Welcome to Lukomorye

By E-chan.

I’d like to introduce you to one of the most well-known Russian poems. It’s actually just a prologue to an epic poem Ruslan and Ludmila by Alexander Pushkin. However this prologue became very famous in itself. Nowadays virtually every child knows it, many people remember it by heart. It’s a very beautiful poem that describes a fictional land full of wonders and makes references to some fairy-tales and other poems. It’s definitely worth knowing if you are interested in Russian culture.

There are quite a lot of old-fashioned and poetic words, so don’t bother to learn them all. My goal is to introduce you to this poem, not to teach you all the vocabulary. On the other hand, if one day you recite this poem to some Russian friend or relative, I’m sure they will be immensely impressed ;-)

Folklore
First, let’s look at some folklore elements mentioned in the poem.

Лукомо́рье (Lukomorye) – a fictional land on the edge of the world, literally “a curved sea-shore” or “an inlet of the sea”.

Ле́ший (Leshy) – a deity of the forest. He takes care of the forest and animals. People treated him with respect and generally he wasn’t considered to be an evil spirit. However occasionally he could lead travellers astray or abduct girls and children. On the other hand, if he liked a person he could help them. More on wiki
There is a curse still used: Иди ты к лешему! ~ Go to the devil!

Избушка на курьих ножках (a hut on chicken legs) – a wooden hut where Baba Yaga lives deep in a forest. It stands on chicken legs and can turn around when commanded to do so.

Ба́ба Яга́ (Baba Yaga) – a deformed and ugly old woman who lives deep in a forest in a hut on chicken legs (избушка на курьих ножках). She has some magical witch-like abilities and flies around in a mortar (ступа). Usually (but not always) she is described as a villain seeking to harm (sometimes to eat) those who encounter her and also known to kidnap children. Her image is often associated with the world of the dead as she can act as some sort of a guardian between the two worlds. More on wiki
Watch videos: one, two

Каще́й or Коще́й (Koschei) – an evil character, a warlock, often the main antagonist of the tale. Described either as a very thin old man or as a skeleton. He is called “the Deathless” (Бессмертный), his “death” (his soul) is hidden in some object to protect it. Usually the main hero has to find Koschei’s “death” and destroy it in order to defeat him. More on wiki

Listen
Now listen to the narrator reading this poem. Don’t bother translating it, I’ll translate it for you later. Just try to feel the rhythm and perhaps to catch some general meaning.

Read
Now you are ready to read the poem.

У лукоморья дуб зелёный;
By the lukomorye there is a green oak-tree

Златая цепь на дубе том:
A gold(en) chain is on that oak
златая = золотая – gold(en)

И днём и ночью кот учёный
Both day and night a learned cat
учёный, adj. – someone who is learned, erudite (as a noun it would mean “a scientist”)

Всё ходит по цепи кругом;
Walks on the chain round and round
всё – all the time, it emphasizes the continuance of the action
кругом = вокруг – around

Идёт направо — песнь заводит,
To the right he walks, a song he starts
песнь = песня – a song
заводить – to start

Налево — сказку говорит.
To the left [he walks], he tells a tale
сказка – a (fairy) tale

Там чудеса: там леший бродит,
There are marvels! Leshy roams there
чудо (pl. чудеса) – a marvel, wonder
бродить – to wander, roam

Русалка на ветвях сидит;
A mermaid sits on branches
ветвь (pl. ветви) – a branch

Там на неведомых дорожках
There on unknown trails
неведомый = неизвестный – unknown
дорожка = a path, walk, trail

Следы невиданных зверей;
Are footprints of mysterious beasts
невиданный – lit. “unseen” (“не” + “видать”)

Избушка там на курьих ножках
There is a hut on chicken legs
избушка (a diminutive for изба) – a hut
курий = куриный, adj. – chicken (from курица)
ножка (a diminutive for нога) – a leg

Стоит без окон, без дверей;
Standing without windows, without doors

Там лес и дол видений полны;
There a forest and a dale are full of visions
дол = долина – a dale, vale, valley
виде́ние – a vision, apparition, phantom
полны = полные – full (of)

Там о заре прихлынут волны
There at dawn the waves will surge
о заре = на заре – at dawn
прихлынуть – to rush, surge

На брег песчаный и пустой,
Upon a sandy and empty shore
брег = берег – a shore
песчаный – sandy (from песок – sand)

И тридцать витязей прекрасных
And thirty handsome knights
витязь – an Old Russian knight, warrior

Чредой из вод выходят ясных,
One after another walk out of the clear waters
чредой = чередой = по очереди – one after another
ясный – clear, bright

И с ними дядька их морской;
With them their marine uncle
дядька = дядя – uncle
it’s a reference to another poem – Сказка о царе Салтане (The Tale of Tsar Saltan)

Там королевич мимоходом
There a prince while passing by
королевич – a king's son (сын короля)
мимоходом – in passing, while passing by, incidentally (мимо [past, by] + ходить [to walk])

Пленяет грозного царя;
Takes captive a formidable tsar
пленять – to take captive
грозный – formidable, terrible, menacing
царь – tsar/czar, Russian monarch

