Saturday, February 19, 2011

Медвежья услуга - Bear's Service

Henry Justice Ford (1860-1941) Pen Drawing "Hermit and the Bear"
The other day while driving, a car was so close to hitting me in the side. I already braced for impact and had enough time [2 seconds] to imagine all the consequences.. The thing is, this car wanted to come out of the driveway from the right and cross over 3 lanes to get into the opposite lane. My lane was closest to the driveway and as I was approaching, this car starts to cross right when I'm in front of it! I noticed too late that another car a lane away stopped as to not block the car's path to get across. This is called Медвежья услуга or in English, Bear's Service. My dad told me about this fable once. I found it interesting, so I ought to share it with you:

(for those Russian speakers, here's the original)
А Мишка на часах — да он и не без дела:
У друга на нос муха села:
Он друга обмахнул;
Взглянул,
А муха на щеке; согнал, а муха снова
У друга на носу,
И неотвязчивей час-от-часу.
Вот Мишенька, не говоря ни слова,
Увесистый булыжник в лапы сгреб,
Присел на корточки, не переводит духу,
Сам думает: «Молчи ж, уж я тебя, воструху!»
И, у друга на лбу подкарауля муху,
Что силы есть — хвать друга камнем в лоб!
Удар так ловок был, что череп врознь раздался,
И Мишин друг лежать надолго там остался!

English version!

Meanwhile Mishka was not at ease;
A fly the sleeper's nose did tease;
His paw swept over the face;
He looked,--another place--
'Twas near the neck; driven off with a third blow,
Again it settle on the nose;
And thus kept on for hours, escaping from all blows.
At last poor Bruin, without a single word,
Seized in his massive paw a great rough stone,
Sat on his hams, and, hardly drawing breath,
Thought to himself--"I'll have thee, meddler's, death!"
Then, watching till the fly had reached the frontal bone,
With all his strength, upon the brow the stone he dashed!
The blow was deftly aimed, the skull was smashed,
And Bruin's friend for long did lie there all alone.

(Hermit and the Bear-I.A.Kryloff)

Moral of the story? If you try to help someone, make sure you aren't making it worse.
That guy who tried to "help" this car get across actually helped this car to almost hit me! That would have been wonderful!

1 comment:

  1. Привет Jessica,

    I was just wondering if you are Jessica G. I am an old friend of your sister, Gabby G., if you are the right Jessica. Please email me at: ilovealmondjoys@hotmail.com and I will explain to you why I am asking.

    Thank you,
    Andrea

    ReplyDelete