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English, Russian Pages [352] Year 1962
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ВАІАЧВОаОІС
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
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Russian Through Reading KENNETH BROOKE Head of the Department of Modern Languages University College of North Staffordshire
and JAMES FORSYTH Lecturer in Russian University College of North Staffordshire
New York j: P E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY, INC. -
'
Г , г .
First published in the U.S.A., 1962 by E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc.
© Kenneth Brooke and James Forsyth 1962
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
CONTENTS Foreword I.
viii
Introduction
xi
The Russian Alphabet
19
III.
Pronunciation
20
IV.
For Readers who have not studied Grammar
27
II.
Reading Passages 1-12
31
I, The Map 31. 2, The Town 36. 3, My Room 42. 4, My Family 46. 5, The House 50. 6, I am studying the Russian Language 54. 7, My Mamma 59. 8, 9, On the Trolleybus 62. 10, Transport 68. ii. The Year 72. 12, Occupations 74.
V. A Chapter of Recapitulation and Consolidation
78
Nouns 79. Adjectives 8i. Adverbs 82. Pronouns 82. Numerals 84. Prepositions 85. Conjunctions and Particles 86. Verbs 87. Cases 88. The Sentence 89. Reading Passages
13-24
90
13, 14, Vladivostok 91. 15, Clothing 97. 16, 17, Shops 99. 18, 19, The Moscow River Tramway 105. 20, 21, The Sputnik 109. 22-24, Time 113. Recapitulation of Grammar 120. Reading Passages
25-36
123
25, My morning 124. 26, Money 126. 27-29, Enter¬ tainments 129. 30, Food 136. 31, Family Portrait 140. 32, 33, Moscow 143. 34, Radio and Television 148. 35, 36, History 151. Recapitulation of Gram¬ mar 155. Reading Passages
37-66
157
37, The Bubble, the Straw and the Bast-Shoe (Folk Tale) 157. 38, Greetings and Compliments 158. 39,
v
Page Russian Music i6o. 40, The Russian Theatre 164. 41. Welcome 1167. 42, National Economy of the USSR 169. 43, As Others See Us 173. 44, I Write a Letter 176. 45, Education in the USSR 179. 46, A Wedding 182. 47, Leningrad 185. 48, Art, Galleries 188. 49, The USSR 191. 50, The Church 195. 51, Dos¬ toevsky 198. 52, The Railway 202. 53, Soviet Woman 206. 54, 55, Songs 211. 56, Round the Year in the Moscow Region 215. 57, Arithmetic 216. 58, Sport 219. 59, Social Insurance and Health Services 222. 60, Russian Folk Music 224. 61, Who Sergie is and where he lives 227. 62, Sergie in the ’bus 229. 63, Beauties of the Russian Language 231. 64, The Order of Lenin for Smolensk Province 235. 65, Lenin 238. 66, The Soviet State 241. A Note on Further Study 245. VI.
General Survey and Grammatical Summaries
.
246
Nouns 248. Adjectives 253. Adverbs 255. Pronouns 257. Numerals 260. Prepositions 262. Verbs 264. Conjunctions and Particles 274. The Sentence and the Cases 275. Table of Last Letters 281. Common Pre¬ fixes and Suffixes 284. Glossary.285 Index
........
341
ILLUSTRATIONS Page
F
The Map
*
The Town
*
The Moscow River and Kremlin
104
*
A Rouble Note
126
*
Family Portrait
140
*
Map of Moscow
143
*
St. Basil’s, Moscow
146
*
History: Historical Figures
151
*
The Bolshoi Theatre
164
*
An Addressed Envelope
176
*
Moscow University
179
*
Leningrad
*
An Ikon
*
Pravda
185 195 235
31 36
Endpaper map: The Soviet Union Notes: * in text, F facing text
FOREWORD This book
owes its origin in part to the inception of a new Russian course in the University College of North Staffordshire, where the authors are at present colleagues. The emphasis in this course was to be laid on a reading knowledge of Russian, so that students might gain as much working knowledge of the language as soon as possible. This, however, is only a part of the background, because the book has developed along rather different lines. It is not designed for undergraduates, but rather for any adult or teen-age beginners who may need to work entirely without a teacher. We have taken care, we hope successfully, to make it fully accessible to learners гг'Ло have never studied a foreign language. The limitation of aims to a reading knowledge reduces the risk that a learner may grow disheartened in the early stages if he is tackhng too many different kinds of technique. It is also true at present that for one person who may hope to use spoken Russian, there could be fifty who might want to read the language. The method is unusual in that we offer continuous reading texts from the first lesson. The distaste of older beginners for gram¬ matical exercises and for short ‘pen of my aunt’ phrases or sentences is only a minor factor in the choice of this method. Much more important is the fact that language is usually encountered in continuous prose—which is what most learners will want to read. We have tried, with the aid of some transla¬ tions and notes, to let the language display its own characteristics, and we think that the more mature learner may acquire know¬ ledge better by exercising his own observation, and making deductions, than by a drill method. We have tried to follow the old teaching method of ‘saying everything three times over in different ways’, and the reader will find repetitions in the Russian texts as well as in the annotations. We would hke to ask that the learner should use the whole book —text, notes, summaries—and should follow up references, and do his ‘homework’ along the lines suggested from time to time. viii
FOREWORD
ix
About 4,500 Russian words are introduced in these texts, and they contain a substantial proportion of those listed in the Russian Word-countoi H. H. Josselson (University of Detroit, 1953). The reader will thus see most of the words in common use, and nearly all of the usual phrase and sentence structures of Russian. As far as possible the text material relates to aspects of Russian life and civilisation. The reader will appreciate that in writing about social and political matters, we have sometimes used slogans and phrases or expressed ideas which are current in the U.S.S.R.; as they are actually used in Russian periodicals and books, it would be stupid to ‘bowdlerise’ our texts in an un¬ realistic way; we have tried to introduce Russia and Russian, and not our own views. If any Russians read the texts, we ask them, in turn, to remember that we have, however, exercised in moderation the right of any foreigner to look at another people sometimes from his own national point of view. It is often difficult to unscramble the eggs of collaboration. Broadly, the readers who like the Russian texts may give the praise to Forsyth, and those who do not Hke the method may blame Brooke; the proximity of Ufe in a university department has ensured much cross-fertilisation, and it is fair to say that method has benefited at least as much from text as text from method. Credit for the illustrations goes to Forsyth. The authors would hke to thank Miss E. M. Horsley of Hutchinson’s for interest and advice generously in excess of an editor’s normal commitment, and Dr. Mihtsa Greene of Edinburgh University for valuable assistance in reading the Russian texts.
KEELE
KENNETH BROOKE JAMES FORSYTH
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54
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
6. Я ИЗУЧАЮ Р^ССКЫЙ язык я очень люблю изучать языкй. Я уже говорю хорошо по-французски и немного по-немецки. Мой брат Иван Иванович говорйт и по-норвежски — он любит ездить в Норвегию лётом. Сейчас я изучаю русский язык. Говорят, иногда, что это ужасно трудный язык, а по-моему можно научйться читать по-русски сравнйтельно легко. Даже если хочешь говорить, не надо думать, что это невозможно. Нужна только практика — возможность разговаривать с человеком, говорящ,им по-русски, йли слушание пластйнок. Конечно нужно повторять всё снова и снова. Я уже хорошо знаю алфавйт и читаю слова без затруднения. Я посещаю вечерние курсы и там мы читаем, говорйм и пйшем по-русски. Например учйтель спрашивает: «Как ваше ймя? Вы говорйте по-англййски ? Вы играете на скрйпке? Вы любите щи?» Вопросы, как вы вйдите, довольно сложные. Мы должны отвечать по-русски. Другйе студенты, посещающие уроки, обычно отвечают хорошо — онй всегда понимают вопросы. Я же не знаю, что такое щи, итак не могу сказать, люблю ли я их. Translation: I am studying the Russian language. I very-much like to study languages. I already speak well French and a little German. My brother Ivan Ivanovich speaks also Norwegian—he likes to go to Norway in summer. At present I am studying the Russian language. They say sometimes that this is a terribly difficult language, but in-my-opinion it-is-possible to leam to read Russian comparatively easily. Even if you wish to speak [it is] not necessary to think that this is impossible. Neces¬ sary [is] only practice—the possibility to converse with a person speaking (i.e. who speaks) Russian, or [the] hearing of-records. Of course it-isnecessary to repeat everything again and again. I already well know the alphabet, and I read words without difficulty. I attend (= visit) evening courses and there we read, speak and write Russian. For-example, the teacher asks: ‘How is your name?’ '[Do] you speak English?' ‘Do you play on the violin?’ ‘Do you like cabbage-soup?’ The questions, as you see, [are] fairly complicated (= difficult). We are-obliged toanswer in-Russian. Other students attending the lessons generally answer well—they always understand the questions. I, however, [do] not know, what such a [thing is] cabbage-soup, and-so I can not say whether I like it (literally them).
6. I AM STUDYING RUSSIAN
55
This lesson introduces little new grammatical material, but sets more problems in word-order and idiom than the earlier ones. The reader can check for himself that these famihar grammatical devices occur: §6.1. Most nouns here are masculine and in the nominative; they end in consonants. The adjectives associated with язык end in Й. There are some plurals—^nouns in -и, -ы, a neuter in -a (слова), and adjectives in -ие, -ые. Verbs include present forms in -ю for ist person singular, -шь 2nd person singular, -ет, -ит 3rd person singular, -ем, -им ist person plural, -ете, -иге 2nd person plural, -ют, -ят 3rd person plural. There are infinitives in -ть, and one reflexive infinitive научйться, which is seen clearly as an infinitive when -ся is detached, ся is an alternative form to сь (see §4.10). Note that in the title я изучаю is translated I am studying. This form which is called the continuous present wiU often give a more idiomatic translation than such a form as I study. New Material §6.2. The instrumental case is introduced in association with the preposition c (c человёком). As its name indicates, this case expresses the idea that an instrument or agency is being used, and it is often translated by with, by means of. It has other uses, however, and in this passage, following the preposition c, it may also be translated with. The ending of masculine (and neuter) singular nouns in the instrumental case is -ом, as here, or -CM. Adjectives in the same case have -им or -ым for masculine or neuter singular (cf. §6.6), and it is seen that говорящим ‘rhymes’ with человёком. §6.3. The noun ЩИ is a plural, as the form indicates, although we should regard the meaning as singular. We note that the last word of the passage, их, is plural to agree with this word. Older speakers in Scotland sometimes refer to porridge as a plural, presumably with the idea of oats in mind. (Uncle Ebenezer in Chapter 3 of R. L. Stevenson’s Kidnapped: ‘they’re grand food, parritch’). §6.4. пластйнок is the genitive plural of пластйнка. Most feminine nouns lose the -a of the nominative singular to form their genitive plural. Sometimes a vowel is then inserted between
5б
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
the last two consonants. This will be discussed later in more detail, but the reader is asked also to refer back to §3.14. §6.5. Two new pronoun forms are introduced: the neuter singular всё all (we had все and вся in Passages 4 and 5); and also neuter singular ваше your. §6.6. The ist person singular present verb люблю obeys the known ‘rule’ by ending in -ю, but if we compare it with любит, it is seen to have a small irregularity. In some verbs which have 6, B, M, П or Ф at the end of the stem, i.e. the part to which the flexional endings are added, л is inserted before the ю of the first person singular. §6.7. There are two adjectives in this passage which have verbal sense, говорящим and посещающие. The ending -им is instrumental singular, the ending -ие nominative plural, and each of these adjectives agrees in case with the noun it refers to (человёком, студёнты). The most noteworthy feature of these words however is the letter щ which comes before the ending. When the first syllables of the word suggest a verb (we have met посещают in Passage 4 and говорят in this passage), and when Щ follows, together with endings which are adjectival, we know that we are dealing with a verbal adjective or participle. This particular type is called the present participle active of the verb. It may often be translated with an English verbal noun -ing, or it is sometimes convenient to make a clause of it, which will begin with who or which, e.g. here who speaks, who are attending. Dictionaries do not usually give participle forms, because the participle is normally a regular derivation from the verb—in this case we obtain the correct form by taking the final т away from the 3rd person plural present of the verb, and adding щ plus adjectival endings. §6.8. говорят was translated quite literally they say, but it is worth noting that the 3rd person plural of verbs is often used in Russian to indicate what in grammar is called the passive voice, and may be translated with such phrases as it is said, people say, as weU as they say. The passive voice is in effect a device of style, which represents the person affected by an action as the subject of the sentence instead of the object—it is particularly effective in Enghsh, where the subject comes first. When we say Smith was run over by a car, we are making Smith the centre
6. I AM STUDYING RUSSIAN
57
of interest. English makes the passive by using parts of the verb to be {is, are, was, etc.) with a past participle active (see §11.6) of the operative verb. §6.9. We now recognise the use of в with accusative (в Норвбгию) to indicate into—it was so used in Passage i (в Каспййское море), and as well as this use of в we have two new prepositions: без which is always followed by the genitive case, and c which has the instrumental case if it means {together) with] like в and на it takes more than one case. §6.10. Two of the words in this passage, же and ли, are usually classified as particles in formal grammars. The first of these particles is used to give emphasis, either to the word it follows, or to the statement in which it occurs. Translation is often difficult: я же не знаю was translated I, however, do not know so that the word order might be preserved. It would be more idiomatic to say ‘But / . . .’ or ‘Now Iand the reader will always need to try the effect of such translations in English, as dictionaries and glossaries do not always help. The particle ли is easier to deal with—usually it means whether, but it cannot stand as first word in its sentence. The usual technique to be used is change of position—put it first in the EngHsh sentence, and see whether the sentence then gives a clear sense. If the sentence is followed by a question mark, ignore ли in translation—it is then serving simply to denote a question. The first sentence of Passage 4 might equally well have read Хотите ли вы знать ... 1 §6.11. Comparison of text and translation will reveal several problems of word-order: я бчень люблю may be translated as it stands, but in idiomatic Enghsh we should probably put very much at the end of the sentence, я ужё говорю хорошб and я ужб хорошб знаю indicate that there are certain freedoms of word order in Russian; here again, though, we should probably put already at the end of our sentence. The two instances examined demonstrate a common feature of Russian: an adverb may be the second word of the utterance, separating subject and verb, and as the reader gains more confidence he may prefer to save the adverb for the more famihar place at the end of the English sentence. Нужна тблько практика sets another problem of word-order—
58
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
we should say only practice is necessary. The Russian order puts the word практика into a position which, for a Russian, seems to give it more emphasis, я не могу I can not looks like a word-order problem, but it is rather one of idiom and vocabulary. The real difficulty is that our Enghsh verb can does not behave quite like other verbs. Онй не живут was translated they {do) not live (§4.12), but it happens that we cannot translate онй не мбгут by they {do) not can. The Russian construction is identical in both examples, but where the Enghsh words can, may, must, ought are used, we have to change our construction because of a gap in the Enghsh verbal system. The explanation is that the verbs can, may, etc. have no infinitive, and we have to use a circumlocation hke to be able, to be allowed, etc. As do, does must be foUowed by an infinitive we can not use this construction with can, etc. люблю ли я их cannot be translated word for word, even when we put whether first. The Russian rule is that ли must come second, so that я любліЬ ли is impossible, and the formula must be ѵегЬ+ли+pronoun. §6.12. This passage contains examples of different kinds of Russian idiom. Two of these have to do with the choice of preposition: we say go to Norway, Russians say go into Norway, which has a certain logic. We вг.у play the violin, Russian prefers play on the violin, which is also possible in Enghsh. There are two common types of adverbial idiom here: to speak, write, answer, etc. in a language is translated by in the .. . manner in Russian. There is no single noun in Russian to name a language; we may say р;^сский язйк the Russian language or no-p;fccKH literally in the Russian way, and in the latter construction -ски is an adverbial ending. The other common adverbial construction is the 'one-word sentence’ type; мбжно it is possible, надо it-is necessary, sometimes more conveniently translated you need, one needs, н^жно also it is necessary, sometimes rather less insistent than надо. как вйінѳ ймя how is your name ? needs to be re-phrased what is your name? for normal Enghsh usage.
6. I AM STUDYING RUSSIAN
59
ЧТО такбѳ ... ? is a set phrase and means something Hke what kind of thing is or are . . . ?, but often we should simply say what is .. . ? Risumi. Familiar grammatical material, 6.i, 6.6; the instrumental case, 6.2; nouns with no singular, 6.3; nouns with inserted vowel, 6.4; pronouns, 6.5; verbal adjectives or participles, 6.7; the passive, 6.8; prepositions, 6.9; particles же, ли, б.іо; word order, 6.11; idioms, 6.12.
7.
МОЯ MAMA
(Рассказ школьницы) Моя мама работает на заводе и делает электрйческие лампочки. М4ма каждый месяц перевыполняет план. Недавно за свою работу она получйла почётную грамоту. После этого у нас были гости, и все поздравляли маму. С мамой всегда весело, она как солнышко в доме. Но моя мама и строгая. Если я принес^ плохую отметку йли разбросаю по комнате свой вещи, она так посмотрит на меня, что мне станет совестно. Мама говорйт мне: — Растй хорошей, честной, старайся каждое дело делать как можно лучше. И я стараюсь. (Из кнйги «Родная речь» для чтения в первом классе начальной школы). Translation: Му Матта (story of-a-schoolgirl). Му mamma works in the factory and makes electric lamps. Mamma every month overfulfils her plan. Recently for her (i.e. own) work she received an honourable document (i.e. certificate of honour). After this at us were guests, and all congratulated Mamma. With Mamma [it is] always gay, she [is] like a little-sun in the house. But my mamma is also strict. If I bring a bad report or throw about the room my (i.e. own) things, she so looks at me, that to-me it-becomes ashamed. Mamma says to-me: ‘Grow good, decent, try every thing to-do as it-is-possible best.’ And I try. (From the book The Mother Tongue for reading in the first class of primary school.)
6o
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
§7.1. The feminine accusative singular has been introduced before, and раббту, грамоту, маму, отмётку will be recognised. The adjective termination ‘rhymes’ with this, as will be seen from почётную and плохую. The nouns шкбльницы and кнйги show regular feminine genitive singular endings. Known verb forms: ist person singular in -y and -ю, also reflexive -юсь, 3rd person singular in -ет and -ит. Known prepositions: на (заводе locative, менй accusative), у (genitive), c (instrumental). New Material §7.2. начальной shows the feminine genitive singular ending for adjectives. Some words have -ей instead (cf. §7.3). §7.3. In Passage 6 we met c with a masculine instrumental singular, here we have a feminine c мамой, and -ой (as well as -ей) is the usual characteristic of the feminine instrumental singular. Adjectives have the same endings, and the words хорошей, чёстной demonstrate this. The instrumental is used after растй perhaps because the logic of the Russian here sees someone as growing with certain qualities, or growing up as a person of certain quahties (see also §12.5). кбмнате is the dative singular of the feminine noun кбмната. (See also §7.5.) §7.4. Pronouns: мне here is dative of я and is usually translated to me. The dative case is used after verbs of giving and saying, and after some prepositions (cf. §7.5). свою, свой are forms of the pronoun свой (masculine nomina¬ tive singular). It means own, and refers to the subject of the sentence, so that if мама is the implied subject, we translate with her or her own, if я is the subject, my, my own, etc. этого is genitive singular, here neuter, but the masculine form is the same. (For это, эта cf. Passages i and 2.) §7.5. Prepositions', для is always followed by the genitive case, за is followed by the accusative case when it means for (but not the for which denotes purpose). Both для and за are translated for. The former has rather the sense of on behalf of, for the use of, the latter in return for. из out of is always followed by the genitive case. HO is usually followed by the dative case (cf. по-м6ему.
7. MY MAMMA
бі
Passage 3), and that is the case here. This word has a variety of meanings which include according to, about, along, by. пбслѳ means after and is always followed by the genitive case. §7.6. Verbs. In Passage 5 we met описал (/) described, and it was explained that the ‘л-forms’ of verbs change, not according to person, but according to gender, получила is the feminine singular past form of получить receive, были is a plural form of the past tense of быть to be. расти, старайся are imperative forms (i.e. commanding) of the 2nd person singular. Many of these end in -й, or if reflexive -йся, but many end with the stressed syllable -Й, and расти is one of these. §7.7. There are several idiomatic expressions in this passage: мне станет совестно: although a little girl is speaking, the neuter form сбвестно is used, together with a dative. This is called an impersonal construction; we should change to-me becomes ashamed into I become ashamed. c мамой всегда вёсело is very near in sense to what we might express with Mother is always gay, although it is also possible to say мама всегда весела. как мбжно лучше translated as it-is-possible best corresponds, of course, to our as well as possible. R&sum&. Familiar material, 7.1; feminine singular dative and instru¬ mental of nouns, 7.3; feminine genitive and instrumental singular of adjectives, 7.2, 7.3; cases dative and instrumental, 7.3, 7.6, 7.7; pronouns, including свой, 7.4; prepositions, 7.5; verbs—past tense in -л, imperatives, 7.6; idioms and impersonal constructions, 7.7.
б2
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
8.
HA ТРОЛЛЁЙБУСЕ
(1)
Сегодня гражданин Петров должен поёхать на Белорусский вокзал, чтобы купйть билеты в Мйнск, куда он едет завтра. Он стойт у остановки и ждёт троллейбуса. Сегодня ем^ не нужен обычный автобус, третий номер, на котором он ёздит каждое утро, чтобы проёхать на улипу Кйрова, где он работает. Он не ёдет прймо на работу, а сначала на вокзал — и, как бывает всегда, когда спешйшь — сегодня троллёйбус опаздывает. Петрову становится всё холоднёе: дует сйльный вётер. Но вот, наконёц, идёт троллёйбус «Б». Ждёт ещё нёсколько человёк, а троллёйбус ужё почтй полон. Когда двёри открываются никто не выходит — а всё-таки надо сесть, не то опоздаешь. В троллёйбусе полным-полно народу. Все места заняты, а стойт дёсять пассажйров. Петров думает про себя: «В теснотё, да не в обйде», улыбается и втйскивается в двёри. Двёри ёле закрываются и троллёйбус трогается. Translation: On the Trolleybus (i). Today Citizen Petrov is-obliged to go to the Byelorussia station, in-order-to buy tickets to Minsk, to-where he goes tomorrow. He stands at the stop and awaits the trolleybus. Today to-him [is] not necessary the usual motorbus, the third number (i.e. a 'No. 3’), on which he goes every morning in-order to get-to the street of Kirov (i.e. Kirov Street), where he works. He [does] not go straight to work, but at-first to the station,—and as it-is always, when you hurry—today the trolleybus is-late. To-Petrov it-becomes all (i.e. all the time) colder: [there] blows a strong wind. But there, at-last, comes the trolleybus ‘B’. [There] wait yet several people, but the trolley¬ bus is already almost full. When the doors open (themselves) nobody (not) gets-out—but all-the-same, it-is-necessary to-board (Uterally: to sit), otherwise (не то) you get-late. In the trolleybus [it is] full-full of-people. All places are taken, and stands [a] ten of-passengers. Petrov thinks to himself: ‘the more the merrier’ (literally: in closeness but not in offence), smiles and squeezes into the doors. The doors only-just close and the trolleybus moves-off.
Familiar Material §8.1. Masculine genitive singular (noun) in -a, feminine genitive singular in -и, neuter nominative plural in -a, and other usual endings. Verbs include 2nd person singular in -шь, used in ‘chatty’ style, numerous reflexives. Prepositions в and на
8. ON THE TROLLEYBUS
63
used with accusative and with locative case, according to sense, у with genitive. New Material §8.2. Nouns. A regular mascuhne genitive plural пассажйров characteristic ending -ob, an irregular mascuhne genitive singular нарбду, and an irregular mascuhne genitive plural человёк (the nominative singular is also человёк). Mascuhne dative singular Петрбву, characteristic ending -y. §8.3. Adverbs, холоднёѳ shows the comparative ending -ее. This is also the neuter ending of some adjectives, but it occurs more frequently as a comparative adverb ending. Notice that всё as well as meaning everything can be used as an adverb with the sense of quite, all the time; more and more. §8.4. Pronouns, ему is dative singular (mascuhne and neuter) to him, to it. нёсколько means a few, several, and it is fohowed by the genitive plural of the noun, никтб means nobody and when used with a verb requires не, which does not make a double negative meaning, котбром shows the normal locative singular (mascuhne and neuter) ending of the pronoun котбрый who or which, себя is the accusative and genitive form of the reflexive pronoun, self, oneself. See also §7.4 for its possessive forms, свой, etc. §8.5. Case. This passage shows three uses of the genitive case: (1) After the verb ждёт—^we do not use a simple active verb in English, but usuaUy say wait for, Russian says ‘wait of. (2) After нёсколько—we also use some of in English. (3) After some numerals. This construction is better under¬ stood if we consider such a numeral as дёсять ten as if it were a noun. We can say a dozen passengers, but we can only say a score of passengers. The numerals from 5 upwards are fohowed by the genitive plural. This may seem a httle comphcated, but again compare §5.7. §8.6. Prepositions, про is fohowed by the accusative case. It means to as in talk or think to oneself, also about, e.g. talk about something. §8.7. Verbs. The observant reader wih have noticed that the
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
64
similar looking verbs ёдет and бздит, and also опаздывает and опоздаешь are translated with similar meanings. The difference will be explained later; for the present the reader may note the similarity of form, бывает is a form of the verb бывать which may often be translated by to be, but it is important to note that it is used when regularity or habit of being is meant. A one-word translation of опаздывать or опоздать would be tarry, but this hardly belongs to current English style, and we would say to be late; it must be understood that the Russian form is verbal. §8.8. Two idiomatic expressions are worth noting: ещё which means still, yet can also be used in the sense of more—ещё нёсколько человёк would be translated a few more feofle. полшГім-полнб is an adverbial combination of the instrumental and nominative cases of a neuter adjective. It intensifies the meaning of the basic adjective—^here very full or as we might say, crammed full, cram-jam full. Resume. Familiar material, 8.1; masculine dative singular, genitive plural of nouns, 8.2; adverbs, comparative, всё, 8.3; pronouns, including никтб, нёсколько, 8.4; genitive case, 8.5; preposition про, 8.6; verbs— pairs of ‘similars’—бывать, 8.5; idioms, 8.8.
9.
HA ТРОЛЛЕЙБУСЕ
(2)
Кондукторша сидйт у входа и даёт билеты. Люди, стоящие впереди:, которые не вошлй во вход а в выход, просят другйх пассажйров передать кондукторше их деньги из рукй в руку, и она отдаёт им билеты такйм же образом. Троллейбус уже проехал через Крымский мост и едет по широкому Садовому кольцу. Зубовский бульвар. Смоленский бульвар, улица Чайковского и площадь Восстания — скоро будет площадь Маяковского, где Петрбв должен сойтй. Надо пробираться вперёд до выхода через толпу стоящих пассажйров. «Разрешйте, товарищ. Разрешйте.» Постепен¬ но он приближается к цели. Он спрашивает молодого человека, стоящего перед ним — Вы сейчас сходите?—«Да».
9. ON THE TROLLEYBUS
65
Хорошб, МОЖНО СТОЯТЬ здесь спокойно и сойти на следующей остановке. Троллейбус останавливается на площади Маяковского и Петров сходит вслед за молодым человеком. Он брос4ет билетик в урну для мусора, поворачивает за ^гол, и идёт по ;^лице Горького к Белорусскому вокзалу. Translation: On the Trolleybus (2). The conductress sits at the entrance and issues (gives) tickets. People standing in-front who not entered into the entrance but into the exit ask other passengers to-transmit to-theconductress their money from hand to hand and she gives-out to-them tickets in the same way (idiom). The trolleybus already passed over the Crimean Bridge and goes along the broad Sadovy Ring. Zubovsky Boulevard, Smolensk Boulevard, the street of Chaikovsky (Ch. Street) and the Square-of-the-Rising—soon it-will-be Mayakovsky Square, where Petrov is-obhged to-get-off. It-is-necessary to-make-one’s-way forward to the exit through the crowd of-standing passengers. ‘Excuse, comrade, excuse.' Gradually he nears to the-goal. He asks a young man standing in-front-of him, ‘You now get-off?’ ‘Yes.’ Good, it-is-possible to-stand here quietly and to-get-off at (Uterally: on) the next stop. The trolleybus stops on Mayakovsky Square and Petrov gets-off following behind the young man. He throws the ticket (diminutive) in the urn for litter, turns round the comer and goes along Gorky Street to the Byelorusski station.
