Thread: Вот так

Originally Posted by bobert

Kukushka (Кукушка) lyrics + English translation

This is not ideal translation. I do not know about english traditon, but in russian repetative cuckoo calls are subject of "mini-game". If you hear cuckoo calls you jokingly ask "tell me, cuckoo, how many years will I live?" and begin to count.
So, in song it is metaphor of fortune-teller about life and death. This is why translation "Where should I live, in the city or outside" is wrong. He doesn't ask for advice, but ask about prediction of future: "Where will I live? In the city (good) or in the poor settlement (bad)?"

Originally Posted by Alex80

This is not ideal translation. I do not know about english traditon, but in russian repetative cuckoo calls are subject of "mini-game". If you hear cuckoo calls you jokingly ask "tell me, cuckoo, how many years will I live?" and begin to count.
So, in song it is metaphor of fortune-teller about life and death. This is why translation "Where should I live, in the city or outside" is wrong. He doesn't ask for advice, but ask about prediction of future: "Where will I live? In the city (good) or in the poor settlement (bad)?"

Interesting! In English, the word "cuckoo" (onomatopoeia from the sound of the bird's cry) is etymologically connected with "cuckoldry," meaning "прелюбодеяние замуженей женщины с мужским любовником, кроме мужа" ("adultery between a married woman and a male lover who's not her husband"). Of course, this comes from the "nest-parasitism" of cuckoos.

PS. In the Old Testament, the word "adultery" is basically an exact synonym for English "cuckoldry" -- in other words, it's not "adultery" -- at least, not by the strict definitions of Книга Левита -- if a married man takes a mistress; nor if a married man takes a male lover (a sin that is punishable as "sodomy," but not "adultery"!); nor if a married woman takes a lesbian girlfriend.