KZBlog

Children were sleeping all snug in their beds,
While visions of beshbarmak danced in their heads;
Babushka in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the street there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away out the door I flew like a flash,
Then I slipped on the pavement and fell on my ass.

The ice on the top of the new-fallen snow
Added to the pain in my bum below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
Not a miniature sleigh, and not eight small reindeer,

But a little red Lada, that pulled up so close,
I knew in a moment it was Дед Мороз (1).
He opened the door of his rusted red car,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called out afar;

“Where’s Aslan? And Pasha? And Arman? Давай (2)!
And Sergi! Where’s Maxim? And you! Let’s ride!
Get into the Lada! We’ll go far away!
Hurry up! Come on, and do what I say!”

The Lada was ancient, but oh could it fly,
Where the roads were too slippery we took to the sky.
Over the houses and rivers we flew,
The Lada full of friends, and Дед Мороз too.

And then, in a twinkling, we were on the ground
And I got out and looked all around.
A yurt was the only thing I could see,
My friends saw my face and they laughed with glee.
“
“Come on in!” they said, “and do not be scared!”
“Our guests are all here and everything’s prepared!”
As I entered the yurt I was royally stunned
Because the big feast had already begun.

Bottles of kumis(3) stacked eight cubits high
Mountains of beshbarmak(4) touched the sky!
At the head of the table sat Auezov (5) and Abai (6),
Writing poetry so beautiful it made Nazerbaev (7) cry.

…And the man in red?

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his task,
And filled all the glasses with his hidden flask.
And standing up as quick as a flash,
He said the first toast, and then drained his glass.

The time passed quickly, we had so much fun
All too soon the night was done
We were there ‘til half past four
.Дед Мороз dropped us at our doors.

As we shook hands goodbye hand he gave me a grin.
And I heard him exclaim, as he left faster than sin,
Zhanga zhyl kutty bolsyn!

Russian/Kazakh Words Explained (it rhymes! I just needed 3 languages to do it!):

1. “Ded Moroz”: Russian version of Santa…but for New Years
2. “Da-vi”: Lets go in Russian
3. “ku-miz”: Fermented milk. Very traditional, but not very fun to drink.
4. “Besh-ba-rmak”: National dish of Kazakhstan
5. Mukhtar Auezov (1897-1961): Famous Kazakh writer, poet, and storyteller
6. Abai Kunanbaev (1845-1904): Famous Kazakh writer, poet, and storyteller
7. Nursultan Nazarbayev: President of Kazakhstan