| В заповеднике, вот в каком забыл,
| In the reserve, that's the one I forgot,
|
| Жил да был козел, роги длинные,
| Once upon a time there was a goat, long horns,
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| Хоть с волками жил — не по-волчьи выл,
| Though he lived with wolves, he howled not like a wolf,
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| Блеял песенки, да все козлиные.
| Bleated songs, but all goat.
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| И пощипывал он травку, и нагуливал бока,
| And he plucked the grass, and worked up his sides,
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| Не услышать от него худого слова.
| Do not hear a bad word from him.
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| Толку было с него, правда, как с козла молока,
| There was sense from him, however, like from a goat's milk,
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| Но вреда, однако, тоже никакого.
| But no harm, however.
|
| Жил на выпасе, возле озерка,
| Lived on a pasture, near a lake,
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| Не вторгаясь в чужие владения.
| Not invading other people's possessions.
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| Но заметили скромного козлика
| But they noticed a modest goat
|
| И избрали в козлы отпущения.
| And they were chosen as scapegoats.
|
| Например, медведь, баламут и плут,
| For example, a bear, a troublemaker and a rogue,
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| Обхамит кого-нибудь по-медвежьему,
| Hurt someone like a bear
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| Враз козла найдут, приведут и бьют,
| At once a goat will be found, brought and beaten,
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| По рогам ему, и промеж ему…
| By his horns, and between him...
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| Не противился он, серенький, насилию со злом,
| He did not resist, gray, violence with evil,
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| А сносил побои весело и гордо,
| And endured beatings cheerfully and proudly,
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| Сам медведь сказал: «Ребята, я горжусь козлом,
| The bear himself said: "Guys, I'm proud of the goat,
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| Героическая личность, козья морда!»
| Heroic personality, goat face!
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| Берегли козла, как наследника.
| They took care of the goat as an heir.
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| Вышло даже в лесу запрещение
| There was even a ban in the forest
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| С территории заповедника
| From the territory of the reserve
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| Отпускать козла отпущения.
| Release the scapegoat.
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| А козел себе все скакал козлом, | And the goat kept jumping around like a goat, |