Кельтские сумерки. Уровень 1 / The Celtic Twilight

When his reflective thoughts didn’t bring satisfactory results or when the crowd wanted something different, he would recite or sing a rhythmic tale or ballad about saints or biblical adventures. One of his most well-known religious tales was “St. Mary of Egypt,”. It tells the story of a sinful[113 - sinful – грешный] woman from Egypt named Mary, who followed pilgrims to Jerusalem for questionable reasons. When she was stopped from entering the Temple by supernatural forces, she repented[114 - to repent – каяться] and went to the desert, where she spent the rest of her life in solitary penance[115 - solitary penance – уединенное покаяние].

At the end of her life, God sent Bishop Zozimus to hear her confession, administer the last sacrament[116 - sacrament – причастие], and with the help of a lion, whom God also sent, dig her grave. Moran also had his own poem called “Moses,” which was a bit closer to poetry without being very close. However, he didn’t have much patience for solemnity[117 - solemnity – торжественность, серьезность] and before long, he parodied his own verses like this:

In the land of Egypt, close to the Nile,

King Pharaoh’s daughter went for a stylish swim.

She took her dip[118 - to take a dip – искупаться, окунуться], then walked back to the land,

To dry her royal skin, she ran along the beach.

A bulrush[119 - bulrush – камыш]tripped her, and then she saw

A smiling baby in a bundle of straw[120 - bundle of straw – пучок соломы].

She picked it up and asked in a gentle voice,

“Hey, girls, who among you owns this child?”

But most of his funny rhymes were jokes and teasing about the people he knew. For example, he liked to make fun of a shoemaker who was known for showing off[121 - to show off – хвастаться] his money but not keeping himself clean.

He would sing a song to remind him of his humble beginnings. We only have the first verse of that song:

At the dirty end of Dirty Lane,

Lived a dirty cobbler[122 - cobbler – сапожник], Dick Maclane;

His wife was in the old king’s reign

A stout brave orange-woman[123 - orange-woman – женщина, торгующая апельсинами].

On Essex Bridge she strained her throat,

And six-a-penny was her cost.