Familiar Material §9.1.
Checking will show that there are examples of:
Mascuhne nouns with genitive singular in -a, instrumental singular in -OM, genitive plural in -ob. Feminine nouns with accusative singular in -y, genitive singular in -И, dative singular in -e. Verbs with present 3rd person singular in -ет, -иг, and reflexive in -ется, 2nd person plural in -те, including imperatives, 3rd person plural in -ят. Past tense forms in -л, -ли. Present participles in -щ- with adjectival endings. Prepositions: в, за with accusative, из, у with genitive, no with dative, на with locative. New Material §9.2. Nouns. Mascuhne and neuter dative singular in у— вокзалу, кольц;^. Feminine dative in и — цёли, locative in и — плбщади. The famihar endings are e in both cases. The nominative is known to be плбщадь (Passage 2) and цель is similar; whenever a feminine nominative singular ends in ь, E
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RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
the e of dative and locative singular is replaced by и. The noun дёвъги, as its form suggests is plural, and the singular is not used—compare Enghsh slang spondulicks, which also has no singular. §9.3. Adjectives. The masculine genitive singular occurs in two forms молодбго, стоящего, and -его, -ого are the only endings which occur for this case. Mascuhne and neuter dative singulars in -ему, -ому occur. For both genitive and dative singular masculines and neuters have the same endings. The form такйм is instrumental singular, and is the same for both mascuhne and neuter. As we may expect, some words have -ЫМ instead of -им. §9.4. Pronouns. Mascuhne instrumental singular ним {by) him, plural genitive их their, plural dative им to them. §9.5. Case. We notice that after the verbs прбсят and спрашивает the objects are in the genitive case. This has here nothing to do with the verbs, but the genitive is used because the object persons are hving beings, either mascuhne or plural. In either instance, the accusative is not used, or as some grammars put it, the accusative has the same form as the genitive! §9.6. Prepositions. BO is a form of в, used when the next word begins with certain combinations of consonants, so that во is often regarded as a euphonic form, i.e. making pronunciation easier. A more correct and scholarly explanation must be sought in histories of the language, за has been translated for, but it sometimes means behind or round (a corner). It may be fol¬ lowed by the instrumental case, as here in вслед за ... человбком. вслед is not a preposition, but an adverb; it is frequently used, however, with за, making a compound preposition, до {up) to is always followed by the genitive, к to, towards is always foUowed by the dative, пёред in front of is always followed by the instru¬ mental, and чёрез through, across, over always by the accusative (but see note on hving beings in §9.5). §9.7. Verbs. Although the verb to be is usuaUy omitted in present sentences, it must be expressed for other tenses and будет is the 3rd person singular future. The personal endings are those of the present tense: б^ду, б;^деіііь, б^дет, б^дем, б;^дете, будут. Although nearly aU Russian infinitives end in -Tb, a few end in accented -тй and сойтй is one of these.
9. ON THE TROLLEYBUS
67
§9.8. такйм же ббразом is an idiomatic expression. Here again же gives emphasis and we might translate hterally with by-such indeed form, такбй (and its other inflected forms) plus же usually render the sense of the same. Resume: Familiar material, 9.1; nouns—masculine and neuter dative singular, feminines in ь, 9.2; masculine and neuter genitive, dative, instrumental singular of adjectives, 9.3; pronouns, 9.4; genitive for accu¬ sative of living beings, 9.5; prepositions во, до, за, к, пёред, чёрез, 9.6; verbs—future of to be, infinitives in -тй, 9.7; idioms, 9.8.
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RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
10. ТРАНСПОРТ в Москвё и Ленинграде городской трёнспорт всякого рода — и автобусы, и трамвёи, и троллёйбусы и метро (подвёмная желёзная дорога) — а на рекё «речные трамваи» (т.е. пассажирские теплохбды). Двухэтажных автобусов в СССР нет,игородскйе маршрутные автобусы главным образом небольшйе. Но с другой стороны новые троллёйбусы очень хорошие, с большйми окнами, которые лётом поднимёются до крыши. Трамвёи стёрые, и их сравнйтельно мало. Трамвёй ходит обыкновенно не отдёльно, а поездом, и тянет за собой ещё одйн йли два вагона. Во всех автобусах, троллёйбусах и трамваях две автоматйческие двёри — вход сзади, а выход спёреди за шофёром. Кондуктор, обычно жёнщина, сидйт у входа, и пассажйры должны платйть ей, когдё онй входят. Теперь на многих маршрутах автобусы работают без кондуктора. Гордость Москвы — Метро (официальное название — Московский ордена Лёнина метрополитён ймени Лёнина) Москвичй утверждают, что это лучшая в мйре подзёмная желёзная дорога, и во многих отношёниях она несомнённо превосходная. Вагоны большйе, вместйтельные, с местами, предназначенными для престарёлых, инвалйдов, берёменных жёнщин и маленьких детёй. Поезда ёдут очень быстро, но плавно. Особенно красйвы станции Метро. Это настоящие подзёмные дворцы, с мрёморными колоннами, мозёикой, стенной жйвописью, бронзовыми стётуями, и хрустёльными люстрами. Нёкоторые очень роскошные, как напримёр Белорусская и Комсомольская, а другйе в более совремённом стйле, как напримёр замечётельная Маякбвская, с свойми стрбгими стёльными свбдами. На стёнциях, благодаря хорбшей вентиляции, вбздух всегдё свеж и чист. К тому же пол и перрбны чйсты и без мусора. Билёты на Метрб стбят пять копёек. За ёту сумму мбжно ёхать кудё угбдно, незавйсимо от расстояния. Поездё хбдят кёждые две минуты, а в часы-пик и чёще. Пёрвая линия Метрб вступйла в дёйствие в 1935-м году.
10. TRANSPORT
69
Сейчас сеть Метро состойт из пятй лйний (в том числе одна кольцевая) с сорока семью станциями. Translation: Transport. In Moscow and Leningrad is urban transport of-every kind—(and) buses, and tramcars, and trolleybuses and the Metro (underground iron way)—and on the river, ‘river trams’, (i.e. passenger boats). Double-deck buses in the USSR [are] not, and urban stage buses [are] for the most part (idiom) small. But from the other side (i.e. on the other hand) the new trolleybuses are very good, with big windows which in-summer raise themselves to the roof. The tramcars are old, and of them [are] comparatively few. A tramcar goes generally not separately, but as-a-train, and pulls behind itself yet one or two cars. In all buses, trolleybuses, and trams [are] two automatic doors—[the] entrance at-the-back, and [the] exit at-the-front behind the driver. The conductor, usually [a] woman, sits by the entrance, and the passengers [are] obliged to-pay her when they enter. Now on many routes buses work without a conductor. The pride of Moscow is the Metro (official title—^Moscow Order of Lenin Metropolitan of the name of Lenin). Mus¬ covites affirm that this is the best in the world underground ‘iron way’, and in many respects it is doubtless excellent. The cars are large, roomy, with places set-aside for old-people, invalids, pregnant women and little children. The trains go very fast, but smoothly. Specially beautiful [are] the stations of-the-Metro—^this (i.e. these) are real underground palaces, with marble columns, mosaic-work, wall painting, bronze statues and crystal chandeliers. Some are very luxurious, as for-example the Byelorusskaya and Komsomolskaya, and others are in more contemporary style, as for-example the remarkable Mayakovskaya with its severe steel arches. On the stations, thanks to-the-good ventilation, the air is always fresh and clean. As well as this (idiom) the floor and platforms are clean and without litter. Tickets on the Metro cost 5 kopecks. For this sum it-is-possible to-ride to-where suitable independent of the distance. The trains go every two minutes and in peak-hours even more-often. The first fine of-the-Metro entered into operation in 1935th year. Now the net of-Metro consists of five lines (in this number—[i.e. including] one circular) with 47 stations.
Familiar Material §10.1. Masculine nouns—singular genitive in -a, instrumental in -OM, locative in -e, plural nominative in -и, genitive in -ob. Feminine nouns—singular nominative in -a and -я, accusative in -y, genitive in -и and -ы, locative in -e, genitive plural ending in the last consonant жёнщин. Neuter nouns—^singular nomin¬ ative/accusative in -ие, genitive in -ия. Adjectives and pro¬ nouns—^singular masculine nominative in -ой, genitive in -oro, instruments in -ым, locative in -ом, singular feminine nomin¬ ative in -ая, genitive in -ой; plurS nominative in -ие, locative in -их. Prepositions за with instrumental and accusative.
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без, ДЛЯ, ДО, ИЗ, у with genitive, с with instrumental, в (во), на with locative. Verbs—3rd person present singular with -иг, plural with -ут, -ЯТ and reflexive -ются: past tense (feminine) in -ла. New Material §10.2. Nouns. Masculine singular locative in -f\ году. Feminine dative singular вѳнтилйции—nouns in -ия take -и instead of the more usual e (cf. §9.2); feminine instrumental singular жйвописью. The nominative is жйвопись, and feminine nouns in -b take ью instead of ей or ой (cf. again §9.2). Plurals—^mascuHne nominative поезда, compare гброд in Passage i; детёй is the genitive plural of the irregular plural word (nominative) дёти, which is regarded as a neuter; feminine genitive plural копёек is shghtly irregular, the nominative singu¬ lar is копбйка, and й becomes e in the genitive plural form only; ЛЙНИЙ also is unlike other feminine genitive plurals, but this is another peculiarity of nouns which have -ия in the nominative singular. The passage shows a number of instrumental plurals свбдами (masc.), bo лбинами, статуями (fern.), местами (neut.); the common characteristic is -ми, preceded by a or я. For loca¬ tive plural we have met the ending -ax in Passage 3; отношбниях here shows the only other form which occurs—^in -ях. The foreign word метрб is not inflected, and its case has to be deduced from the contexts. §10.3. Adjectives. Feminine singular genitive in -ой; другбй (some other words have -ей); in the feminine singular the endings of genitive, dative, instrumental, and locative are identical, save that the instrumental sometimes has variant forms. Plural, all genders, genitive in -их and -ых, instrumental in -ими and -ЫМИ. Comparison: see §10.6. §10.4. Pronouns. The instrumental singular of self соббй occurs; this pronoun has the same set of forms for all genders, singular and plural, i.e. only the case forms differ. The corres¬ ponding possessive pronoun свой is here used in the instrumental plural СВОЙМИ. The feminine singular accusative эту shows the ending which we should expect, мйло is followed by the genitive singular or plural, with the meanings a little, a few respectively, §10.5. Numerals. Feminine nominative (singular) одна one^
10. TRANSPORT
71
has genitive пяти and is exactly like a feminine noun in -b. Note that after два two the noun has the form of the genitive singular, e.g. вагбна from вагбн, §10.6. Adverbs. The usual way of indicating more is by the word 66лее; this adverb may precede another adverb, or an adjective, as in this passage, чаще is an adverb meaning more often) a number of adverbs having comparative sense end in -че, -ше or ще—compare лучше in Passage 7, and here as a superlative adjective л;^чшая. §10.7. Case, пбездом as a train demonstrates another use of the instrumental case, to denote the ideas of serving as, fulfilling the role of, being in the form of, etc. §10.8. Prepositions, благодаря is always followed by the dative case; we sa.y thanks to. от from is always followed by the genitive case. §10.9. Word order, лучшая в мйре подзбмная желёзная дорбга. Note that best in the world is not broken, and that the elements which as a group mean underground railway are not broken, so that the word order of the whole phrase, though understandable, is unfamiliar to the English reader. §10.10. Idioms, к TOM^ же means as well, in addition, into the bargain. In the sentence это настойщие подзёмные дворцй, это does not agree in gender (or number) with its noun; it is often used in this way to draw attention to a whole context rather than a specific word. Where a number of words are Unked by и, the first may be preceded by и, and if only two words are so used, и ... и is translated both . . . and. ПЯТЬ five
Яёзитё. Familiar material, 10.i; nouns—masculine locative in -y, feminines in -ь, -ия, instrumental and locative plural, foreign nouns, 10.2; adjective inflexions, 10.3; comparison of adjectives, 10.5; pronouns, 10.4; numerals i, 2, 5, 10.5; adverbs, 10.6; prepositions благодарй, от 10.8; word order, 10.9; idioms, 10.10.
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11.
ГОД
По-русски двен4дцать месяцев называются так: янв4рь, февр4ль, март, апрёль, май, июнь, июль, 4вгуст, сентябрь, октябрь, ноябрь, дек4брь, — а времен4 года так: весн4, лёто, осень, зим4. В Россйи зим4 продолж4ется долго. Пёрвый снег выпад4ет обычно в ноябрё и лежйт около четырёх, пятй мёсяцев. Тогд4 очень холодно; быв4ют сйльные морозы, и рёки замерз4ют. По вечер4м очень р4но темнёет. Многие русские счит4ют, что зим4 — с4мое красйвое врёмя года. Зимбй молодёжь очень любит кат4ться на коньк4х на пруд4х и к4тках, йли ходйть на лыжах в лесу. Пёрвый прйзнак наступлёния весны — возвращёние с юга грачёй и другйх птиц. Ещё всюду лежйт снег, а онй начин4ют вить гнёзда. В нач4ле апрёля лёд на рек4х начин4ет синёть и т4ять. Весной сыро и грязно. С м4я стойт хорошая погода, наступ4ет лёто. Тепёрь солнце свётит высоко на нёбе, и быв4ет свётло поздно вёчером. Лётом тепло, а в июле и 4вгусте ж4рко, д4же в Москвё. Бывают грозы, и тогд4 идёт сйльный дождь. Осенью лйстья на дерёвьях желтёют и начин4ют опад4ть. В полях собир4ют урож4й. Тогд4 любймое занятие многих русских — ходйть в лес за гриб4ми. В лесу свежо и приятно после жары. Но ужё вйдно, как журавлй летят на юг: скбро вернётся зим4. Translation: The Year. In Russian the twelve months call-themselves (i.e. are called) thus—January . . . December, and the seasons (literally: times) of the year thus—spring, summer, autumn, winter. In Russia winter continues long. The first snow falls-out generally in November and hes about four, five months. Then it is very cold: there are strong frosts and the rivers freeze. In the evenings very early it grows-dark. Many Russians reckon that winter is the most beautiful time of the year. In winter youth very-much likes to slide on skates on ponds and rinks, or to go on skis in the forest. The first sign of-the-approach of spring is the return from the south of rooks and other birds. Still everywhere lies .snow, but they begin to plait (i.e. build) nests. In the beginning of April the ice on the rivers begins to grow-blue and to thaw. In spring it is damp and muddy. From May (on) there is (UteraUy: stands) good weather, approaches summer. Now the sun shines high in the sky, and it is light late in the evening. In summer it is warm, and in July and August,
11. THE YEAR
73
hot, even in Moscow. There are thunderstorms and then comes strong rain. In autumn the leaves on the trees grow-yellow and begin to fall-off. In the fields they gather the harvest. Then a favourite occupation of many Russians is to go into the forest for mushrooms. In the forest it is fresh and pleasant after the heat. But already it is visible, how the cranes fly to the south: soon returns winter.
Familiar Material §11.1. In these notes we take the most familiar for granted, and select only a few points which may merit a ‘reminder*. The noun апрёль is one of the comparatively small number of mascuHnes which end in ь; note that the genitive is in -я, which preserves the ‘soft’ quaUty of the ль. The masculine noun год takes a locative in -y after the prepositions в and на. The feminine noun бсень takes as its ‘regular irregular’ instrumental form бсенью. Note that all four words for the seasons are used simply in the instrumental case to denote time in which, в Россйи has locative и instead of e, compare §§9.2 and 10.2. New Material §11.2. Nouns. MascuHne plural nominative лйстья is irregu¬ lar, and words of this type are less common than masculine nouns with plural in -a. The genitive plural мёсяцев looks irregular, but after ц, unstressed final ob does not occur, and is represented by ев. грачей is another apparently unusual genitive plural, but we have seen родйтелей parents (Passage 4) and mascuhne nouns in ь do usually have -ей for the genitive plural. Although the nominative singular грач has no final ь, mascuhne nouns ending in ч, ж, ш, and щ inflect partly as if they ended in ь. вечерйм is a quite regular mascuhne dative plural form. The locative plural ending -ях of дерёвьях and ПОЛЙХ is the regular ‘pair’ to -ax. врёмя is a neuter noun of the same t5q)e as ймя name. In inflexion -я changes to -ен and for the nominative/accusative plural the normal -a is added. §11.3. Adjectives. The commonest indication of most, to show that an adjective is used in the superlative form, is сймый preceding the adjective. The endings of сймый are themselves adjectival. §11.4. Numerals, четйре four has четырёх as its genitive, as though it were an adjective, пять five on the other hand has noun inflexion. Both of these numbers are in the genitive
74
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
form because they follow the preposition 6коло. Note that both пять and двенадцать are followed by nouns in the genitive plural. §11.5. Preposition: 6коло about, approximately, nearly is always followed by the genitive. §11.6. Verbs. The passage contains two forms of бывать, indicating regular or habitual being. In English we might sometimes translate бывают морбзы with there are often frosts, (or always as a mild exaggeration!), стойт in expressions about the weather might be translated keep—from May onwards the weather keeps fine, любймое is mentioned in this paragraph because although translated favourite, it is actually a present participle passive of the verb любйть (hterally being loved). Just as -щ- was characteristic of the present participles active, so -M- followed by adjective endings is characteristic of these present participles passive. Although they are formally present tense, the sense often corresponds to that of English words in -ed, favourite ~ loved (which is a past participle passive), называется demonstrates the use of the reflexive verb to express what would often be expressed with a passive construction in English. Resume. Familiar material, ii.i; masculine nouns in -ь, -ч, etc.; neuters in -мя, 11.2; superlative of adjectives, 11.3; numerals 4, 5, 12, 11.4; preposition бволо, 11.5; verbs—idioms and present participle passive, 11.6.
12.
ПРОФЁССИИ
До окончания школы каждый шкбльник должен решйть один чрезвычайно важный вопрос — Кем быть ? Когда молодые люди кончают школу, иные начинают работать, иные поступают в университет йли другое высшее учёбное заведёне. В таком вбзрасте вряд ли у мнбгих остаются пёрвые дётские амбйции —■ стать милиционёром, морякбм, машинйстом на желёзной дорбге, йли борт-проводнйцей на пассажйрском самолёте. Надо серьёзно обдумать, как живут и раббтают люди разных профёссий. Мбжно быть пёкарем и печь хлеб и булочки, йли мясникбм и продавать мясо. Мбжно раббтать шахтёром и добывйть
12, OCCUPATIONS
75
;^голь под землёй. Девушка может стать медицйнской сестрой, учйтельницей йли балерйной. В дерёвне пастух пасёт скот и доярка дойт коров. Столяр дёлает мебель из дёрева, инженёр проектйрует новые машйны, машинйстка пйшет на пйшущей машйнке, а госудёрственный служащий служит в конторе. Портной шьёт иголкой и нйткой; плотник рубит дёрево топором, пилйт пилой; кузнёц куёт желёзо молотом. Колхо¬ зник пашет зёмлю плугом; рыбак ловит рыбу сётью; художник пйшет картйны красками. Лётчик управляет самолётом, учёный занимается научным исслёдованием, а дирёктор завёдует институтом йли, в западных странах, делами фйрмы. Совремённый мир изобйлует интерёсными профёссиями: главное — выбрать такую, которой всегдё будешь доволен. Translation: Occupations. By the conclusion of school, each pupil is-obliged to decide one extremely important question—what to be? When young people finish school, some begin to work, some enter into the university or other higher educational institution. In such age hardly (вряд ли) at many remain [their] first childish ambitions—to become a policeman, a sailor, a driver on the ‘iron road’, or a hostess on a passenger aeroplane. It-is-necessary seriously to think-over how live and work people of various occupations. It-is-possible to be a baker and bake bread and rolls, or a butcher and sell meat. It is possible to work as-aminer and obtain coal under ground. A girl may become a medical sister, teacher or ballerina. In the country a herdsman grazes cattle and a nfilkmaid milks cows. A cabinet-maker makes furniture out-of wood, an engineer projects new machines, a typist writes on a ‘writing machine', and a state servant serves in an office. The tailor sews with needle and with thread; the carpenter splits wood with an axe, saws with a saw; the smith forges iron with a hammer; the agricultural-worker tills the ground with a plough; the fisherman catches fish with a net; the artist writes (i.e. draws or paints) pictures with paints. A pilot guides the aeroplane; the learned-man occupies-himself with scientific research; and a director manages an institute, or in Western countries the affairs of a firm. The contemporary world abounds with interesting occupations: the-main-thing is to choose such [a one], by-which always you-will-be satisfied.
The reader is unlikely to need pointers to the familiar material here as the constructions are generally simple. Be it noted that Russian carpenters do make more use of the axe than ours do! New Material §12.1.
Nouns.
In §7.3 the feminine singular instrumental
7б
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
form in -ѲЙ was mentioned; this passage provides actual examples —проводницей and with stress, землёй, pronounced as if written земльбй. There are two adjectives here used as nouns: портнбй (which no longer has adjectival force), and учёный which can be an adjective with the meanings learned, academic, scientific. служащий is a participle, i.e. verbal adjective used as a noun. §12.2. Adjectives, высшее higher demonstrates the formation of comparative forms with -ш- as a characteristic. Only a limited number of words take such forms, and it is hard to give detailed rules for formation; the simplest statement would be that the basic word is often modified in some way before -ш- and adjectival endings are added {high is высбкий). Note that the ending ее does not indicate comparison, but neuter nominative /accusative singular. §12.3. Pronouns, кем is the instrumental form of кто who, (and also what when it refers to occupation), which has only one set of forms for all genders and the plural, инбй means some and also other. It is most commonly used in the way shown in this passage. §12.4. Numerals, одйн is the masculine for one. Although this word often precedes a noun, in the nominative case it has predicative endings (cf. §4.5). §12.5. Case, корбв is the genitive plural form of корбва cow, but скот is a regular masculine nominative/accusative singular. A distinction is made as to case, because while cows are living beings, the dominant meaning of скот is rather that of a collection of cattle, than a number of living beings (compare §9-5)This passage contains numerous examples of the instrumental case. In кем быть ? and быть пбкарем we say that the comple¬ ment or predicate of the verb to be is in the instrumental case. The implied identification is slightly less definite than that of such a statement as он—пбкарь; it is as if we said he works as a baker, and раббтает шахтёром offers a parallel to this. Often the distinction between these two types of statement is very slight, and it is worth noting that in Enghsh there is little difference between he’s a manager at Browns, he’s at Browns—as a manager. The instrumental is also used after certain verbs in con¬ structions which in Enghsh would take a simple object: ynpa-
І2. OCCUPATIONS
77
влять, завбдатЬ—certainly to guide an aeroplane one has to do things with it, and with is one of the constituent flavours of the instrumental case, as we see in the sentences with заниматься and изобйловать. Finally, of course, we have several ej^amples of the instrumental denoting an actual instrument or tool: топорбм, игблвой, etc. §12.6. Prepositions, до has already been translated with to and up to] if an event falls in a period of time measured up to a certain date, we may not know exactly when the event happened, but we can say that it happened by the date or point of time mentioned; in some cases before would be the appropriate trans¬ lation. под used with the instrumental indicates location under] it may also be used with the accusative to indicate moving into position under, and in some other senses. §12.7. Verbs. A few verbs have infinitive in чь, like печь. §12.8. вряд ли must simply be regarded as an idiomatic way of expressing hardly, scarcely. Bearing in mind that ли means whether, we may see this as a paraphrase of it is doubtful whether. It is not uncommon to find that we have one English word which can express an idea for which Russian uses more than one. Other examples are hotomj^ что because, тавбй... же and тот . . . же the same, так как as, because, желёзная дорбга railway. Hardly at many remain their ambitions, etc. is translated as hterally as possible, so that the Russian construction may be displayed. A little thought will show that only a few keep their ambitions is an appropriate English version. Кёзитё. Feminine instrumental singular, adjectives as nouns, 12.i; comparative of adjectives, 12.2; pronouns кто, ивбй, 12.3; numeral одйн, 12.4; genitive case (living beings), instrumental case, 12.5; prepositions до, под, 12.6; verb infinitives in -чь, 12.7; idioms, 12.8.
V. A CHAPTER OF RECAPITULATION AND CONSOLIDATION The first twelve reading passages were offered as a demonstra¬ tion of Russian ‘in action’. Even without translations, the reader would have learnt a few things about Russian; he could have collected examples of words which are used frequently; he could have collected sets of words which differed only by the final letters. A collector with determination might, without knowing what the words meant, have deduced the associations of adjectives and nouns which were discussed at Passage 2. This would be learning the hard way, if you like! We have, however, thought that by giving full translations at this first stage we could save the reader much mechanical labour of looking up words and at the same time give him a considerable body of valuable informa¬ tion about Russian. We have still avoided sapping his moral fibre, for there has really been a large amount of work for him to do I Let us look back over the ground we have covered. Perhaps the reader’s first complete achievement was to acquire the knowledge of a whole new alphabet—probably by the fifth or sixth passage he had some confidence in his own powers. Next we had to introduce him to the idea that words of the noun, adjective and pronoun type in Russian have certain fixed patterns of endings, and that, given the ‘dictionary’ form of a noun—^which we have now learnt to caU the nominative singular, we can expect certain other forms to occur. This idea of pattern is the basis of gender—^which also has something to do with natural sex, but not invariably, as those two grand old men дёдушка and ДЙДЯ have taught us. For the English-speaking reader, to come to think in terms of gender is a true linguistic achievement. Then we said that a word changed its forms according to its function in the sentence, and without at first enquiring too closely, we grew familiar with the idea of case, and step by step learnt the names and some of the principal functions of the cases. We found that the word-endings, numerous and perhaps a little bewildering in their variety, are also friendly signposts 78
GRAMMAR
79
for US. The indications of gender and case, as well as those of number are so firmly vested in the word endings that it is worth¬ while tabulating these endings. We now give tables, and against each ending which has appeared in a lesson we give the number of the lesson in which the form first occurred, sometimes also a second occurrence, or the number of the lesson in which the form is discussed. NOUNS
Singular
(i) consonant^
OM*
(i) N. A. G. D. I. L.
D. I. L.
ь®
(ii) Я*
MAS(.ULINE (ІИ) (і) ы}
я“
ЯІ1
ем^®
ем е
(Ш) ия^
FEM] NINE (іѵ) (і)
ь
ИЮ®
и
ИИ
и®
e’
e
ью^®
e*
e®
ии^° ией ии^^
(ii)
0^
(ііі) ие®
a
я
y®
Ю
ИЮ
ем
ием^®
OM®
e*
ИЯ®
ИИ
ов® ам^^ ами L0 ах^
ю
Ю®
(i) N./A. G.
(И)
ю
GO
N./A. G. D. I. L.
