LESSON 8.
THE SOCIAL ASPECT
Address.
EXERCISE 1.
(a) Translate this text into Russian. (b) Answer the questions given below. (c) Write a written instruction concerning the manner of address for expatriates in Russia who are learning Russian and Russian customs. (d) Prepare a written text of the talk on the problem of address in modern Russian for a group of cruise passengers. §77.1
Confusion Over Titles Leads to Identity Crisis
Many people who are beginning to come to grips with Russia and the Russian language may suffer an identity crisis. In the space of a few hours, a woman asks a bewildered foreign boy for directions and calls him molodoi chelovek (“young man”), the security guard at the banks calls him uvazhaemyi (“respected one”), the fruit seller calls him tovarishch (“comrade”), the train conductor calls him gospodin (“sir”) – not to mention what he might get called when accosted by beggars, drunks, muggers or, God forbid, policemen.
What it all boils down to, however, is that in Russian there’s a big problem with addressing people. The once universal tovarishch is no longer much heard, and when it is it may be meant ironically. In fact, it is safe to say that there are no neutral forms of address, they all seem to carry a whole lot of often unwanted connotations.
Uvazhaemyi, for example – don’t expect anything respect from anyone who calls you this. It’s not heard very often, usually from officials or officious types of people. Gospodin is just plain silly. Gospodin khoroshii (“kind sir”) doesn’t have anything khoroshii about it at all, it’s straightforward sarcasm. It must be said that men have it easier in this department, as molodoi chelovek is the one expression that can be used for just about everyone. It’s rather silly to call a man over 60 a molodoi chelovek but it does happen.
There’s not really any respectful address for elderly people, but you hear the familiar ded “granddad” a lot. Just using the word muzhchinna (“man”) is no good either, it’s trolleybus-during-rush-hour sort of language, what you say to the person who’s been stepping on your toes for the last 45 minutes.
Devushka! (“girl”) is the cry you will hear in shops all over Russia, and like molodoi chelovek is often very inappropriately used. Still, crying Devushka! is a hard habit to break, as a feeble Izvinite, pozhaluista! (excuse me please) won’t get you any attention. The classic reply from the more elderly devushki is “I’m not a devushka, I’m a babushka!), and then back to that fascinating book she’s reading.
For women who are in no sense of the word still devushki (over 50 or so) we have zhenshchina (“woman”), but that doesn’t sound any more polite than it does in English or dama (“lady”), which often sounds ironic.
The pre-revolutionary polite forms of address – baryshnya for young women and sudarynya or barynya for older women were much easier, as were the sudar’ and barin forms for men. They were only for the wealthy though. “Ei ty!” (“Hey you!”) is what the barin called everyone who wasn’t a barin or baryshnya like himself. So it doesn’t look like there’ll be any return to the old style. (SPbTimes 05.11.1999)
1. When do modern Russians use the address “molodoi chelovek”?
2. Is the address “tovarishch” (“comrade”) still used in Russia?
3. Has the address “gospodin” (and its derivatives) returned nowadays?
4. Does anybody really use the address “Uvazhaemyi!”?
5. When do modern Russians resort to the address “Muzhchina!” (or: “Zhenshchina!”)?
6. What should be the age of a woman in Russia appropriate for the address “Devushka!”?
7. Would you recommend to learners of Russian the address “Izvinite, pozhaluista!”?
8. When and under what circumstances did Russians use the addresses “baryshnya”,” sudar`”, “sudarynya”, “barynya”, and barin?
EXERCISE 2. Discuss the problem of address of an exiled Russian, Timofei Pavlovich (V.V. Nabokov “Pnin”), in the USA. §77.1
In the beginning Pnin was greatly embarrassed by the ease with which first names were bandied about in America: after a single party, with an iceberg in a drop of whisky to start and with a lot of whisky in a little tap water to finish, you were supposed to call a gray-tempered stranger 'Jim', while he called you 'Tim' for ever and ever. If you forgot and called him next morning Professor Everett (his real name to you) it was (for him) a horrible insult. In reviewing his Russian friends throughout Europe and the United States, Timofei Pahlch could easily count at least sixty dear people whom he had intimately known since, say, 1920, and whom he never called anything but Vadim Vadimich, Ivan Khristoforovich, or Samuil Izrailevich, as the case might be, and who called him by his name and patronymic with the same effusive sympathy, over a strong handshake, whenever they met: 'Ah, Timofei Pahlch! Nu kak? (Well how?) (V. Nabokov, Pnin)
EXERCISE 3. Speak of the change in the behavior of the composer Igor’ Stravinsky on his visit, after a prolonged absence, to the Soviet Union. §77.1
From the moment he arrived back on Russian soil he slipped easily into modes of speech and conversation, using terms and phrases, even long-forgotten childhood expressions, he had not employed for over fifty years. When he spoke in Russian, he had always seemed to Craft ‘a different person’; but now, ‘speaking it with musicians who call him “Igor Fedorovich” which quickly established that family feeling peculiar to Russians – he is more buoyant than I can remember him’. (O. Figes 582)
EXERCISE 4. On Writing Business Cards
Read the extract, translate it into Russian and discuss the points in inter-cultural communication mentioned by the author. Work out the text of a business card for your parents (friends) in TWO LANGUAGES.
