On the wild steppes beyond the Baikal,
Where people are searching for gold,
A poor man bearing a bag on his back
Waders, bemoaning his fate

For telling the truth, he found himself in prison
One dark night he escaped
He daes not have enough strength to go any further
In front of him there is the Lake "Baikal"

He comes up to it
And climbs on to a fisherman?s boat
There he sings a song,
A sad song about his own country

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?"

"Your father has been dead for a long time;
He is at rest in the damp earth
And your brother is serving his prison sentence,
Wearing chains, somewhere in Siberia