Plural
и®
и®
ы1
consonant®'^® ам ами^® ах®
(іі) и^ ей* ям ями ях
(ІИ) и ев ям ями ях
(ІИ) (іі) ИИ*® и^ As nominative
ь
ИЙ*®
ям ями^® ях
иями^®
NEU: 'ER (іѵ) (і) (іі) а®>® я® мя*>“ conso- ей мени nant ям мени ам менем ами^® ями ях^^ мени ах
ИЯМ ИЯХ*®
(ііі)
ИЯ® ИЙ ИЯМ ИЯМИ ИЯХ*®
(іѵ) и’ ей ИЯМ
ями ях
(іѵ) мена** мен менам менами менах
Note Here and in other tables, the case-names Nominative, Accusative, Genitive, Dative, Instrumental, and Locative are indicated by their initial letters.
8o
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
(Only endings are shown here; the reader has already seen them in their place in complete words, and some examples of fully decUned words are given later.) The forms which have no numbers have not occurred in the texts. They are given here less for specific information, but rather that the reader may see how the patterns persist. If re¬ membering these forms seems troublesome, let us consider straight¬ away that if we regard a and я, и and ы, у and ю, о and е as being alternative equivalents, we have reduced the amount of memoris¬ ing by half. Note, too, how neuters seem to fall together with masculines, and how the plural patterns are similar for all genders in some cases. Even the irregularities have a certain similarity: the feminines in ия and in ь are clearly cousins within the feminine family. Generally, the nominative singular determines the whole pattern but there are some ‘cross borrowings’, and it is worth fisting those which have actually occurred: Masculine: мбсяц (ii) has genitive plural мёсяцев, as if it belonged to the Й class (see §11.2). товарищ (4) has nominative plural товарипщ, because ы is replaced by и after щ. грач (ii) has genitive plural грачбй, as if it belonged to the ь class. Feminine: рбки (i) КНЙГИ (3,7) врйши (lo) would suggest that these words belong to the я class, but in fact the nominative singulars end in -a (see below), гранйца (i), проводнйца (12) have instrumental singular in -ей. There are some general rules which affect all inflectional forms:
(i) Ы cannot stand after r, ж, к, x, ч, ш, щ, but is then replaced by и. (ii) The consonants ж, ц, ч, ш, щ sometimes cause flectional modifications which are otherwise associated with ь. (iii) In some words two consonants may stand together if there are vowels on either side of them, but a vowel must be inserted if this condition is not fulfilled, thus in Passage 3 we find на
GRAMMAR
8i
потолкё but the nominative singular is потолбк. Similarly we have in Passage 8 полшГім but also пблон. The genitive plural копёек (Passage lo) from копёйка, shows a similar though shghtly different variation. There are some other irregularities worth noting: Masculine: Some nouns have feminine forms: мужчйна 2, дёдушка, дядя 4, Павлика 5. Some have a locative singular in у: сад, угол 2, шкаф, пол 3, год ІО, лес II, (this locative only occurs after в and на, otherwise -e is used). Some have a genitive singular in y: народ 8. (This genitive is called partitive and used when the sense is some of, otherwise the -a form is used.) Some have nominative plural in a: городй i, поезда lo; лйстья offers a similar irregularity with ья. Neuter: Some nouns end in ье, and with the substitution of ь for и are of type (iii). There are some irregular plurals including those in ья: дерёвья 2, from дёрево. The reader may have noted other irregularities, such as genitive plural человёк 8, but those hsted above are all types which occur with small numbers of other words—^i.e. ‘regular irregularities'. Some nouns are only used in the plural (or nearly always so): бвощи 2, обби 3, дёти 4, genitive plural детёй lo, щи 6, дёньги 9, люди 12. Some are practically only used in the singular: скот
,
12
Some nouns are entirely adjectival in form: парикмахерская 2, ванная 5 (see §12.1). Some foreign words and ‘letter’ words have no inflexion: СССР I, метрб 10. ADJECTIVES These have fewer pecuharities than nouns. We have met two sets of forms, and all can be tabulated simply. F
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
82
Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
Plural
о н
PREDICATIVE Consonant*
а*
я
О
е
ы*
и
ые®
ие*
ATTRI ВиТІѴЕ N. A. G. D. I. L.
ЫЙ*
(ой*)
ИЙ
As nominative
ОГО® ому® ЫМ®
ом*®
его® ему им ем*
ая* ую’ ой* ой ой*® ой®.®
яя® юю ей® ей*® ей ей*
ое*
ее®
As nominative
ого ому® ым*® ом*
его ему им ем
As nominative
ых*® ым ыми*® ых*®
их® им ими*® их*®
For expressing the ideas of comparison and the higher grade called the superlative there are various devices: (i) The use of 66лее more before the adjective (see Passage lo). (ii) The use of modified forms of the adjective with terminations marked by -in- (and sometimes ж, ч, щ). These usually have comparative sense, but sometimes superlative: ста¬ рший, млбдший 4, вйсшее i2, also л;^чший lo belongs here, although it is not a ‘modified' adjective, as for the ordinary degree хорбший good, is used. (iii) The use of самый most before the adjective (see Passage ii). ADVERBS These are mentioned here, because the majority are simply the neuter nominative singular form of an adjective. For this reason, very many adverbs end in o. Other fairly common types are (i) the instrumental form of a noun: лбтом, зимбй 5; (ii) a combination with no-: по-м6ему 3, no-p;fccKn 6. Adverbs in the comparative form usually end in ее: удббнее 3, скорбе 5, холоднбе 8, but sometimes in -e, often with a modifica¬ tion of consonant: л^чше 7, чаще 5 (from чбето). PRONOUNS Pronouns are so often adjectival in function, i.e. they give further information about a noun, that the learner may sometimes
GRAMMAR
83
be embarrassed, and not be sure whether he is seeing a pronoun or an adjective. One of the most important differences is that a pronoun is often used instead of a noun. Some pronouns, hke OH do not stand before nouns; others, hke тот may stand before a noun (and then they do the work of adjectives) or they may stand independently (and then they represent a noun which may or may not be mentioned. In этого человека of this man, этот is functioning as an adjective; in до этого until this, §tot is truly pronominal, this may stand for something already mentioned, or something impHed, e.g. this time, this point, etc. Some pronouns have their own system of inflection, notably the personal pronouns, and we tabulate these:
THIRD PERSON
N. A. G. D. I. L.
Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
OH^ егб^, него егб, негб^ ем^,® нем^ им, ним* нём®
она^ её% неё её, неё^ ей*, ней ёю, нёю ней
онб егб, негб егб, негб ем;^, нему им, ним нём®
Plural онй* их*, них их*®, них*® им*, ним ими, нйми них®
Reflexive all genders both numbers
_ себй® себй себё соббй*® себё
The forms with initial н are used after prepositions—check this in the texts.
FIRST IPERSON
Nominative Accusative/Genitive Dative Instrumental Locative
SECOND
PERSON
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
Я* менй®>’ мне’ мной мне
мы* нас* нам нами нас
ты* тебй тебё тобой тебё
вы* вас вйм вйми вас
As these refer to persons, it will be clear that Accusative and Genitive are identical (§9.3).
84
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
The possessive forms of the pronouns are of two kinds: (i) Those of the third person, simply the genitive case: егб his, its 2, её her, its 4, их their 9. (ii) Those which have adjectival endings: мой 3, 4, твой, свой 5 (corresponding to себя) and наш, ваш which in the nominative are hke predicative adjectives, but in the other cases have the usual attributive adjectival endings. If the reader writes out fuU tables of these, and compares the forms with a reference grammar, he may find sHght discrepancies, but the information given will enable him to recognise the forms when he sees them in a text. Various other pronouns have full adjectival endings and it is not necessary to tabulate them in full (readers can check that this is so): какбй such a 4, котбрый who, which 8, 9, 12, инбй that, some 12. Some have shght variants on the adjective pattern: этот this, TOT that have in the nominative этот, тот mascuHne, эта, та feminine это, то neuter, эти but те plural, but the other forms have recognisable adjectival endings (тот sometimes with e where бтот has и), and examples can be found in Passages i, 2, 5, 7, 10. сей this, that is rare, and the genitive plural сих in до сих пор to that time is the form most frequently found, кто who and что which, what do duty for both numbers and all genders and have these forms for the other cases: accusative когб, что, genitive когб, чегб dative ком;^, чем;^, instrumental кем, чем, locative ком, чём. Note that никтб по-опе is followed by а negative не before its verb. Another shghtly confusing pronoun is the word for all. Its stem is вс- to which the adjective endings are added. The nominatives are shghtly irregular: весь mascuhne, вся feminine, всё, neuter, все plural, and in addition e replaces и in the inflections (всем, всех, всбми instead of вси-). NUMERALS These are difficult in Russian, but the reader may take heart, for he will often find that numbers are given in figures. The difficulties may be analysed a httle: I.
thus
Some numerals may be regarded as pronouns or adjectives, 3, 12, feminine однб 4.10, neuter однб, plural (!) одий
ОДЙН
GRAMMAR
85
meaning some, will appear with recognisable adjectival endings, which we will not tabulate; два has a feminine form две, and in other cases on the stem дву- has modified adjectival endings, as do три and четыре. Examples may be found in Passages 3, 4, 5, 10, II and 12. 2, Some are dechned hke nouns: пять (Passages5,10, ii), шесть six, семь seven, вбсемь eight, дбвять nine, дёсять ten, and the higher numbers hke двенадцать twelve, which end in ь, and are dechned hke ь feminines (see §11.4). 3. As weh as difficulties of form, the numerals require peculiar constructions after them: два, три and четйре are usuaUy followed by the genitive singular of the noun, as два брата 4, два вагбна lo, две мин^і іо, три вбмнаты 5, unless the whole expression is in one of the 'remoter’ cases—dative, instrumental, locative. The numbers from пять five onwards require the genitive plural of their nouns: пять кбмнат 5, из пятй линий іо, дёсять пассажйров 8, двенадцать мбсяцев іі. So far we have spoken only of cardinal numbers. The numbers may also be ordinals, i.e. marking the position in a series. The ordinals are simple in inflection, because they are adjectives. Their forms are more or less recognisable modifications of the cardinals: трбтий этйж the third fioor, and nearly always have -tbefore the adjective ending, пбрвый first and вторбй second must be leamt in their own rights. The reader is again reminded that the translation is more easily seen than is the construction. To satisfy curiosity and without further comment at this stage, we write out the expressions in the last paragraph of Passage 10: в тйсяча девятьсбт трйдцать пйтом год^; с сорокй семьіЬ станциями. PREPOSITIONS There are two groups: those which are always followed by the same case, and those which may be followed by more than one case. To the first belong: with accusative про 8, чёрѳз 9; with genitive без 6, для 7, до g, из 7, бколо ii, от g, пбслѳ 7, прбтив 3, у 2; with dative благодаря іо, кд; with instru¬ mental над 2, пёред g; with locative 0 4. To these we might
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RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
add the following, which are sometimes but not often used with other cases: with dative no 3, 7; with instrumental под 12. To the second belong: with accusative and instrumental за I, 7, 9; with accusative and locative b(bo), на i, 2, 9; with genitive and instrumental c 5, 7, 10. That the meanings do not always correspond exactly with those of English prepositions will be clear to the reader from the examples he has met (cf. §§1.6, 3.4). To some extent the reader may ignore the case after preposi¬ tions. If a preposition has only one case after it, then it is sufficient merely to check whether the noun (adjective, pronoun) is singular or plural, and as the plural endings of these words are fairly regular, the difficulty is slight. With the prepositions which take more than one case, the reader must be more alert, but if, for instance, the word(s) following в or на end in x, it is clear that we have to deal with a locative plural (true, there are a few masculine nouns whose accusative singular ends in x, but they are few). With за and c, -M or -МИ following will indicate the instrumental in very many instances. Often, too, the general sense of the sentence will help to indicate the meaning of the preposition. CONJUNCTIONS AND PARTICLES Some of the Russian conjunctions correspond fairly closely to the Enghsh words with which we translate them. For example и and may simply join two words, or it may introduce a clause of a sentence, and the same may be said of йли or. Yet и does not always correspond to and, nor and to и: sometimes и ... и may mean both . . . and (§10.10), sometimes it is adverbial and means also, too (Passage 6), or and is translated with a, or even да (Passage 8) which may have a slightly archaic or popular flavour. The two words потом;^ что are translated with one word because; but the one word чтббы needs three English words in order to, or two so that, же is a commonly occurring particle, which sometimes is not translated, sometimes gives an emphasis (§§6.io, 9.8, lo.io). Other little words hke ли, то, вряд ли and не то if not, otherwise may seem difficult at first, but the reader
GRAMMAR
87
will gradually form his own idea of their use and meaning as he reads more. It is a good scheme to note down whole phrases in which these occur, and from time to time review the ‘takings’. A language-learner will gain much more from seeking an answer to the question: ‘how is this word used?’ than from asking: ‘what does this word mean?’ VERBS The inflected forms of Russian verbs are arranged in rather comphcated patterns, but the reader at this stage needs to be firm on the basic data which we hst below: The infinitive form of most verbs ends in ть; a few exceptions have ТЙ 9, and чь 12. The endings of the present tense are: ist person 2nd person 3rd person
Singular y® or Ю® ешь* or ишь* ет^ or ит^
Plural ем* or им ете ите® ут*, ют*, ят® or ат
The endings of the (2nd person) imperative are: singular Й 7 (and й) also some in ь, plural йте 3. The example of люблю, любит (6) may prepare the reader for some other variations in verbs. If the verb is reflexive any of its usual endings is followed by Cb 4 after a vowel, and ся after й 7, ь 6, or a consonant 8. The reflexive verb may correspond to an English verb with or without oneself) втйскивается в двёри 8 squeezes or squeezes himself; to an English verb without oneself) зима вернётся ii winter will return) to a passive: называются ii are called. Until the forms are familiar, the reader should cultivate the habit of mentally detaching сь or ся, in order to see more clearly what form of the verb is being used. The past tense of verbs is formed by a suffix with -Л-, which varies according to gender, not person: masculine -л 5, feminine -ла 7, neuter -ло, plural ли 7. As for the present, reflexive suffixes may be attached. This past form may be translated in various ways: я описйл may mean I described or I have described, or even / had described.
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
Verbs also have adjectival forms, called participles, and two of these, the present active characterised by -щ-, and the present passive characterised by -m- have been introduced. (Passages 6,
II). To be
often unexpressed in the present, but there is a form
есть 5, an infinitive быть, and there is an habitual form, infinitive бывйть 3, 8, II, a past form был etc. and a future form with present endings б^ду, б^дет 9, etc. To have is usually expressed by use of the preposition у 2 with forms of the verb to be, or with these omitted. Negation is expressed with не, and Russian does not use any forms which correspond to do, does in negation. Some verbs are followed by cases other than the accusative: genitive ждать 8, dative говорить 4, instrumental—examples in Passage 12. The existence of pairs of similar verbs having the same meaning (compare §8.7) will be discussed later. CASES The nominative is the case of general statement, and the subject of a sentence. The accusative is the case which denotes the object of an action, and is used also after some prepositions. The genitive is used to indicate a possessor, even in the meta¬ phoric sense {of the town, etc.); it is used after numerous pre¬ positions; it replaces the accusative of words denoting living beings: it is used after some verbs: it sometimes denotes a portion or share or group, e.g. after such words as мйло lo and нёсколько 8. The dative is used after some verbs of saying, giving, etc. often in contexts where the Enghsh might use to] it is also used in some impersonal constructions of the type мне сбвестно to-те it is ashamed, i.e. I am ashamed (see Passage 7); it used after some prepositions. The instrumental is used to denote an instrument or agent; it is used after some prepositions; it is used to denote being in a certain capacity or of a certain quality (see §12.5). The locative is used only after prepositions; it generally does denote location, but it is wortji noting that it would be more logical to say that в сад^ in the garden is locative, and о с&де
GRAMMAR
89
{speaking) about the garden is prepositional. We do not make this distinction, because for the vast majority of Russian nouns, adjectives and pronouns, the two 'cases’ have identical forms. THE SENTENCE The translations have been phrased as far as possible to indicate the structure of the Russian sentence, save in those cases where complete unintelligibility would result. The main feature for which the reader should be on the alert are: 1. Different word-order: subject after verb, adjective after noun, adverbs second in the sentence where English would place them last (see §6.11). In most instances it is obvious what adjustment should be made in translation. 2. Omissions, particularly of articles, verb to be, pronouns. Because the verb to be is omitted, an adverb may have the value of a statement, thus мбжно it is possible (see §5.8). 3. The use of participles where English would have a clause (see §6.7). The material in this chapter is not by any means a complete summary of Russian grammar. With few exceptions it presents only material which the reader has met in the texts. Before passing on, the reader should satisfy himself that he does know the facts outlined here, and that he can supply his own examples from the texts in Passages 1-12.
READING PASSAGES 13-24 Although translations are provided with the next twelve passages, their primary function at this stage is to save the learner some of the labour of looking up meanings in the glossary. The notes have been designed to reflect the ‘thinking aloud’ of a learner who has a key to the meanings of the individual words, but who is trying to work out for himself both sense and structure of the passage as a whole. It is important that he should do this work for himself, and not rely on the translation as a ‘handout’, or even as a basis for comparison. Liberal use should be made of rough paper, and the reader should make a basic word for word ‘translation’ of the Russian text before he attempts to shape the finished translation. It is • desirable at this stage to translate as literally as possible, so that the structure of the Russian idiom may be seen. For example, it does no harm whatever to think of называется as calls itself, although in a poHshed translation we should of course say is called. In this way, the reader will gradually acquire a consider¬ able knowledge of Russian idiom, always troublesome for those who are translating into Russian, as such students are often inclined to translate too literally from English, and so to use unidiomatic Russian. As before, the notes on the passages will point out what is new in the grammatical usage, but much less reference will be made to what is familiar, and what has been summarised in Chapter V. The reader will find it profitable to keep his own grammar note-book, and we suggest as useful headings the following: Nouns (gender endings, irregularities, absence of singular number). Adjectives (endings, comparatives). Pronouns (endings). Numerals (endings and construction with other words). Adverbs (comparatives, instrumental case, more than one word). Pre¬ positions (cases). Verbs (endings, reflexives, tense forms, participles, use of cases). Particles and Conjunctions, The Use of Cases (after prepositions, verbs). Word-order, Idioms. Chapter VI ‘General Survey and Grammatical Summaries’ 90
13. VLADIVOSTOK
91
(page 247) might be read at this stage. Readers may find it useful to make a copy of the Table of Last Letters on pages 281-3. 13. ВЛАДИВОСТОК (1) Десять дней и одйннадцать ночей мчйтся скорый поезд из Москвы на восток. По равнйнам Предуралья, сквозь ура¬ льские горы, по сибйрской тайге мймо озера Байкал, через Яблоновый хребет, на Читу, на Хабаровск — и вот, наконец, последняя станция Велйкого Транссибйрского путй — Владивосток. Владивосток называют морскйми воротами гигантского края—края, расположенного от Урала до Примбрья. Отсюда берут начало морскйе дороги в далёкие островные страны Тихоокеанского бассейна, в Китай, в Соединённые Штаты Америки и в ледовую Арктику. Владивостокский порт за советское время стал однйм из самых механизйрованных портов нашей страны. Translation: Vladivostok (i). Ten days and eleven nights speeds (itself) the fast train from Moscow to the East. Along the plains of the Cis-ural, through the Ural mountains, through the Siberian forest past Lake Baikal, across the Yablonov ridge, to Chita, to Khabarovsk—and there, at-last, the last station of the Great Transsiberian way—^Vladivostok. Vladivostok they-call the sea gate(s) of a huge ‘territory’—^the territory situated (better: stretching) from the Ural to the Littoral. From-here take (their) beginning the sea ways to the far island countries of the Pacific basin, to China, to the United States of America and to the icy Arctic. The Vladivostok port in the Soviet era has-become one out-of the most mechanised ports of our country.
If we disregard case-endings we see that the first sentence starts with ten days and eleven nights; we note in passing that the genitive plural is used after the numerals 10 and ii. Can these be the subject of the sentence? No, because the verb, when we have removed the reflexive ся ends in ит, which is a singular ending. Immediately after this verb, however, come the words скбрый пбезд in forms which can be, and are nominative singular. The preposition из is always followed by the genitive, and from the glossary we have Mockb- as an identifiable portion of the name common to all cases, i.e. this is one of the instances where the reader need not be too conscientious about the case ending, на востбк does not show the familiar locative pattern на-j—e, so
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that we may assume востбк to be accusative, and the meaning of на to imply motion toward, so we read to the east or better eastwards. no is nearly always used with the dative, and as a final м only occurs in the dative plural, we have adequate indication of number; through the plains—of what! we ask, and the genitive ending of Предуралья takes care of that o/; сквозь is followed by the accusative, identical with the nominative in the plural, and the next ending pattern—adjective in не with noun in ы— corresponds to what we expect; the next no is followed by adjective in -ой with noun in -e, corresponding to a feminine singular dative, although once we have seen that neither noun nor adjective ends in m, we need no further information; мймо is followed by a genitive, and we need to know this, since otherwise бзера might be accusative plural in a text printed without accents (with accent озёра); чёрез and на are both followed by the accusative (the -y locative does not occur with feminine words); -ОГО as an ending is a sure indication of genitive singular, and knowing this, we deduce that путй is genitive, although it does not look hke the genitive of a masculine noun—^путь is irregular and behaves hke a feminine; note, however, that it could not be plural—there are no genitive plurals in -и. In the next sentence we might think that Владивостбк is the subject, but it is followed by a verb ending in -ют which can not be singular—this verb is not followed anywhere in the sentence by a nominative, so we deduce that it carries its own pronoun meaning: they call\ the words following the verb end in -ми, which must be instrumental plural, and we know from the glossary that называть is followed by the instrumental case (understandable if we think of they call him by the name of. . . ). All the other nouns here are in the genitive case, края because the meaning is of the borderland, the other nouns because they follow the pre¬ positions от and до. Note that -a, -я and -oro do fit the pattern we have already seen for the genitive singular. Then we have a sentence which begins with an adverb followed by a plural verb. If this verb has an expressed subject we should seek the pattern adjective in не (ые) with noun in и (or Ы or other plural ending). The infinitive corresponding to 6ep^ is брать, but the glossary helps here; we have now the sea
13. VLADIVOSTOK
93
routes take, and it will be seen that начало is the noun beginning which completes a sense (it is pure chance that начало looks Uke a past tense neuter verb). The sea routes are further quaUfied by words which tell us where they lead, and the sentence will become clearer if we paraphrase take beginning with the word originate) the rest of this sentence contains famihar uses of в with the accusative, and some recognisable genitives, all here having the basic meaning of. Владивостбкский has an adjective ending, and in Russian it is necessary for a word used as an adjective to show these endings—^in Enghsh we generally use the simple noun as an adjective: London shops, save in a few cases, e.g. a Pennsylvanian village, a Kentish village) за with accusative we know, but it is seen here with an unfamihar meaning: during) стал may be identified as a past tense verb by its final л—in the earher passages we might have translated with became, but it will be more suitable to use has become in this sentence—^both meanings are possible; стать is followed by the instrumental case; all the remaining nouns, adjectives and pronouns are in the genitive case, some because they follow the preposition из of, and recognisable as plural by the pattern adjective in x with noun in ob, the last in the basic sense of, and recognisable as (feminine) singular by the pattern pronoun (= adjective) in ей with noun in ы. Readers should note the patterns of adjective (or pronoun) with noun, as they give useful information: страны could be nominative plural страны if the text did not show accents, but as there are no adjectives or pronouns in -ей in the nominative plural, the combination of endings rules out all ambiguity; in similar fashion -X can also be a locative plural ending of adjectives, but if it is combined with the -ob of a noun, it is unambiguously genitive plural. This passage has been annotated in some detail so that the reader may see the kind of features to look for when translating, and may grow to recognise some of the 'stock' patterns. It may be slow work at this stage to follow the annotations, and to keep one’s own note-book, but the labour will be repaid in the later stages. As far as possible we shall try to point out possible simplifications, for example instances where endings may be disregarded, and we shall not comment on the more obvious
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similarities with English, but some less evident similarities (see the note on называть, page 90) may help us to remember an unusual construction. Grammar §13.1. Though -ей may appear in fewer words than other types of genitive plurals, it occurs in numerous commonly used words and is regular for the classes to which день and ночь belong. Note that день reduces its stem to дн- in inflected forms. §13.2. The adjectives расподбженного, Соединённые are clearly adjectival in form, but comparison with the verb in¬ finitives расположить, соединйть would suggest that they may also be seen zs past participles passive of these verbs. The general rule for formation is to add -анный after removing a final -ать from the infinitive, and -енный after removing a final -еть or -ить. The short forms have only one н (-на, -но, -ны for feminine, neuter and plural). Dictionaries do not usually list participles, which must therefore be deduced from the verb infinitive. §13.3. Additional prepositions: за (accusative) during, мймо (genitive) past, by, сквозь (accusative) through, by. §13.4. Use of Case: instrumental with называть call, стать become.
14. ВЛАДИВОСТОК (2) В порту стоят суда, которые входят в состав советского торгового флота, осуществляющего экономйческие связи СССР с внешним мйром. Оти суда вернулись недавно из дальних рейсов и доставили во Владивосток фрукты с Явы, чай с Цейлона, разлйчные товары из другйх мест. Блуждая по лабирйнту улиц и переулков, то узких и тёсных, то просторных и широких, почтй на каждом шагу встречаешь прйзнаки большой культуры, пришедшей сюда, на Дальний Восток. Новые люди приезжают во Владивосток со всех концов страны, и город уже с трудом вмещает тех, кто покйнул Москву и Харьков, Ташкент и Тбилйси, Новосибйрск и Свердловск ради будущего Владивостока.
14. VLADIVOSTOK
95
Translation: Vladivostok (2). In the port stand ships which enter into the composition of-the-Soviet merchant fleet, fulfilling (carrying-out) economic Unks of-the-USSR. with the outside world. These boats havereturned, recently from far journeys, and have-deUvered into Vladivostok fruits from Java, tea from Ceylon, various goods from other places. StrolUng through the labyrinth of streets and lanes, now narrow and cramped, now spacious and broad, almost at every step you-meet signs of great culture (which have) come here, to the Far East. New people arrive in Vladivostok from all ends of the country, and the city already with difficulty contains those who have-left Moscow and Kharkov, Tashkent and Tiflis, Novosibirsk and Sverdlovsk for-the-sake-of the future of Vladivostok.
We know from Passage 13 that порт is masculine, so that порту must be one of the locatives in -y i(page 70), as is шаг below; with a plural verb in -ят we expect a plural noun, and судй. looks Hke a neuter plural—^which it is, though an irregular one, as the nominative singular is судно; (the genitive plural судбв is also irregular); enter into the composition of might be idiomatically translated go to make up’, осуществляющий is a present participle (see §6.7), best translated with a clause here; which effect {or form) the .. . links (the case is genitive to agree with what has gone before); after links we should expect with and c is, of course, used with the instrumental case here. верн)^пись —this verb is not reflexive in Enghsh; after {have) delivered {in) to we should expect from, and c is used with the genitive here, which gives the required meaning. Grammatical reminder: neuter nouns in -0 usually drop this vowel in the genitive plural (мест). блуждая may be translated strolling, and the form will be discussed below; переулок loses the 0 in inflection (page 55); TO ... TO is translated now . . . now, notice that the adjectives referring to ^лиц and пере;^лков remain throughout in the genitive plural, and are, as we say, in agreement with their nouns— the same construction occurred in Passage 13 with the word крйя, but in that case the Enghsh text could continue with the word of—here, as with осуществляющего, the genitive con¬ struction is not to be continued in the Enghsh translation; большбй can, of course, be mascuhne nominative singular, but also feminine genitive, dative, locative (and instrumental), and the combination with a noun in ы makes it unambiguously feminine genitive singular; пришёдший is a (slightly irregular)
д6
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
past participle active and means having come, here genitive in agreement with культуры—it might be translated simply with come or with a clause which has come) forms of the past participle active cannot always be derived simply from the verb infinitive, but all end in ший and most end in вший; со replaces c before certain groups of consonants (compare §9.6); тех looks a little unfamiUar, but it is simply a genitive plural of the pronoun тот, та, то that, genitive because here hving beings are referred to (see §9.5), the relative кто who, however, is followed by a singular verb although it may, as here, refer to more than one person— this is one of the cases where grammar and logic are at variance! ради with the genitive corresponds to the EngUsh usage for the sake of) the astute reader will have noticed that будущий looks like a present participle active, but just as the ‘pseudo’ present б^^ДУ, б^дет, etc. mean will be, so the sense of this participle is future (in both senses of the word!). Grammar Apart from some noun forms, and the participles, and a further preposition noted in the discussion, there are two verbal forms to be noted: §14.1. блуждая. Just as a participle may be regarded as a verbal adjective which describes, if active, the performer of an action, if passive, the object of an action, so this form may be seen as a verbal adverb. Usually it gives the information which would answer the question: how or in what circumstances did the action take place? In grammars this form of the verb is often called the gerund, блуждйя is a present gerund of the verb блуждать and is formed quite regularly by the syllable -я suffixed to the stem of the 3rd person plural present after removal of -ут, -ют, -ят (thus стбя corresponds to стоят, называя to называют, etc.). If the verb is of such form that the 3rd person plural present ends in -ат, e.g. ^чат they teach, the gerund ends in -a: уч4; in fact a replaces я after ж, ч, ш, щ. §14.2. The usual way of forming the past participle active is to remove the final -л of the past tense form and add the adjectival ending -впшй . instead. Exceptions to this rule will be discussed as they occur.
