EN
This short work by Yuriy Andrukhowych entitled “Songs for a Dead Rooster” is a collection of free-verse poems, written in seemingly uncomplicated language. At the first glance, they are a subject to an easy translation. On the other hand, these are largely pieces which are deeply rooted in Ukrainian reality and tradition. The Author, with an admirable subtlety of tones uses different registers of the Ukrainian and Russian languages. The whole work is written in the context of the Ukrainian language, with clear emphasis on stylistics. Using two lines of the poems, translated by Bohdan Zadura and the Author of this paper, possible approaches to interpretation of this work available to a translator are discussed, and the resulting balance of gains and losses is presented.