One thing that really frustrates me is when Russians insist on giving you a business card that only has the information in English. It is almost always impossible to guess at their real position judging by the garbled English rendition and, most frustrating of all, they rarely include their otchestvo (patronymic) so you don’t even know how to address them. (by Robert Coalson SPbT 10.07.1998)
MODEL:
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Лужин Олег Михайлович профессор, доктор филологических наук Российский государственный педагогический университет им. А.И. Герцена (РГПУ) Зав. кафедрой лингвистики Россия, 191321, С.-Петербург, ул. Чайковского, д.16, корп.3, кв.15 Тел.: (812) 713-1677 <> Email: LOM@com.ru |
Oleg Mikhailovich LUZHIN Professor, Doktor nauk (Philology) Russia’s State Pedagogical University named after A.I. Gertsen (RGPU) Head of the Linguistics Department (kafedra) Russia, 191321, Sankt-Peterburg, ul.Chaikovskogo, d.16, korp,3, kv.15 Phone: (812) 713-1677 <> Email: LOM@com.ru |
EXERCISE 5. Study this extract and comment on the way Russian address-words are expressed in English.
‘Tell the lackey to find my coachman. I’m leaving,’
‘At once, Your Highly Born.’ The young man disappeared.
Your Highly Born. This honorific referred not to Bobrov’s ancestry, noble though it was, but to the fact that he had already, though only in his early thirties, reached the dizzy height of fifth rank in the fourteen service ranks established by Peter the Great. Nobility could be achieved by service. Lower ranks were only addressed as Well Born; then Highly Well Born; then Highly Born. If Bobrov continued his brilliant career, he might hope to reach the final and most coveted appellation of all: Your Highest Excellency. (E. Rutherfurd, Russka 1992)
Choosing politically correct place names
EXERCISE 6. Translate these sentences into English paying special attention to political correctness of xenonyms. §77.2
1. На этой стройке много рабочих из Киргизии.
2. На нашем рынке много товаров из Белоруссии.
3. Эта группа прибыла из Алма-Аты.
4. Их завод сотрудничает с машиностроителями Харькова.
5. Они вас приглашают приехать во Львов.
6. Вина из Молдавии пользуются популярностью в России, и молдоване охотно им торгуют.
7. Ледовое побоище состоялось на Чудском озере.
EXERCISE 7. Translate these sentences into English paying special attention to political correctness of xenonyms. §77.3
1. В сборной Латвии на чемпионате играли как латыши, так и русские.
2. Он цитирует заявление министра обороны России.
3. Он гражданин Казахстана, но он русский; в Казахстане живет много русских.
4. Знаменитый авиаконструктор Игорь Сикорский в 1919 году эмигрировал в США и принял американское подданство.
5. Классик английской литературы Джозеф Конрад по происхождению поляк, Юзеф Теодор Конрад Коженевский, никогда не выступал публично, стесняясь своего акцента.
6. После распада Советского Союза миллионы кавказцев переселились в Россию, спасаясь от междоусобных войн и в поисках работы.
7. Слово «негр», нейтральное в русском языке, звучит оскорбительно для англо-говорящих чернокожих, потому что механически ассоциируется с английским уничижительным словом Negro.
8. В России проживает много цыган, большинство которых придерживается своих культурных традиций.
9. Слово «жид», которое пришло в Россию из Польши, в 19-ом веке было нейтральным и поэтому встречается в работах классиков русской литературы. Позднее оно приобрело резко оскорбительную коннотацию.
EXERCISE 8. Translate these sentences into written English paying special attention to Russian first names. See: §77.4
1. Михаил Федорович был первым царем династии Романовых.
2. Екатерина II делала все, чтобы ее считали просвещенным монархом.
3. Екатерина Дашкова была президентом Академии наук.
4. Павел I считался самым образованным монархом Европы.
5. Павел Филонов отстаивал принципы «аналитического искусства».
6. Михаил Горбачев необычайно популярен на Западе.
7. Царь Алексей правил в эпоху Раскола.
8. Алексий II стал Патриархом Московским и Всея Руси незадолго до распада СССР.
9. Алексей Толстой написал исторический роман «Петр Первый».
10. Вскоре после Февральской Революции Николай II отрекся от престола.
11. Николай Васильевич Гоголь хорошо известен на Западе.
EXERCISE 9. (a) Translate this text into Russian and discuss the problems of upbringing a child in a mixed cultural family. (b) Answer the questions given below. (c) Discuss the problems of upbringing a child in a mixed cultural family. §78
Identity: A Dubious Choice (By Jo Durden-Smith)
My daughter Katya was four years old the other day, and I have to decide soon whether she's going to be Russian or British. For the moment she's both, of course. She can recite great segments of Marshak and Chukovsky, sing the theme tunes of the British soaps and chatter away about the finer points of Aladdin and Ivan the Fool to all comers in either language.
But soon she's going to have to go to school. I have to decide where. And one day, I suppose, I'm going to explain to her why I chose one side or the other of her divided heritage. I know there's a middle way. I could, I suppose, send her to one of the international schools in Moscow and hedge my bets. But then, I've never had much time here for the sort of international community that can afford to send its children to such schools. I'm probably wrong and uncharitable, but I imagine that it's a community made up almost entirely of people doing "hardship" tours, living guarded in luxury apartments on Western salaries, while working in embassies or one of those myriad consultancies which masquerade as "aid to Russia".
So, which is it to be? Which is she to be? What will she inherit from one side or the other when it comes to a choice? She's grown up mostly in Russia, so let's start with that. She's spent the majority of her time in the little village of Nikolina Gora embedded in a loving, volatile, highly emotional Russian family, with a reverence for words and a deep-ingrained conviction that children must be protected from the awful realities of the world.