15. CLOTHING
97
15. ОДЁЖДА В большйх городах Россйи, по крайней мере, «типйчная» фигура русского на западных карикатурах — человек в меховой шапке, косоворотке и сапогах — появляется редко! На улице русские носят почтй такую же одежду как люди на западе. То есть: для мужчйн — рубашка с галстуком йли без него, брюки, пиджак, пальто йли плащ, и может быть, шляпа. Рубашки носят льняные, хлопчатобумажные и вискозные. Костюмы и пальто из шерстяной материи, шляпы фетровые или, лётом, соломенные. На ногйх — кожаные полуботйнки. Женщина носит платье из шерстяной, шёлко¬ вой или хлопчатобумажной ткани, йли костюм — т.е. блузку, жакет и юбку. Ради тепла надевают разлйчные трикотажные фуфайки, кофточки йли свйтеры. Дамские чулкй бывйют шёлковые, вискозные йли нейлоновые, и туфли с каблуками средней высоты. Нйжнее бельё опйсывать в таком учебнике, если не неприлйчно, то по крайней мере неуместно. Зимой люди обоих полов носят иногда шубу, т.е. меховое пальто, перчатки и меховые шапки, а рабочие надевают ватные пальто, варежки (перчатки без отдельных пальцев), и валенки (фетровые сапогй). Лётом мужчйны часто отдыхают на курортах и на дачах в пижамах, хотя в послёднее врёмя начали считать, что ходйть по улице в пижамах — некульту¬ рно. Люди со всех концов Союза постоянно посещают Москву, и там на улице довольно часто вйдишь экзотйческую одёжду народов Азии—узбёков, киргйзов и др. Благодаря им азиатская «тюбетёйка» — круглая шапочка с вышивкой — стала весьма популярным головным убором для русских детёй. Translation: Clothing. In the great cities of Russia, at least, the ‘typical’ figure of-a-Russian in Western caricatures—a man in fur cap, shirt (see vocabulary) and boots—appears seldom! In the streets Russians wear almost the same clothing as people in the West. That is: for men— shirt with tie or without it, trousers, jacket, overcoat or raincoat, and [it] may be, a hat. Shirts they-wear linen, cotton and rayon. Suits and overcoats [are] out-of woollen material, hats [are] felt, or in summer, straw. On the feet—leather shoes. A woman wears a dress of woollen, silk, or cotton material, or a suit, i.e. blouse, jacket and skirt. For (-the-sake-of) G
98
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
warmth they-put-on various knitted jerseys, cardigans, or sweaters. Ladies’ stockings are silk, viscose or nylon, and shoes with heels of medium height. Underwear to-describe in such [a] text-book, if not improper, then at least is out-of-place. In winter people of both sexes wear sometimes a shuba, i.e. a fur overcoat, gloves and fur caps, and workers put on padded over¬ coats, mittens (gloves without separate fingers), and valenki (felt boots). In summer men often relax in resorts and country-houses in pyjamas, although in recent time they-have-begun to reckon that to go about the street in pyjamas (is) ‘unrefined’. People from aU ends of the Union constantly visit Moscow, and there in the streets enough often you see the exotic clothing of the peoples of Asia—Uzbeks, Kirgiz and others. Thanks to them the Asiatic skull-cap—a round cap with embroidery— has-become very popular headwear for Russian children.
Translated literally no крайней мёре is by the extreme measure— in use it corresponds to at least and may be regarded as an idiomatic expression; note that русский is in form an adjective, as is our word Russian) появляется shows himself, or appears, might here be treated as a passive—is seen) мбжет быть it may be is the usual expression corresponding to perhaps) рубашки нбсят льнянйе may be re-arranged to read they wear linen, etc. shirts—this word order draws attention to the details which follow in the adjectives, as if we were to say as for shirts, well, they wear linen ones, etc.; из—we also say made out of) пальтб is an uninflected (foreign) word, and Hke костюмы shoifld be treated as a plural—generally foreign nouns ending in a consonant are treated hke ordinary mascuhne nouns, e.g. троллёйбус, those in a (e.g. пижама) are usually treated as feminines, but those ending in -0 and -e are usually uninflected; думские чулкй бывают . . . here again we might say as for ladies’ stockings, there are . . . ; србдней ВЫС0ТЙ can be translated Uterally, with of) опйсывать is best taken first in its sentence, which has no other verb, the words прилйчно and неумёстно being adverbs with which the verb is is imphed; люди has no singular, hke its Enghsh counter¬ part people—which is translated by нарбд when it means a people or nation) человёк means a human being, person or individual, whereas мужчйна means male, жёнщина woman, so that a woman may be человёк; the genitive plural человёк is almost always associated with a numeral, and then means a number of individuals, whereas люди is more general in sense; палец, hke чулбк, shortens the stem to one syUable in inflection, but inserts ь to indicate the quahty of the л as a palatal sound; на ^лице (на карикатурах, западе, курбртах) ah suggest in
15. CLOTHING
99
Russian the idea of location on—if the area can be seen as limited or enclosed (as by the frame round a caricature or drawing, a border on a map, the waUs in a street) Enghsh uses in; в generally indicates location within closer Hmits, often a close fit, Uke the fur cap!—^but also non-physically, as in a moment or period of time; the abbreviations used in this passage are very common— T.e. has appeared in full as to есть; и др. stands for и другие and others, but it should agree with its context, so that here, to agree with the other genitive plurals, it should be expanded и других. Grammar Little new material is introduced, though the dative plural ним (from oh) appears for the first time, as does the nearly regular genitive plural обоих of the numeral pronoun 66a both', (masculine and neuter); 66e feminine has genitive plural оббих.
16. МАГАЗЙНЫ (1) Одйн из элементов нашей жйзни на западе, в «капиталистйческом лагере», котбрый смущает всех посетйтелей из СССР, и котбрый онй никак не мбгут понять, — это рекла¬ ма. В СССР, конечно, коммерческой рекламы не существует. Правда, здесь и там на стенах виднеются большйе киноре¬ кламы и плакаты о благотвбрных качествах молока; на некоторых зданиях даже сверкают небновые объявления о сберкассе, опасности пожаров, и т.д. Но настоящей рекламы товаров, как мы её знаем, вообще нет. Как известно, вся торгбвля в СССР нахбдится в руках государства, и нет частных магазйнов. С нашей тбчки зрения, мбжет быть, это скучновато, однообразно. Однако магазйны не одинаковые. Существует всевозмбжные вйды магазйнов от огрбмных «универмагов» до маленьких газетных кибсков на улице. Любые пищевые продукты мбжно купйть в магазйнах Гастроном йли Продмаг (продовбльственный магазйн) но к тому же есть мнбго отдельных лавок, как например Бака¬ лейная, В'^лочная (где продают хлеб и пирбжное), Кондйтерская, и другйе под такйми вывесками как Фр'^кты-бвогци, Молоко, Мясо-рыба и Вйна-конъякй.
ІОО
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
Translation: Shops (i). One of the elements of our life in the West, in the ‘capitaUst camp’, which troubles visitors from the USSR, and which they nohow not can understand—(this) is advertising. In the USSR, of course, commercial advertising does not exist. True (truth), here and there on walls are-seen big cinema-advertisements, and posters about the beneficial qualities of milk; on some buildings even shine neon announce¬ ments about the savings-bank, the danger of fires and so on. But real advertisement of goods, as we know it, in-general is not. As (is) known, all trade in the USSR finds itself in the hands of the state, and [there-are] not private shops. From our point of view, may be, this is rather dull, monotonous. However (yet) shops are not of-one-kind. There are all¬ possible forms of shops from the huge ‘Universal-Stores’ to the little news¬ paper kiosks on the street. Any-you-like food products it-is-possible to buy in the shops Gastronom and Prodmag (produce shop), but as well there-are many individual shops like for-example the Grocer’s, Baker’s (where they-sell bread and pastry). Confectioner’s and others under such signs as Fruits-Vegetables, Milk, Meat-Fish, and Wines-Brandies,
ИЗ is always followed by the genitive case, and we need only check that элембнтов is a plural form; in нашей жйзни as in коммерческой рекламы and настоящей рекламы and нашей тбчки the combinations и or ы of noun with ей or ой of adjective can only indicate genitive singular (of a feminine noun); в followed by adjective in ом (or ем) and noun in e must be the indication of a location; in всех посетителей, -x may indicate genitive or locative plural (adjective) but -ей can only be a genitive plural—this genitive has no special significance but is used instead of an accusative because the visitors are hving beings (see page 66); note that words of negative sense hke никак must also have the negative particle не with the verb. The occurrence of мбгут (they) can and мбжет {it, he) can in this passage brings to our attention an interesting, if troublesome feature of the Russian verb: in many verbs the present tense stem (that is, the portion which remains when the personal endings are removed) may appear in more than one form; the full pattern for this verb is могу, мбжешь, мбясет, мбжем, мбжете, мбгут; the pattern is not random, but two consonants are regularly associated, and г/ж is one such pair—others will be noted as they occur. коммёрческой рекламы we have noted as a genitive—it is here associated with a negatived verb; we find other examples below, associated with нет which means is not or are not; strictly speaking the negative verb нет does not have a grammatical
16. SHOPS
lOI
subject, and in English we say there is no commercial advertisement in which there is not a true subject; the simplest way to under¬ stand the Russian construction is to look for the subject of discussion, i.e. the ‘not-grammatical’ subject, in the genitive case; this is a httle difficult, but we sometimes use an of con¬ struction in EngUsh to emphasise a total negative—^we may say: ‘That was not mentioned’, but to be more emphatic we may say: ‘Of that there was no mention’, or: ‘Have you found it?’— ‘Not a trace of it’; the parallel is not exact, but it may help the reader to assimilate this usage; where the Russian sentence has a subject and a negative verb, then the object is in the genitive (see page 133); the ‘nearest’ glossary entry to суіцеств;^ет is существовать, and it will be found that in all verbs of this type the -OB- of the infinitive is replaced by -y- in the present tense forms, and other forms derived from these. прйвда means truth, but it is often used where we should say it is true [that); виднёются means Uterally become or make them¬ selves visible, but this is, once more, an equivalent of the Enghsh passive—are seen) 0 is always followed by the locative case; taking basic meanings we have about beneficial qualities milk, and it is clear that the locative can be disregarded in translation (-X is an unambiguous indicator of the plural, however), but we should require the link-word of between qualities and milk and this corresponds exactly to the genitive ending of молокй; the ‘hard sign’ ъ in объявлёния indicates that the first syllable is 06- and not 0-, i.e. the word is derived from the stem of являть to show or indicate, which as a verb is usually found in the reflexive form являться to appear) сберкасса hke универмаг and продмаг is one of the typical abbreviated words which are used particu¬ larly for social and poHtical institutions in Soviet Russia— колхбз is another well-known one, standing for коллектйвное хозяйство collective economy, i.e. farm. её we know as meaning her, but it should be remembered that referring to a feminine noun not denoting a person, it also means it (here реклама). нахбдится finds itself, is found often means httle more than is or sometimes is situated. Adjectives ending in -ватый orjadverbs in -вато represent a modification of the basic meaning: скучный means dAdl, boring.
102
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
скучноватый yathey dull—^when adjectives of colour are modified in this way, we might use a form in -ish—синеватый bluish. люббй is an adjective in Russian, but needs to be expanded in EngHsh: any . . . you like, or simply any—the connection with любйть to love is clear; мбяено possible clearly calls for expansion here: it is possible to buy; к том;^ же is an idiomatic group meaning as well, into the bay gain-, мнбго can be used, in the plural (мнбгие etc.) as an adjective with the sense of yyiany, here in its neuter singular short form it has the sense of a lot and is followed by the genitive case: the г is not pronounced Hke в in this word, as -or¬ is part of the stem, not of an inflection; note the inserted vowel in genitive plural лавок from лавка. Gyammay §i6.i. Uses of the genitive case (i) for accusative of hving beings, (ii) replacing the subject of negative verbs which have no object, (iii) after мнбго. §i6.2. Variations in the present tense stems of verbs (i) within the stem: г/ж, (ii) between infinitive and present stem: ов/у.
17. МАГАЗЙНЫ (2) В киосках продаются газёты и журнблы и табак. «Частная» торговля пищевыми продуктами ведётся на колхозных рынках. Там крестьяне продают излишки про¬ дукции колхозов, главным образом овощи и фрукты. Кроме универмагов, готовая одежда продаётся в магазйнах под такйми вывесками как «Мосодёжда» и «Ленодёжда» (московская и ленинградская одёжда), а также в специальных магазйнах — Галантерея, Меха, Бельё, Обувь, Чулкй-носкй, Головные уборы, и на улице Горького, даже Щговщы. Вйдишь тоже много магазйнов Ткани, и Ательё, в которых шьют одёжду на заказ. В Еомиссидном магазйне идёт купля и продажа всяких подёржанных вещёй. А другйе магазйны? Кнйги для новых книг и Букинистические кнйги для старых; Ювелйрные издёлия и Русские самоцвёты; Спорттовары и Культтовары для спортйвных принадлёжностей; Канцелярские принад-
17. SHOPS
103
лёжности для бумаги, чернйл, перьев и т.п.; Аптёка для лекарств; и в случае Магазин похоронных принадлёжностей. Translation: Shops (2). In kiosks are-sold newspapers and periodicals and tobacco. ‘Private’ trade (with) food products is-carried-on on the collective-farm market. There peasants sell surpluses of the production of collective farms, chiefly vegetables and fruit. Besides the UniversalStores, ready-made clothing is-sold in shops under such signs as ‘Mosodezhda’ and ‘Lenodezhda’ (Moscow and Leningrad clothing), also in specialist shops—‘Haberdashery’, ‘Furs’, ‘Linen’, ‘Footwear’, ‘StockingSocks’, ‘Head Wear’, and on Gorky Street even ‘Buttons’. You see also many shops ‘Textiles’, and ‘Atelier’ in which they-sew clothing to order. In the ‘Commission Shop’ goes-on the purchase and sale of all kinds of used things. And other shops? ‘Books’ for new books and ‘Second-hand Books’ for old; ‘Jewellery Articles’ and ‘Russian Precious-Stones’; ‘Sports-Goods’ and ‘Kulttovary’ for sports requisites; ‘Ofiice Requisites’ for paper, ink, pens, etc., ‘Apteka’ for medicines; and in case of need ‘Store of Funeral Requisites’.
In the first sentence we have two reflexive verbs продаются and ведётся which will be better treated as passives: are sold, is carried on', ведёт(ся) would be difficult to find in an ordinary dictionary, as its infinitive is вестй, which has two irregularities: (i) the accented -тй instead of the more common -ть, (ii) the д of the stem has been dropped, or rather, the (theoretical) group -ДТ- has become -ct-; the reader need not memorise this, but we shall introduce selected irregular verbs from time to time, for information and interest, крестьйне is nominative plural of крестьянин—the singular adds the usual endings to the syllable -ин, but in the plural this syllable is dropped and the quite unusual ending -e is used for nominative plural, no ending is added for the genitive (and, of course, accusative) plural крестьян, and the syllables -ам, -ами, -ax are added for the remaining cases; the nouns of this type (not very numerous) all denote persons, often citizens of countries, such as англичанин Englishman] the words излйшки прод;^кции may look difficult at first sight—the first final и denotes a plural, the second a genitive singular. главным ббразом would mean literally in the principal manner —^it is an idiomatic group which may be translated by chiefly. крбме is a preposition which is always followed by the genitive. There is little distinction of meaning or use between тйкжѳ and тбже, both of which are translated by also] на заказ shows
104
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
a further shade of meaning for на, corresponding here to our word to. идёт means goes in general; here we should rather say goes on) it is used of films and plays, in contexts where we might say is running. чернйл is genitive plural—the word чернйла is of neuter gender and has no singular; пёрьев is also genitive plural—the singular nep6 is inflected quite normally, the plural is пёрья which stiU keeps the neuter characteristic -я, but this genitive plural takes a form which we associate with the mascuhne. The abbreviation т.д. stands for так дйлее so further, i.e. so forth. It is interesting to note that neuter nouns in -ство reduce this quite regularly to -ств in the genitive plural, without any inserted vowel to assist pronunciation. Grammar §17.1. Irregularities of nouns: (i) type крестьянин, (ii) no singular—чернйла, (Ш) перб. §17.2. Verbs: (i) веетй/ведёт (ii) reflexives used as passive.
Э{ремль c JAocKiu'peKu
18. THE MOSCOW RIVER TRAMWAY
105
18. московский РЕЧНОЙ ТРАМВАЙ (1)* В Москве нет ничего интереснее чем прогулка на речном трамвае. Изящные белые теплоходы весь день курсйруют взад и вперёд по реке между Краснохолмским мостом на востоке и Киевским вокзалом на западе. Москва-река бчень извилистая, и поэтому, хотя расстояние мёжду двумя конёчными станциями по прямой лйнии мёнее четырёх с половйной миль (около семй киломётров), по рекё это почтй дёсять с половйной миль (киломётров семнадцать). С теплохода хорошо вйдны здания и мосты Москвы — от одного конца до другого плывёшь под девятью мостами. Если ёдешь вверх по течёнию со станции Краснохолмский мост, проезжаешь мймо огромного высотного здйния на Котёльнической набережной, под Москворёцким мбстом, и потом мймо высоких стен и бйшен Кремля. Translation: The Moscow River Tramway (i). In Moscow there is not nothing more interesting than a trip on the 'river tramway’. Elegant white motorboats the whole day ply to and fro along the river between the Krasnokhohnsky bridge in the east and the Kiev railway-station in the west. The Moscow-river is very winding and therefore, although the distance between the two terminal stations in a straight Une [is] less than four with-a half miles (about 7 Idlometres), along the river this is almost ten with-a half miles (about 17 kilometres). From the motorboat (are) well visible the buildings and bridges of Moscow—from one end to the other you-float under nine bridges. If you-go up (along) stream from the station Krasnokhohnsky Bridge, you pass past the huge high building on the Kotehiichesky embankment, under the Moscow-river Bridge, and then past the high walls and towers of the Kremlin. *See Map on p. 143.
ничегб is, as its form suggests, a genitive (singular), and it appears in this form in association with the negative verb нет— the nominative and accusative form ничтб {nothing, not anything) is of rarer occurrence, but is used with prepositions, being then divided: ни за чтб not for anything) интерёснее demonstrates the comparative ending of the adjective (or adverb) in -ее—it is invariable; sometimes the neuter nominative (longer form) and the comparative may be identical in form if the text does not show accent—синее for both сйнее blue, and синёе bluer could be ambiguous, but the context is often helpful—a comparative is Ukely to be followed by than, or by the genitive case.
io6
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
поіэтому is a compound of no and этот—in the appropriate dative case, of course; the meaning corresponds to therefore, accordingly. двумя is an irregularly formed instrumental of два—the numerals 3 and 4 show similar formation of the instrumental: тремя четырьмя; although in the nominative and accusative cases the noun following a numeral is in the genitive case (see §10.5 and page 85), if a preposition modifies the whole group—numeral (+adjective)+noun, then the whole group takes the case re¬ quired by the preposition—this is an additional rule for the translator into Russian to remember, but the reader need only take note of the case if the preposition is one which is followed by more than one case, and the number is, of course, self-evident. прямбй линии is an exception to the rule that adjective in ей or ОЙ with noun in и or ы must be a feminine genitive group— this exception arises with feminine nouns having ия or ь in the nominative singular, and in these instances the group can be dative (as here) or locative as well as genitive; мбнеѳ is another comparative form, referring to расстояние, and is here followed by the genitive case, which indicates the sense of than in such constructions; note that where we would say and a half the equivalent of the Russian is with a half] миль is a regular genitive plural (dependent on дёсять)—the nominative singular is мйля, and the genitive plural is the regular feminine type shortened back to the last consonant, but ь is written to mark the soft (palatal) quality of the л; семь киломётров means seven kilo¬ metres, but киломётров семь means about seven kilometres—our text shows two methods of expressing an afyproximate measure: (i) by using 6коло (with the genitive, of course), (ii) by wordorder. дёвять is like a feminine noun with nominative/accusative in b, instrumental in ью, and all other cases in и. высбкий is the general word for high, tall, высбтный is used particularly of multi-storied buildings, and machines etc. for use at high altitudes. Grammar §18.1. Comparatives of adjectives in -ее, followed by чем or genitive.
18. THE MOSCOW RIVER TRAMWAY
107
§18.2. Forms of some numeral words, and use of case in groups with numerals and nouns. §18.3. Word-order with numerals and measurement. 19. МОСКОВСКИЙ РЕЧНОЙ ТРАМВАЙ (2) Около Большого Каменного моста есть водная станция, и отсюда теплоход плывёт дальше под Крымским мостом, и останавливается на станции напротив Центрального парка культуры и отдыха ймени Горького. От парка по левому берегу на несколько километров тянутся сады и деревья до огромного нового университета, расположенного на Ленинских горах. На противоположном берегу вйден большой стадион ймени Лёнина и множество другйх спортйвных сооружений. Когда теплоход сворачивает направо по изгйбу рекй, справа появляются старйнные купола и стены Новодевичьего монастыря, одного из самых замеча¬ тельных старйнных памятников в Москве. «Трамвай» плывёт мймо монастыря и скоро приближается к Кйевскому вокзалу. Там на реке виднеются пляжи, где люди купаются и катаются на лодках, которые онй берут напрокат. Иногдё проносится полицейский катер, йли мёдленно проплывает длйнная веренйца грузовых барж. Благодаря рекё и широкой сёти большйх рек и каналов, Москва считается «портом пятй морёй». Translation: The Moscow River Tramway (2). Near the Great Stone Bridge there is a water station, and from there the motorboat floats further under the Crimean Bridge and stops at the station opposite the Central Park of Culture and Rest of-the-name of-Gorky. From the park along the left bank for some kilometres extend gardens and trees as far as the huge new university situated on the Lenin Hills. On the opposite bank is visible the great Stadium of-the-name of-Lenin and a quantity of other sports buildings. When the motorboat turns to-the-right along the bend of the river, on-the-right appear the ancient cupolas and walls of the Novodevichy Monastery, one of the most noteworthy ancient monuments in Moscow. The ‘tramway’ floats past the monastery and soon approaches the Kiev railway-station. There on the river are-visible beaches where people bathe and ride on boats which they take on-hire. Sometimes shoots-past a police cutter or slowly floats-past a long chain of cargo barges. Thanks to-the-river and wide network of big rivers and canals Moscow is-reckoned [to-be] the ‘port of five seas’.
дальше is a comparative adverb, corresponding to the adjective
io8
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
далёкий far, distant—the formation may be regarded as ‘regularirregular’, i.e. the word belongs to the group of comparatives which are made by modifying the adjectival stem in some way, and then adding one of the sounds ж, ч, ш, щ followed by adjectival endings (for adjectives) or -e for the adverbial form; this particular word дальше has no corresponding comparative adjectival form; так далее demonstrated another comparative formation on the same stem (Passage 17)—дальше here imphes the coverage of additional distance, or location further away; д4лее is often used in contexts where the interest lies in the further continuance of something, further having a figurative and not a Uteral ‘space’ sense; after напрбтив comes a succession of genitives which form four separate elements of the sentence: (i) Центрального парка a ‘formal’ genitive, i.e. dependent only on the preposition, (ii) культуры и бтдыха— self-explanatory, (iii) ймени here a genitive indicating further definition, adverbial in function, (iv) Гбрького, also adverbial, quahfying ймя—(iii) and (iv) have their counterparts in such English expressions as a man of the name of Brown; this sequence has been discussed in detail so that the reader may become aware of this technique: if a long sequence of genitives is found in a text, it will usually be susceptible to analysis of this kind; the formula ймени Гбрького, or ймени Лёнина is the usual way of indicating that a place or bifilding is dedicated to, or named after, a person, нёсколько is a neuter pronoun which is followed by the genitive case of the noun it qualifies; the meaning is several or some, but the construction is better to be understood by thinking of a near equivalent like a small number of ) дёрево tree has the same irregularities as перб which was discussed in Passage 17; располбженного is genitive in agreement with Университёта, itself genitive following the preposition до. The stem of вйден is видн-, the mascuhne form here qualifying стадибн. This passage contains several reflexive verbs of different kinds: (i) ПОЯВЛЙЮТСЯ show themselves corresponds to the sense of appear, (ii) приближйѳтея, купаются and катйются would not require a reflexive pronoun in English, (iii) виднёются corresponds to an English passive are seen, although be visible.
19. THE MOSCOW тѴЕН TRAMWAY
109
can be seen are suitable translations, (iv) пронбсится means basically something like carries itself along but in present usage it has a stronger force and could be translated by rushes or speeds along, (v) считается means reckons itself, although an Enghsh passive could be used: is reckoned to be—note that the completion of the sense ‘the port of five seas’ is in the instrumental case in Russian. 6ep^ напрокат means they take on-hire, this word for hire applying particularly to vehicles but also other things (compare катаются in this sentence). This passage does not introduce much new grammatical material, but should provide useful revision exercise in recogni¬ tion of features previously discussed.
20. СПУТНИК (1) Одно русское слово, которое теперь знает каждый нерусский человек — «спутник» (т.е тело, которое сопутствует планете, идёт вместе с ней по том^ же путйпо пространству). Известие о запуске первого в мйре искусственного спутника Землй в 1958 г. произвело глубокое впечатление на все народы. 5то был не только первый шаг на путй к завоеванию человеком межпланётного прострёнства, но и сймвол достижений совётской на^и вообщё. Ёсли весь мир тогд4 ещё нуждёлся в доказательстве того, как далеко Совётский Союз шагнул за послевоённые годы, пёрвый спутник дал его. Вскоре за пёрвым послёдовали второй и трётий спутники Землй. Потом, в 1959 г. посрёдством космйческой многоступёнчатой ракёты, прорвалась за предёлы земного тяготёния и стёла выходйть на свою собственную орбйту вокруг Солнца пёрвая совётская искусственная планёта. Translation: The Satellite (i). One Russian word which now knows every non-Russian person [is] Sputnik (i.e. a body which accompanies a planet, goes together with it on the same path through space). News of the launching of the first in the world artificial satelhte of the earth in 1958 produced a deep impression on all nations. This was not only the first step on the way to conquest by-man of interplanetary space, but also a symbol of the achievement of Soviet science in-general. If the whole world then still needed (in) proof of-that, how far the Soviet Union hadprogressed in post-war years, the first Sputnik gave it. Soon after the
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RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
first followed the second and third satelhtes of the earth. Then in 1959 by-means-of the cosmic multi-stage rocket broke-through beyond the limits of terrestrial gravity and began to go out on its own orbit around the sun the first Soviet artificial planet.
