В поисках безобидного старика.
Напомню предмет поиска:
у поэта Сергея Сатина есть старинный лимерик, напечатанный ещё в советском "Крокодиле":
Безобидный старик из Багдада
был владельцем столь грозного взгляда,
что когда ровно в пять выходил он гулять -
вмиг пустели бульвары Багдада.
Я обратился к Татьяне Кормилицыной kormilicyna_t, соратнице Сергея Сатина по цеху:
«Очень люблю я этот стишок, он как про меня.
Сказано, что это перевод из Киплинга, но не могу найти оригинал Киплинга.
Не могли бы ль Вы спросить Сергея, существует ли такой оригинал?»
И, благодаря помощи Татьяны, ответ от первого лица был получен:
"Истинная правда, мой.
Как звучит оригинал Киплинга - убей, не помню, давно это было. А подстрочник, с которого я переводил, не сохранился.
Как всегда при переводе поэзии (лимериков, в частности), сохраняется дух, а не детали. Поэтому, в оригинале не Багдад, естественно, а что-то другое. И не бульвары, допустим, а улицы. И не грозный взгляд, а, возможно, суковатая палка. Но скорее всего, именно взгляд, потому что именно во взгляде вся фишка.
Разрешаю репостить это Павлу Калмыкову с моим дружеским приветом.
Сергей"
Спасибо и Татьяне, и Сергею!
Но полного собрания лимериков Киплинга в интернете нет, что странно, поскольку его всегда упоминают в перечне знаменитых лимеристов. Но есть бумажные антологии поэзии Киплинга, есть Общество Киплинга, Журнал Киплинга, библиография Киплинга, и довольно полный список его лимериков из неё выбрать можно. Именуются эти стишки чаще всего по первым строкам. Усложняет дело то, что уйдя в народ, строки теряют автора и мутируют. Другие, напротив, приписываются автору ошибочно. Да и сам Киплинг не раз вдохновлялся чужими лимериками, переделывая творения Э. Лира.
Помещаю тексты найденных лимериков Киплинга и оглашаю список ненайденных [(читать дальше)]
1)
I know a young lady from Beavor
And not for the world would I grieve her;
But it runs in my head
That she scares herself dead
For no one's allowed to relieve her.
2)
I played with a lady at Eucher [or Euchre]
And did all I knew for to roochre
But spite of my play,
At the end of the day,
She won and I promptly forsoochre.
3)
There once was a horse on the road
Who was anxious to tread on a toad
Till a motor car which
Knocked him into a ditch
Made him feel for himself-and the toad
4)
There once was a writer who wrote:
'Dear Sir, In reply to your note
Of yesterday's date,
I am sorry to state
It's no good - at the prices you quote.'
5)
There Once Was a Pekinese
There once was the Deuce of a Peke
Whose comprise morale was unique.
(Moral influence)
It wasn't his size
Made men open their eyes -
But his super celestial cheek!
6)
[On a Game of Euchre]
There once were four people at Euchre;
They played for mere love not for lucre;
But the noise that they made,
O'er each diamond and spade,
Would convince you 'twas warfare, not Euchre.
7)
There was a fat man of Girgenti
Whose dolci was far from nienti.
He went to Segesta
To take a siesta
And - sat on a grosso sepente!
8)
There was a fat person of Zug
Who was found on all fours on the rug
When they said:- 'You've a fit!'
He said:- 'No! I've been bit,
And I'm morally sure it's a bug!'
9)
There was a professor who led
The deuce of a life in a shed.
Miss Knapp and Miss Hall
Now represent all
His live ballast which isn't quite dead.
10)
There was a small boy of Quebec
Who was buried in snow to the neck.
When they asked:- 'Are you friz?'
He replied:- 'Yes I is,
But we don't call this cold in Quebec'
Это самый ходовой лимерик Киплинга. Мой вариант:
Паренёк, уроженец Квебека
Был завален сугробищем снега,
Но сказал: «Ваш мороз -
Для изнеженных роз,
И совсем не мороз для Квебека.
11)
There was a small boy who was proud
And smoked where he wasn't allowed
Till a java cigar
Lit the bestest sofar
And he quit -- in a Pillar of Cloud.
(* sofar - triangulation of an explosion)
12)
There was a young girl of Messleuch*
Whose statements were often untrue.
When they said. 'Are you hot?'
She replied. 'No I'm not;
What you see on my face is the dew'.
(* pronounced M'sloo)
13)
There was a young girl of St Tropez
Who said she did not know the ro-pés:
She went off to Cannes
With a very rich man-
And now her dear mother has ho-pés.
