Бажанов, А. Стихи и поэмы о саамском крае = Verses & poems on the Saami land / Аскольд Бажанов ; English translation by Naomi Caffee ; with an essay by Johanna Domokos. - Berlin : Nordeuropa-Institut der Humboldt-Universitat, 2009. - 205 с. : ил., портр.

2 3 Reindeer Herder So once again the sideways rain runs along the reindeer moss, and Vasili, who is my same age, a herdsman, walks the tundra. His work is hard: come rain, come snow - he’s always at his post, keeping watch the whole night through. Don’t grumble, herdsman; tough it out. The herds are noble on the kolkhoz, the northern reindeer roam freely, the herdsman’s life is lived on sleigh-tracks, far away from any village. Wheresoever he passes w ith the herd is sylvan, is naked, is gentle, is savage, is girlishly austere - tundra everywhere, the lake view of the Khibiny in a rabbit-skin hat. She won ’t obey just anyone, but forever holds the herdsman dear. How well her gifts suit him: the expensive mossy carpets, the noisy creek rapids, all bestowed upon him, like a pearl! He is an old friend of hers, and tends to her as to a fire; the tundra would be deserted if the herdsman was not living there! For seven months Vasili takes his leave o f Lovozero, to the herd, to the tundra, to a part of Russia, to glorify his people.