{"id":669,"date":"2024-08-25T01:13:59","date_gmt":"2024-08-24T23:13:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pair-o-dice.filk.de\/?page_id=669"},"modified":"2024-09-24T21:56:44","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T19:56:44","slug":"katinka","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pairodice.de\/de\/songs\/katinka\/","title":{"rendered":"Katinka"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lilija:<\/em> We were but children, Katinka and I,
\nin the cottage \u2018Szirinj\u2019 by the wood.
\nThe springtime brought lilacs, the summer the heat,
\nthe fall blazing leaves and the smell of burnt peat,
\nand Yule all the snow that it could.
\nWe climbed to the treetops, we swam in the creek,
\nwe sang with the birds in the sky,
\nwe hid in the stables, we ran through the meadows,
\nalways shunning the Slumbering Wood\u2019s twisted shadows
\nand not even wondering why.<\/p>\n

Narrator:<\/em> Is the snowmelt, the new moon, the east wind to blame?
\nWhat evil can springtime arouse?
\nEmerging from nightmares, oppressive and old
\nshe discovers her sister\u2019s bed empty and cold
\nand, searching, she pads through the house.<\/p>\n

Lilija:<\/em> Katinka? Where are you? The night is so dark
\nand no stars pierce the blackness around!
\nAre there wolves in the yard? There\u2019s a strange, vicious bark,
\nthere\u2019s a scratching of claws on the ground!<\/p>\n

Katinka:<\/em> Be calm, little sister, the stars are asleep
\nand soft clouds deck the sky in their stead.
\nGood old Vasja keeps vigil \u2013 all the others dream deeply
\nand we, too, should go back to bed.<\/p>\n

Narrator:<\/em> Meekly, she follows her sister\u2019s warm voice
\nsensing other soft feet on her heels,
\nfor this hour is different \u2013 the shadows are breathing
\njust outside her view something\u2019s writhing and seething
\nand familiar shapes seem surreal.<\/p>\n

Lilija:<\/em> Katinka? It\u2019s mother! She\u2019s crying in fear,
\nthere\u2019s a struggle outside by the gorse!
\nKatinka:<\/em> All is well, it is only the screech owl, my dear;
\nit is naught but the hooves of the horse.<\/p>\n

Lilija:<\/em> Katinka? I\u2019m scared! You\u2019re a whisper, a hum,
\nyet unseen \u2013 only sound, never sight.
\nKatinka:<\/em> Hush, hush, little sister, if the morning won\u2019t come
\nlet my song be your star in this night.<\/p>\n

Narrator:<\/em> And she sings in a tune spun from longing and light,
\nin the voice of the wind in the trees,
\nbut a scent softly blends in, suffusing the room,
\nmore heavy, more sweet than the lilacs in bloom
\nand ineffable words taint the breeze.<\/p>\n

Lilija:<\/em> Katinka? I\u2019m numb, see? My lips will not pray.
\nI am trembling and do not know why.
\nKatinka:<\/em> You are cold, little sister: huddle up in the hay,
\ndream of bonfires in summers gone by.<\/p>\n

Lilija:<\/em> Katinka? They\u2019re here! Our stairs moan and creak
\nand a cold, lidless gaze hunts its prey!
\nKatinka:<\/em> Come, little sister, we\u2019ll play hide-and-go-seek,
\nand you\u2019ll see \u2013 it\u2019ll soon go away.<\/p>\n

Narrator:<\/em> Katinka is searching, the little one\u2019s hiding
\nand waiting, her eyes open wide,
\nin and out of strange dreams, half-awake, half-asleep,
\nenwrapped in despair, in a dread blind and deep,
\nadrift in time\u2019s viscous, dark tide.<\/p>\n

Lilija:<\/em> Katinka? At last! The unending night ends,
\npale, grey dawn light creeps over the wall,
\npainting patterns and shapes \u2013 come, pray let us join hands
\nfor I still cannot see you at all.<\/p>\n

Katinka:<\/em> Farewell, little sister, I must go with the day.
\nIt\u2019s the way it should be – I comply.
\nNow go, little sister, there is naught left to say,
\nkeep on going, don\u2019t turn and don\u2019t cry.
\nDon\u2019t turn and don\u2019t cry. . .<\/p>\n

Narrator:<\/em> All is still. She\u2019s going, eyes forward and dry.
\nAnxiety growing, eyes forward and dry.
\nHer feet stick to the gravel, eyes forward and dry,
\nsense and reason unravel, eyes forward and dry,
\nwaste and ash like the seams of a rabid, red dream,
\nsplintered benches and tables, a stench from the stables,
\nsomething\u2019s sprawled near the gorse \u2013 she is staying her course
\non through thickets and fens, over bridges and glens,
\ndoesn\u2019t stop, doesn\u2019t turn back nor cry – – –
\nthough faintly wondering why.<\/p>\n

Lilija:<\/em> The years now are passing like songbirds in flight.
\nI\u2019ve forgotten as well as I could.
\nBut mem\u2019ries are fickle, their sleep is too light –
\nwhen the lilac\u2019s ablaze they\u2019re drawn back to those days
\nin our farm by the Slumbering Wood. (Katinka:<\/em> Awakening Wood. . .)
\nThen, once more, I\u2019m padding the silent, dark house,
\neyes wide open, though no longer dry,
\nlistening, calling the names of the dead,
\nand waiting, forlorn, between yearning and dread,
\nwistfully wondering why, (Narrator:<\/em> Don\u2019t cry! Lilija:<\/em> Oh, why? Katinka:<\/em> Good-bye. . .)
\nforever wondering why. (Katinka:<\/em> Why?)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lilija: We were but children, Katinka and I, in the cottage \u2018Szirinj\u2019 by the wood. The springtime brought lilacs, the summer the heat, the fall blazing leaves and the smell of burnt peat, and Yule all the snow that it could. We climbed to the treetops, we swam in the creek, we sang with the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":625,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-669","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pairodice.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pairodice.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pairodice.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pairodice.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pairodice.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=669"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/pairodice.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":847,"href":"https:\/\/pairodice.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/669\/revisions\/847"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pairodice.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pairodice.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}