Po dikim stepyam Zabaikalya ( ) translated Along the wild steppes of Transbaikal

Transbaikal

Transbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia , or Dauria is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" Lake Baikal in Russia. The alternative name, Dauria, is derived from the ethnonym of the Daur people. It stretches for almost 1000 km from north to south from the Patomskoye Plateau and North...

ia is a Russian folk song. The song is also known as Brodyaga - The wanderer. It was composed by convicts in Siberia, but at the beginning of the 20 century it was published and recorded. Since it has been included in the repertoire of various Russian and foreign artists.

History

The song Po dikim stepyam Zabaikalya was composed by the convicts in Siberia towards the end of the 19-th century. According to Ivan Petrovich Belokonsky, the song was known in Siberia in the 1880s, with no indication of the author of the lyrics.

Ivan Abramovich Nazarov indicates Ivan Kuzmich Kondratyev

Ivan Kondratyev

Ivan Kuzmich Kondratyev was a Russian poet. There are few data about his biography. Writer Ivan Alekseyevich Belousov states that Kondratyev, was a member of Vasily Surikov’s circle...

 as being the author of the lyrics though the poem is not included in the latters last published volume of poems: Under the noise of the Oak Groves. In 1906, Swedish composer Wilhelm Harteveld

Wilhelm Harteveld

Wilhelm Harteveld was a Swedish composer and musicologist...

 also collected the song during his trip to Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

 and published it in 1908

At the beginning of the 20-th century, two records of the song were produced in Russia:

• Brodyaga (From the songs of convicts) performed by Nadezhda Plevitskaya ( and produced by Pathé Records
  Pathé Records
  Pathé Records was a France-based international record label and producer of phonographs, active from the 1890s through the 1930s.- Early years :...
  
   in Moscow, 1908.

• Brodyaga (From the songs of convicts) also performed by Nadezhda Plevitskaya and produced by Beka Records
  Beka Records
  Beka Records was a record label based in Germany, active from about 1903 to 1925. Before World War I, Beka also made gramophone records for the United Kingdom market under the Beka-Grand Records label. The company became a subsidiary of the Carl Lindström Company which was sold to the Columbia...
  
   in Moscow, 1909.

• Brodyaga (From the songs of convicts), performed by Nina Dulkevich , produced by Pathé Records
  Pathé Records
  Pathé Records was a France-based international record label and producer of phonographs, active from the 1890s through the 1930s.- Early years :...
  
   in 1912. 21, исп. Нина Дулькевич.

The records indicate Ivan Kondratyev

Ivan Kondratyev

Ivan Kuzmich Kondratyev was a Russian poet. There are few data about his biography. Writer Ivan Alekseyevich Belousov states that Kondratyev, was a member of Vasily Surikov’s circle...

 as author of the lyrics.

Lyrics

There are several versions of the song’s lyrics, which differ by some words or expressions, without altering the song’s general meaning. Also, most musicians sing shorter versions in which some verses are omitted. The following lyrics present the version mostly used, showing in italics the verses which are often omitted.

