Since my former post generated zero interest, perhaps there will be more intellectual interest here.
FOr the feast of St Nicholas we sing:

"O kto, kto Nikolaja l'ubit,
O kto, kto Nikolaja sluzhit,
:Tomu svjatyj Nikolaj
Na vsakij chas pomahaj,
Nikolaj, Nikolaj.:"

"O who loves Nicholas the Saintly,
O who serves Nicholas the Saintly,
:Him will Nicholas receive,
And give help in time of need.
Holy Father Nicholas.:"

I've always puzzled over the English "translation" of this hymn.
I would think that the first words would be: "O who(m), who Nicholas.().." (is loved by?-who loves Nicholas), (or whom Nicholas loves?)

Does anyone have a more literal translation of this hymn available?

I must confess that my grasp of the finer details of various Slavic languages is minimal compared to the many experts here.

Thanks,

Steve

"O who loves" is barbaric English. This should simply be changed to "He who loves" and all is clear, plus it sings well.

Yes, it is poor English, which is why I asked the question if there is a more literal translation from which to draw the correct case for the phrase:

O kto, kto Nikolaja l'ubit

I can see that as
He, who loves Nicholas (the saintly- is added to fill syllable to notes)
He, who serves Nicholas (the saintly...etc)

"Him will Nicholas receive"
This is also awkward English

Also:
Tomu svjatyj Nikolaj
Na vsakij chas pomahaj,
Nikolaj, Nikolaj.

To him holy Nicholas (? not sure of this line)
will help in need (? not sure of this line)
Nicholas, Nicholas

"Him will Nicholas receive"
This is also awkward English

I have no competence to judge the English translation of the Slavonic, only the smoothness of the finished product. "Him will Nicholas receive" is a bit odd, placing the objective form of the pronoun up front, but it has a certain poetic charm, I think.

O qui qui Nicolaum amat?
O qui qui Nicolaum servat?
Tu iuvaberis a Sancto
Statim semper Nicolao!
Ora Deum, Nicolae!

how's that for a preliminary latin verse?

Do you really want to change the words? More change? Aren't things bad enough?

O qui qui Nicolaum amat?

Whoa! Are you telling us that O kto, kto Nikolaja l'ubit is interogative rather than declarative? This never occurred to me in 10 years of singing this hymn. Certainly "O who loves Nicholas the Saintly?" could make sense here. But if this is the intended sense of the original Slavonic, why was the English translation not punctuated with a question mark?

Gabriel - it's a very loose translation =)