Khlebnikov

[David Powelstock]

I read this as meaning that the waterfall of beer and blood has been there,
and the mills are now being placed to profit by the energy, that will turn
the millwheels. I agree with Hugh that "beloved" or "sweet" would better
convey what I take to be a sarcastic epithet. It's about war profiteering
in both economic and political senses, as I take it. It took me a while to
realize that the prepositional phrase С ... волной modifies отрицаем. So
"we" are rising up to drown war-mongering, etc., with the red wave of
revolution. It is 1917 "now," so the war has been going on for three years.
"You" must be the Germans; presumably beer runs in their veins instead of
blood! One can almost see the propaganda poster that depicts the image this
passage describes.

Cheers,
David

 * * * * * * * * * *
David Powelstock
Assoc. Prof. of Russian and Comparative Literature
Chair, Comparative Literature
Brandeis University
Waltham, MA 02453



2012/2/27 Robert Chandler <kcf19 at dial.pipex.com>

> Thank you - but what I need most is to feel confident that I understand
> the meaning of the passage as a whole.  Are the mills of prosperity being
> turned by the current coming from this terrible waterfall?  Or are the
> mills of prosperity in danger of being destroyed by this waterfall?  Or are
> both meanings possible?
>
> R.
>
>
> On 27 Feb 2012, at 20:18, Henryk Baran wrote:
>
> > Placed is what you need.
> >
> > Henryk Baran
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> > On Feb 27, 2012, at 3:07 PM, Hugh McLean <hmclean at BERKELEY.EDU> wrote:
> >
> >> Bezzashchitno is adverbial--defenselessly red. And 'dear' sounds odd,
> perhaps could be read to mean 'expensive'. How about 'sweet' or 'beloved'?
> >>> Dear all,
> >>>
> >>> This is from his
> >>>
> >>> ВОЗЗВАНИЕ ПРЕДСЕДАТЕЛЕЙ ЗЕМНОГО ШАРА
> >>>
> >>> То мы отрицаем господ,
> >>> Именующих себя правителями,
> >>> Государствами и другими книгоиздательствами,
> >>> И торговыми домами «Война и Кo»,
> >>> Приставившими мельницы милого благополучия
> >>> К уже трехлетнему водопаду
> >>> Вашего пива и нашей крови
> >>> С беззащитно красной волной.
> >>>
> >>> Have I translated it correctly?
> >>>
> >>> we reject the lords
> >>>
> >>> who call themselves rulers,
> >>>
> >>> states, publishing houses
> >>>
> >>> and trading companies of ‘War and Co’
> >>>
> >>> who have applied the mills of a dear prosperity
> >>>
> >>> to what is now a three-year waterfall
> >>>
> >>> of your beer and our blood
> >>>
> >>> with a defenceless red wave.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> The word I am most unsure of are "Приставившими".  I wonder if it
> might mean "placed the mills... UNDER a ...waterfall. I also don't
> understand the relation of the last line to everything that has gone before.
> >>>
> >>> I'll be grateful for help!
> >>>
> >>> Robert
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Robert Chandler, 42 Milson Road, London, W14 OLD
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
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>
> Robert Chandler, 42 Milson Road, London, W14 OLD
>
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