Lyrics of 'Zmei' by Melnitsa

Akh, inache v bylye goda
Koldovala zemlya s nebesami,
Diva divnye zrelis' togda,
Chuda chudnye deyalis' sami.

Pozabyv Zolotuyu Ordu,
Pestryy grokhot ravniny kitayskoy,
Zmey krylatyy v pustynnom sadu
Chasto pryatalsya polnoch'yu mayskoy.

Tol'ko devushki videt' lunu
Vykhodili pokhodkoyu statnoy,
On podkhvatyval bystro odnu,
I vzmyval, i stremilsya obratno.

Kak sverkal, kak slepil i gorel
Mednyy pantsir' pod khishchnoy lunoyu,
Kak serebryanym zvonom letel
Mernyy klekot nad Rus'yu lesnoyu:

"Ya krasavits takikh, lebedey,
S beliznoyu takoyu molochnoy,
Ne vstrechal nikogda i nigde,
Ni v zamorskoy strane, ni v vostochnoy;

No eshche ni odna ne byla
Vo dvortse moem pyshnom, v Lagore -
Umirayut v puti, i tela
Ya brosayu v Kaspiyskoe more.

Spat' na dne, sred' chudovishch morskikh,
Pochemu im, bezumnym, dorozhe,
Chem v moguchikh ob"yat'yakh moikh
Na torzhestvennom knyazheskom lozhe?

I poroy mne zavidna sud'ba
Parnya s beloy pastusheskoy dudkoy
Na lugu, gde devich'ya gur'ba
Tak dovol'na ego pribautkoy..."

Eti kriki zaslysha, Vol'ga
Vykhodil i poglyadyval khmuro;
Nadeval tetivu na roga
Belovezhskogo starogo tura.