She's been the beneficiary of the great Russian gift for friendship, and if she stays here and is lucky, she may grow up to inherit not only that, along with the knowledge of the language and literature, but also some of the blistering Russian intellectual intensity that is one of the wonders of the world.
What can Katya look forward to in England if that's where we finally have to live? Her horizons would shrink from the prostor of Russia — the sense of the vastness of its space — to the fenced-in orderliness (and neatness and coziness) of English life. Her education would be good enough, but untouched by passion. She would grow up logical, but also an obedient consumer; intelligent, one hopes, but without any impossible secrets of dreams.
So what do I want for Katya? The best of both worlds, I suppose. (MTimes 30.04.1994, abridged)
What kind of girl is Katya, linguistically and culturally? Why does her mother have to make this painful choice?
What does the author hint concerning the social stratification of the expatriates' community?
What is the author's opinion of some organizations 'aiding Russia'?
What national traits of Russians, positive and negative, does the author refer to in this article?
What sort of village is 'Nikolina Gora'?
What prevents Katya's mother from deciding in favor of keeping her daughter in Russia?
What is your opinion of the author's evaluation of modern Britain and its culture?
What are the pros and cons of Katya's getting her education in England?
What is the decision Katya's mother arrives at?
EXERCISE 10. (a) Shorten this 423-word text down to 150 words making use of the expressions of the original text given below. (b) Discuss the problems of upbringing a child in a mixed cultural family. See §78
to recite great segments <> to sing the theme tunes of soaps <> the finer points of <> divided heritage <> to hedge one’s bets <> to do a "hardship" tour <> luxury apartments <> to masquerade as "aid to Russia" <> to be embedded in a loving family <> a reverence for words <> to be the beneficiary of <> intellectual intensity <> fenced-in orderliness <> an obedient consumer <> the best of both worlds.
EXERCISE 11. Translate this text into Russian and discuss the problems of upbringing a child in a mixed cultural family.
Educating a Bicultural Child — Christmas Conundrum: Ded Moroz or St. Nick?
Vita is a child of a mixed marriage: her father, Aleksandr Anichkin, is Russian, while her mother, Miranda Ingram, American. The loving parents describe in a series of articles in the Moscow Times all the problems involved with a child of such a marriage.
Vita has met the man in the red robes with the long white beard twice now. First at the Obraztsov puppet theater, where she gave him a look of horrified incomprehension — not surprising really when you train your little ones to talk to strangers and then thrust them into the arms of the weirdest looking man they are ever likely to meet. However, since he gave her chocolate she was far more forthcoming when she met his reincarnation a week later at the Toddlers’ Gym.
But when you’re dealing with a bicultural child, who exactly is this man? Is he Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost), as Papa keeps telling her? Or is it Mama’s Father Christmas?
Which raises yet more issues, like when does he visit? Will he pop in during the night of Dec.24 to 25 to stuff the stocking full of goodies? Or will he appear on New Year’s Eve?
Most importantly — how is he going to get in? Everyone knows that Father Christmas drives his reindeer through the sky and sneaks down the chimney, but the only chimneys in Moscow are the ones that belch out pollution from the city’s countless environmentally dodgy factories.
Sasha, having agreed to a Dec. 24 visit, said the man in question could just come through the front door, onto which we would pin the stockings. No way, said I: a) The stocking has to be at the end of the bed for when you wake up, and b) Father Christmas, as is perfectly well known, does NOT waltz through the front door like any other mortal.
So we scoured the apartment and found that the ventilation duct in the kitchen might serve as a sort of chimney, but we still haven’t resolved the question about what he will eat. In England he is left a mince pie and a glass of milk. But can you see Russian Ded Moroz settling for that? Maybe a shot of vodka would be more appropriate, with a plate of pel’meni?
And since she attends a Russian kindergarten where her little playmates will get a New Year’s visit, does Vita, by nature of her dual nationality, get a second round of presents then? This obviously smacks of spoiling the child as well as begging the moral question: Is her Christmas going to involve the birth of Jesus? You don’t have to be a fanatical Christian to believe that the season of presents should nevertheless be about giving and goodness along with the fun and feasting.
Even if Sasha, a proper Soviet atheist, agrees to a little religious instruction on the grounds that he is also Russian-nationalist enough to accept that before the Revolution it was ever thus, we’re still going to have to decide: Was the Messiah born on Dec.25 or Jan.7 — Russian Christmas day? (By A. Anichkin, M. Ingram, MTimes 20.12.1996)
EXERCISE 12. Find in the original text the words and phrases thus translated into Russian.
человек, облаченный в красную одежду <> с удивлением и ужасом взглянула на него <> самое поразительное существо, которое только можно встретить <> двойник этого человека <> иметь дело с бикультурным ребенком <> наполнить рождественский чулок подарками <> спуститься вниз по дымоходу <> войти во входную дверь <> у подножия кровати <> простой смертный <> решить проблему <> рюмка водки <> двойная культура <> испортить ребенка <> дарить добро <> истинный советский атеист <> нам еще предстоит решить <>
EXERCISE 13. Sum up the story of Vita and compare it with the previous situation.
EXERCISE 14. (a) Read the extracts from How To Be An Alien by G. Mikes* and find similarity in the sentiments of all the authors describing cultural marginality. (b) Answer the questions given below. See §78
How To Be An Alien
I believe, without undue modesty, that I have certain qualifications to write on ‘how to be an alien.’ I am an alien myself. What is more, I have been an alien all my life. Only during the first twenty-six years of my life I was not aware of the fact. I was living in my own country, a country full of aliens, and I noticed nothing particular or irregular about myself; then I came to England, and you can imagine my painful surprise.
