Люли, люли, люленьки
Natalia wrote, "I was thinking hard about adding something to your collection. And here it is. It sounds really nice."
Люли, люли, люленьки
Looly-looly-loolenki
Lullaby
Lullaby
(Russian)
(English)
Люли, люли, люленьки,
Где вы, где вы, гуленьки?
Прилетайте на кровать,
Начинайте ворковать.
Люли, люли, люленьки,
Прилетели гуленьки.
Сели в изголовьице -
Спи-ка на здоровьице.
Стали гули ворковать -
Стала доча засыпать.
Looly-looly-loolenki*
Where are you, little doves?
Come descend upon the bed
Start to growl at little lad.
Looly-Looly-Loolenki
There come my little doves.
There sit they at your head,
Wee-wee sleep my little lad.
Notes
*Natalia said, "Doesn't mean anything."
I (Mama Lisa) put it into a translator, it translated it as, "Lullaby, Lyuli, lyulenki."
According to Learn Russian, "Люли" is an "old-Slavic goddess of the earth, and of spring, love, and fertility."
Natalia said, "In Russian it sounds very soothing and dovey :)"
*****
I noticed Natalia's translation has less lines than the original. I tried to come up with a rough translation that matches the Russian (it's less poetical). Below you can read my results. I welcome help with a more literal translation...
Lullaby, lyuli, lyulenki,
Where are you, where are you, little doves?
Fly on the bed,
Start to coo.
Lullaby, lyuli, lyulenki,
They came flying to the bed
Sat down by your head
Guarding your sleep
Started to coo
Began to fall asleep.
Feel free to email me at lisa@mamalisa.com with recommended changes or a new word-for-word translation. Thanks! Mama Lisa
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Natalia for contributing and translating this song and to Rochelle for correcting the 2nd translation.
Bolshoe spasibo!
Большое спасибо!