Persian melody by Sergei Esenin

I just asked today the money-changer

Him, who gives a pair of rubles for a *tuman*,

How I might tell lovely Lala looker

In Persian,  "I love you as no another human!”

I just asked today the money-changer

Lighter than the wind, quieter than the Van—

How I might name for  lovely Lala looker

The affectionate word *kiss* plain.

.And I asked the money-changer further,

Hiding a deeper shyness in heart my

How I might tell the lovely Lalam looker,

How I might tell her that she is "truly mine".

And the money-changer answered briefly:

Love is not spoken of in words plain,

One sighs of love only in secret fully,

While eyes burn bright like rubies grains.

Love indeed  demands no guarantee  signet,

With it one keeps  both joy and badly  mark,

Only the hands can say "You are now mine"—

The hands that are tearing away the black *yashmak*.