Fool's Game
The cattle are milked, the horse is in the stall,
And, having had a light supper,
Two were sitting at the table
And playing Fool.
The cards softly rustled
On this evening as always,
Flying upwards like a fan,
Like years in marriage.
For thirty years, soul to soul,
They lived, raising children,
Two were sitting at the table
And playing without tricks.
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 round, and two tens
Couldn't beat two jacks.
— Well, my dear little Vasya,
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
— she gave herself.
So right away I bedded
Both of your sisters,
And once more, on the train,
I fucked your friends."
Again, cards face down
He deals, six to six,
But the wife makes a mistake,
Suddenly luck turns for the husband.
She has cards in every hand
And, in the draw, the ace of hearts.
And now it's the husband's turn
To ask his wife a question.
— Well, tell me, my dear,
And you, were you faithful?
And in reply she sighs:
— No. I gave myself 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 — you're not 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, furrowed his brows,
Went out and returned again.
Bloodstains on his shirt:
"I 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:
— Vasya, 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,
Pacing on the table,
Remembering her husband, the neighbor,
Ended her life in a noose.
Forever in one grave
They lay down. Hand to hand.
Did they live thirty years, or not live?
So… they played Fool.