It was like this. Some years ago I spent a lot of time with a young lady who was very proud and conscious of being English. Once she asked me – to my great surprise – whether I would marry her. ‘No,’ I replied, ‘I will not. My mother would never agree to my marrying a foreigner.’ She looked at me a little surprised and irritated, and retorted: ‘I, a foreigner? What a silly thing to say. I am English. You are the foreigner. And your mother, too.’ I did not give in. ‘In Budapest, too?’ I asked her. ‘Everywhere,’ she declared with determination. ‘Truth does not depend on geography. What is true in England is also true in Hungary.’
I saw that this theory was as irrefutable as it was simple. I was startled and upset. Mainly because of my mother whom I loved and respected. Now I suddenly learned what she really was.
It was a shame and bad taste to be an alien, and it is no use pretending otherwise. There is no way out of it. A criminal may improve and become a decent member of society. A foreigner cannot improve. Once a foreigner, always a foreigner. There is no way out for him. He may become British; he can never become English. How to be an alien? One should not be an alien at all. There are certain rules, however, which have to be followed if you want yourself as acceptable and civilized as you possibly can.
Study these rules, and imitate the English. There can be only one result: if you don’t succeed in imitating them you become ridiculous; if you do, you become even more ridiculous. Apply for British citizenship. Roughly speaking, there are two possibilities: it will be granted to you, or not. In the first case you must recognize and revise your attitude to life. You must pretend that you are everything you are not and you must look down upon everything you are.
If naturalized, remember these rules:
1. You must start eating porridge for breakfast and allege that you like it.
2. Speak English with your former compatriots. Deny that you know any foreign language (including your mother tongue). The knowledge of foreign languages is very un-English. A little French is permissible, but only with an atrocious accent.
3. Revise your library. Get rid of all foreign writers whether in the original or translated into English. The works of Dostoevsky should be replaced by a volume on English Birds.
4. Speaking of your new compatriots, always use the first person plural.
In this aspect, though, a certain caution is advisable. I know a naturalized Britisher who, talking to a young man, repeatedly used the phrase ‘We Englishmen.’ The young man looked at him, took his pipe out of his mouth and remarked softly: ‘Sorry, Sir. I’m a Welshman,’ turned his back on him and walked away.
* George Mikes is a Hungary-born British humorous writer. His best known book How To Be An Alien was published in 1946.
1. Why does the author find that he has certain qualifications to write on ‘how to be an alien’?
2. What kind of painful surprise was waiting for Mikes when he came to England?
3. Why did the lady’s proposal seem unexpected for George?
4. Why did George reject the woman’s suggestion?
5. Why did the lady think that it was him who was an alien?
6. What kind of theory did the woman use to prove her point?
7. What made George particularly disappointed to hear that he was an alien?
8. What is the difference, in George’s opinion, between a criminal and an alien?
9. What should the alien do to imitate the English?
10. What does the process of “naturalization” mean?
11. What changes in one’s behave ought to take place if naturalized?
12. What does the author imply while speaking about foreign language teaching in Britain?
13. What changes should one make in his library?
14. What change in the status of the alien is demonstrated by the use of the first person plural while speaking of his new compatriots?
15. What was the reason of the blunder of the alien described by the author?
EXERCISE 15. (a) Answer the questions supplied below. (b) Translate this extract into Russian and comment on this wise observation of F. Bacon’s essay “Of Travel”. (c) Write a simplified, modern English version of the extract. See §78
When a traveler returneth home, let him not leave the countries where he hath traveled altogether behind him, but maintain a correspondence by letters with those of his acquaintance which are of most worth; and let his travel appear rather in his discourse than in his apparel or gesture; and in his discourse let him be rather advised in his answers, than forward to tell stories: and let it appear that he doth not change his country manners for those of foreign parties; but only prick in some flowers of that he hath learned abroad into the customs of his own country. (Francis Bacon, 1561-1626, “Of Travel”)
1. What does Bacon mean by saying “let him not leave the countries where he hath traveled altogether behind him”?
2. Who should a wise traveler maintain a correspondence with?
3. What does Bacon mean by saying “let his travel appear rather in his discourse than in his apparel or gesture”?
4. How should we interpret the philosopher’s words “in his discourse let him be rather advised in his answers, than forward to tell stories”?
5. Why can we say that there is much wisdom in his advice “let it appear that he doth not change his country manners for those of foreign parties; but only prick in some flowers of that he hath learned abroad into the customs of his own country”?
EXERCISE 16. Outsiders’ knowledge of Russian culture frequently leaves much to be desired. People often apply to Russia stereotypes, create a primitive picture of the country. Sometimes fall in love with the dream-like non-existent land. Not infrequently their criticism of certain aspects of our life is, unfortunately, justified. While facing such approaches we should be prepared to be objective and sincere.
Comment on the following extracts from Western sources.
Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet … (Kipling R. “The Ballad of East and West”)
I
1. It is a concept of the Russian people – suffering and oppressed, full of destructive and impulsive violence, uncontrollable and unable to control its destiny – that applies equally to 1917. (O. Figes, Natasha’s Dance 2002)
2. It was a commonplace in the Eurasian circles in which Stravinsky moved in Paris that the greatest strength of the Russian people, and the thing that set them apart from the people of the West, was their voluntary surrender of the individual will to collective rituals and forms of life. (O. Figes, Natasha’s Dance 2002)
3. [Of Musorgsky] There is a sense in which this very Russian figure (lazy, slovenly and heavy-drinking, full of swagger and explosive energy) played the Holy Fool in relation to the West. (O. Figes, Natasha’s Dance 2002)
4. We expect the Russians to be ‘Russian’ – their art easily distinguished by its use of folk motifs, by onion domes, the sound of bells, and full of ‘Russian soul’. (O. Figes, Natasha’s Dance 2002)
5. But even the Nevsky, the most European of its avenues, was undone by a ‘Russian’ crookedness. (O. Figes, Natasha’s Dance 2002)
II
1. During a visit home this spring the Joneses threw a dinner party à la Russe for members of their local church, complete with smoked sturgeon, Beef Stroganoff, kasha, caviar and, of course, vodka. (MTimes 06 Aug 1997)
2. [Russians] have the ability to arouse directly contradictory opinions among those who encounter them. Some people find them open, helpful, hospitable and generous; others find them sullen, suspicious, underhand and servile. The truth, for once, is not somewhere between these two extremes, but rather that they both represent aspects of the Russian stereotype, for both kinds of behavior are met with in different contexts. (Fodor’1989 The Soviet Union)
3. [On the rivalry between Moscow and SPb] St Petersburg residents tend to believe (against all evidence) that it’s Moscow’s population who are gruff, rude and materially obsessional, while Petersburgers universally walk the streets declaiming Pushkin and opening doors for people. (T. Masters SPb 2005)
4. Like all of Russia, St Petersburg is inconvenient, inhumanly large and exhausting. (T. Masters SPb 2005)
5. If you’re of African, Arab, or Asian decent, exercise caution. (SPb In Your Pocket 2005).
III
1. Since time immemorial, drink had been – in the words of the Grand Prince Vladimir of Kiev in the tenth century – “the joy of the Russes.” (P. Ustinov My Russia 1983)
2. Stereotypes about Russian drinking habits are all true … (SPb In Your Pocket 2005)
3. Getting drunk and speaking dushe po-dushe (soul-to-soul) goes with the territory. (D. Richardson Moscow 2005)
Part II.
CULTURAL SPHERES
LESSON 9.
GEOGRAPHY
EXERCISE 1. (a) Read this description of Russia at the end of the 19th century. (a) Render the content of the text in English as if it were a talk to a group of tourists. (b) Discuss the text answering the following questions. See §79.1
1894: Imperial Russia
From the Baltic city of St Petersburg, built on a river marsh in a far northern corner of the empire, the Tsar ruled Russia. So immense were the Tsar’s dominions that, as night began to fall along their western borders, day already was breaking on their Pacific coast. Rivers, wide and flat, flowed peacefully through the grassy plains of European Russia toward a limitless southern horizon. Eastward, in Siberia, even mightier rivers rolled north to the Arctic, sweeping through forests where no human had ever been, and across desolate marshes of frozen tundra.
Here and there, thinly scattered across the broad land, lived the one hundred and thirty million subjects of the Tsar: not only Slavs but Balts, Jews, Germans, Armenians, Uzbeks and Tatars. Some were clustered in provincial cities and towns, dominated by onion-shaped church domes rising above the white-walled houses. Many more lived in straggling villages of unpainted log huts. Inside their huts, in an atmosphere thick with the aroma of steaming clothes and boiling tea, the peasants sat around their huge clay stoves and argued and pondered the dark mysteries of nature and God.
In the country, the Russian people lived their lives under a blanket of silence. Most died in the villages where they were born. Three fourth of them were peasants, freed from the land a generation before by the Tsar-Liberator Alexander II’s emancipation of the serfs. But freedom did not produce food. When famine came and the black earth cracked for lack of rain, and the grain withered and crumbled to dust still on the stalks, then <4> the peasants tore the thatch from their roofs to feed their livestock and sent their sons trudging into town to look for work. In famine the hungry muzhiks wrapped themselves in ragged cloaks and stood all day in silence along the snowy roads. Noble ladies, warm in furs, drove their troikas through the stricken countryside, delivering with handsome gestures of their slender arms a spray of silver coins. Soon, along came the tax collector to gather up the coins and ask for others.
When the muzhiks grumbled, a squadron of Cossacks rode into town, with lances in their black-gloved hands and whips and sabers swinging from their saddles. Troublemakers were flogged, and bitterness flowed with blood. Landowner, police, local governor and functionaries were roundly cursed by Russia’s peasants. But never the Tsar. The Tsar, far away in a place nearer heaven than earth, did no wrong. He was the Batyushka-Tsar, the Father of the Russian people, and he did not know what suffering they had to endure. “It is very high up to God! It is very far to the Tsar!” said the Russian proverb. If only we could get to the Tsar and tell him, our troubles would be at an end — so runs the plot of a hundred Russian fairy tales.
Then, as now, Moscow was the hub of Russia, the center of railroads, waterways, trade and commerce. From a small twelfth-century village surrounded by a wooden stockade, Moscow had become the capital and Holy City of Russia. It was there that Ivan the Terrible announced, when he took the throne in 1547, that he would be crowned not as a Grand Prince of Moscow, but as Tsar of all Russia.
(Robert Massie. Nicholas and Alexandra)
1. How large was the Russian Empire?
2. What sort of population did Russia have?
3. Which social group was dominant in Russia?
4. Did the rich sympathize with the poor in Russia?
5. How did Russian rulers deal with social upheavals?
6. How did Russian people explain their difficult life?
7. What was the role played by Moscow?
8. Speak on the accuracy of this description of the pre-Revolutionary Russia?
EXERCISE 2. Find suitable English counterparts of the following Russian words and phrases.