In the Russian sentence, a clause which begins with a form of который which, or что that, i.e. a clause called relative because it relates to a preceding noun or expression, will sometimes have the verb before the subject; if there is an adverb, as here тепбрь, this will come before the verb; the result is a word-order which may perplex the Enghsh reader—as in the first sentence, the clause beginning with котброе; the word-for-word order would be which now knows every non-Russian person) apart from the fact that words do not know people, if person had been the object, it would be in the form каждого нерусского человбка; when an unusual word order appears, clearly we must test the sense and reject proposi¬ tions like 'man bites dog’, and we may also see whether a gram¬ matical clue is present; the verb сопутствовать (for ов/у compare §16.2) is followed by the dative case; the sense of той же may be remembered by regarding той as equivalent to that (or the) and translating же as same (although this is not its meaning); the preposition no might be translated by along on its first occurrence, and through on its second, in this sentence. извёстие means a single item of news, whereas the plural may mean items, or a whole collection of news; the group meaning first in the world is not broken in the Russian text—generally qualifying information tends to come earher in the Russian sentence, and later in the English sentence; в 1958 г. would be read в тысяча дсвятьсбт пятьдесят восьмбм году the last element but one being the locative case of the ordinal numeral восьмбй eighth—ninth is девятый, and in the ordinal numerals which are formed regularly -тый corresponds to our -th) it will be noted that the words for first and second do not bear any resemblance to the cardinal numbers одйн and два; году is one of the locatives in -y (see pp. 70 and 81). человбком comes earlier in the sentence than the words by man in the corresponding Enghsh sentence; и is to be translated also here. нуждаться to need is followed by в with the locative case—we have no similar construction in English, but it is worth noting
20. THE SPUTNIK
III
that beside to need, we also have to be in need of', note that whereas we can say proof of how, the Russian phrase needs the equivalents of proof of that, how; его is, of course, here simply the accusative of the pronoun oh6 (neuter)—the only instances of neuter nomina¬ tive and accusative not being aUke occur in some of the pronouns. посрёдством means quite literally by means of and is followed by the genitive—the structure is like that used with a preposition. The preposition вокруг is always followed by the genitive case. Grammar §20.1. Forms of some ordinal numerals, §20.2 construction after the verbs сопутствовать, нуждаться, §20.3 the preposition вокруг, §20.4 word-order.
21. СП'^ТНИК (2) йта «планета» была контейнер с научной аппаратурой для изучения и измерения состава газов в межпланетном пространстве, магнйтного поля Земли, космйческих лучей и т. п. Несколько месяцев спустя, в сентябре 1959-го года произошло ещё более потрясающее событие — советская ракета проехала двести трйдцать тысяч миль через простра¬ нство и попала в Луну в ту самую точку, на которую она была направлена. Такйм образом «лунник» был первым предметом, сделанным человеком, который совершйл такое межпланетное путешествие. Технйческое совершенство этих ракет и спутников показало решйтельно, что Россйя уже преодолела отсталость в области науки и техники, с которой она вышла на новый путь развйтия после революции в 1917-ом году. Translation: The Satellite (2). This 'planet’ was a container with scientific apparatus for learning and measuring the composition of gases in interplanetary space, of-the-magnetic field of Earth, of cosmic radiations and so forth. Some months later, in September of the 1959th year appeared a still more astounding event—a Soviet rocket went-through two-hundred thirty thousand miles through and fell into the Moon into that same point onto which it was directed, pn] such a way the ‘Lunik’ was the first object made by Man which accomplished an interplanetary journey. The technical perfection of-these rockets and sputniks showed decisively that Russia already had-surmounted the backwardness in the territory of science and technique with which it went forth onto the new path of development after the revolution in the 1917th year.
II2
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
The word аппаратура denotes a collection of apparatus, the word аппарат being used for an apparatus; as a prefix with the sense of inter- меж- is used as well as между-. произошлб, and in a later sentence вйшла, allow us to intro¬ duce the irregular verb идтй (also spelt иттй) to go. The present tense forms take the regular endings: иду, идёшь, идёт, идём, идёте, идут. The past tense, however, is formed from a different stem and has the forms шёл, шла, шло, шли. The infinitives of the verbs used here are произойти and выйти (which retains -ТИ although the accent is on the first syllable); a past participle active to the verb прийти was used in Passage 14, and шёдший is the past participle of идти; there are other words which we translate with go and some of these will be discussed later, but a compound of one, ёхать, is used in the next sentence in the past tense form проёхала—ёхать and its compounds usually imply travelling or riding in a vehicle, as distinct from mere going) we have already introduced the adjective самый which when it precedes another adjective means most—it has, however, also the meaning of the very, and is often used after forms of тот in this sense; она была направлена can be translated hterally, but it is worth noting, as another way in which Russian expresses an English passive (see page 74), направлена being (the feminine form of) a regularly formed past participle passive. тавйм образом literally means by such manner, and can usually be translated by in this way; of the four instrumental forms which start with пёрвым, the first three are simply dependent on the verb был, the fourth stands on its own with true instrumental sense. 66ласти is locative singular, the nominative being ббласть; the terminations of науки and тёхники mark the genitive singular; на путь uses the accusative case, because the sense is that of going out onto the road) the date is read в тйсяча девятьсбт семнадцатом году. Grammar §21.1. Forms of идтй to go. past participle passive.
§21.2 the passive with быть and
APPENDIX The difference between идтй and бхать is nicely demonstrated by a conversation quoted by Gorky in his Childhood (Дётотво). He asks his
21. THE SPUTNIK
113
grandmother: Ты отк^апришл4?шАеге have you come from? гл.6. she replies: C верху, из Нйжнего, да не пришла, а приехала! По водё-то не хбдят. From up there, from Nizhni, and I didn’t walk, I came {on the boat). People don’t walk on the water, you know.
22. ВРЁМЯ (1) Как известно, в году триста шестьдесят пять дней, йли пятьдесят две недели, йли двенадцать месяцев. В мёсяце около тридцати дней йли четырёх недель. В неделе семь дней. Одйн день и одна ночь — сутки. День имеет двадцать четыре часа. 24 часа — однй сутки. В каждом часу шесть¬ десят минут. В каждой минуте шестьдесят секунд. По-русски «часы» значит и hours и а clock or watch. Поэтому надо говорйть «одйн час» — one hour а «однй часы» — one clock йли one watch; «два часа» — two hours а «двое часов» — two clocks. Часы бывают разные — и ручные, и кармйнные, и стенные и стоячие. ^Р'тром нас будит будйльник. Сколько времени сейчас ? (йли же можно спросйть «который час?») Посмотрим на часы. Минутная стрелка показывает на цйфру 12, а часовая на 1 — значит:
Следует шесть часов, семь часбв, восемь, дёвять, дёсять, одйннадцать часов,
н
114
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
Время от часа до двух называется «второй час». От двух до трёх — «третий час» и т.д. Час ночи по-англййски — і a.m.; шесть часов (6 ч.) утра — 6 a.m.; два часа (2 ч.) дня — 2 р.т. (по-русски нет слова afternoon); шесть часов вечера — 6 р.т.; одйннадцать часов ночи — II р.т. Translation: Time (i). As [is] known, in the year [there are] three-hun¬ dred sixty five days, or fifty two weeks, or twelve months. In a month [are] about thirty days, or four weeks. In the week [are] seven days. One day and one night [is a] whole-day. The day has twenty four hours. 24 hours [are] one whole-day. In each hour sixty minutes. In each minute sixty seconds. In-Russian the word chasy means both hours and a clock or watch. Therefore it-is-necessary to-say . . . two clocks. Clocks (or watches) are various—(and) wrist (Uterally hand) and pocket, and wall and standing. In-the-morning us-wakes an alarm-clock. How-much time now? (or, else, it-is-possible to ask ‘which hour?’). (Let) us-look on the clock. The minute pointer points to the figure 12, and the hour [i.e. pointer] to i—that-means: one-o-clock. Now (it is) two o’clock. After an hour [it] will be 3 o’clock, then 4 o’clock. Now [it is] 5 o’clock. [There] follows 6 o’clock, 7 o’clock, 8, 9, 10, ii o’clock. The time from one o’clock to two is-called the ‘second hour’. From 2 to 3—the ‘third hour’ and so forth. One o’clock of-night in-English [is] i a.m., 6 o’clock of-the-morning —6 a.m., 2 o’clock of-day—2 p.m. (in Russian there-is-no word afternoon), 6 o’clock of evening—6 p.m., ii o’clock of night—ii p.m.
This passage introduces little new grammatical material, but as the whole system for the expression of times is idiomatically different from the English system, careful annotation may be useful. It is convenient to check that the use of words with numerals taUies with the principles outUned on pages 71, 106. After the words for the numerals 2, 3, 4, even if these are the last element of a compound number, the genitive singular form is used (note however that for час this form is stressed часа whereas the true genitive, as in от часа is differently stressed). After the words for 5-10, and after the ‘teens’ and tens ending in -дцать, as well as after the words for 40, 90, 100, 1000, the genitive plural is used. Special numerals are used with nouns which have no singular form. Thus with часй clock, watch which has no singular when
22. TIME
115
used in this sense, we have двбе часбв not два часй; other numbers in this series are трбе, четверо, etc,—as they often refer to a set or group of things or people they are called collective numerals (and are followed by the genitive plural of the noun); they will offer little difficulty to the reader as their forms are sufficiently like those of the cardinal numbers to suggest the meaning; it will be seen from одни сутки that the plural forms of ОДЙН must be used with the ‘plural only’ nouns—с;^ки means a solar day, as distinct from daytime, and is sometimes translated day and night. час offers further difficulty in that it can mean o’clock as well as hour{s); котбрый час ? is similar to the older English ‘what o’clock is it?’; час also specifically means one hour, one o’clock, and год, мбсяц, недбля may also be used in the sense of one year, one month, etc. Скблько врбмени means how much of time, but also means how long} скблько, Ике нбсколько is followed by the genitive (compare §8.4). It is important to appreciate that the time from i to 2 o’clock is called the second hour (2 to 3 third and so on), because, as we shall see in the next passage, the intermediate times are reckoned as parts of the second, third, fourth, etc. hour. The word for hour is not usually expressed. Other notes on the text: Both год and час have the locative singular in -y after в or на (§10.2). Часй бывают разные in that order means something like speaking of clocks, there are various {kinds)—the construction is easy to understand if we take разный as meaning of various kinds; where a series of и occurs, the first may be left untranslated, or stretching the strict meaning of both we can translate the first и with both. будит is from the verb будить and must not be confused with будет will be. The other present tense forms are бужу, будишь, будим, будите, будят—with consonant variation (see §16.2). врбмени is genitive singular of врбмя, which has the stem времен- for inflected forms, similarly имя, имен- name. посмбтрим looks like the ist person plural present form, but this form has another meaning; let us look at, and may be regarded as an imperative of the first person plural (compare §7.6).
ІІб
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
чёрез час looks like through an hour but we use a different idiom and say after an hour, or in an hour{‘s time). Although называется is usually followed by the instrumental case, it is possible, if quotation marks are present, to use the nominative. Grammar §22.1. Locative of год, час, genitive singular of врёмя, §22.2 case after numerals, special numerals (collective) used with nouns which have no singular, §22.3 genitive afrer скблько, §22.4 imperative of the first person plural. §22.5 present tense of будйть.
23. ВРЁМЯ (2) Скблько сейчбс врёмени? Четверть вторбго. Половйна второго, или полвторого. Три четверти вторбго. йли «без четверти два», йли «час сброк пять минут».
Двбдцать минут трётьего. Без двадцатй три.
Двенадцать часбв— *1 пблдень йли / пблночь.
Без десятй три
Встрётимся завтра! —Когд4? В котбром час;^? (Во скблько?) В час (1.00); в два часа (2.00); в пять минут вторбго (1.05); в половйну вторбго (1.30); бёз четверти три
23. TIME
117
(2.45); в полдень (12.00); в полночь (24.00); к пятй (около пяти);
; до пятй:
; в шестом часу:
Translation: Time (2). How-much now of time? A-quarter of-thesecond (i.e. hour). Half of the second, or half-second. Three quarters of the second or ‘less a quarter, two’, or ‘one o’clock forty five minutes’. Five minutes of the third. Twenty minutes of the third. Less twenty, three. Less ten, three. Twelve o’clock is midday or midnight. [Let] us-meet tomorrowl —When? At which hour? (At how-much?). At I o’clock, at 2 o’clock; at five minutes of the second (i.e. hour); at half of the second; less a quarter, three; at midday; at midnight; towards five (about five); up to (before) five; in the sixth hour (i.e. between five and six).
The word чётверть quarter is a feminine noun, as is половйна half. The idiom for expressing intermediate times up to the halfhour, is a statement of how much of the hour has already expired. To express times later than the half hour, the usual way is to name the next hour and say how much is lacking to complete the hour—без without may be regarded as meaning minus, so that без двадцатй три is three [o'clock) minus twenty, без is, as always, followed by the genitive. It is also possible to use a formula which gives the hour and the minutes which have been completed, as when we say one forty-five: час сброк пять мин^. Сброк looks hke а mascuHne noun, but it takes the form сорокй for all cases other than nominative /accusative. The usual way of naming a point in time is to use в with the accusative, though sometimes the locative case may be used— the distinctions of meaning are very tenuous, and need not trouble the reader. к or бколо indicate an approximate time, and may be translated with about) до impHes by the time named. встрбтимся offers another example of the ist person plural imperative discussed in Passage 22.
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RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
24. ВРЁМЯ (3) По-русски дни недели называются так, начиная с первого рабочего дня: понедельник, вторник (т.е. второй день), среда (т.е. средний день в неделе), четвёрг (т.е. четвёртый день), пятница (т.е. пятый день), суббота и воскресенье. Какой сегодня день ? — Сегодня четвёрг. Какое сегодня число ? — Сегодня пятое. Сегодня четвёрг девятое апрёля 1959-го года (9.4.1959) т.е. тысяча девятьсот пятьдесят девятого года. Когда вы родились ? — Я родйлся двадцать четвёртого августа, тысяча девятьсот тридцать восьмого года. В котором году? — В 1938-м году. (В трйдцать восьмом году). А в каком мёсяце ? — В августе. А которого числа? — 24-го (двадцать четвёртого). В какой это было день ? — В срёду. Которого числа это случйлось ? — Случйлось это седьмого апрёля. В этом году? — Нет, в прошлом (году). Когда вы встрётились с ним? — На прошлой недёле. Мы встрётимся ещё раз на будущей недёле, во вторник. Translation: Time (3). In-Russian the days of the week are called thus, beginning from the first working day: Monday, Tuesday (the second day), Wednesday (the middle day in the week), Thursday (fourth day), Friday (fifth day), Saturday and Sunday. What [is] today [the] day? —Today [is] Thursday. What today number (i.e. date) ?—Today [is the] fifth. Today is Thursday, 9th of April of 1959th year, i.e. thousand, ninehundred, fifty ninth year. When you were-bom? I was-born twenty fourth of August, thousand, nine-hundred, thirty eighth year. In which year?—In 1938th year. And in which (what) month?—In August. And which date ?—24th. In which this was day ? In Wednes¬ day. Of-which date this happened? Happened this of-the-seventh of April. In this year? No, in the past (i.e. last) year. When you met (with) him? On last week. We meet still a(nother) time on coming (future) week, in Tuesday.
This passage introduces further idioms used for the expression of time. In the phrases я родйлся двадцать четвёртого (апрёля) and
24. TIME
119
котброго числа? по word indicates the on which denotes the time relationship, but the defining words are in the genitive case. In some parts of England a similar usage occurs in popular speech: it happened of a Monday. Note also that the adverb сегбдня has the form of a genitive (with г pronounced as в), в котбром год^ (мбсяце) and в какбй день illustrate uses of the locative and accusative cases in expressions of time. The finer distinctions are a matter for the student of Russian syntax, but as was suggested in Passage 23, the reader need not take too much notice of this distinction, but more often в with locative may be translated in, and в with accusative on. на can also be used to express the idea of on or even in, but usually the context will imply that we are looking toward the future. Further notes on this passage: сейчбс, сегбдня show in their construction forms of the pro¬ noun сей this, which is not very much used otherwise, save in such expressions as до сих пор, which might be translated hterally to these times, i.e. till now. Note that the endings corres¬ pond to adjective (pronoun) inflection. The reader will note that in two phrases the words какбй день are separated by intervening words; this is a common construction with the forms of какбй, and to make for smoother translation the reader should read on after какбй and identify the associated noun before translating the intervening words— it will usually be the next noun in the sentence. The forms родйлся, родйлись make it clear that the reflexive verb has quite definitely a passive sense—^it is not possible to think of bear oneself Hterally in this context. родйлись demonstrates another grammatical feature: the polite form of address is grammatically a plural even though it is clear from the context that only one person is being addressed; this rule applies to adjectives as well as verb forms. начиная from начинать is a present gerund (compare Passage 14). The form of встрбтимся is present, but it is clear from the sentence that the sense is future. We sometimes use the present in this way in EngHsh, e.g. 1 go to London tomorrow. It wiU be
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
X20
noted here, but reserved for discussion later, that the present forms of many Russian verbs usually have future sense. раз is a noun and means a time, but it is easier to translate it with the Enghsh adverb once) then ещё раз can be read from the dictionary as again once and easily interpreted into once again) раз is also used in counting: раз, два, три, etc. Grammar §24.1 the pronoun сей, §24.2 ordinal numbers, §24.3 the genitive indicating time, §24.2 time indications of the prepositions в, на, §24.5 passive sense of reflexive verbs, §24.6 present tense with future meaning, §24.7 present gerund in -я, §24.8 word-order: какбй separated from its noun.
RECAPITULATION OF GRAMMAR FROM PASSAGES 13-24 As a general principal, this section Hsts only forms and uses which were not in the recapitulation which follows Passage 12. Some items have been repeated and expanded because it is thought that they may offer special difficulty. On the other hand, some inflected forms which appeared, for example, in the table of adjective endings, but which had not occurred in Passages 1-12, have been omitted from this review, as they are recognisable variants of known forms. Nouns 1. Various forms of the ‘reducing stem’ noun день, stem днwith soft endings (§13.1). 2. Mascuhne nouns with locative (after в and на) in -y (§22.1). 3. Nouns with b, Ж, 4, Ш, Щ in the nominative singular have genitive plural in ей (§13.1). 4. Neuter plurals in -ья (nom. acc.), -ьев (gen.) ьям, ьями, ьях (дбрево, перб §17.1, Passage 19). 5. Neuter nouns in -мя (nominative singular), have stem in -ен replacing -мя, genitive, dative and locative singular in И, instrumental in ем—this is a mixed pattern, but the
GRAMMAR
I2I
endings аД occur with other classes of noun, and the plural is of the regular (hard) neuter t5фe (§22.1), 6. Nationalities (and some other designations of persons): these have -нин in the nominative singular, and are regular; in the plural -нин is reduced to -h and the endings are -НѲ (nom.) -H (genitive and accusative), -нам, -нами, -нах (dat. inst. locative) (§17.1). 7. Nouns with no singular: с^ки, часы (meaning clock), чернйла (neuter) (Passages 17, 22). Adjectives Further discussion of the comparative in -ее; comparative followed by чем or the genitive case (§18.1). Pronouns 1. An additional form of он; forms of сей; forms of 66a both (Passages 15, 24). 2. The pronouns много, нёсколько, скблько with the genitive (Passages 16, 19, 22). Numerals 1. Forms of cardinal numbers (Passages 18, 23). 2. Forms of ordinal numbers (§§20.1, 24.2). 3. Collective numerals (§22.1). Adverbs Comparative in -ее, -uie (Passage 19). Prepositions With accusative: в, за, сквозь (including time) (Passages 13, 23, 24). With genitive: вокруг, до, крбме, мймо (Passages 13, 17, 20, 23)With dative: к (Passage 23). With locative: в, на {time) (Passages 23, 24). Verbs I,
Change of stem consonants in the present tense: (§i6.2), д/ж (§22.5).
г/ж
122
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
2. 3. 4. 5.
Change of infinitive -ob- to -y- in the present tense (§16.2). The imperative of ist person plural (Passages 22, 23). Some irregular verbs вѳстй (§17.2), идтй (§2i.i). Participles: past active in -вший (§14.2), past passive in -H, -ННЫЙ (§13.2). 6. Gerund: present in -я (§§14.1, 24.7). 7. Expression of the passive: by reflexives (§§17.2, 24.5), быть+past participle (§21.2). 8. Other senses of the reflexive (Passage 19). 9. Present tense with future meaning (§24.6). 10. Construction after verbs, see Use of Cases (below) and also §20.2. Use of Cases 1. Genitive: for accusative of masc. living beings (§16,1), with negative verbs (§16.1), after comparative (§18.1), after pronouns мнбго etc. (Passages 16, 19, 23), for naming (Passage 19), denoting time (Passages 23, 24). Note: The genitive does NOT replace the accusative singular for female living beings, except in negative. 2. Dative: with verb сопутствовать (§20.2). 3. Instrumental: with verbs называть, стать (§13.4). Word-order 1. For approximation in measures (§§18.3, 20.4); 2. Separation of какбй from its noun (§24.8). Idioms 1. Naming (Passage 19), 2. главным and такйм ббразом (Passages 17, 21), 3. Time (Passages 22-24). This summary should provide a useful check on the learner’s own notes.
READING PASSAGES 25-36 The passages now become more difficult. The annotations will usually take for granted all the grammatical material summarised after Passages 1-12 and 23-24. New grammatical features will be discussed as they occur, and the notes may give more extensive information than is called for by the particular example occurring in the reading passage. The meanings of words must now be looked up in the glossary; they will be given there in the forms which are usually shown in dictionaries, i.e. the nominative singular of nouns, nominative masculine singular of adjectives and pronouns, the infinitive of verbs. Where forms of such words are difficult to recognise, they may be given additionally, thus день day appears in its alphabetic place, but as readers may meet shortened forms which begin with ДН-, this form will be noted, with a reference to the nominative singular. The reader is advised at this stage to look for a glossary entry which shows a maximum of the letters of the form which is actually in the text, and then consider whether the basic meaning of the word glossed makes sense in the text. The glossary entries are of necessity limited, and the notes will discuss shades of meaning of particular words at greater length, where this seems necessary, and also interpret the idiomatic expressions which occur. Readers may find that they can dispense with a word-for-word rough version (except for very difficult groups of words), and it will save time when using the glossary if they list the unknown words in alphabetical order. The making of these lists also helps the reader to remember the words, of course. Although the annotations still follow the passages, it is advisable to read them through before attempting to translate the text. Translations (2530) should now be used only as a check; it is important that learners should try to do the work of translation by their own efforts. It will be useful to re-read the notes on pages 90-1 before studying this section. 123
124
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
25. МОЁ ^TPO Каждый день в половйну восьмого звонйт будйльник и будит меня. Без него, кйжется, я никогда не проснулся бы. Я просыпйюсь и встаю мёдленно. Я не прыгаю с постёли, потом;^ что в ней очень тепло и удббно, и совсём не хбчется вставёть. Потягиваюсь, зевёю, и отправляюсь в вённую. Там я умывёюсь, брёюсь, вытираюсь полотёнцем и потом возвращаюсь в спальню одеваться. Снимаю пижаму и наде¬ ваю нйжнее бельё, рубашку, брюки. Стою пёред зёркалом, причёсываюсь и завязываю галстук. Потом снова сажусь на постёль, чтобы обуться. Скйдываю домашние туфли, натягиваю носкй и надевёю башмакй. Наконёц надеваю пиджёк и иду вниз зёвтракать. Я здорбваюсь с мётерью, котбрая ужё одёлась и приготбвила зёвтрак. Мы рёдко садймся зёвтракать все вмёсте — врёмя идёт и все мы торбпимся. Ужё половйна девятого! Я прощёюсь с мётерью и бросёюсь йз дому, чтббы попёсть на автббус. «Кто рёно встаёт, тому Бог подаёт.» This passage will provide adequate practice in the recognition of the first person singular of verbs, reflexive and simple! Two of the shghtly irregular types of present are displayed here: сажусь from садйться, the consonant variations are the same as those of будйть (§22.5) and the other forms are садйться, садйтся, садймся, садйтесь, садятся. встаю from вставать which does not have consonant variation, but shortens the stem to вста-, other forms встаёшь, встаёт, встаём, встаёте, встают. The verb подавать has sinfilar forms, and the reader can identify подаёт as belonging to that verb. In the second sentence we find a new use of the verb in я никогда не проснулся бы; we can dismiss я from consideration, and merely note in passing that the negative word никогда never also requires negation of the verb, не. Then we are left with проснулся and бы, проснулся is clearly an -л past tense, but the word бы modifies its sense, so that instead of meaning I woke up it means I would wake up. бы is not translatable in its own right and acquires a sense only together with a past
25. MY MORNING
125
tense. If we regard бы as a sign that would must be in our translation, and then identify the verb which is in the past tense, translating this verb in the infinitive we can deal with this formula, whatever order бы and the -л- verb may take (and this is variable). We see here that the writer would never wake unless a condition were fulfilled {without it, i.e. the alarm-clock), and the construction бы-fpast tense is called the conditional form or mood of the verb. Other notes on the passage: кажется, which means it seems, is often used where we might say probably or I think. (не) хбчется means it wants {does not want) itself, and it is often used idiomatically instead of я хоч^, он хбчет, etc. to express a wish in a more general way, impersonally, i.e. {in such circum¬ stances) one does not want . . . ; this is called an impersonal con¬ struction. The other present tense forms of the verb хотёть to want are хбчешь, хотйм, хотйте, хотят. здорбваться to greet and прощатся to take leave of, say ‘Good¬ bye’ to are both used with c and the instrumental. Mother мать has this form for nominative and accusative singular, but all other forms are made by adding to the longer stem матер- the endings used for feminine nouns in ь. врёмя идёт might well be translated time goes on here, попасть на means literally to fall {land) upon, but it is used in a number of extended senses which include catch {vehicles), get (by chance or misfortune) into a situation, and in the negative не попасть means to miss', its forms are rather like those of вестй (§17.2), present попаду, попадёт, etc., past попйл. кто is often to be translated by he who, когб him who, etc. тому: TOT need not be followed by a noun, but can stand alone, and then means either that one (thing or person); the best translation of тому here is to him. Translation: My Morning. Every day at half of the eighth (= 7.30) rings the alarm and wakes me. Without it, it-seems, I never would wake. I wake and get-up slowly. I [do] not leap from bed, because in it [it is] very warm and comfortable, and entirely not is-wished to-get-up. Istretch-myself, I yawn, and direct-myself (= make my way, go) to the bath[room]. There I wash-myself, shave-myself, wipe-myself with-atowel and then return to the bedroom to-dress-myself. I-take-off [my]
12б
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
pyjama and put-on under[-]linen, shirt, trousers. I-stand before the mirror, do-my-hair and tie [my] tie. Then again I-sit-down on the bed, in-order-to put-on-footwear. I-kick-off house slippers, pull-on socks and put-on shoes. Finally I-put-on [my] jacket and go down to-breakfast. I greet [my] mother, who already has-dressed-herself and has-prepared breakfast. We rarely sit-down to-breakfast all together—time passes and all we hurry-ourselves. Already half of-the-ninth! I say-goodbye-to [my] mother and throw-myself out-of [the] house, in-order-to fall onto [the] 'bus (i.e. catch the ’bus). ‘Who early rises, to-him God will-give.’