Russian	Transliteration	English translation
1 По диким степям Забайкалья, Где золото роют в горах, Бродяга, судьбу проклиная, Тащился с сумой на плечах. 2 Идёт он густою тайгою, Где пташки одни лишь поют, Котел его сбоку тревожит, Сухие коты ноги бьют. 3 На нем рубашонка худая, И множество разных заплат, Шапчонка на нем арестанта И серый тюремный халат. 4 Бежал из тюрьмы тёмной ночью, В тюрьме он за правду страдал. Идти дальше нет уже мочи – Пред ним расстилался Байкал. 5 Бродяга к Байкалу подходит, Рыбацкую лодку берёт И грустную песню заводит, Про Родину что-то поёт. 6 "Оставил жену молодую И малых оставил детей, Теперь я иду наудачу, Бог знает, увижусь ли с ней!" 7 Бродяга Байкал переехал, Навстречу - родимая мать. "Ах, здравствуй, ах, здравствуй, мамаша, Здоров ли отец мой да брат?" 8 "Отец твой давно уж в могиле, Землею сырою лежит, А брат твой давно уж в Сибири, Давно кандалами гремит". 9 "Пойдём же, пойдём, мой сыночек, Пойдём же в курень наш родной, Жена там по мужу скучает, И плачут детишки гурьбой".	1 Po dikim stepyam Zabaikalya, Gde zoloto royut v gorakh, Brodyaga, sudbu proklinaya, Tashilsya s sumoi na plechakh. 2 Idyot on gustoyu taigoyu, Gde ptashki odni lish poyut, Kotel ego sboku trevozhit, Sukhie koty nogi byut 3 Na niom rubashonka khudaya, I monzhestvo rasnykh zaplat, Shapchonka na nem arestsanta И seryi tyuremnyi khalat. 4 Bezhal iz tyurmy tyomnoi nochyu, V tyurme on za pravdu stradal. Idti dalshe net uzhe mochi – Pred nim rasstilalsya Baikal. 5 Brodyaga k Baikalu podkhodit, Rybatzkuyu lodky beryot I grustnuyu pesnyu zavodit Pro Rodinu chto-to poyot. 6 "Оstavil zhenu moloduyu I malykh ostavil detei, Teper ya idu naudachu, Bog znayet, uvizhus li s nei!" 7 Brodyaga Baikal pereyekhal, Navstrechu - rodimaya mat. "Аkh, zdravstvuy, аkh zdravstvuy, mamasha, Zdorov li otets moi i brat?" 8 "Otets tvoi davno uzh v mogile Zemlioyu syroyu lezhit А brat tvoi davno uzh v Sibiri, Davno kandalami gremit". 9 "Poidyom zhe, poidyom, moi synochek Poidyom zhe kuren nash rodnoi Zhena tam po muzhu skuchayet, Plachut detishki gurboi".	1 On the wild steppes of Transbaikalia, Where people dig for gold in the mountains, A vagrant, bemoaning his fate, Is wandering with a bag on his back. 2 He walks through the thick taiga, Where only a few birds sing, He carries a tin can on his side, His feet are strapped in dry skins. 3 He wears only a thin shirt, And set of different patches. The cap on his head is a convict’s cap And he wears a grey convict’s uniform. 4 He escaped from prison during a dark night Where he was imprisoned for defending the truth. But he could not go any further In front of him was Lake Baikal. 5 The vagrant walks to the shore And climbs in to a fisherman's boat. There he remembers a sad song From his native land and starts singing. 6 "I left my wife when she was young And left her with my small children, Now I wander aimlessly, God knows, whether I shall meet them again!" 7 He crosses the lake, His mother comes to meet him. ”O my dear mother let me embrace you, Are my father and my brother well?” 8 "Your father has been dead for a long time; He now rests in the damp earth. And your brother is serving his sentence, Wearing chains, somewhere in Siberia." 9 "Let's go, let’s go, my son, Let's go home to our house, Where your wife misses her husband, And all your little children are crying."

Recent performances

The song has remained in the repertoire of various Russian artists or artistical ensembles. Among the most known versions are the ones performed by:

• The Siberian Russian Folk Choir conducted by V. Molchalov, soloist Yelena Ponomaryova.
• Voronezh Russian Folk Choir
• Aleksandr Yakovlevich Mikhaylov.
• Yuri Valentinovich Sorokin
• Zhanna Bichevskaya
  Zhanna Bichevskaya
  Zhanna Vladimirovna Bichevskaya , is a prominent Soviet and Russian bard and folk musician.She was born in Moscow and in 1971 she graduated from the Moscow Circus and Performing Arts School...
  
  

Performance abroad

The first recording of the song outside the USSR was done by Electrecord

Electrecord

Electrecord is a Romanian record label founded in 1932. It served as the only record label in Communist Romania. It was then transformed into the national recording company, following the centralization-oriented socialist doctrine...

 in Bucharest

Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....

, Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

 in 1945 and released under the title "Brodyaga". The song was performed by Pyotr Leshchenko

Pyotr Leshchenko

Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko , a singer in the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union, is universally considered "the King of Russian Tango" and specifically known for his rendition of "Serdtse"—a tango song not in the Spanish language...

 a Russian singer who had emigrated to Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

.

The song has also been performed by different foreign artist among which:

• Czesław Niemen (Poland)
• Bernard Ładysz (Poland)
• Jaroslaw Jaromi Drazewski (Poland)
• Artur Gadowski
  Artur Gadowski
  Artur Gadowski is Polish rock musician, vocalist of a hard rock band IRA.-Biography:Gadowski comes from a musical family. His father played saxophone whereas his mother was a vocal instructor. His life's turning point happened in 1979 when he first heard The Beatles' album titled Sgt...
  
   (Poland)
• Piotr Celiński (Poland)
• Baltie Lāči group (Latvia)
• Zivan Saramandic (Serbia)
• Zura Pirveli (Georgia)

Films

The song was featured in the Russian movie Ballad of Siberia

Ballad of Siberia

The Ballad of Siberia from Mosfilm is Soviet Union's second color film , directed by Ivan Pyryev, starring Vladimir Druzhnikov and Marina Ladynina....

 , performed by actor Vladimir Druzhnikov

Vladimir Druzhnikov

Vladimir Druzhnikov was a Soviet actor. He appeared in 45 films between 1945 and 1992.-Selected filmography:* The Great Glinka * The Stone Flower * Ballad of Siberia...

, being a secondary theme song.

Spinoffs

A parody of the song called "On the wild steppes of Arizona" , with lyrics by Viktor Baranov performed by Artur Gladyshev

Artur Gladyshev

Artur Olegovich Gladyshev , born on January 1, 1968 in Dushanbe USSR is a Russian singer. He lives in Moscow and in Sosnovoborsk...

. The song was released in 1997 in the album "Red America" .