необьятные владения <> занимается заря <> текут реки <> безлюдная заболоченная тундра <> бревенчатые деревенские избы <> избы, пахнущие одеждой и чаем <> Царь-Освободитель <> снимать с крыш солому <> изящные движения красивых пальчиков <> сборщики податей <> с пиками в руках, шашками и нагайками на боку <> помещики, полицейские, губернаторы и чиновники <> все невзгоды как рукой снимет <> небольшое поселение, обнесенное частоколом <>
EXERCISE 3. Find the bits of the original English-language text thus translated into Russian.
1. спускается ночь <> 2. не ступала нога человека <> 3. рассеянные по этим просторам <> 4. возвышаться над <> 5. обсуждать таинственные явления <> 6. раскрепощение крестьян <> 7. осыпаться в прах <> 8. накормить скотину <> 9. деревни, в которые пришел голод, <> 10. появлялись казаки <> 11. смутьянов пороли <> 12. живущий в своем дворце за тридевять земель <> 13. страдания, которые выпали на их долю <> 14. вступить на престол <> 15. центр страны <> 16. обнесенные частоколом <>
EXERCISE 4. Restore the omitted parts of the text and be prepared for the back-translation of these sentences. §79.1
1. Венесуэла is bordered by Колумбия to the west.
2. Боливия lies to the west of Бразилия.
3. Монако is a tiny principality east of Ницца.
4. Ливан lies north of Israel and west of Сирия.
5. Most of Швейцарии comprises a mountainous plateau bordered by горы Юрá on the northwest.
6. Малая Азия is the westernmost part of Asia.
7. Малайзия lies at the southern end of полуострова Малакка in southeast Asia.
8. Нигерия is situated in Западная Африка.
9. America consists of two great landmasses, Северная Америка and Южная Америка.
10. Австрия is situated in central Europe.
EXERCISE 5. Translate into English making use of the following words and phrases. §79.1
the adjacent seas and islands <> to border on <> to flow to <> to join the sea <> the most easterly point <> the southernmost point <>
1. Антарктида – это континент, расположенный вокруг Южного полюса, а Антарктика – это непосредственно континент вместе с прилегающими участками морей и океанов.
2. Мадагаскар расположен в Индийском океане.
3. Колумбия имеет выход и к Атлантическому и к Тихому океанам.
4. Крупнейшие реки России текут на север к Северному Ледовитому океану.
5. Суэцкий канал соединяет Средиземное и Красное моря.
6. Панамский канал соединяет Атлантический и Тихий океаны.
7. 40 миль бельгийского побережья тянутся вдоль Северного моря и Па-де-Кале (Дуврский пролив).
8. Самой восточной точкой Азии является мыс Дежнева в Беринговом проливе.
9. Самой южной точкой Южной Америки является мыс Горн.
10. Самой северной точкой Азии является мыс Челюскина, в России, на полуострове Таймыр.
EXERCISE 6. Translate into Russian and be prepared to ‘back-translate’. §79.1
MODEL. Poland is a country the size of New Mexico. => Площадь Польши приблизительно равна площади штата Нью-Мексико.
1. The area of Costa Rica slightly exceeds that of Vermont and New Hampshire combined.
2. Guatemala is the size of Tennessee.
3. The area of Guyana, a country in South America is the size of Idaho.
4. Mauritania is three times the size of California.
5. Uganda, twice the size of Pennsylvania, is in east Africa.
6. Algeria is nearly four times the size of Texas.
7. The area of Cyprus is one and a half times the size of Delaware.
EXERCISE 7. Translate this extract into English making use of the words and phrases from the US translation of the text. (See §79.1)
hospital orderly <> Viceroy of India <> delusions of grandeur <> dubiously shook his head <> enter into the sphere of activity of <> rose to his thin feet <> shouted pathetically <> the map of both hemispheres <> to pore over the map <>
Пропал Берингов пролив
...он лёг животом на пол и, дождавшись прибытия санитаров, принялся выкрикивать: — Я не более как вице-король Индии! Где мои верные наибы, магараджи, мои абреки, мои кунаки, мои слоны?
Слушая этот бред величия, шурин с сомнением качал головой. На его взгляд абреки и кунаки не входили в сферу действия индийского короля. Но тут больной, сидевший на кровати в глубине покоя, поднялся на тоненькие, как церковные свечи, ноги и страдальчески закричал:
— На волю! На волю! В пампасы!
Как бухгалтер узнал впоследствии, в пампасы просился старый учитель географии, по учебнику которого юный Берлага знакомился в своё время с вулканами, мысами и перешейками. Географ сошёл с ума совершенно неожиданно: однажды он взглянул на карту обоих полушарий и не нашёл на ней Берингова пролива.
Весь день старый учитель шарил по карте. Всё было на месте: и Ньюфаундленд, и Суэцкий канал, и Мадагаскар, и Гавайские острова с главным городом Гонолулу, и даже вулкан Попокатипетль, а Берингов пролив отсутствовал. И тут же, у карты, старик тронулся. (Ильф, Петров. "Золотой телёнок", сокращено).
EXERCISE 8. (a) Read the text. (b) Answer the questions. Discuss the territorial losses after the split of the Soviet Union. (See: §79.1)
Soviet Russia
Under the Soviet system Russia was a constituent republic of the U.S.S.R. (the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and) was called the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (R.S.F.S.R.).