26. ДЁНЬГИ Вот как выглядит рубль. Главные элементы рисунка — пышные рамки в стйле рококо, состоящих из сложного многоцветного узора переплетённых лйний. Наверх^ на¬ печатано: Государственный казначейский билём^ а посередйне — стоимость один рубль. Цйфра один повторяется несколько раз в разных местах. Слева наверху находится государс¬ твенный герб СССР: земной шар, на котором лежйт серп и молот, окружён венком из шпенйцы. Пшенйчные снопьі связаны тесьмой, на которой напйсан на пятнадцати языках Союзных республик лозунг Пролетарии всех стран, соеди¬ няйтесь! Над земным шаром — красная звезда, а под шаром восходящее солнце. Справа внизу напечатан красным поряд¬ ковый номер. Стоимость один рубль напечатана и на обратной стороне
26. MONEY
127
билета на четырнадцати другйх языках Союза, в том числе на украйнском, белорусском, казахском, грузйнском и армян ском. Кроме рублёвых бумажек в обращении находятся и билеты другйх стоимостей — и трёхрублёвые, и пятирублёвые, и в десять, двадцать пять, пятьдесят и сто рублей. Чем больше их стоимость, тем сложнее на них рисунок. На многих появляется портрет В. И. Лёнина. Есть и металлйческая монета в одйн рубль. Другая русская денежная единйца — копейка. В рубле сто копеек. В обращении находятся монеты в одн^ копейку, как и в две, три, пять, десять, пятнадцать, двадцать и пятьдесят копеек. Рисунок на всех одинаковый — на лицевой стороне герб СССР, на обороте — стоимость, год чеканки, пшенйчные колосья и дубовые веточки с желудями. В начале 1961-го года в связй с общим изменёбием масштана цен в СССР, старые дёньги заменйлись новыми, стоимость которых в дёсять раз больше, так что за дёсять старых рублёй граждане получйли одйн новый. В то же врёмя цёны товаров разделйлись н4 десять, так что вещь, раньше стоившая двёсти рублёй, тепёрь стоит двадцать рублёй. Вот нёсколько примёров цен в Совётском Союзе. За рубль можно купйть три бутылки пйва, или пять пачек папирос или сигарёт (по двадцатй штук). За дёсять копёек можно купйть чашку кофе, два билёта для проёзда в метро, или четыре газёты. Ъутьілка водки стоит три рубля. дёньги money has no singular forms. соединяйте is 2nd person plural imperative of соединять. The rules for the formation of imperatives are somewhat com¬ plicated, but for the reader it is sufficient to note that one of these terminations is used: -иге (this is identical with the 2nd person plural of the present tense indicative), -йте, or ьте; in the latter cases й or ь replaces the -e- or -и- of the 2nd person plural. The 2nd person singular imperative is simply the 2nd person plural form minus те, therefore ending in и, й or ь. и is so often translated by and that the meaning also may be overlooked, but it is to be used for и билёты in the sentence beginning крбме, which also contains a ‘series’ of и, meaning and.
128
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
В ДЕСЯТЬ . . . рубдёй demonstrates an additional meaning for the preposition в, here for. CTO hundred used with a noun has the form ста for ah cases but nominative/accusative, and hke other numerals from 5 upwards has its noun in the genitive plural. The two words чем . . . тем each foUowed by a comparative form have the force of English the .. . -er the .. . -er. Care must be taken not to confuse the two verbs стбить cost and стоять stand. The present tense forms are identical: стою, стошпь, стоит, стоим, стоите, стоят—^with the accent on стб in ah forms meaning cost, and on the second syllable in all forms meaning stand. no однбй копёйке shows no used with the sense of for, at the rate or value of.
Translation: Money. Here is how looks a rouble. The main elements of the design are florid borders in the rococo style, consisting of a com¬ plicated multi-coloured pattern of interwoven lines. At the top is printed State Treasury Note, and in the middle the value: one rouble. The figure i is repeated several times in various places. On the left above is found the state arms of the USSR: the Earth globe on which lies a sickle and hammer, surrounded by a garland of wheat. The wheatsheaves are tied with a ribbon on which is printed in the 15 languages of the Union republics the slogan Proletarians of all countries, unite! Above the Earth globe is a red star, and under the globe, the rising sun. On the right below is printed in red the serial number. The value ож rouble is printed also on the reverse side of the note in 14 other languages of the Union, including Ukrainian, White Russian, Kazakh, Georgian and Armenian. Besides rouble notes there are in circulation also notes of other values—3-rouble, 5-rouble, and for 10, 25, 50 and 100 roubles. The greater their value, the more complicated their design on them. On many is shown the portrait of Lenin. There is also a metal coin for i rouble. The other Russian monetary unit is the kopek. In a rouble are 100 kopeks. There are coins in circulation for i kopek, as also for 2, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 50 kopeks. The design on all is of the same kind—on the face side the arms of the USSR, on the reverse, the value, the year of coining, wheat ears and oak tvHgs with acoms. At the beginning of 1961 in connection with a general change of the measure of prices in the USSR, the old money was replaced by new, the value of which is 10 times greater, so that for 10 old roubles the citizens received one new. At the same time, the prices of goods were divided by 10, so that a thing formerly costing 200 roubles now costs 20 roubles. Here are some examples of prices in the Soviet Union. For a rouble it is possible to buy three bottles of beer, or five packets of cigarettes (Russian or Western style) of twenty each. For 10 kopeks one can buy a cup of coffee, two tickets for a ride on the Metro, or four newspapers. A bottle of vodka costs 3 roubles.
27. ENTERTAINMENTS
129
27. РАЗВЛЕЧЁНИЯ (1) — Анна Михайловна, что вы делаете сегодня вечером ? Хотите пойтй со мной в театр ? — Нет, Пётр Семёнович, не могу. — Почему же? — Просто мне некогда. Сегодня вторник, я должн4 мыть волосы, -Ну, пожалуйста, отложите на завтра. На этой неделе я свободен только сегодня вечером. — Хорошо, вы уговорили меня. А куда вы хотйте пойтй? — Мне всё равно: вам выбирать, вы — дама. Вот на последней странйце Правды — «Сегодня в театрах Москвы». — Спасйбо. Посмотрим. Новый сезон ещё не открылся — Большой и МХАТ закрыты. В Малом театре идёт «Гроза» Островского — это хорошая пьеса, но сколько раз я вйдел её! В филиале Большого театра гастролйрует Ленинградский театр музыкальной комедий, дают «Мйстер Икс». Говорят, что это очень забавно. ■—Да, но вряд ли нам удастся достать билеты на сегодняшнее представление. — Верно. Оно имеет большой успех. This text displays several uses of the dative case. This has been discussed on page 88, but it is worth while examining the examples here, remembering that the general translation of this case is the Enghsh word to c 1. мне нёкогда shows the use of the dative to express the idea of having—to-me {there is) no-time; this is similar to the use of the preposition y, which was introduced in early lessons. 2. мне всё равно to-те {it is) quite equal, which with a change of word-order makes clear sense in English, though we usually say, it is all the same to me. This kind of construction with dative and a neuter adjective is very common. 3. вам выбирать {it is) to-you to-choose, here again the idiom is only slightly diherent from English, where we might say either it is for you ... or it is up to you. 4. нам удастся {it) succeeds to us—note that if we turn it gives I
130
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
itself to US into the passive it is given to us we come very near to an English expression with the same meaning. The usual English rendering is simpler: we succeed. With a further example which will be discussed in the next passage, we have a good review of the principal uses of the dative case here. удастся has infinitive удаться, but we also find in dictionaries the form удаваться, and we have noted before that Russian sometimes has pairs of similar verbs for which the same trans¬ lation holds good (§87). Of such pairs, the present tense form of one often has future sense, and this would be appropriate for удастся here. This matter will be discussed further in the next passage, and also later. (We have also пойтй to go beside the known ИДТЙ.) The present tense of дать and its compounds has irregular forms: дам (no y!), дашь, даст, дадйм, дадйте, дад^; the imperatives are дай and дайте. Other notes on this text: что is freely used here both as a pronoun meaning what, and as a conjunction, joining two parts of a sentence, with the meaning that. почему же shows же used for emphasis—as we might say Why now? or Well, why? отложйте—we should say put it off, but the English usage is idiomatic, as there is no word to which it refers; we often use it to refer to a general or whole situation. MXAT stands for Москбвский Худбжественный Академйческий Театр. Острбвского has this form because many family names in Russian are adjectives, like White and Brown in Enghsh. A citizen called Острбвский must alter his name according to the grammatical situation in which he finds himself! вряд ли is not open to simple analysis—^we must just remember that these two words mean hardly, scarcely. имёет from имёть shows a simple verbal expression for to have, but it is less used than the construction with y, mentioned above. Translation: Entertainments (i). Anna Michaelovna, what you do today in-the-evening? You-wish to-go with me (in)to [the] theatre?—No, Peter Semyonovich, I cannot.—Why, now ? Simply, to-me no-time. Today is Tuesday, I [am]-obliged to-wash [my] hair(s).—Now, please, put-[it]-off (on) to tomorrow. (On) this week, I am free only today in the evening.—Good, you have persuaded me. And where do you wish
27. ENTERTAINMENTS
131
to go ?—To me [it-is] quite equal (= all the same): it is for you to choose, you are the lady. There on the last page of Pravda—‘Today in the theatres of Moscow’.—Thank you. Let-us-have-a-look. The new season still has not opened—the ‘Bolshoi’ and M.A.T. are closed. In the Little Theatre is-running Ostrovsky’s ‘Thunderstorm’—that is a good piece, but how-many times I have seen it! In the branch of the ‘Bolshoi’ theatre is-playing-as-guest-company the Leningrad Theatre of Musical Comedy, they are giving ‘Mr. X’. They say that that is very entertaining.—Yes, but hardly we shall succeed in getting tickets for today’s performance. —True, it is having great success.
28. РАЗВЛЕЧЁНИЯ (2) — В Летнем театре парка Горького кукольный театр даёт «Необыкновенный концерт». — Ах, это спектакль Образцова. Чудесная вещь, но я уже вйдел её два раза. — Ну, кажется, мы не пойдём в театр. Я слышал, что в парке Горького будет концерт. Приятно сл^ать музыку на открытом воздухе, не правда ли? — Правда. Но будет играть духовой оркестр и я совсем не люблю духовых оркестров. — Пойдёмте лучше в кино. Вы знаете, что идёт? — У меня в кармане журнал Московская кинонедёля. Вот смотрйте какой выбор — восемьдесят шесть кинотеатров и двести фйльмов. Даже вы, должно быть, найдёте что-нибудь интересное ? — Не шутйте. Дело только в том, что я знаю, что люблю. «На вкус и цвет товйрищей нет». — Извинйте. Вы вйдели «Идиота» ? 5тот фильм вам понравился ? — Очень понрйвился. Мне нравятся многие фйльмы. — Что идёт в Маяке ? — «Разбйтые мечты» и «Честь товарища». Говорят, что оба фйльма хорошие. Пойдёмте туда! — Соглйсен. Очень хочу посмотреть новый киножурнал. Я позвоню сейчас, чтобы заказать места. На какой сеанс мы идём? — По-моему второй лучше. — Хорошо. Значит, в восемь часбв.
132
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
This passage introduces another expression for the future. If we translate б;^дет играть Hterally we have will-be to-play, we use a similar construction in English when we say he is to go to London next week. If we translate the infinitive with an English form in -ing after будет, the sense of this future is well reproduced; a windband will be playing. We cannot use this future if the action mentioned is seen as being completed in the future—in this case we use ‘present-futures' of the type we had in нам удастся (Passage 27), where the success was seen as being achieved (actually some doubt was expressed, but this resided in the words вряд ли). A similar difference in the view taken of the action is exemplified by этот фильм вам понравился ? did you like this film or rather did this film please to-you (another dative—^we too say it is pleasing to me). Here the question asks whether something has happened, and is settled—the answer is yes or no, and the film is not actually continuing to please the girl at the time of conversation. When, however, we say мне нравятся многие фильмы, this is a situation which is generally true and which continues to apply. We have here then two verbs нравиться and понравиться (each+dative, but this is irrelevant to the present discussion) with the same basic meaning. The user of нравиться does not see the verbal idea in terms of completion or perfection, and we call this a verb of imperfective aspect, or simply an imperfective verb. The user of понравиться sees the verbal idea in terms of completion or perfection and we call this a verb of perfective aspect or a perfective verb. Completion need not imply only a situation which is past. For instance, when the speaker says я позвоню he is using a per¬ fective verb; we translate this by / will telephone, but clearly he does not mean us to see him telephoning on and on, he means I will telephone and settle the business. So it comes about that the perfective verb may have future meaning, and it has this when present-tense forms are used. This is the most common shade of meaning of the present forms, since, as a little reflexion will show, perfection can only have been achieved or be about to be achieved at a given moment of speaking. At this stage we would advise the reader simply to treat presents as presents, but if I telephone (etc.) sounds strange, to test the effect of putting I will telephone,
28.
ENTERTAINMENTS
133
and usually the context wiU show when this is necessary. In this way the reader may continue to regard the imperfective and perfective verbs as two separate words having the same meaning (and usually similar form) without attempting to learn the comphcated relationships between the two forms. We shall continue the discussion of the verbal aspects in later passages. Other notes: Not aU family names are adjectival, some are nouns, like Образцбв, and they must undergo the changes which grammar requires for nouns. открйтый is actually a past participle passive, some of which are marked by -t- instead of -h- (compare §13.2)—the т is not doubled in the long form. не правда ли ? isn’t that the truth ? as well as meaning whether, ли may be used in a question, as a kind of ‘spoken question-mark’ —it is not translatable in this usage, though it corresponds in a way to our isn’t it? aren’t you? etc.—that’s the truth, isn’t it? The reply to this question is not да yes, but a repetition of the operative word in the question; бчень понравился below is a similar example—^we should probably say yes, very much, but this kind of repetition is very common in Russian. я не люблю духовйх оркёстров. We discussed the use of the genitive with negative verbs in §16.1, and we have here an example of the object of a negative verb in the genitive case; this is normal usage. пойдём alone can mean let us go (see Passages 22, 23), but often in conversation, and in conversational writing the syllable -те is added. найдёте is perfective and may be translated with will find or can find. чтб-нибудь means something or other] -нибудь adds an idea of vagueness to the words with which it is used, e.g. как-нибудь somehow or other, кто-нибудь someone. дёло тблько в том is an idiom meaning literally the matter is simply in that, and corresponds to our the fact of the matter is, or nearer to the Russian: it is merely that. на вкус, etc. suggests a further meaning for на: as to. The sense of the whole is: if we’re talking of taste and colour, no two people are alike (i.e. there are no comrades in these matters).
*34
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
значит may be translated that means, fairly literally, but it often has the sense, as here, of well, that’s understood now—a slight warning, mind you're not late. Translation: Entertainments (2). In the Summer Theatre of Gorki Park the puppet theatre is giving ‘An Unusual Concert’.—Ah, that is Obraztsov’s show. A wonderful thing but I already have seen it twice. Well, it seems, we won’t go to the theatre. I heard that in Gorki Park there is-to-be a concert. It is pleasant to listen to music in the open air, isn’t it true?—True. But a wind band will be playing, and I absolutely don’t like wind bands.—Let-us-go-then rather to the cinema. You know what’s running ?—In my pocket I have the Moscow Cine-week. There, look, what a choice—-86 cinemas and 200 films. Even you, it ought to-be (= surely), will find something interesting?—Don’t joke. The fact is simply (in that) that I know what I like. ‘In [matters of] taste and colour there are no comrades.’—Excuse me. Have you seen ‘The Idiot’ ? Did that film please you ?—It pleased [me] very much. Many films please me.—^What is running in the Beacon?—‘Shattered Dreams’ and ‘The Honour of a Comrade’. They say that both films are good. Let’s go there!—Agreed. I very much want to see the new news¬ reel. I’ll ring up at once, to order seats. To which sitting shall we go? —For me, the second is better.—Good. Then it’s eight o’clock.
29. РАЗВЛЕЧЁНИЯ (3) В субботу вечером интересно подумать о том, как проводят вёчер большинство населения Великобритании, какие у них субботние развлечёния. Театры и кино полны людёй. Обычно все театральные места зёняты, а у всех кино стоят очереди людёй и ждут начбло слёдующего се4нса. Неважно, кажется, хороший ли фильм идёт — у дверёй всех кино без исключёния стоит хвост. Многие же предпочитают фильмам и пьёсам музыку, и на концёртах бывает очень много любителей музыки. Но тепёрь всё это можно вйдеть и слышать дома, и всё больше людёй никуда не ходят по вечерам, а сидят у себя дома и смотрят телевйзор. Благодаря телевйдению во многих домах почтй прекратилась всякая общёственная жизнь — почтй не успевают ужинать, когда идёт вечёрнее представлёние. Но, слава Богу, телевйзор введён безврёдно в одно свящённое мёсто, где ещё жива субботняя общёственная традйция — в англййскую пивную. Там по субботам, в городах и сёлах.
29. ENTERTAINMENTS
135
обсуждают послёдние футбольные матчи (йли же вечный крйкет), иногда поют песни — и только время от времени смотрят на экран телевйзора, стоящего над прилавком. Но у большинства молодёжи по субботам занятие более актйвное — онй танцуют под музыку оркестра йли просто гармоники йли даже граммофона в публйчных танцевальных зйлах, в клубах и на домашних вечерйнках. ПЬЮТ ПИВО,
This passage introduces little new material, and should help to increase the reader's growing familiarity with the most frequently used grammatical variations. Notes:
ждать was introduced in Passage 8 with the genitive case, but it may also be used with the accusative; there is little signi¬ ficant difference of meaning—the genitive is used where waiting for vehicles is involved, and generally where the arrival of the of the thing awaited is more chancy; to wait for any train which may come—genitive, to wait for a particular train—accusative. Careful attention must be given to the cases in the sentence beginning мнбгие же . . . , as the word-order might mislead. всё ббльше means more and more, understandable if we select always from the possible meanings of всё; it is used with other comparatives in this sense—всё л^чше better and better. ходйть means to go, but with the sense of regularly or habitually whereas идтй refers to going in a specific instance, to be going at the moment of speaking. The negative почтй не of почтй almost may be translated by hardly, in this sentence the literal translation runs: they hardly have time to dine when the evening performance is running, i.e. the performance is on. пьют, обсуждают, etc.: these 3rd person plurals may be translated people drink, etc. The verbs петь sing and пить drink must not be confused; both have somewhat irregular stems, петь having no- and пить having пь- for the present tense; both have the endings -ю, -ёшь, -ёт, -ём, -ёте, -ют; the imperatives need particular note, as пёйте (пей) belongs to пить and пбй(те) to петь. The context will usually give a clue, even if the forms are confusing!
136
врёмя
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING ОТ
врёмени:
the
English idiom requires from time to
time.
под музыку: под-[-accusative corresponds to English to, where this means accompanied by—of music, applause, sounds, etc. Translation: Entertainments (3). On Saturday in the evening, it is interesting to think (of that) how pass the evening the majority of the population of Great Britain, (and) what Saturday entertainments they have. Theatres and cinemas are full of people. Usually all theatre seats are occupied, and at all cinemas stand queues of people and wait [for] the beginning of the next sitting. It-is-not-important, it seems, whether a good film is on—at the doors of all cinemas, without exception, stands a queue. Many, however, prefer music to films or plays, and in the concerts there are [always] many lovers of music. But now it is possible to see and hear all that at-home, and always more people go nowhere in the evenings, but sit at home and look at the television-set. Thanks to television, in many homes all-kind-of social life has almost dis¬ continued—they hardly manage to dine, when (= before) the evening performance is on. But, thank Heaven, the ‘tele’ is-introduced withoutharm into one sacred place where is still alive the Saturday social tradition —-into the English ‘pub’. There on Saturdays, in towns and in villages, they drink beer and pass-judgment-on the last football match (or, of course, the eternal cricket), sometimes they sing songs and only from time to time they look at the screen of the ‘tele’ standing on the counter. But the majority of youth on Saturdays have more active occupations—they dance to the music of a band or simply a concertina, or even a gramophone, in public dance halls, in clubs, and in evening-parties in-houses.
30. ПЙЩА «He хлебом единым жив человек» —■ это сущая правда, но несмотря на то, меня очень интересует пйща. Дома мы едим вот как: завтрак у нас в восемь часов, обед в полдень, чай в четыре часа и ужин в семь. Сам я завтракаю и ужинаю дома, но обедаю обычно в городе, в ресторане. Чай я пью по будням в конторе, по субботам и воскресеньям дома. Сейчас я дома, и ужин почти готов. Мать накрывает на стол. Сначала она стелет скатерть, потбм кладёт для каждого члена семьй нож, вйлку и ложку, и ставит стакан. Тарелки она нагревает в печй, а чашки и блюдца стоят на буфете — мы всегда пьём кофе пбсле ужина. Теперь мать ставит на стол приправу — соль, перец, горчйцу — а на поднос с чашками сахар и молоко.
30. FOOD
137
На ужин у нас сегодня — на первое (блюдо) — суп; на второе жаркое (жареное мясо), картофель, зелёный горошек йли другие овощи; на сладкое — желе и фр^ты. Вот наконец, ужин готов — слава Богу! я очень хочу есть. Вот как русские обычно едят; завтракают утром как мы; обедают в два часа йли позже, потом ужинают вечером. У них обычно нет «чая» днём, с хлебом с маслом, вареньем, печеньем и т.п. Вот некоторые типйчние русские блюда: на завтрак — простокваша йли другйе молочные напйтки, яйчница, каша и другйе; на обед и ужин — закуски (см. вн. стр. 167); разные супы, например прозрачный бульон с пиро¬ жками, борщ, щи, уха и Т.Д., на второе — котлеты, бифштекс, беф-строганов, сосйски с капустой, шашлык и др. — на сладкое — кисель, компот (вареные фр^ты) йли очень часто, мороженое. К каждой еде едят хлеб, или белый йли чёрный, ржаной, который русские особенно любят. Типйчный русский, как и англййский горячий напйток — крепкий чай. В Советском Союзе его пьют часто (но может быть менее часто чем в Англии). Надо сказать, что не обяза¬ тельно иметь самовар, чтобы готовить чай. Русские не редко употребляют простой котелок, и конечно, онй никогда не готовят чай в самоваре, а всегда в чайнике. Самовар — это просто сосуд, в котором кипятйтся вода посредством внутренней угольной печки (йли в наши дни даже электрйчества). Чайник сидйт наверху и нагреваегся. Готовя чай, хозяйка наливает воду в чайник из маленького крана на самоваре. Мужчйны пьют чай обычно из стакана — из чашки пьют только дамы. Из блюдца никто не пьёт — ведь это не культу¬ рно. Стаканы ставят в подстаканники, потому что иначе неудобно держать горячий стакан в руке. Как всем известно, «русский чай» пьют обыкновенно с сахаром, но без молока и часто с лимоном. Не хлёбом . . . not Ъу bread alone {is) alive man. This is a quotation from Scripture (Matt. iv. 4), and the first three words He хлёбом единым have been used by Dudintsev for the title of his novel. In modern Russian the word единый means undivided or united.
і38
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
несмотря is a gerund in form, meaning not looking at, but it is used in contexts where we might use notwithstanding, nevertheless, irrespective of.
The verb to eat has infinitive есть (not to be confused with есть = there is, are); the present tense forms are ем, ешь, есть, едйм, едите, едят (compare дать in Passage 27), imperatives біііь(те), past tense ел, ёла, etc. For to put we have three verbs: i. класть, present клад^, кладёт, etc., imperative кладй(те); past tense клал, etc. (this is an imperfective verb); 2. положйть present положу, полбжит, etc., and other forms regular (this is a. perfective verb); 3. ставить, present ставлю, ставит, 3rd person plural ставят, imperative ставь (те), with perfective поставить. The first two are used for putting things into a lying or resting position {to lay), (no)ставить is used of setting things into an upright position {to stand)—i.e. the verb varies according to the kind of object—^but here again, one need simply remember that all these verbs mean put. Unhke бвощи which has no singular, картбфель has no plural, but usually means potatoes in the plural. пбзже is one of the comparatives made by ‘varying' the simple adjective or adverb (see pp. 76, 108), the form for early (ad¬ jective) being пбздний, (adverb) пбздно. The abbreviations are expanded thus: т.п.—тому подобные similar {things) to this) cm. bh. стр. —смотрй(те) внизу странйцу seepage . . . below.
нагревается might be translated colloquially: gets warm. ведь belongs rather to the colloquial style in Russian; it may sometimes be translated by you know, of course, you see. извёстно it is well known is used with the dative case, as we might expect, but its personal pronoun precedes it, instead of following. Translation: Food. ‘Not by bread alone is Man living’—^this is sober truth, but notwithstanding that, food interests me very much. At home we eat like this: breakfast with us is at 8 o’clock, lunch at midday, tea at 4 o’clock and dinner at 7. Myself, I breakfast and dine at home, but I lunch usually in town, in a restaurant. Tea I drink in the office on workdays, and at home on Saturdays and Sundays. Now I am at home and dinner is almost ready. Mother is laying (on) the table. At first she spreads the cloth, then she puts for every member of the family a knife, fork and spoon, and sets a glass. The plates she warms in the oven, but the cups and saucers stand on the sideboard—we always drink coffee after
30. FOOD
139
dinner. Now Mother puts on the table the condiment(s)—salt, pepper, mustard—and on the tray with the plates, sugar and milk. For dinner with us today there is for first-course soup; for second roast (roasted meat), potato(es), green peas or other vegetables; for sweet, jelly and fruit(s). There at last—dinner is ready—thank Heaven! I very much want to eat. Here is how Russians usually eat: they breakfast in the morning as we [do]; they lunch at 2 o’clock or later, then they dine in the evening. They do not usually have ‘tea’ during the day, with bread and butter, jam, pastry, etc. Here are some typical Russian dishes; for breakfast, sour-milk or other milky drinks, omelet, porridge and other [things]; for lunch and dinner—hors d’oeuvres (compare p. 167 below), various soups, for example, clear soup with patties, beetroot-and-cabbage-soup, cabbagesoup, fish-soup, etc., for second [course]—cutlets, steak, beef-stew к la S. sausages with cabbage, spit-roast mutton, etc.—for sweet, jelly, compote, (stewed fruit), or very often, ice-cream. To every meal they eat bread, either white or black, rye [-bread], which Russians specially like. The typical Russian, as English, hot drink is strong tea. In the USSR they drink it often (but perhaps less often than in England). We must say that it is not obligatory to have a samovar in order to prepare tea. The Russians not seldom use a simple kettle and, of course, they never prepare tea in the samovar, but always in a tea-pot. The samovar—this is simply a vessel in which water is-boiled by-means-of an external charcoal heater (or in our days even electricity). The teapot sits on top, and gets-warm. Preparing tea, the housewife pours water into the teapot from a little tap on the samovar. Men usually drink tea out of a glass—only ladies drink out of a cup. Out of the saucer nobody drinks—why, that is uncultured! They put the glasses in a holder, because otherwise [it would be] awkward to hold the hot glass in the hand. As is known to all, ‘Russian tea’ they generally drink with sugar, but without mUk, and often with lemon.
