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“Mishka from Odessa” [1]

(Translated by Andrey)

There are wide firths and green chestnuts;
Here is a shalanda [2] is pitching on the pale blue roadstead . . . 
It is Odessa-beauty and a simply dressed boy was considered 
A true seaman from early the childhood here.
And if a bitter resentment
Will pester the boy
So the boy will give no sign
But if even he will do it so his mother will say him:

“Mishka, you are from Odessa, and it means
That neither grief nor distress are fearful to you.[3]
You know that you are seaman, Mishka; seaman 
Never cries and never loses a good spirits.”

There are pitted firths and drooping chestnuts,
Odessa-beauty is under an enemy fire…
The young chappie, dressed in sailor's jacket, 
Is keeping watch diligently with hot machine gun.
And there are clamour and shooting
In this night like it was yesterday.
The chappie is not afraid
And if even he will be afraid so he will say himself:

“Mishka, you are from Odessa, and it means
That neither grief nor distress are fearful to you.
You know that you are seaman, Mishka; seaman 
Never cries and never loses a good spirits.”

There are pitted firths and drooping chestnut,
And the quiet sorrowful rustling of half-mast banners is hearing . . .
The last battalion is leaving Odessa 
In a perfect silence, without the sounds of trumpets and drums.[4]
The guy wanted to lie down, to cover dear the stones of a pavement
By his body.
It was the first time when he wanted to cry
But a commissar embraced his with the commissar’s hand:

“Mishka, you are from Odessa, and it means
That neither grief nor distress are fearful to you.
You know that you are seaman, Mishka; seaman 
Never cries and never loses a good spirits.”

But the calm firths and the green chestnuts
Will hear the rustling of unfolded banners at the one day 
When the tired battalion will come back 
By a firm pace in Odessa-beauty.
And the chappie will drop roses on a ground
As a sign of his returning
And will not check tears.
But no one will say anything against it in that moment.

Yes, Mishka is from Odessa, and it means
That neither grief nor distress are fearful to him.
Yes, Mishka is seaman; seaman never cries
But it is not bad to cry now!

1942 


Remarks of Andrey
[1] – “Mishka” is the very familiar version of the name “Mikhail” (familiar – “Misha”)
[2] - “shalanda” is the Black Sea’s fishermen’s boat with a sail
[3] – people from Odessa are considered merry, resilient, dashing guys in Russia
[4] – Odessa got rank “City-Hero” in Soviet Union for its heroic defense in 1941. Odessa
was surrounded but the Germans couldn’t capture it. Unfortunately the Germans went further 
in the east and came in the Crimea. The Soviet Command had no enough troops for the 
defense of Sevastopol’ and decided to leave Odessa. The defenders of Odessa were 
evacuated by a sea transport and were transferred in Sevastopol’. The defenders of 
Odessa stayed undefeated but had to leave Odessa.

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The Russian version (translit):

"Mishka-odessit"

Shirokie limany, zelionye kashtany, 
Kachaetsia shalanda na reide golubom... 
V krasavitse Odesse mal'chishka goloshtannyi 
S rebiach'ikh let schitalsia zapravskim moriakom. 
I esli gor'kaia obida 
Mal'chishku stanet donimat', 
Mal'chishka ne pokazhet vida, 
A kol' pokazhet, skazhet emu mat': 

«Ty odessit, Mishka, a eto znachit, 
Chto ne strashny tebe ni gore, ni beda: 
Ved' ty moriak, Mishka, moriak ne plachet 
I ne teriaet bodrost' dukha nikogda». 

Izrytye limany, ponikshie kashtany, 
Krasavitsa Odessa pod vrazheskim ognem... 
S goriachim pulemiotom, na vakhte neustanno 
Moloden'kii parnishka v bushlatike morskom. 
I eta noch', kak den' vcherashnii, 
Nesiotsia v krike i pal'be, 
Parnishke ne byvaet strashno, 
A stanet strashno, skazhet on sebe: 

«Ty odessit, Mishka, a eto znachit, 
Chto ne strashny tebe ni gore, ni beda: 
Ved' ty moriak, Mishka, moriak ne plachet 
I ne teriaet bodrost' dukha nikogda». 

Izrytye limany, ponikshie kashtany, 
I tikhii skorbnyi shiopot prispushchennykh znamen... 
V glubokoi tishine, bez trub, bez barabanov, 
Odessu pokidaet poslednii batal'on. 
Khotelos' lech', prikryt' by telom 
Rodnye kamni mostovoi, 
Vpervye plakat' zakhotelos', 
No komissar obnial ego rukoi: 

«Ty odessit, Mishka, a eto znachit, 
Chto ne strashny tebe ni gore, ni beda: 
Ved' ty moriak, Mishka, moriak ne plachet 
I ne teriaet bodrost' dukha nikogda». 

Spokoinye limany, zelionye kashtany 
Eshche uslyshat shelest razviornutykh znamen, 
Kogda voidiot obratno pokhodkoiu chekannoi 
V krasavitsu Odessu ustalyi batal'on. 
I, uroniv na zemliu rozy, 
V znak vozvrashchen'ia svoego 
Parnishka nash ne sderzhit sliozy, 
No tut nikto ne skazhet nichego. 

Khot' odessit Mishka, a eto znachit, 
Chto ne strashny emu ni gore, ni beda: 
Khot' i moriak, Mishka, moriak ne plachet, 
No v etot raz poplakat', pravo, ne beda! 

1942