14)
There was a young lady of Brighton,
Who buttoned her jerseys so tight on,
That whenever she stirred,
Off the buttons all “whirred”
And much did the people it frighten.
(Текст отыскался в старой заморской газете за 1881, среди прочих строк, обобщённых под заголовком “Kibblings”. Термин «Лимерик» тогда ещё не утвердился.)
15)
There was a young man with a story
Who wrote it alone in his glory
When invited abroad
He said blandly:- 'O Lord!'
And retired to finish his story.
16)
There was a young parson of Wells
Who remarked:- «Here is something that smells!!
As the Canon is out
There isn't a doubt
It's the Bishop and nobody else!»
17)
There was a young person of Bateman's
Who was guarded in most of her statements.
When they asked: "Where's you Pa?"
She said: "Out in his car."
Whereas he really was at Bateman's.
18)
There was a young person of Dover
Who strongly objected to clover
So she ordered her cousins
To pick it by dozens
Which agreed with that person of Dover.
19)
There was a young person of Oldham
Who altered his tales as he told 'em
When his friends said "how mean"
He replied "all serene"
And that's about all that he told 'em
20)
There was a young woman of Brie
Who said 'None of this fromage for me,
My Pa's in the trade
And I've seen this stuff made -
And to eat it, is felo de si.'
21)
"There was an old man of Tarentum"
В интернете несколько версий лимерика с таким началом и сходным сюжетом. Они обычно анонимны; один раз встретилась подпись «Gilbert K. Chesterton».
There was an old man of Tarentum
Who gnashed his false teeth till he bent ’em,
When they asked him the cost
Of what he had lost,
He replied “I can’t say, for I rent ’em.”
22)
There was an old Man who said: “True-
"My outsides and insides ain't new
"And me guts are a wreck,
"But I can write a cheque"…
So he did - and he sends it for you!
23)
There were two young ladies of Nice
Who drank seven cocktails apiece,
Then tried to undress
In the Paris express,
But were stopped by the local police.
24)
There's a Province that's governed on tick,
And it's bound to collapse with a click;
For what they call France
Is the workings of chance,
And it's making our Government sick!
25)
We went to a ball at the Goschens'
With the proper conventional notions,
But one of us (Lance)*
Came away from the dance
A prey to the wildest emotions.
When we asked him, “Whom did you see ?”
He replied, “It is Monica G.,
Lady Desborough's dotter.
She swims like an otter.
There isn't another for me!”
(*Mrs Kipling's diary mentions him as Lance Dale Lace: a "beau" of Elsie's, as Lady Lorna records.)
26)
There was an old man of Dundee
Who observed "It is easy to see
"No House is complete
"Without me and my seat -
"My initials are W.C."
(Перевод пояснительный:
Англичанина Уинстона Черчилля,
На сортирах увековечили.
И у нас на Руси
Знают «Дабл-ю Си» -
Буквы имени Уинстона Черчилля.)
27)
Right foot! lef foot! Hop light Loo,
Here am a fuss - dere am a muss! What am a nig to do?
Down de middle an' back again -
Keep de sugar out o' de rain,
Mind de aigs up de floor an' - hop light, Loo!
(from Virginibus Puerisque: A Second Rate Farce)
28)
There was a young lady of Nassik
Whose attire was graceful and classic
For all that she wore
Both behind and before
Was a wreath of the roses of Nassik.
(Есть мнение, что этот лимерик приписан Киплингу ошибочно)
29)
There was a young lady from Riga [or: Niger],
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger
They came back from the ride
With the lady inside,
And a smile on the face of the tiger.
Не найдены тексты лимериков:
1) "There Once Was a Master Named Osborne"
2) "Have you heard of the oarsman called Cook
3) "Il y avait une esprit maline"
4) "There once was a man who said: - I..."
5) "There once was a man with a motor"
6) "There once was an office that warred"
7) "There was a Fast Person of Eridge"
8) "There was a poor wretch on the snow"
9) "There was a Young Fellow of Rye"
10) "There was a young female of Kent"
11) "There was a young lady of Frant"
12)"There was a young person from Ems"
13) "There was a Young Person of Hastings"
14) "There was an old fellow of Lydd"
15) "There was an old lady of Margate"
16) "There was an old man in a doolie"
17) "There was an old man of Kinsale"
18) "There's a district due north of the Jumnear"
19-20) Two Limericks on the Madras Scandal:
"There was an Old Man in a Doolie"
"There once was a Man of Madras"
21) "This Villa belongs to one Helen" (Doll’s House”)
22) "There was a young lady of Heever"
Ну и где скрывается старик с грозным взором?
UPD. Да, наиболее вероятный кандидат в первоисточники нашёлся у Эдварда Лира