English words of "The Internationale".

[Nancy Condee]

I believe the official Soviet version avoids it in English.  If I may
back up a line ("My nash, my novyi mir postroim: / Kto byl... etc."):

        We'll change forthwith (!) the old conditions
        And spurn the dust to win the prize.

For the _Internationale_ buffs out there (yes, both of you!), other
languages handle it this way:

German:         Wir waren nichts, jetzt sind wir da!
Mongolian:      Unen bat zhyrmyg togtoono!
French:         Nous ne sommes rien, soyens tout!
Esperanto:      ne nul, sed cio estu ni!
Albanian:       Boten e re ne vent te saj!

Note: the order cited above does not necessarily reflect the anticipated
path of world revolution, but you never know.

On Sun, 25 Feb 1996, Loren A. Billings wrote:

> Would anyone out there know a standard English translation of the
> following line from the anthem "Internatsional"?
>
>     Kto byl nikem tot stanet vsem.
>
> (Yes, I'm aware of the irreverent spoof of it: Kto byl nikem tot stal nichem.>
> Thanks again,  --Loren Billings (billings at mailer.fsu.edu)