The Cossack who’s been drinking deep
Sees at the dance a lady smile.
“O fair one, stay a little while
And I will see you home to-night.”
“I beg you not to take me home
Because my husband is a bear!
He’d beat me when I entered there,
If you should see me home to-night.”
The music makes a noise like rain.
The fiddlers play, the drum booms on—