With an area of 6,592,800 square miles (17,075,400 square kilometres), Russia is the world's largest country, covering almost twice the territory of either the United States or China. It ranks sixth in the world in population, following China, India, the United States, Indonesia, and Brazil. The great majority of the people are Russians, but there also are some 70 smaller national groups living within its borders. Most of the population is concentrated in a great triangle in the western, or European, part of the country, although over the past three centuries--and particularly during the early and mid-20th century--there was a steady flow of people eastward to the Asiatic section commonly referred to as Siberia.
On its northern and eastern sides Russia is bounded by the Arctic and Pacific oceans, and it has small frontages in the northwest on the Baltic Sea at St. Petersburg and at the detached Russian oblast (province) of Kaliningrad. On the south it borders North Korea, China, Mongolia, and the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. On the southwest and west it borders the former Soviet republics of Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, and Estonia, as well as Finland and Norway; in addition, Kaliningrad (formerly a part of what was once East Prussia annexed in 1945) abuts Poland and Lithuania.
Extending nearly halfway around the Northern Hemisphere and covering much of eastern and northeastern Europe as well as the whole of northern Asia, Russia has a maximum east-west extent, along the Arctic Circle, of some 4,800 miles (7,700 kilometers) and a north-south width of 1,250 to 1,850 miles.
There is an enormous variety of landforms and landscapes, which occur mainly in a series of broad latitudinal belts. Arctic deserts lie in the extreme north, giving way southward to the tundra and then to the forest zones, which cover about half of the country and give it much of its character. South of the forest zone lie the wooded steppe and steppe, beyond which are small sections of semidesert along the northern shore of the Caspian Sea. (EncBr)
Answer the questions. Discuss the territorial losses after the split of the Soviet Union.
1. How does modern Russia relate to the Soviet Union?
2. How large is the territory of Russia?
3. Is Russia as populous as it is large in its territory?
4. What is the name of the dominant ethnic group in Russia?
5. Is Russia a multiethnic country?
6. Is the population of Russia evenly distributed?
7. What oceans and seas wash Russia’s borders?
8. What is specific about the location of the oblast (province) of Kaliningrad?
9. What countries border Russia’s frontiers?
10. What is specific about the location of Russia?
11. What is Russia’s east-west extent?
12. What can we say about the variety of landforms and landscapes in Russia?
13. What is there south of the forest zone in Russia?
EXERCISE 9. Write a sentence of these Russia’s administrative divisions, comparing their area to the size of some USA states and other countries (some of which are mentioned below). §79.1
Калининградская область; Нижегородская область; Карелия; Татарстан; Чувашия; Калмыкия; Дагестан; Краснодарский край; Красноярский край; Якутия; Тыва (Тува) республика; Бурятия; Еврейская Автономная область; Приморский край.
MODEL: «Ленинградская область» => Leningrad(skaya) oblast’ (province), 85,900 sq km (33,038 sq miles), an independent administrative division in the northwest of the part of the country, bordering on Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga; a region one tenth smaller than Indiana, but one sixth larger than Ireland.
INFORMATION (In square miles) Canada - 3,851,809; USA - 3,540,939; Brazil - 3,286,470; India - 1,229,737; Alaska - 586,412; Texas - 267,339; France - 212,841; California - 158,693; Arizona - 113, 909; UK - 94,399; Minnesota - 84,068; Missouri 69,686; Florida - 58,560; Alabama - 51,609; England - 50,516; Indiana - 36,291; Ireland - 27,136; Maryland - 10,577; Connecticut - 5,009; Delaware - 2,057; Rhode Island - 1,214; DC - 67.
1 sq mile = 2.6 sq km
EXERCISE 10. Give the English version of these Russian place names and use each of them in an example of your own. Use encyclopedic dictionaries. §79.1
MODEL: Обь - The Ob’ is the principal river of the west Siberian lowlands and one of the largest rivers of the world.
Азовское море, Аральское море, Балтийское море, Баренцево море, Берингово Море, Восточно-Сибирское море, остров Врангеля, мыс Дежнева, Каспийское море, Командорские острова, Карское море, Курильские острова, пролив Лаперуза, море Лаптевых, Новая Земля, Новосибирские острова, Охотское море, Северная земля, Северный Ледовитый океан, Советская гавань, Татарский пролив, Черное море, Чукотское море, Японское море.
EXERCISE 11. Explain these place names to the foreign reader. See: §79.1
MODEL: Тула - an industrial city of Russia to the south of Moscow, the chief town of the oblast’ administrative division, traditionally famous for rifles, samovars and pryaniki (gingerbread).
Архангельск, Вологда, Ижевск, Иркутск, Клин, Магнитогорск, Михайловское, Мурманск, Новгород, Палех, Плесецк, Ростов Великий, Севастополь, Сергиев Посад, Суздаль, Тверь, Тихвин, Ясная Поляна.
EXERCISE 12. (a) Translate the text (327 words) into Russia. (b) Answer the questions. (c) Discuss the text and then shorten it to 150 words. §79.1
Leningrad Oblast’
Leningrad oblast’ (province), [lies in] northwestern Russia. It comprises all the Karelian Isthmus and the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland as far west as Narva. It extends eastward along the southern shore of Lake Ladoga and the Svir River as far as Lake Onega. In the north the Karelian Isthmus consists of long, winding hills, separated by hollows with lakes and swamps. In the west-central part of the oblast lies the city of St. Petersburg (formerly [1924-91] Leningrad). In the centre of the oblast’ are extensive lowlands, rising in the east to a line of uplands. There are innumerable lakes. The oblast’ is named after the Soviet leader Vladimir I. Lenin.
In the oblast'`s north, east, and centre is swampy forest, or taiga, largely of spruce, pine, and birch. The west has mixed forest; alder and aspen are widespread in the wetter areas. Swamps of peat bog and grass marsh are everywhere, though many have been drained.
