KROLL
Once, our parrot in the morning, Dropping its routine decorum,
Squawked at us: - Hello! Hooray! Skip your breakfast, don't delay:
There's a game exceptional, there's a game exceptional, very unconventional!
From the kitchen came some chuckling, Ah-ing, oh-ing, sputtering.
Who around our table races, Jumps, and makes up scary faces?
He kicked the dog, pretty rough...
Our father yelled: "Enough, girls and boys! I don't want to hear any noise!"
It became quieter, but only for a while. Who ever heard of children being quiet?
Quiet children? I've never met them. Where in the world would you get them?
Kroll made a huge noise and din, And began to dance and spin.
There was not a hint of peace and quiet! Affairs in our apartment had become a riot!
All inside our house Kroll turned upside down, Daily life's routine had quite broken down!
Hey now, give us a trill and a trawl! And give us Kroll, of course, Kroll!
Where the trills are, where the trawls are, Fluff, dust, soul - Kroll, Kroll, Kroll!
But when my mother appeared, Kroll slunk off and the noise disappeared.
Anger and frowns with Kroll we unleared; Kroll has fun and is never bored.
A quiet life leaves Kroll aghast. He kicks up dust as he rushes past!
He never has time to yawn - Kroll makes noise from dusk till dawn.
And until we hear our father yell, We will happily make noise as well.
Kroll ain't even afraid of our father, Though he did capture Kroll - what a bother...
And our father put Kroll behind bars, Hoping we'd forget that Kroll of ours.
But try locking up mischief, just try! Mischief easily passes locks by!
Hey now, give us a trill and a trawl! And give us Kroll, of course, Kroll!
Oh, what's Kroll up to now, Trilliloons! Turned our money-bills into balloons!
We did not buy buns or bread, We let fly some balloons instead!
Then, after the balloons we went racing - Boys and girls through the air flew, chasing!
Each balloon's a getter, no game is better! Where Kroll lives, the fairy tale breathes!
O'er the roof we, like butterflies, fly; Our briefcases and hats thrown away,
We are winging it, trillilaying, Taking off, flying down as we're playing.
All are happy, and all are glad, As we cheerfully fly like mad!
Then our parents ran up, horrified, "You're the worst villains ever!" they cried,
"We'll make you unlearn flying in bliss, We know just how to cure you of this!"
On the fly we trill our Kroll; Hanging 'neath his wings, we won't fall,
The girls' eyes are sparkling, Trilling, thrilling, clamoring!
You can't keep Kroll in a cage, Can't drive him off with a branch,
Kroll's ornery, like mother nature, Freedom's his motto, by nature!
Oh, what would we do without Kroll? Like birds with hurt wings, we'd fall!
We droop down if we're apart, Our legs and our hands won't start,
Then doctors demurred: - From boredom kids can be cured Only by little Kroll.
- Oh, - parents threw up their hands, - Do you want to fly? Let's make plans.
We will eagerly replace Kroll, We'll buy you wings and balls.
Look there, Kroll has come back, what a lad, Somersaulting and flying a tad.
And with him: joyful noise, happy screams, Have returned and have healed us, it seems.
Master Kroll, we must trill you our thanks; Now we'll never get tired of pranks!
Translation from Yelena Rakeyeva's Russian poem - Niffiwan