Там в облаках перед народом
There in the clouds in front of the people

Через леса, через моря
Across the forests, across the seas

Колдун несёт богатыря;
A warlock bears a warrior
колдун – a sorcerer, wizard, warlock
богатырь – a hero warrior from old Russian legends; strong, brave and noble
it’s a reference to an episode from Ruslan and Ludmila

В темнице там царевна тужит,
In a dungeon there a princess pines
темница – a prison, dungeon
царевна – a daughter of a tsar ~ princess
тужить – to pine, grieve

А бурый волк ей верно служит;
A brown wolf serves her faithfully
верно – faithfully, loyally

Там ступа с Бабою Ягой
There a mortar with Baba-Yaga

Идёт, бредёт сама собой;
Drags all by itself
брести – to walk slowly, to lag, to drag
сам[а] собой – by itself, on its own

Там царь Кащей над златом чахнет;
There tsar Koschei pines away over gold
чахнуть – to wilt, pine, languish

Там русский дух… там Русью пахнет!
There is a Russian spirit... It smells of Rus’!

И там я был, и мёд я пил;
And I was there, and I drank mead
мёд – generally it means “honey”; here it means “mead” – a drink made from honey

У моря видел дуб зелёный;
By the sea I saw the green oak

Под ним сидел, и кот учёный
I sat beneath it, and the learned cat

Свои мне сказки говорил.
Recounted me his tales

Одну я помню: сказку эту
One I remember: this tale

Поведаю теперь я свету…
I will tell now to the world
поведать – to tell
свет – (here) the world

More videos
Listen to another narrator
Watch a cartoon

And now try to read it by yourself
У лукоморья дуб зелёный;
Златая цепь на дубе том:
И днём и ночью кот учёный
Всё ходит по цепи кругом;
Идёт направо — песнь заводит,
Налево — сказку говорит.
Там чудеса: там леший бродит,
Русалка на ветвях сидит;
Там на неведомых дорожках
Следы невиданных зверей;
Избушка там на курьих ножках
Стоит без окон, без дверей;
Там лес и дол видений полны;
Там о заре прихлынут волны
На брег песчаный и пустой,
И тридцать витязей прекрасных
Чредой из вод выходят ясных,
И с ними дядька их морской;
Там королевич мимоходом
Пленяет грозного царя;
Там в облаках перед народом
Через леса, через моря
Колдун несёт богатыря;
В темнице там царевна тужит,
А бурый волк ей верно служит;
Там ступа с Бабою Ягой
Идёт, бредёт сама собой;
Там царь Кащей над златом чахнет;
Там русский дух… там Русью пахнет!
И там я был, и мёд я пил;
У моря видел дуб зелёный;
Под ним сидел, и кот учёный
Свои мне сказки говорил.
Одну я помню: сказку эту
Поведаю теперь я свету…

More
As I mentioned at the beginning this short poem is actually a prologue to an epic poem Ruslan and Ludmila by Alexander Pushkin. It tells the story of the abduction of Ludmila, the daughter of Prince Vladimir of the Kievan Rus' (reigned 980–1015), by an evil wizard and the attempt by the brave knight Ruslan to find and rescue her.
You can find the whole poem in Russian here.
Here and here there are two English translations.
You can also watch the movie with English subs: часть 1, часть 2

Illustration source

 

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From the "comments"

 

by babak143903

Thanks for your informative posts. I encounter Ба́ба Яга́ (Baba Yaga) in the children's stories I read. Can a person turn into a Baba Yaga (as in vampires)? Or is it just one single evil entity(as in Count Dracula)? For example in this passage from "Вниз по волшебной реке" (Down the magic river): "Того и гляди в Бабу-Ягу превратится.". It suggests that an old woman living alone in the forest would turn into a Baba Yaga.

 

by MargaritaM901429

In fact Baba Yaga is one of the most ancient and the most complex characters of the Russian folklore. That's why there are many variants of what she can be. Scientists say that she is originally a goddess of death or a guardian on the way from the world of the living to the world of the dead. But when passing from myth to fairy-tale she's changed.

You can meet her as a "just one single evil entity" - that's one of the variants. Here I should clarify one thing: she's not necessarily evil, in fact, she's used to be a magic helper more often. Pure evil variant is in the tales for the little children only, where everything is simplified.

Yet she can be one of the three, nine or twelve sisters, and all the sisters have the same name, literally Baba Yaga. In this case she's even more unlikely to be evil (each of them). Usually magic helpers and quest givers.

There are fairy-tales where Baba Yaga owns herds of magic horses, and tales where she commands all the forest beings, and tales where she gives shelter for the four horsemen: dawn, noon, sunset and midnight, and tales where she is an ancestor of the main heroine and helps her therefore, and many, many more.

In common life an old ugly woman can be called "Baba Yaga" just so, as a figure of speech. That line from the movie that you mentioned is just a joke, a word play. One can never turn into Baba Yaga, for she is a creature of magical nature, not a human, and has never been. I don't know if I helped. My English is awful, sorry.