The poem put to music in this song is the one by the [bad word] Yiddish poet Moyshe Kulbak (1896–1937). It is part of his 1922 epic Raysn [bad word] , a series of poetic sketches on multiethnic life in a village on Nieman river. Antoshe is an elderly peasant, the father of Nastassia, with whom the Jewish guy falls in love. In this song the listensiners are asking Antosha to g a song about the legendary times.
lyrics
Hey, hey, hey, hey! 
Hey Antoshe, tu a zung. 
Tu a klung af der bandure 
Shure, bure, mure, ture. 
Ot azey, hey, hey! 

S’iz geven der krever Dukes 
Vays vi shney, vays vi shney, 
Hot er kinderlekh in palats, 
Tekhter tsvey, tekhter tsvey. 
Nor bam Dukes ba di ferd 
Hot gedint [bad word] [bad word] 
Mitn nomen Shalopay… 

Hey, hey, hey, hey, 
Hey, Antoshe, tu a zung, 
Tu a klung af der bandure, 
Shure-bure-mure-ture! 
Ot azey, hey, hey, ot azey, hey, hey. 

S’iz gekumen vesne-tsayt, 
Brengt der boym di naye tsvayglakh. 
Brengt di shval dos shvebele, 
Un di tsoyg – di tsaygele, 
Un di ku – dos kelbele… Muuu… 
S’iz gekumen vesne-tsayt, 
Far di tekhterlekh di tsvey, 
Brengen zey aheym tsum Dukes, 
Inem fartekh tsu [bad word]  Vey, vey, vey, vey… 
Ot azey, hey, hey, ot azey, hey, hey. 

Khapt der Dukes zikh tsum shverd 
Heyst der Dukes shpanen ferd, 
Un fun Kreve biz Mazhir, 
Un fun Zhetl biz Damir 
Yogn rayter un karetn, 
Leyfn lafer un shtafetn… 
S’iz in ergets nit geven, 
Nit tsu zen 
Dem rotseyakh Shalopay… 

Hey, hey… 

In di velder fun Krivitsh 
Voynt der gazlen Shalopay, 
Un der elter krever Dukes, 
Vays vi shney, 
Vays vi shney, 
Fort aleyn iber di pleynen, 
In dem riterlekhn prakht. 
Un er klingt mit di kley-zayen 
In der nakht, in der nakht… 
Hey, hey… 
Ot azey, hey, hey, ot azey hey, hey... 

Hey, hey, hey, 
Hey, Antoshe, sing to us, play to us 
On the bandura, 
Ture-bure-shure-mure 
That’s the way, hey, hey! 

There was a nobleman Dukes [‘doo-kes] of the Krevers, 
As white as snow, 
He had children in his palace, 
Two daughters, two daughters. 
But in Dukes’s stable 
Served a guy, [bad word] [bad word]  
By the nickname Shalopay*. 

The beautiful springtime came. 
The tree brings new twigs, 
The swallow brings a yellow-beaked nestling, 
The dog brings home her puppies, 
And the cow brings a calf. 
The beautiful springtime came, 
For the daughters, two of them, 
So they’re bringing home to Dukes 
In the apron 
couple [bad word]  
Woe, woe, woe, woe! 

The Dukes grabs his sharp sword, 
And he orders to harness horses. 
And from Krivia till Mazyr, 
And from Dziatlava till Damir, 
Hasting are the knights and carriages, 
And the messengers [bad word]  
No one has seen anywhere 
That [bad word] Shalopay. 

In the woods of Krivich 
There lives the [bad word] Shalopay. 
And the elderly Dukes of the Krevers, 
With his hair white as snow, 
Is riding alone over the valleys, 
All dressed up in his knightly hauberk, 
And he’s clinking with his weapon 
In the night, in the night. 
Hey, hey… 
That’s the way, hey, hey! 
___ 
*Shalopay — Scapegrace