A recognized master of literary translation, Lev Ginzburg created a unique novel-essay where his memories of a Moscow lawyer in the 1930s and a translation seminar in the 1970s intertwine with the fates of medieval poets. This work presents a complex “score” of time, full of sharp shifts in perspective and historical analogies. Born in 1921 and died in 1980, Ginzburg is also known as a publicist and the author of books “Otherworld Encounters” and “Abyss.” He gave us translations of German ballads, the poems “Reineke Fuchs” and “Parzival,” the works of wandering minstrels (Wandervögel), and lines that became popular: “In a French land / on a foreign planet / I will learn / at university.” He also translated works by Goethe, Schiller, Heine, as well as 20th-century classics such as Hans Enzensberger and Peter Weiss. Weiss’s play “Marat-Sade” was staged at the Taganka Theatre by director Yuri Lyubimov. The title of his memoir book, “Only my heart broke,” Ginzburg took from a poem by Heine. In this essay, he carries us from the 13th century to the 20th century and back, telling stories about the fates of medieval poets, about his father—the lawyer who helped people—and about the translation seminar. He also shares memories of meetings with composer Carl Orff and reflects on the history of the 20th century and the translator’s work. Ginzburg sought to reveal the mysterious connections between times, the similarity of people’s destinies, and how much people depend on circumstances and the flow of time.