Leningrad oblast'`s economy is overshadowed by that of St. Petersburg city and its suburbs, and much of the oblast'`s industry serves that major metropolitan area.
The arable land is dominated by market gardening and fodder crops. In the north and east, less land is arable, and rye and oats are more widely grown than vegetables. More than 90 percent of the oblast's population is urban.
The Neva is a river in Leningrad oblast’ (province), northwestern Russia. The river issues from Lake Ladoga at Shlisselburg and flows 46 miles (74 km) west to the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea. Its drainage basin covers 109,000 square miles (282,000 square km) and includes Lakes Ladoga, Onega, and Ilmen and the Svir and Volkhov rivers. Freeze-up lasts from early December to late April. The river derives importance not only from its navigability by large ships--it forms part of the White Sea-Baltic and Volga-Baltic waterways--but also from the presence of St. Petersburg city at its mouth. (EncBr)
1. What is the location of Leningrad oblast’?
2. What parts does its territory consist of?
3. What does the relief of the Karelian Isthmus consist of?
4. Where does Petersburg lie?
5. What is the origin of the name of the oblast’?
6. What kind of flora do we find here?
7. What is specific about Leningrad oblast's economy?
8. What is the percentage of the rural population?
9. What can be said about the Neva River?
EXERCISE 13. Translate the sentences into English paying attention to the use of the article before geographical names. §79.1
1. Россия потеряла Сахалин после поражения в русско-японской войне.
2. Курилы — это цeпь вулканических островов между полуостровом Камчатка и островом Хоккайдо.
3. Остров Врангеля, на границе Восточно-Сибирского и Чукотского морей, назван в честь российского мореплавателя барона Ф.П. Врангеля.
4. На территории Средней Азии располагаются Узбекистан, Туркменистан, Киргизия и Таджикистан.
5. Легендарная "дорога жизни" проходила по льду Ладоги.
6. Проливы Босфор и Дарданеллы всегда были зоной стратегических интересов России.
7. Эльбрус всегда был местом притяжения российских альпинистов.
8. В прошлом году экспедиция добралась до мыса Дежнёва, а в будущем году планируется поход до мыса Челюскина.
9. Командорские острова, названные в честь Беринга, славятся своими птичьими базарами и лежбищами котиков.
10. В Байкал, самое глубоководное озера в мире, впадает 336 рек, а вытекает лишь одна - Ангара.
EXERCISE 14. Translate into English. §79.1
1. Перекопский перешеек соединяет Крымский полуостров с материком.
2. Пролив Лаперуза разделяет Сахалин и Хоккайдо.
3. Карельский перешеек разделяет Финский залив и Ладожское озеро.
4. Север России омывается несколькими морями Северного Ледовитого океана – Белым, Баренцевым, Карским, Лаптевых, Восточно-Сибирским и Чукотским; восточные берега России омываются Беринговым, Охотским и Японским морями.
5. Берингов пролив отделяет Чукотку от Аляски.
6. Земля Франца Иосифа – это архипелаг на севере Баренцева моря.
7. Озеро Селигер, столь популярное у туристов, находится на Валдайской возвышенности, на северо-западе европейской части России.
8. «Столбы» – это заповедник на правом берегу Енисея, недалеко от Красноярска.
9. «Золотое кольцо России» - это популярный туристический маршрут к северо-западу от Москвы по древнерусским городам Сергиев Посад, Переславль-Залесский, Ростов Великий, Ярославль и Владимир.
10. Беломорско-Балтийский канал, соединяющий Белое море с Онежским озером, был в значительной степени построен силами политзаключенных.
Reduced to its simplest outline, Russian culture is a tale of three cities: Kiev, Moscow, and St. Petersburg. (James H. Billington The Icon and the Axe)
Lesson 10.
HISTORY
EXERCISE 1. Read the text and answer the questions given below. (See §79.2)
The Druzhina in early Rus’ is a prince's retinue, which helped him to administer his principality and constituted the area's military force. The first druzhinniki (members of a druzhina) in Rus were the Varangians, whose princes established control there in the 9th century. Soon members of the local Slavic aristocracy as well as adventurers of a variety of other nationalities became druzhinniki.
The druzhina was composed of two groups: the senior members (who became known as boyars) and the junior members. All the members were dependent upon their prince for financial support, but each member served the prince freely and had the right to leave him and join the druzhina of another prince. As a result, a prince was inclined to seek the goodwill of his druzhina; he paid the druzhinniki wages, shared his war booty and taxes with them, and eventually rewarded the boyars with landed estates, complete with rights to tax and administer justice to the local population.
By the middle of the 12th century, the characteristics of the two groups had begun to change. The junior members became a prince's immediate servitors and collectively assumed the name dvoriane (courtiers). (EncBr)
1. What kind of military force was druzhina?
2. Who were the first druzhinniki (members of a druzhina)?
3. What kind of groups did the druzhina consist of?
4. Why was the prince inclined to seek the goodwill of his druzhina?
5. How did princes eventually reward the boyars?
6. What happened to the junior members of the druzhina by the middle of the 12th century?
EXERCISE 2. Supply comprehensive explanations of these Russianisms. §79.2
druzhina <> druzhinniki <> Varangians <> boyars <> dvoriane <>
EXERCISE 3. Write a short 100-word version of this text (of about 200 words) – (a) in the form of an encyclopedic article; (b) to be presented orally to a group of tourists.
EXERCISE 4. Read the text and answer the questions given below. §79.2