The Aquarium
(by Clare Bevan)
‘Roll up, now! Roll up!’
Called the man on the pier.
‘Come, visit the MERMAID!
Last chance this year.’
I paid him my penny,
I tiptoed inside,
I thought he had tricked me,
I thought he had lied…
But there was the mermaid,
Alone in the pool,
Just like the pictures
I’d studied at school.
Her hair was as glossy
And golden and wet,
Her tail was as silver
As moonlight, and yet
Her song was the saddest
I ever had heard,
Her eyes were as dull
As a poor, captured bird.
I ran from the mermaid,
I ran from the pier,
But still, in my head,
It’s her voice that I hear.
And still, in my dreams,
She is gazing at me
As I carry her gently
Back home to the sea.
Аквариум
-Зайдите! Зайдите!-
Кричал человек, -
Русалку вам больше
Не встретить вовек!
Я отдал им пенни
И внутрь проник.
Я думал, он плут
Или просто шутник.
Но вот, предо мною
Бледна и мила
Она, как с картинок,
В бассейн сошла.
И мокрых волос
Золотая волна,
И хвост в серебре,
Будто светит луна.
С пронзительной песней,
Смертельно грустна,
Как пташечка в клетке
Здесь билась она.
Я бросился прочь,
С пирса я убежал,
Но голос её –
Словно в сердце кинжал.
С тех пор снится мне
Её пристальный взгляд,
Когда я несу её
К морю назад.