Poems and Songs of Vladimir Vysotsky. The Nature Reserve.

The gentle animals and predatory beasts...Translated by Akbar Muhammad.

The gentle animals and predatory beasts
Have the appearance and smell of human creatures.
But as for walking every day on the hind feet —
It’s the cruel fate the intellectual beings meet with.

The audience today, the audience today
Doesn’t wish to see the tamers’ skillfulness any more.
And if you have the indispensableness to tame —
Work with the criminals to heal your running sore.

Not a great number of conventional and modest people
Have the appearance and smell of human creatures.
But as for walking every day on the hind feet —
It’s the cruel fate the unintelligent beings meet with.

The populace today, the populace today
Doesn’t wish to see the tamers’ skillfulness any more.
And if you have the indispensableness to tame —
Work with the animals to heal your running sore.

1966.

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