Fool's Game
The cattle are milked, the horse is in the stall,
And, having had a light supper,
Two sat at the table
And were playing Fool.
The cards softly rustled
On this evening as always,
Flying up in a fan,
Like years in marriage.
For thirty years, soul to soul,
They lived, raising children,
Two sat at the table
And played without fuss.
The husband said: "Let's play
Not just for fun now —
Whoever loses answers
A question — tells a story.
But he gives the answer honestly,
No cunning, no lying,
Between us, lies are out of place.
Say everything as if in confession."
A deal, and two tens
Couldn't beat two jacks.
— Well, my dear Vasyatka,
Ready to tell the truth?
— I'm ready, go ahead, my dear,
Ask your question.
Crumpling the hem of her dress,
The wife tugs at her hand
— Tell me, Vasily,
Were you faithful for thirty years?
— Well, wife, well you asked,
And, after hesitating, he blurted out: "No."
— I shared a bed with your sister — Oksana,
for twenty years,
And, I won't lie to you,
I live with her even now.
Remember, you were in the hospital
When you gave birth to our son?
I asked your younger sister
— and she gave.
So right away I bedded
Both of your sisters,
And once on the train
I had your friends too."
Again, cards face down
He deals six to six,
But the wife makes a mistake,
Suddenly luck turned for the husband.
She had cards in every hand
And, in the draw, the ace of hearts.
And now the husband asks his wife
His own question.
— Well, tell me, my dear,
And you, were you faithful?
And in reply she sighs:
— No. I gave many times
To Kolya, our neighbor,
Who lives over the fence,
When you went off hunting —
He calls me to bed.
And I gave birth all three times
From him — not you, the father:
Our children are brown-eyed,
Hair like a coal ember.
We are white as cotton,
Both of us have blue eyes,
So all the children were conceived
By Kolya. That's the whole story.
The husband stood up then, furrowed his brows,
Went out and returned again.
Bloodstains on his shirt:
— I've destroyed your love,
I couldn't bear it, my dear,
Jealousy burned, and I stabbed
Nikolai with a pitchfork…"
And sat down at the table, strength gone.
As if turned white as a sheet,
She rose from behind the table:
— Vasia, I wanted you,
And always waited for you.
— What have you done, unfaithful husband, —
And grabbing the rifle from the hook,
From the barrels, like a nail through plywood,
Shot through the man. ()
And having wept until dawn,
Having paced on the table,
Remembering her husband, the neighbor,
She ended her life in a noose.
Forever in one grave
They lay. Hand to hand.
Did they live thirty years, or not live?
So… they were playing Fool.