140
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
31. СЕМЕЙНЫЙ ПОРТРЕТ У моей бабушки есть много старых фотографий, которые она давно хранйт. Средй них находится этот красйвый семейный портрет. На нём изображены родйтели бабушки и её братья и сёстры. Посередйне сидйт бабушкина мать, моя праба¬ бушка. Её лицо нежное, бледное. Вообще у неё печальный вид, как будто она собирается заплакать. И действйтельно, если посмотришь на её семью, то вйдно, отчего он4 несчастная. Бедная прабабушка! У неё на руках спокойно спит младенец, за ней стойт гордый папа, господйн Попов. Он положйл левую руку на грудь — должно быть он хочет узнать, бьётся ли там сердце. Ёсли судйть по его лицу, то, пожалуй, нет. Правая рука лежйт на плече супруги. Нос у него неприятный, длйнный, а под ним растут густые усы и борода, за нйми не вйдно ни рта ни шеи. Рядом с матерью стойт дочь. Лицо её мне знакомо — это моя бабушка. Какой она выглядит здесь молоденькой, с
31. FAMILY PORTRAIT
141
чёрными волосами — a теперь они совсем седые. Но зато память у неё хорошая, и она ясно помнит тот день, когда был сделан этот портрет. Другая дочка стоит спиной к нам, и не хочет показывать своё лицо. Она очень молодая. Остальные дети — сыновья. Один из них слишком скромен. Он стойт возле мамы боком к нам, и показывает нам нос, очень похожий на папин нос. На другой стороне картины младший брат в костюме моряка. Какие у него тонкие ноги! За ним старший ребёнок, умница семьй — посмотрйте-ка на его высокий, широкий лоб. Он в очках. А откуда он взял такйе грома¬ дные уши? йто просто ужас! Его улыбка показывает крепкие белые зубы между толстыми губами. Его шея длйнная, тонкая. Боже мой, какая смешная, жалкая группа! There are several nouns in this passage which show irregular¬ ities ;
1. The plurals of брат and сын, which are generally hke the plurals of nep6, дёрево—nominative братья, сыновья, genitive/accusative братьев but сыновёй, dative братьям, сыновьям—other forms with -ьями, -ьях. 2. ^xo has a regular singular, but plural ^и, genitive ушёй, dative ушам, etc. 3. poT and лоб both reduce the stem (to рт-, лб-) after the nominative/accusative singular. 4. ГОСПОДЙН has plural господа, genitive поспбд, dative господам, etc.; as a form of address it has been replaced in the USSR by гражданин citizen (more formal than товарищ,) which inflects like крестьянин (Passage 17). The adjectives бабушкин(а), папин have short forms in the nominative, although they are used before their nouns, i.e. attributively; the other forms are sometimes like those of nouns, sometimes hke those of adjectives, but they should always be recognisable in their context; the force of the -ин suffix is to hnk them with an origin—corresponding to the English's; they are quite commonly used in family names, hke П^кин, and are inflected with mixed endings.
142
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
Some of the verbs used in the passage have irregular forms: Infinitive
1st person singular
3rd person singular
3rd person plural
бить взять плакать растй
бью возьму плачу расту
бьёт возьмёт плачет растёт
бьют возьм;^ плачут растут
снять спать
сним^ сплю
снймѳт спит
снймут спят
Imperative бёй(те) возьмй(те) плачь (те) растй (те) Past рос, росла снимй(те) спй(те)
It is sufficient to give these parts to tell all that need be told about a verb—the 3rd person singular shows the position of the accent and the form of the stem, as well as the last vowel, for 2nd person singular, ist and 2nd persons plural of the present. If the 3rd person singular has ет, then 3rd plural has ут or ют, if 3rd singular has иг, 3rd plural has ят or ат. The past tense form is usually made by the simple substitution of -л, -ла, etc. for the -Tb of the infinitive. Other notes on the text: пожалуй means perhaps with the flavour of very likely, it must not be confused with пожалуйста please! отчегб is written as one word with the meaning from what, whence, why, but it is simply от чегб in its structure. должнб быть means hteraUy it must be but with a flavour of perhaps, or I suppose. спинбй к нам: treat the instrumental as meaning with. какйе у негб тбнкиѳ нбги what {kind of) thin legs he has!—for the Russian нога means the leg as well as the foot. The particle -ка after смотрйте gives the imperative additional emphasis: do look, just look; -ка belongs rather to conversational than literary style.
32. MOSCOW
43
32. МОСКВА (1) Столйца СССР, Москва — огромный город, расположенный в центре европейской части России. Она стойт на Москвёрекё, притоке окй, которая в свою очередь является притоком Вблги. Москва не тблько столйца, но и крупнейший инду¬ стриальный, парный и культурный центр Советского Союза. Население Москвы — почтй два миллионов человек. Исторйческое ядрб Москвы — Кремль. А что такое кремль ? йто центральная укреплённая часть древних русских городбв, где находйлись дворцы, церкви и другйе здания. Вокруг них — высбкие стены и башни. Итёк мбжно сказать, что кремль — цитадель. Не тблько Москва, но и
144
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
многие древние русские города имеют свой кремлй. Вокруг Кремля с средних веков рос город Москва. План Кремля — треугольник. На углах и вдоль зубчатых стен высокие башни. Стены и башни из красного кирпича, а крыши на башнях — зелёные. В Кремле «белокаменные» дворцы и соборы, и высокая колокольня «Иван Велйкий». Многочйсленные золочёные купола соборов и колокольни ярко блестят на солнце. Все эти здания Кремля вместе представляют собой прекрасное зрелище. В залах Большого Кремлёвского дворца происходят съезды Коммунистйческой Партии и сессии Верховного Совета СССР. Главный въезд в Кремль — Спасская башня, на которой находятся кремлё¬ вские часы, которые соответствуют «Большому Бену» в Лондоне. На этой башне и на другйх — красные звёзды, которые горят по ночам. На восток от Кремля лежйт просторная Красная Площадь, где раньше был большой рынок, а теперь «происходят тра¬ диционные военные парады и демонстрации трудящихся». На Площади стоят: на юге фантастйческий и красйвый Покровский собор (йли храм святого Васйлия Блаженного), с его красйвыми пёстрыми башнями; на противоположном конце площади почтй столь же фантастйческий Исторйческий музей, а посредй у кремлёвской стены мраморный мавзолей, где лежат набальзамйрованные тела Лёнина и Сталина. У дверей мавзолея всегда стоят часовые с винтовками. Каждый день собирается длйнная очередь людей со всех концов Союза, котбрые хотят посетйть мавзолей. Почтй всё про¬ странство на восточной стороне Красной площади занимает одно очень длйнное здание — магазйн «ГУМ». С Красной площади улицы ведут под гору на юг к рекё, на сёвер в центр города. Although this passage is longer than earlier ones, it introduces little new grammatical material, and should offer no great difficulties. Some adjectives can make a superlative form by adding -ейший or -айший to a modified form of the basic stem; крупный large, big is one of these; we have already seen -ший as a com¬ parative /superlative suffix in старший, младший of Passage 4. Notes:
32. MOSCOW
145
Two of the verbal forms used here might usually be translated simply by the verb to be: являться (with instrumental), and представлять соббй, though this latter may be translated represent. For что такбе, see page 59. For рос from расти, see page 142. вдоль as a preposition is always followed by the genitive case. трудиться exists as a verb, meaning work or toil, but the present participle active трудящийся is very commonly used as a noun with the sense of worker. святбй as an adjective means holy, but it is also used with the sense of the noun saint. столь же shows же in its emphatic function; as much. Care must be taken with the word-order in the sentence beginning П0ЧТЙ всё пространство. . . . When we say downhill, down has the effect of a preposition; the Russian пбд ropy (pronounced пбдгару) is a similar construc¬ tion; note that гора can mean both hill and mountain.
к
146
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING *
"УСраскал площадь—ІГокроіский собор, Спасскал башнл и Л/1а^зол.ей ■ 33. МОСКВА (2) В советское время произошла коренная реконструкция города, и теперь около Кремля — широкие, прямые улицы и новые, высокие здания, как например гостйница «Москва». В особенности значйтельно расшйрили бывшую «Тверскую», нынешнюю улицу Горького, бто главная улица Москвы, где находятся большйе магазйны. Недалеко от Кремля — площадь Свердлова и знаменйтый Большой театр. Здесь, в центре города, большое движение, оживление. Вокруг центра Москвы тянутся два кольцевых бульвара — бывшие валы всё растущего города. Вдоль первого бульва¬ рного кольца расположены сады с деревьями; второе «садовое» — кольцо больщих улиц и площадей, столь широких, что иностр&нец, переходящий одну из них, чувствует себя как будто на море. Через Москву протекает извйлистая Москва-река и поэтому в городе много мостов, например так называемый «Большой Каменный мост», йто новый мост, на том месте, где находйлся первый мост через реку, построенный из камня. Другой мост. Москворецкий, ведёт прямо с Красной площади в
33. MOSCOW
147
южный квартал города — Замоскворечье. Чрезвычайно интересно гулять по набережным и мостам и смотреть на реку и на пароходы и баржи, которые идут вверх и вниз по течению. В столице развёртывается широкое стройтельство новых жилых домов. На старых улицах и площадях постепенно сносят ветхие, часто деревянные дома и вместо них строят новые кварталы. На окраинах города строят огромные, совсем новые районы. Например на юге, в бывшей загородной местности Новые Черёмухи, тысячи москвичей получили новые квартйры в большйх четырёх-, семи- и восьмиэтажных домах. Недалеко от Черёмух, на Ленинских горах, возвыша¬ ются над изгйбом Москвы-рекй огромные новые здания МГУ (Московского Государственного Университета ймени Ломоносова). С двадцать первого этажа главного здания открывается велйчественная панорама всей столйцы с старйнными куполами церквей и монастырей и высокими шпйлями послевоенных «небоскрёбов» йли высотных домов. Москва всем городам мать: матушка Москва белокаменная, златоглавая, хлебосольная, православная, словоохотливая. (Поговорка) This passage displays all the four verbal adjectives or participles: 1. The present participle active: раст^его (here genitive singular) growing, characterised by -щ- followed by the adjectival endings; -щ- replaces the -t of the 3rd person present plural. 2. The past participle active, introduced here for the first time: бывший been, (here translated former—compare English a ‘has-been’); the characteristic mark is -вшfollowed by the adjectival ending; -вш- replaces the -л of the masculine past-tense form. 3. The present participle passive: называемый called) the characteristic is -m- followed by the adjectival endings, and in this case the formation can be described as adding adjectival endings to the ist person plural present; the Enghsh translation would suggest that this is a past participle, but the more literal translation being called
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
148
would seem curious in English; this participle is used in Russian when it is true to say that the state of passiveness is still continuing, i.e. people currently call the bridge the ‘Stone Bridge’. 4. The past participle passive: пострбенный built•, the characteristic is -hh- followed by the adjectival endings, but some verbs have -t- instead of -hh- (page 133). In the short form -HH- is reduced to -H-. Other notes: Just as we may say particularly or in particular, so in Russian both осббенно and в осббенности are used. After Тверскую we must understand the word ;^лицу. бульварное кольцб has to be re-phrased in English: a ring of boulevards. столь means both as much and so. набережная is an adjective used as a noun, meaning embank¬ ment. снбсят . . . дома and стрбят . . . кварталы—the plural verbs do not, of course, belong to the plural nouns, but are here to be translated with they are demolishing, etc., i.e. the general they which can mean the authorities, the Muscovites, etc. вмбсто instead is a preposition used with the genitive case; it is not to be confused with the adverb вмбстѳ together.
34. РАДИО И ТЕЛЕВИДЕНИЕ Мой родйтели очень редко ходят в театр йли кино. Онй всегда любйли сл;^ать радио, а с тех пор, как у нас дома есть и телевйзор, онй считают, что им прбсто незачем выходйть йз дому по вечерам. Каждое воскресенье нам доставляют на дом вместе с газетой журнал Радиопрогрйммы. Конечно в газете Вечерняя Москва ежедневно дают спйсок передач по радио и телевйдению, но за пустячные сорок копеек стбит получйть более детальное расписание всех программ на неделю. К тому же в журнале есть статейки и обзбры прогрбмм, иллюстрации к утренним гимнастйческим упражне¬ ниям и т.д.
34. RADIO AND TELEVISION
149
— Hy, ЧТО Ж, Нйна, будем смотреть телевизор сегодня ? — Не знаю, йто завйсит от программы и от тебя. — Гм. Суббота. Передача началась сегодня уже в половйну шестого, идёт фильм «Два капитана». Его мы уже вйдели. В семь часов последние известия, потом журнал Знание и киножурнал до половйны девятого. Потом инсценйрованные юмористйческие рассказы Чехова, а в десять фйнский художественный фильм. — А что во второй программе? — Там лучше. Сначала иностранная кинохроника, потом два художественных фйльма «Главный проспект» и «Горй, моя звезда». — А не забудь, я хочу обязательно сл^ать концерт по радио в десять часов. — йто третья программа? Хорошо. Сейчас шесть часов. Дав4й посл^аемпоследние известия; я включу радио. Потом выключим до четверти восьмого. — За это время я буду вязать эту кофту для Марйи. с тех пор . . . from those times as we have at home also; как as is often used in Russian as a link word—we could regard c тех nop как as a group which means since, although c тех nop alone must be translated since then. им незачем is another of the fairly common impersonal dative constructions (compare Passage 27): to-them not-for-what, i.e. they have no reason. ЙЗ дому is a set phrase in which the preposition is accented, and a genitive in -y is used; на дом is also a set group. нам доставляют: the plural verb does not refer to the parents, but is, once more, the general ‘they’, or of course it is delivered. no радио и телевидёнию: here the Russian sees the method of transmission of the programme, by radio, etc., we should here translate on the radio. стбит not only means it costs or it is worth, but also it is worth while. к TOM^ же should now be recognised as a set group. (Compare page 71.) есть is singular in form, but may also be used with a plural subject.
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RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
ну, что ж? well, what about it: the же is conversationally shortened to ж—exact translation is elusive, ж rather gives vagueness than emphasis here. будем смотрбть is, of course, one of the two types of future discussed in Passage 28, and its use here imphes that the parents will go on looking for a period, it being irrelevant how long; if Father had said посмбтрим he would visuahse not only their viewing, but also some limit to the period, as we might say: let’s have a look at it; the reader will gradually collect observations about imperfective and perfective usage, and will soon find that many perfective verbs have the same form as the corresponding imperfective with the prefix no added; this is not the only type of perfective, and indeed most simple verbs are perfective if they have a prepositional prefix. Later in this passage we have я включ^ радио and выключим; if they are translated with present tense the effect is unreahstic, and one guesses that they are futures and perfectives; the momentariness of the operation of switching on or off calls for the use of a perfective; it will also be noted that these verbs have prepositional prefixes. The word order of Er6 мы ужё вйдели corresponds to the Enghsh we’ve already seen that! In the group два художественных фйльма the noun is in the genitive singular after два, but if an adjective is added to the group the adjective is then usually put in the genitive plural (although after 2, 3, 4 it may be nominative), unless, of course, the whole group is dative, instrumental, or locative. забыть to forget has present-tense forms забуду, etc., imperative забудь(те); it is perfective, the imperfective form being забывать (я забываю, etc.). я хочу обязательно / want obligatorily (!) corresponds to I absolutely must, and обязательно is often used in this emphatic way. давай often introduces an imperative statement; it can usually be translated by let us, and the phrase which follows may either be in the infinitive, or may, as here, have a verb (usually per¬ fective) of the present tense: давай посмбтрим let’s have a look at.
35. HISTORY
151
Крестянин Варлг Великий князь Тат^)ин Боя,рин Петр I В.И.Ленин
35. ИСТОРИЯ (1) Очень интерёсный исторйческий вопрос — почему в начале двадцатого столетия Россйя до такой степени отстала от другйх стран Европы. Отот факт историки объясняют поразному в завйсимости от свойх лйчных точек зрения. Но, так как некоторые факторы довольно ясны, посмотрим на историю Россйи в общих чертах. С очень давних времён славянские племена жйли где-то в пространстве между рекой Днепром, Карпатскими горами и балтийским морем. Русские прйняли христианскую веру в десятом веке. Тогда их государство Русь, под управлением скандинавских «варягов», уже простиралось от фйнского залйва на севере до южного края северного леса, где он гранйчит со степью. Там, на самом краю лесной зоны стояла столйца Кйев. В течение нескольких столетий Кйевское государство было очень богйтой страной и находйлось на таком же высоком культурном уровне как страны западной Европы. Русь имела связи не только с Византйей (откуда она получйла христианство), но и со странами запада — напримёр, одна из дочерёй англййского короля Гаральда (погйбшего в бою в 1066-м году) была женой одного из синовёй Владймира I Мудрого, а дочь Владймира, Анна, стала Королёвой франции.
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Ho благосостояние Кйева зависело от его способности контролировать степь и кочевые народы, которые неодно¬ кратно вторгались в киевскую Русь из Центральной Азии. В тринадцатом веке кйевская Русь боролась со многими врагами, окружающими её — со шведами, тевтонским орденом рыцарей, с поляками — и войны о нйми продолжались многие столетия. Но хуже всего было то, что в степй появйлись татары, дйкие монгольские конные войска Чингисхана. По путй на запад онй разоряли и жгли русские города и убивали население. В течение двух с половйной столетий Русь находйлась под «татарским йгом» и русские князья должны были платить дань ханам Золотой Орды. В это время запад переживал перйод Возрождения и связанный с ним сйльный подъём во всех областях культуры. Россйя же подвергалась пагубному влиянию татар и её нравы делались более грубыми, жестокими. А dictionary will give for lag behind both отставать (imperfective) and отстать (perfective); sometimes the distinction would be reflected by the tense used in translation, thus отставал might be treated as was lagging behind, отстал as had lagged behind. no разному means in various ways; dictionaries do not list all the possible combinations of no- with an adjective in the dative, which form adverbs with the sense of in{a) . . . way{s), and reference should be made to the form without no-. в завйсимости от: in dependence from corresponds in meaning but not structure to depending on. гд6-то: the particle -to makes more general, the meaning of the word which it follows, rather like -пибудь (Passage 28), thus гдё-то somewhere {or other), как-то somehow, когда-то sometime (7 don’t remember when). на сймом краю: i. край has a locative in -ю, corresponding to the type в году, etc. 2. when самый does not precede an adjective the sense isthe very; before an adjective it more frequently means the most. дочь like мать (Passage 25) is irregular: apart from the nominative/accusative singular its forms are made by adding the endings of -ь feminine nouns to the stem дочер-, except instrumental plural дочерьмй.
35. HISTORY
153
х^же is an adverb of the дальше type, but there is a corres¬ ponding adjective худбй. было то, что: то is best translated here by the fact. жгли: past tense of жечь, present жгу, жжёт, жгут, past tense жёг, жгла, жгло, жгли (pronunciation must aim at being monosyllabic!) князья is the only really irregular form of князь, which other¬ wise has the forms usual for mascuhne nouns in -ь. татарин is regular in the singular, but has in the plural nominative татары, genitive and accusative татар then татарам, -ами, -ax. Date: в тйсяча шестьдесят шестбм году. Title: Владймира пёрвого.
36. ИСТОРИЯ (2) После средневековья положение крестьян в западной Европы стало постепенно улучшаться, и последние следы крепостничества, исчезнувшие уже давно в Англии, исчезли во Франции во время Революции в восемьнадцатом веке. Но в Россйи, вместо того, чтобы улучшаться, положение крестьян становйлось всё хуже. При первых велйких князьях моско¬ вского государства в 15 ^— 16-м веках крестьяне постепенно лишались свойх прав, своей свободы, и к середйне семна¬ дцатого века сдёлались почтй рабами. В восемнёдцатом веке, несмотря на все «прогрессйвные» идеи, перенятые с запада Петром Велйким и Екатерйной Второй (Велйкой), русские крестьяне окончательно лишйлись всех гражданских прав. Онй находйлись под непосредственным и неогранйченным контролем помёш;иков, которые моглй покупать и продавать «мужиков» как будто онй были животные. Кре¬ постное право продопжалось до 1861-го года, когда оно было отменено императором Александром ІІ-м. Вследствие крепостнйчества в Россйи не суш;ествовало необходймых условий для индустриального прогресса, и, хотя в конце девятнадцатого века произошло быстрое и довольно широкое развйтие русской промышленности (в значйтельной степени
154
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
благодаря иностранному капиталу), русская промышленность еш;ё очень отстав4ла от западной в 1917-м году. Как и почтй все русские, большевикй под руководством Лёнина сознали эту отсталость. После революции первой задачей нового режйма была индустриализация страны. Лёнин сдёлал пёрвый шаг в 1920-м году, когда он потрёбовал, как самое необходймое, электрификацию всего народного хозяйства. С тех пор совётские люди должны были жёртвовать очень многим для того, чтобы достйгнуть тепёрешнего высокого уровня индустриального прогрёсса. вмёсто того, чтобы улучшаться: this is а complicated group— one of the difficulties here is чтббы, which has not the sense of in order to, but is rather to be analysed as что . . . бы, i.e. that {it) might, for although бы is now to be regarded as a particle, its basic sense is verbal: might, would (as we have seen in the conditional construction in Passage 25); we should shorten the whole group by saying instead of improving. при (with the locative) can not often be rendered with one word in Enghsh: it may mean in the presence of, at or in the time of, sometimes with (where this indicates attendant circum¬ stances), at, or by. в 15—16-M веках would be read в пятнадцатом и шестнадцатом веках. лишаться (imperfective) and лишиться (perfective) mean (almost entirely in a bad sense)—to lose, be deprived of—note that the genitive case is used. The distinction between the aspects is clear here: лишались свбих прав were losing their rights over a period, окончательно лишйлись прав finally lost their rights, i.e. the process was completed. сдёлались рабами: became slaves, or again interpreting the perfective aspect, had become slaves', сдёлать is the regular perfective corresponding to дёлать. МОГЛЙ: мочь to be able (see also Passage 16) has past tense masculine мог. муясйк is a diminutive: little man and was used playfully and contemptuously of the peasant. І86І-Г0: тйсяча восемьсбт шестьдесят первбго Title: Алексйндром вторйм.
36. HISTORY
155
отставала от западной: imperfective, because the state of backwardness was continuing in 1917; if the perfective were used, i.e. had fallen behind, we would expect the time preposition to be к or до (compare the note on Passage 35). жёртвовать requires its ‘object’ to be in the instrumental case, для того, чтббы: we may disregard the words для того when translating.
RECAPITULATION OF GRAMMAR FROM PASSAGES 25-36 Nouns мать 25, дочь 35, брат, сын 31, князь 35, господйн 31, татарин 35, ухо 31, по plural—картофель 30, по singular— дёньги 25, family names 27, 28. А djectives Superlative in -айший, -ейший 32, derivatives in -ин 31. A dverbs Comparatives пбзже 30, хуже 35; more and more — всё бблыпе 29. Prepositions вдоль (genitive) 32, вмёсто (genitive) 33, под (accusative) 29, 32, при (locative) 36. Verbs Formation of present and past tenses 25, 31, formation of imperative 26, imperative with давай 34. The future with будет 28. The imperfective and perfective aspects, including present-as-future is discussed after Passages 28, 34, 35, 36. Formation of the perfective aspect has not been discussed, but examples include: (i) with prefix no- 28, (ii) with other prepositions e.g. c- 36, (iii) with different endings -ать /-ить, 36, (iv) insertion of -B- 25. The conditional mood with бы 25. The four participles, 33.
156
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
To put 30. A number of irregular verbs have been discussed, (references in almost every passage, see particularly 31). See also under ‘Cases’. Particles ведь 30, вряд ли 27, же 27, 32, 34 (ж 34), -ка 31, ли 28, -ниб;^дь 28, -то 35, чем . . . тем—the . . . the -ег, 26. Cases Dative 27; genitive 28, 29; instrumental 36. Idiom To wish 25, yes 28, ought to be 31, instead of.. . ing 36.
READING PASSAGES 37-66 The annotation to the remaining passages will be of the kind given in the previous set, but generally taking a little more knowledge for granted. No more summaries of grammar will be given until the final survey in Chapter VI. The reader may still find it useful to read the annotations before setting to work on the Russian text.
37. ПУЗЫРЬ,
СОЛОМЙНКА
И
ЛАПОТЬ
(Русская народная сказка) Как-то собралйсь вместе пузырь, соломинка да лапоть, и пошлй по белу свету странствовать, людей посмотреть и себя показать. Дошлй до рекй и не знают, как на ту сторону перебраться. Лапоть говорйт пузырю: «Пузырь, давай на тебе переплывём!» — Нет, лапоть! пусть лучше соломйнка протянется с берега на берег, а мы перейдём по ней, словно по мосту. Соломйнка протянулась с берега на берег, лапоть пустйлся по ней на ту сторону, шёл-шёл, до середйны дошёл. Тут соломйнка подломйлась, лапоть упал в воду, а пузырь хохотал-хохотал, да и лопнул. This passage is а folk tale and has certain unusual features, but they are of a kind which may be found in Russian prose, particu¬ larly in tales about country life. как-то: somehow, or sometime, and one of the equivalents of once upon a time. да: often found when regional and country speech is quoted, meaning and. ПОПІЛЙ: here set off: пойтй may mean to go (with a future sense) or to set off] (see also Passage 63). no 66лу свбту: the standard form would be бблому; diction¬ aries give two separate words свет, one meaning world, and one light] this expression means through the wide world, but при 157
158
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
свбте дампы, e.g. means by 1атф1щЫ\ evidently the two words have the same origin, the natural world being that which is revealed by natural light. на ту стброну: to that, i.e. the other, side. давай: here as in Passage 34, with the present (perfective) tense verb; allow, we float across on you, i.e. let us float. . . . For the third person the usual word is пусть, followed by an inflected verb. The use of the perfective implies that one hopes permission will be granted, and the action will be accomphshed. шёл-шёл, хохотал-хохотал: this repetition is part of the tale¬ teller’s technique; we find similar formulae in English tales for children—‘so he blew, and he blew, and he blew the house down’.
38. ПРИВЕТСТВИЯ Каз здороваются русские, когда они встречают друг друга на улице ? Самое обычное приветствие — «Здравствуйте!» (которое произносится как будто пишется здрасвуйте йли даже здраастеі), но есть и такие специальные приветствия как «Доброе утро!» (йли «с добрым утром!»), «Добрый вечер!» и, когда идут спать, прощание «Спокойной ночи». Ёсли день является какйм-то праздником, йли лйчным йли общественным,прйнято поздравлять друг друга«спраздником», например: (Поздравляю вас) «Со днём рождения!», «с новым годом!» (причём часто добавляют «с новым счастьем!»), «с Рождеством Христовым». В Советском Союзе седьмого ноября каждого года официальным поздравлением является «с пра¬ здником Велйкой Октябрьской Революции!». На Пасху у православных прйнято приветствие «Христос воскрёсе!» причём отвечают «Войстину воскрёсе!» и целуют трйжды друг друга. На прощание русские обыкновённо говорят «До свидёния!» йли «До скорого!» (подразумевается свидания) «до завтра!» и Т.Д., но обычны и другйе фразы, как напримёр «Прощайте», «Будьте здоровы!» йли же «(Желаю вам) всего хорошего!», «всего лучшего!» Очень частыми и полёзными словами по русски являются «пожёлуйста» (произносится чёсто пожалста) и «ничего».
