And who are the judges? – For the antiquity of years To a free life, their enmity is irreconcilable, They draw their judgments from forgotten newspapers of the Times of Ochakovsky and the conquest of the Crimea; They are always ready for a joke, They all sing the same song, Not noticing about themselves: What's older is worse. Where, tell us, are the fathers of the fatherland, whom we should take as models? Aren't these rich in robbery? Protection from the court was found in friends, in kinship, by building Magnificent chambers Where the worst features are poured out in feasts and extravagance And where foreign clients of the Past life will not resurrect. And who in Moscow didn't have their mouths clamped over Lunches, dinners and dances? Aren't you the one to whom I was still taken from the veil, For some incomprehensible plans, by the Children to bow? That Nestor of noble scoundrels, Surrounded by a crowd of servants; Zealously, they saved his honor and life more than once during the hours of wine and fights: suddenly he exchanged three greyhounds for them!!! Or the one over there who, for the sake of undertaking a serf ballet, drove the rejected children on many trucks From mothers, fathers?! He himself is immersed in Marshmallows and Cupids, Made the whole of Moscow marvel at their beauty! But debtors did not agree to a postponement: Cupids and Marshmallows are all sold out one by one!!! Here are those who have lived to gray hair! That's who we should respect in the wilderness! Here are our strict connoisseurs and judges! Now let one of us, one of the young people, be found - the enemy of the search, Without demanding any places or promotion, he will stick his mind into the sciences, hungry for knowledge; Or in his soul God himself will excite a fever For creative arts, high and beautiful, - They immediately: robbery! fire! And they will have the reputation of a dreamer! dangerous!! - Uniform! one uniform! in their former way of life, he once sheltered, embroidered and beautiful, Their weakness, their poverty of reason; And we follow them on a happy journey! And in wives, daughters - the same passion for the uniform! Have I renounced my tenderness for him for a long time?! Now I'm not going to fall into this childishness; But then who wouldn't follow everyone? When from the guards, some from the court came here for a while, the women shouted: hurrah! And they threw caps into the air..


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