Into the snow she's fallen; the bear deftly
snatches her up and carries her;
she is insensibly submissive;
4 stirs not, breathes not;
he rushes her along a forest road;
sudden, 'mongst trees, there is a humble hut;
dense wildwood all around; from every side
8 'tis drifted over with desolate snow,
and brightly glows a window;
and in the hut are cries and noise;
the bear quoth: “Here's my gossip,
12 do warm yourself a little in his home!”
and straight he goes into the hallway
and on the threshold lays her down.
XVI
Tatiana comes to, looks:
no bear; she's in a hallway;
behind the door there's shouting and the jingle
4 of glasses as at some big funeral.
Perceiving not a drop of sense in this,
she furtively looks through the chink
— and what then? She sees... at a table
8 monsters are seated in a circle:
one horned and dog-faced;
another with a rooster's head;
here is a witch with a goat's beard;
12 here, prim and proud, a skeleton;
yonder, a dwarf with a small tail; and there,
something half crane, half cat.
XVII
More frightful still, and still more wondrous:
there is a crab astride a spider;
there on a goose's neck
4 twirls a red-calpacked skull;
there a windmill the squat-jig dances
and rasps and waves its vanes.
Barks, laughter, singing, whistling, claps,
8 the parle of man, the stamp of steed!31 But what were the thoughts of Tatiana
when 'mongst the guests she recognized
him who was dear to her and awesome —
12 the hero of our novel!
Onegin at the table sits
and through the door stealthily gazes.
XVIII
He gives the signal — and all bustle;
he drinks — all drink and all cry out;
he laughs — all burst out laughing;
4 knits his brows — all are silent;
he is the master there, 'tis plain;
and Tanya is already not so awestruck,
and being curious now she opens
8 the door a little....
Sudden the wind blows, putting out
the light of the nocturnal flambeaux;
the gang of goblins flinches;
12 Onegin, his eyes flashing,
making a clatter rises from the table;
all rise; he marches to the door.
XIX
And fear assails her; hastily
Tatiana strains to flee:
not possible; impatiently
4 tossing about, she wants to scream —
cannot; Eugene has pushed the door,
and to the gaze of the infernal specters
the girl appears; ferocious laughter
8 wildly resounds; the eyes of all,
hooves, curved proboscises,
tufted tails, tusks,
mustaches, bloody tongues,
12 horns, and fingers of bone —
all point as one at her,
and everybody cries: “Mine! Mine!”
XX
“Mine!” Eugene fiercely said,
and in a trice the whole gang vanished;
the youthful maid remained with him
4 twain in the frosty dark;
Onegin gently draws Tatiana32 into a corner and deposits her
upon a shaky bench
8 and lets his head sink on her shoulder;
all of a sudden Olga enters,
followed by Lenski; light gleams forth;
Onegin brings back his raised arm
12 and wildly his eyes roam,
and he berates the unbidden guests;
Tatiana lies barely alive.
XXI
The argument grows louder, louder: Eugene
suddenly snatches a long knife, and Lenski
forthwith is felled; the shadows awesomely
4 have thickened; an excruciating cry
resounds... the cabin lurches...
and Tanya wakes in terror....
She looks — 'tis light already in the room;
8 dawn's crimson ray
plays in the window through the frozen pane;
the door opens. Olga flits in to her
rosier than Northern Aurora
12 and lighter than a swallow. “Well,”
she says, “do tell me,
whom did you see in dream?”