Soyuzmultfilm 1961
Big Troubles
written by Moris Slobodskiy
directed by Valentina & Zinaida Brumberg
art directors Lana Azarkh, Valentin Lalayants
composer Aleksandr Varlamov camera Yelena Petrova sound Nikolay Prilutskiy
animators Igor Podgorskiy, Fyodor Hitruk, Mariya Motruk, Marina Voskanyants, Ye. Vershinina, Iosif Kuroyan
narrator Mariya Vinogradova ass. dir. T. Fyodorova, N. Mayorova
script editor Raisa Frichinskaya production director G. Kruglikov
This is Mama,
This is Papa,
This is Kitty,
This is me,
This is Kolya,
This is Capa,
And that's my whole family.
My whole family is crying today.
Why that is, I couldn't say.
I'll describe that stuff and bother
in the sequence things occurred -
What they said to one another
and the words I overheard.
To begin, I'll speak of Kolya:
When he was a smaller boy, he went through school, like anyone, but it didn't give him much joy.
They say that he could not sit on his stool for even an hour
They say that from class to class they had to drag him by the ear.
Then he got stuck* in his last year. *(held back)
We got Uncle Vasya in here - a strong* tutor - just in time *(skilled)
to pull* Kolya back in line. *(tutor)
That finally squeezed Kolya through.
Papa, Uncle Vasya, Mama, Capa wondered what was to be done -
What should our Kolya become?
The factory, they were sure,
Our Kolya would not endure.
He should rest a bit, our dear,
Then go to college next year.
Kolya agreed to try his luck there -
He'd go to college, what the heck,
But he fell right through the cracks there,
and he landed on Dad's neck* *(freeloaded off him)
Now Kolya's job is mainly
to shake out* Daddy's pocket daily *(ask for money)
Every day, as if it was work,
Kolya goes to the restaurant.
There, he kicks his feet* about *(dances)
and he throws money around.
He bought himself a tape machine
and can now with a beard be seen.
Mama says he's like a cabbie,
whipping vodka* in a hurry. *(drinking)
Now I'll tell you about Capa
She looks like Mama, not Papa.
That girl Capa's a real looker,
Capa doesn't need to work,
Capa doesn't need to study,
Capa can live without all that.
This is what our Mama thinks.
For Capa she has a dream:
Our Capa is like a painting* *(pretty)
so she must, while she still can,
find someone who's solid, wealthy,
and jump in* behind that man. *(marry him)
Just like Capa's girlfriend Nina,
And also her girlfriend Nellie -
When a good man came along,
Nina and Nellie jumped in strong.
But Capa's attempts always went bad,
Which made Mama very sad.
"All that's in our Capa's head
are rags"* - our Mama said *(slang for fashion)
Only rags and only dancing
and with foreigners romancing.
But then for Capa came a chance
to get a "real" man to romance.
He dropped in out of the blue,
followed her wherever she tread,
crawled to every rendezvous,
and he even lost his head.* *(fell in love)
He was Capa's luck and joy.
He had a dacha, that old boy,
Which he offered out to let
It brought in coins, as one may say,
that the hens can't peck away* *(he has money to burn)
Our Capa could only dream
of life with a man like him.
He would dress her like a queen,
He would worship at her feet,
He'd carry her in his arms* *(spoil her)
But he let down Mum and Dad,
Didn't keep his promises at all:
After just a month, our Capa
was tossed away*, and he was gone. *(abandoned)
Our poor Capa was left stranded,
And on Papa's neck she landed.* *(freeloaded off him)
Father had to pull* the entire household *(pay all the bills)
Papa got totally worn out.
So he chose to allow leftward* *(to the black market)
some refrigerators to go.* *(sold them illegally)
Well, those fridges left their places,
but they later found the traces.
And our Papa is afraid now
that they'll come and sweep him up.* *(arrest him)
Papa knows: his mean deputy always looks at him askance.
He would eat Papa for breakfast if he ever got the chance.
He hasn't eaten him just yet,
but for some reason, he's set
on releasing leaks* on Papa *(compromising information)
and cutting the ground from under his feet.
He showed his true character the other day:
Sicced an auditor on Papa straightaway.
To avoid scandal and shame, Papa concluded
That he'd grease* the auditor if he intruded. *(bribe)
Papa said: the auditor
would have his palm greased*... *(be bribed)
and he'd then close his eyes, and leave Papa in peace.
But I guess Papa fails sometimes when he tries,
Since the auditor didn't want to close his eyes.
He refused to shut his eyes and stop
so Papa started sewing up* *(covering up his misdeeds)
Papa sewed himself up in a hurry
He was ever so full of worry
But I guess that later, Papa thought he should start being shrewd
and make sure he wasn't screwed.* *(evade blame)
Papa tried to wriggle out,
but in vain, and it looked grim.
"I suppose that now," said Capa,
"they are going to plant* him." *(imprison)
We're decried by all our neighbors.
One old turner named Fedya
for my folks has his own phrase:
We are "parasites", he says.
I asked him matter-of-factly:
What are "parasites", exactly?
He took my question in stride, and replied:
It is Kolya, it is Capa,
it is Mama, it is Papa,
it is my whole family -
all except the cat, and me.
That is all.
Goodbye!
The End Subs by Chapaev, Eus, Animation Obsessive, Niffiwan