Who paid his obligations
Was ever favored first;
Folks ate when they were hungry,
And drank whene’er athirst.
All rocks and stones were solid,
The lakes and rivers wet.
The rich were proud, the lowly
With poverty beset.
The gentry scorned the townsmen
As of a lower sphere.
The innkeepers, as ever,
Poured water in their beer.
Impatiently youth hurried,
The aged, for relief
Rested; each bit of pleasure
Was followed by some grief.
Whoever owned some chattels
Served avarice as prize;
People were mostly stupid,
Only a few were wise.
Thieves and rascals prospered
As in Perun’s day—
Honest, trustful mortals
Were their easy prey.
For this world is unchanging,
Wherever people roam
And spitting in the ocean
Will never make it foam.
The Ship of State in Russia,
Like a machine well oiled
Ran on, without god Perun,
Unruffled and unspoiled.
[45]