38. GREETINGS
159
Если скажешь русскому «Спасибо» или «Благодарю вас!» он ответит «Пожалуйста», что в этом случае значит «нё за что (благодарйть меня)»; просишь у него чего-то — он ответит «пожалуйста!» (то есть «с удовольствием!») и т.д. «Ничего» имеет даже больше значений, например: «Извинйте, пожа¬ луйста»— Ничего; «Как он поёт?» — Ничего, хорошо; «Как вы чувствуете себя?» — Ничего, хорошо; «К сожалению я сломал стакан» — Ничего. Значение «ничего» завйсит, конечно, от интонации. Вот разговор на улице:—• — Доброе утро, Антон Фёдорович! — Здравствуйте, Николай Иванович! Как вы поживаете ? — Спасйбо, хорошо. А вы как ? — Ничего, здоров, и дела идут успешно. А как чувствует себя ваша жена ? — Слава Богу, как нельзя лучше. — А ребёнок ? Растёт ? — Растёт. Ему теперь два года. — Куда вы сейчас ? — Я на почту. А вы ? — Я в другую сторону, в библиотеку. — Ну, Антон Фёдорович, приходйте к нам поскорее. Вечером мы всегда дома, и мы всегдё рады вам. — Благодарю вас, Николай Иванович, я обязательно зайду на будущей неделе. Передайте от меня привет вашей жене, пожалуйста. — Хорошо, до скорого, Антон Фёдорович. Будьте здоровы! — Всего хорошего, Николай Иванович. До свидания! друг as а noun alone means friend, but друг . . . друга one another, the second word having the inflected form appropriate to the context. здравсвуйте is an imperative in form, and means literally be healthy. c дббрым ;^тром is in the instrumental case because the construction with поздравлять congratulate is understood, i.e. genitive (for accusative) of the person and c + instrumental of the occasion for congratulation. спокбйной нбчи is genitive because the construction with
l6o
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
желать wish is understood, i.e. dative of the person, genitive of the thing wished. или , , . йли: just as и ... и may mean both . . . and, this means either . . . or. воскрёсѳ is an old past-tense verbal form: He has arisen. h6 за что there is nothing for which; this must not be confused with ни за чтб not for anything (Passage i8). чег6-то: something or other—^compare page 133 and Passage 35. просйть sometimes requires the genitive of the thing asked for and у -f genitive of the person asked (compare note on ждать, page 135). ббльше more, hke мнбго, is followed by the genitive, ничегб in reply to thanks (or an apology) is the equivalent of don’t mention it, it doesn’t matter] in both examples of ничегб, хорошб it might be taken as an indication that there will be nothing unpleasant in the answer, though, as when we say alright, no enthusiasm need be implied. как вы поживаете?: Hterally how are you living? как нельзя лучше: as {it would be) impossible better, i.e. it couldn’t be better. куда вы сейчас?, я на пбчту are examples of а common feature of spoken Russian, the uncompleted statement—a verb of going is omitted; поскорбе: a little sooner, i.e. than you might otherwise come, or sooner rather than later] the sense need not be truly comparative, and expressions hke this are used when we might say, for example, fairly soon. мы рады вам: рад is followed by the dative of the thing or person the speaker is glad about.
39. РТ^^ССКАЯ МТ^'ЗЫКА Всем известны фамйлии знаменйтых русских композйторов — Глйнка, Бородйн, Чайковский, Рймский-Корсаков, Стравйнский и другйе — и их произведения в числе самых попу¬ лярных средй любйтелей музыки. История русской симфонйческой музыки, имеющей европейское значение, начинается только с девятнадцатого века, но до того времени существо-
39. RUSSIAN MUSIC
i6i
вала уже живая и древняя музыкальная традйция — с одной стороны великолепные церковные песнопения православной церкви, а с другой народная музыка. И то, и другое предста¬ вляет собой исключйтельно богатое наследие, которое русские композйторы широко использовали. Осббенно характерны для русской музыки (как и для музыки всех славянских нарбдов) — часто меняющиеся рйтмы народных песен и танцев, то тйхие и плавные, то всё более быстрые. С середйны 18-го века в Россйи в высшем обществе появйлась мода на всё западно-европейское. Популярной была и европейская классйческая музыка, по крайней мерей в Петер¬ бурге и Москве. В эту эпоху русские композйторы подра¬ жали западному стйлю. Нов тридцатые годы девятнадцатого века, с ростом общего интереса к русской нарбдной традйции и фольклору, появйлось желание создать музыку, котбрая была бы не простым подражанием западной музыки, но самобытной, по существу русской. Михайлу Ивановичу Глйнке удалось создать первые произведения в нбвом стйле — оперы Жизнь за Царя йли Иван Сусанин, и Руслан и Людмила. Но значйтельные последователи Глйнки появйлись только в щестидесятые годы, в связй с деятельностью группы «Могучая кучка». К этой группе примкнули многие знаменйтие композйторы, в том числе — Балакирев, Бородйн, Мусоргский и Рймский-Кбрсаков. Александр Порфйрьевич Бородйн, который был выдающимся хймиком, бросил естестве¬ нные науки, чтобы посвятйть себя музыке. Типйчен для его композйций восточный вкус, как например в опере Князь Йгорь и симфонйческой картйне В Средней Азии. Подобные востбчные темы появляются тбже в симфонйческой сюйте Рймского-Кбрсакова Шехеразада. Очень блйзок к духу русской нарбдной музыки мелодйчный язык Модеста Петрбвича Мусоргского, в такйх произведениях, как Борис Годунов и Картинки с выставки. Чайкбвский, хотя и он брал темы из нарбдных песен и танцев, остался бблее блйзким к классйческой традйции европейской музыки. Поэтому егб произведения были оце¬ нены на западе раньше чем музыка «Могучей кучки», и он на самом деле сделался самым популярным русским композйтором. Он написал шесть симфбний, несколько концертов. L
Гб2
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
такие симфонические фантазии как Ромео и Джулъётта, оперу Евгёний Онёгин, и хорошо известные сюйты балётной музыки — Лебединое озеро, Спящая красавица, Щелк'^нчик, и т.д. Как и другйе русские композйторы, в основу многих своих произведений он положйл темы из сочинений велйкого поэта П;^кина. Очень популярны на западе и концерты для фортепьяно Сергея Васйльевича Рахманинова. Одйн из самых крупных создателей новой музыки двадцатого века — Йгорь Фёдорович Стравйнский. Он с 1910-го года живёт за гранйцей в США. Такйе р4нние произведения Стравйнского как Жар-птица, Петр^шка и в особенности Весна свящённая, были встречены сначала с непониманием и недоверием, но теперь он занимает неоспорймое место в пантеоне велйких композйторов. Однако, как представйтель «современного реакционного буржуазного искусства» он не пользуется хорошей репутацией в Советском Союзе. Более приёмлемы в СССР произведения Сергея Сергеевича Проко¬ фьева и Дмйтрия Дмйтриевича Шостаковича. Оба онй были несколько раз удостоены Сталинской премии, и пользуются званием «Народного артйста». Советская музыка «самая передовая музыка в мйре», и как вся советская культура, «развивается на основе социалистйческого реалйзма». Она должна быть легко доступна и понятна массам, и насыщена социалистйческой идейностью. Because of the richer inflexional system, it is possible to use a rather freer word order in Russian than, say, in Enghsh, and the effect is sometimes unusual for an English reader. If we begin to all are well-known, the sentence seems unnatural, and a httle rhetorical; всем извёстны in the initial position is indicated as an important part of the sentence, but not unduly so. Generally, initial and final positions in the Russian sentence are those reserved for the important elements. The use of the dative with извёстен corresponds closely with Enghsh well-known to. средй is always used with the genitive case. Although we might say begins only with the nineteenth century, the preposition c has the genitive case oecause a starting point is indicated, and not association.
39. RUSSIAN MUSIC
163
TOT . . . другбй are regularly used together where we say the one .. .the other, both this and that. и ... и both . . . and is famihar to the reader; to ... to used together correspond to our now . . . then. Such pairs of words are called correlatives, and they may be pronouns, conjunctions, or adverbs, as they are respectively in the three examples of this passage. The force of всё 66лее бйстрые is all the time becoming faster-, всё often introduces a sense of continuance or persistence, whereas the adverbial sense of completely is given by совсём and sometimes by всегб. мбда на всё may seem difficult if we do not identify всё here as the neuter pronoun meaning everything; на corresponds to for. тридцатые годы means, of course, all the thirtieth years, i.e. the ‘thirties’. музыку, котбрая была бы is а regular conditional construc¬ tion, because it is implied that the music should be original if it existed—it would be impossible to say была without бы unless this music did exist. Although we say M. I. Glinka succeeded in composing, etc., the verb удалбсь is in the neuter form, because the expression удаться + dative is impersonal. хотя и он although he too, shows an additional meaning for и, perhaps less readily seen because of the order of words. на самом дёле means something hke in the very fact, but it is a stock idiomatic group corresponding to indeed.
164
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
“Бол-ь іаой Жеа т.уз
40. рѴ'сский театр Одно из самых замечательных явлений в истории совреме¬ нной русской культуры — крупное равйтие русского театра, и в особенности балета, которое произошло в конце XIX века и в первые десятилетия XX века. В этот период русский театр впервые приобрёл мировую известность и стал оказывать значйтельное влияние на европейский театр. С этим «золотым веком» связаны такйе знаменйтые имена как Чехов, Станиславский, Дягилев. До XVIII века постоянного театра в Россйи не было. При императрйце Елизавете в 1765 г. был создан в Петербурге первый постоянный публйчный театр под руководством актёра Волкова и писателя Сумарокова. Впоследствии театры были учреждены в Москве и другйх городах, между тем как многие крупные помещики имели свой театры в усадьбах, в которых все роли исполнялись крепостными крестьянами. Наряду с переводами иностранных пьес (например
40. THE RUSSIAN THEATRE
165
Шекспйра, Мольера, Шйллера) ставили всё больше пьес русских авторов, и многие знаменйтые писатели сделали свой вклады в театральный репертуар, в том числе Пушкин {Борис Годунов) Грибоедов {Горе от ума), Гоголь {Ревизор), Л.Н. Толстой {Властъ тьмы). Самое же типйчное явление половйны XIX века — реалистйческие пьесы Островского, в которых сюжет гораздо менее важен чем психология действу¬ ющих лиц и общее настроение. В этом отношении Островский считается предшественником Чехова, так как это характерно и для него. Самый блестящий перйод в истории русского театра начался с основания в 1898 году Московского Художественного Театра. Весь дух представлений на сцене МХТ был нова¬ торским, благодаря гению знаменйтого режиссёра Станисла¬ вского. Здесь были поставлены впервые пьесы Чехова Чайка, Дядя Ваня, Вишнёвый Сад, Три Сестры и Горького На дне. До сих пор сймволом МХТ является чеховская чайка. Русский балет приобрёл ещё большую славу чем драма. При дворе была постянная труппа артистов ещё до основания первого драматйческого театра. В 1736 году был создан в Петербурге Императорский балет, и в течение следующих полутораста лет развивалась та традйцля классйческого балета, которая сделала русский балет самым блестящим и живым в Европе. Сйльное возрождение искусств, которое произошло в Россйи в девяностые годы повлияло также на оперу и балет. Появйлись новые направления, новые приёмы в областях как хореографии, так и постановки и декорации. Вдохновйтелем этого нового движения был Сергей Дягилев. Между прочим он взял на себя задачу познакомить западную Европу с русским искусством, и в 1909 году под его руково¬ дством имело место первое представление русского балета в Парйже. йтот сезон вызвал сенсацию, и русский балет сразу же приобрёл мировую славу. Всё в нём поразйло публику — и музыка (например Лебединое озеро и Щелкунчик Чайковского, Щехеразада Рймского-Корсакова, Петрушка и Жар-птица Стравйнского), и художественное оформление (художники Бакст, Бенуа), и балерйны и танцоры (Павлова, Карсавина, Фокин, Нижйнский). Значение русского балета
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развйтия европейского балета XX века чрезвычайно велико. С 1917 года в СССР стремления Дягилевской группы считаются «реакционными» и «декадентскими» и на советской сцене вновь царит строго классйческий балет, с такйми замечательными артйстами как Уланова и Лепепійнская.
ДЛЯ
The ordinal numbers eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth are regular formations: восемнадцатый, девятнадцатый, двадцатый, although the actual reading in this text will be восемнадцатого etc., as each occurrence happens to be in the genitive case. This text also introduces the numeral полтораста 150, which for aU cases except nominative/accusative has the form полутораста. приобрестй has present приобрету, приобретёт, past приобрёл, приобрела, etc.; the imperfective verb is приобретать, which has regular forms. The negative construction with the genitive was discussed in Passage 16. It should be noted that as such a construction is impersonal, the past tense form is neuter, hence театра ... не бьіло. при императрйце needs some expansion such as in the reign of, etc.; при requires a wide range of translations, of varying complexity—^при дворё in this passage is simply rendered at court. мёжду тем как is best remembered as a complete group meaning while, as a more analysed translation is unhkely to suggest the meaning to an English speaker. самое же типйчное shows же in its usual emphatic role— to translate this the most typical of all would be rather too much— the force might be indicated by a tone of voice in spoken Enghsh: the most typical, or but most typical is. . . . MXT—the additional epithet Академйческий was added to the name of this theatre in 1922—Whence MXAT (Passage 27). c основания—see the note on c with the genitive in Passage 39. До сих пор . . . ; the word order may seem difficult; the most interesting thing named is the, gull, and perhaps the next emphasis lies on the fact that as a S5mibol, the gull is used up to the present day—^i.e. the two major emphases lie on the 'outside' positions of the sentence; had the sentence been incomplete the listener
40. THE RUSSIAN THEATRE
167
would ask What is the symbol of MAT?, aiid this word order assumes that the answer to his question is the most important word; if we assume he would be most interested in knowing what is the significance of the gull, we would use the order чёховская чййка является до сих пор сймволом МХТ. чем драма: драма is here in the nominative because it is impUed subject—i.e. than the drama has achieved. повлияло на—although we use influenced without any pre¬ position, we could also use had an influence on. как . . . так и means just as ... so also, or not only . . . but. In мёжду прбчим the Russian idiom differs slightly from ours: we say among other things, the Russian means rather among that which is other (singular). имёть мёсто also differs idiomatically from our take place.
41. «ДОБРО ПОЖАЛОВАТЬ» Русское гостеприймство всем известно с давных времён. Давным-давно, оно получйло название «хлеб-соль» от хлеба и соли, которые предлагёлись гостю, как сймволы гостеприймства. Гостей приветствовали словами «Добро пожало¬ вать!» йли «Мйлости просим!», йли, другйми словами «Мы всегдё вам рады». Принимая гостей, русские ещё до сих пор показывают прежнюю щедрость, как часто находят по горькому, но всё-таки приятному опыту члены иностранных делегаций, посещающих СССР. У русских существует обычай встречать гостей на вокзале с цветами. Тут же начинаются приветстве¬ нные речи. Приёмы и прощальные обеды на русской земле никогда не забываются. На столе стоят блюда с зак;^сками, например мясные — говядина, ветчинё, колбасё; рыбные — лососйна, осетрйна, шпроты, икрё; салёт из помидоров йли огурцов со сметёной и луком; сыр; бёлый и чёрный хлеб. И стоят бутылки — минерёльной воды (как например хороший кавкёзский «Нарзён»), «водйцы» фруктовой, винё, и, конечно — водки. Садйшься и начинёешь закусывать. Между тем русские,
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сидящие рядом, беспрестанно повторяют ободряюще: «Кушай¬ те!, кушайте!, зачем вы не кушаете?». Да и надо съесть до первого тоста достаточно закусок — иначе нельзя будет выпить как следует. Но вот встаёт хозяин, выступает с первой из многочисленных речей, провозглашает тост за нас, приезжих. Приходится выпить «до дна» первую рюмочку водки. Сразу потом протягиваешь руку за бокалом с минеральной водой и быстро глотаешь её, для того, чтобы уменьшить сйльное но приятное действие водки на бедное горло. Вскоре выступает с ответной речью одйн из гостей. Пока он говорйт, вы едйте побольше закусок и вам наливают ещё водки на второй тост. «... Предлагаю выпить за междуна¬ родное понимание, за мир и дружбу!» — и ещё раз «до дна»; И так, речь за речью, тост за тостом. Между тем обед продо¬ лжается, подаются всё новые блюда. После двух-трёх рюмочек «Столйчной» чувствуешь себя бодрым, дружелюбно настроенным ко всему человечеству. Может быть все до того развеселятся, что обед кончится песнями. В результате, если это прощальный обед, уходишь на вокзал в весьма весёлом расположении духа. Другой отлйчный русский обычай—проводы. Группа друзей всегда провожает отъезжающих на перрон. Поют песни, иногда даже танцуют. А когда поезд трогается кричат вслед «До свидания! Счастлйвого путй!» The title of this passage eludes more literal translation than Welcome\, but the sense is rather that of it is granting a favour [to visit us). давным-давнб is a type of emphatic adverbial group, com¬ parable with some repetitions in English, such as a long, long time ago, compare §8.8. просйть is here used with the genitive case; this verb has consonant variation c /ш in the present tense: ist person singular прошу, other persons np6c-. рад has the dative case, and it may be compared with the English usage, which also requires an indirect reference, like glad of or glad about (see Passage 38). принимая is a regularly formed gerund from принимать.
41. WELCOME!
169
тут же: the emphasis of же may be translated in various ways— there and then, there on the spot, there already, right there. да и надо is more emphatic than и надо—^we might say and you really must or indeed you must. достаточно, like мнбго and нёсколько, is followed by the genitive. нельзя alone means it is impossible, and other tenses are indicated by addition of a form of быть. для того, чтббы should be translated as if чтобы stood alone. побольше: comparative adverbs may take the prefix no- to indicate the idea of a little, some {more, etc.). наливают еш,ё водки: they pour still {some) vodka; the genitive case here indicates that some of a possible total quantity is taken, i.e. not all the vodka which is there; this is called the partitive use of the genitive. мёжду тем together has the force of our conjunction while. всё новые блюда: the translation of всё here is all the time, and this is the usual Russian way of expressing emphatically the idea of continuous or repeated action: we should say they keep on serving fresh dishes. двух-трёх: to express an approximate number we say, e.g. two or three, whereas Russian uses the two numbers with a hyphen. до тогб: to the point {or extent) that, to such a pitch. The noun друг friend is regular in the singular; the plural forms are nominative друзья, accusative /genitive друзёй, dative друзьям, etc. счастливого пути, genitive, because the verb яселать is understood. (The reader may find it useful to re-read Passages 30 and 38 in conjunction with this passage.)
42. НАРОДНОЕ ХОЗЯЙСТВО СССР Неотъемлемой частью Советской жизни стала «Выставка». Это не какая-нибудь выставка, а постоянная «Выставка достижений народного жозяйства СССР» в Москве. Десятки тысяч людей со всех концов Союза, которые ежегодно посегдают
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столйцу, НИ за что не пропустят её. Йбо, как известно, русские очень гордятся свойми достижениями. И кто мог бы сказать, что им нечем гордйться? С конца двадцатых годов народное хозяйство СССР развива¬ ется на основе систематйческого планйрования — знаменйтых пятилеток (пятилётних планов). Экономйческая жизнь страны переменйлась до степени вне всякого сравнения с дореволюционной эпохой. Сельское хозяйство организовано на основе коллектйвных хозяйств — «колхозов» (кооператйвов) и советских хозяйств — «совхозов» (государственных предприятий). Самая плодотво¬ рная земля для пшенйцы — чернозём степи, и с древних времён Украйна была знаменйтой жйтницей. С 1954 года целые тысячи квадратных километров ещё не эксплуатйрованной землй (так называемые «целины») в Казахстане и Сибйри были освоены и теперь дают чрезвычайно богатые урожаи хлеба. На Украйне выращивают тоже кукурузу, рис, подсолнечник, хлопок и табак. В центральных областях Россйи главные зерновые культуры — рожь, овёс, ячмень и картофель, а главное индустриальное растение — лён. йто также скотоводческий район. В Туркестане в прошлом можно было выращивать полезные растения только в оазисах, но теперь, благодаря широкой сети оросйтельных каналов, этот район сделался крупным центром по производству хлопка и рйса. В степях Казахстана и на склонах гор Туркестана и Кавказа пасут овец. На севере СССР и в Сибйри самое распространённое занятие ещё — лесоводство, но и там сельское хозяйство продвигается в районы, где прежде ничего нельзя было выращивать. Вездё главное сырьё для промышленности — уголь и желёзная руда, и крупнёйшие индустриальные цёнтры в СССР выросли там, где добывается это сырьё. Донёцкий Бассёйн («Донбасс») на Украйне самый знаменйтый центр. Здесь в такйх местах как Сталине добывается уголь лешего сорта, а в Кривом Роге — руда. Поэтому на Украйне есть такйе крупные индустриальные города как Харьков и Ростовна-Дон^. На Урале важнёйшие зёлежи желёзной руды (около Магнитогорска, Челябинска, Свердловска) и там работают огромные доменные пёчи и металлургйческие
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комбинаты. Есть другйе центры горной и тяжёлой промышле¬ нности в Сибйри, например Кузнецкий Бассейн («Кузбасс») с его богатыми залежами угля и железа около Лениногбрска, Сталинска, Новосибйрска, а также в Казахстане около Караганды. Другое необходймое сырьё — нефть. Самый важный центр нефтяной промышленности — Баку на берегу Каспййского моря. Теперь работает и «Второй Баку» между Волгой и западным склоном Урала. Другйе месторождения нефти находятся на северном Кавказе (Грозный, Кубань), на Карпатах и на острове Сахалйн на Дальнем Востоке. Эксплуатйруется и естественный газ. Например из Сара¬ това на Волге газ подаётся в Москву по газопроводу длиной в 843 км. Для электрификации Советской промышленности развита широкая сеть электростанций, использующих такой источник энергии, который находится на месте — йли уголь, йли торф, йли водная энергия. Советские энергетики построили много гидроэлектростанций (ГЭС), начиная с Днепропетровска, (построенного в 1932 под руководством американских инже¬ неров). В 1959 году русло могучей сибйрской рекй Ангара было перекрыто плотйной. Там через два-три года поступит в действие «величайшая в мйре ГЭС». Уже в 1954 году в СССР была сооружена первая в мйре атомная электростанция, и применение атомной энергии в мйрных целях будет широко развиваться. Крупнейшими центрами как тяжёлой промышленности (машиностроения, металлургии, химйческой) так и лёгкой (текстйльной, пищевой, обувной, и др.) являются Москва и Ленинград. Район на восток от Москвы до города Горький был традционный район текстйльной промышленности, и там до сих пор главное производство — всякие ткани, и шерстяные и льняные и хлопчатобумажные. Кроме большйх, исключйтельно индустриальных районов, другйе промышленные центры теперь разбросаны повсюду в СССР — например в Рйге, в Мйнске, в столйцах Грузии (Тбилйси) и Узбекистана (Ташкент). В результате крупного развйтия Советского народного хозяйства за послевоенные годы, условия жйзни народа очень
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улучшились. Производство товаров широкого потреблёния значительно увеличилось после многолетнего сосредоточения на тяжёлой индустрии, и цены понизились. Русские рабочие хвастаются, что они не знают ни безработицы ни забастовок, и что с их заработной платы («зарплаты») берётся совсем ничтожный подоходный налог. «Оплата труда построена такйм образом, чтобы ... у всех групп трудяш,ихся была личная материальная заинтересованность в труде». В связи с этим особенно хорошо известно «стахановское движение», система соревнования, по которой новаторы и другйе передовые работники получают особенные награды. Одно из заданий Семилётнего плана 1959 года — «переход на самый короткий в мйре рабочий день и самую короткую рабочую недёлю» — введёние для всех рабочих и служащих шестй-семичасового рабочего дня при двух выходных днях в недёлю. The word-order may make the first sentence seem difficult; inspection will show that выставка is the only nominative, and this is the subject; in English we should put the verb next, and this is стала, here has become) after this the sentence should be easy to translate, if we remember that the sense of стать is completed with an instrumental. -нибудь added to pronouns makes the sense general: just any, ‘any old’. ни за что: the splitting of ничто was discussed in Passage 18. гордйться is used with the instrumental; we sometimes speak of ‘swanking’ with something (instead of about). мог бы is a normal conditional, disguised only a little because мог has no final л; им is dative plural—compare the use of мне нёкогда (page 129)—in this sentence the instrumental of нёчто is used, because that is the case required by гордйться; the similarity of нйчто and нёчто may seem confusing, but the forms with не- are used when the verb to be would be required in the English translation; the whole sentence corresponds to who could say that to-them is-nothing-about to-be proud, which can now be arranged in idiomatic English as who could say that they have nothing to be proud of? The past tense forms развивалось and переменйлась are best translated with the aid of has.
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ещё не . . . земли: the genitive о/must come first: of not yet exploited land.
цёнтром no; we should translate no with of or for in this sentence. ничего нельзя было: two negatives do not make a positive!— it was impossible to grow anything.
крупнейшие, важнейшие: compare page 144; the sense of these formations is rather very . . . than most. в Кривом Роге: as English does not use the Russian inflexions we should say in Krivoy Rog. длинбй в 843 км.: the instrumental form длиной here corres¬ ponds to our by, and it is usual to express the measure with в and the accusative, so that в corresponds to of, or we might say 843
km. in length.
развита: развить is one of the verbs which has a past participle passive in -T-. как . . . так и: not only . . . but also. товары широкого потребления: goods of wide consumption, i.e. consumer goods. чтббы . . . была: the past tense form is used because to the Russian this seems to be a conditional proposition; we may translate so that all groups . . . should have . . . interest. при двух . . . днях: при has the force of [along) with here.
43. КАК ДРУГЙЕ HAG ВЙДЯТ Против традиции англичан в еде ничего дурного не скажешь. Что же плохого в том, что утром они любят есть кашу-размазню, а на ночь вовсе не едят? И разве плохо, что часы еды они стараются соблюдать очень точно ? В ресторане гостйницы в десять часов утра вам уже никто не даст завтрака, да и во многих других ресторанах вы с трудом этот завтрак найдёте. Опоздали. Ждите до часу. В час будет ленч — второй завтрак. Торопйтесь поесть! В три часа вам его уже не дадут. В пять часов дня пьют чай. Крепкий чай с молоком и с сахаром. Недаром «файв о клок» — пять часов — так часто называют просто «ти о клок» — час чая. Не вздумайте
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RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
В ЭТОТ час обедать. В большинстве ресторанов это абсолютно безнадёжно! Дйннер — обед — будет в семь-вбсемь часов. В дёсять он кончится. Саппер — ужин — бывает ужё рёдко. Англичане не любят ужинать, бта сперва удивлявшая меня пунктуальность в едё и одноврёменность её для всех в концё концов мне понравились. Возникает нёкий общий ритм жизни, и это удобно, так как, войдя в этот ритм, вы всегда понимаете, как вам распределить ваш день, вашу работу, в4ши встрёчи с людьмй. (Из кнйги С. Образцова «О том, что я увйдел, узнал и понял во врёмя двух поёздок в Лондон»). Note on pronunciation-, the words на ночь are pronounced as if written in one: наночь; in some combinations of this kind the preposition is accented and the following noun carries no accent of its own. (cf. p. 145).
сказать to say is the perfective verb which corresponds to говорить to speak) in the present forms ж replaces 3; the con¬ struction of the negative is quite regular: не, another negative word, and the genitive case; the force of the verb is rather you can say than you will say, and this shade of meaning is sometimes associated with the perfective aspect. The genitive in что же плохого has a different function; if we could say что плбхое the sense would be what is the bad thing, but the genitive here indicates the sense of what is there from among bad things, i.e. the logic of this usage is that we do not know a specific bad thing, but are looking for some one thing out of a choice of possible ‘bads’; же might be translated by now. разве is used to introduce a question, or rather a proposition which the answer will deny; it gives the flavour of do you mean to say? or you don’t surely mean to say? or would anyone maintain that . . . ?
ужё не already not corresponds to our no longer. даст (and later дадут) from дать (see Passage 27) have future sense here, and so has найдёте; the verbs находить, найтй to find correspond very closely in structure to our come upon; it is usual for compound verbs made with ходйть and идтй to have the former verb for the imperfective and the latter for the perfective aspect. опоздали you have delayed is the usual way of expressing you
43. AS OTHERS SEE US
175
are late—^we express the result, in this way, the Russian expresses
the result by using a perfective verb. (See also page 87.) до часу; this uses the rare genitive in -y which occurs with some words after some prepositions, compare йз дому in Passage 34. вздумайте: the prefix воз-, with variant forms вое-, вз-, вс-, often gives the sense of a suddenly started action. бывает ужё рёдко; the main difficulty here is ужё which has no time sense, but is emphatic—indeed) the whole group might be rendered and supper is found very rarely indeed or it’s not often there’s supper !
сперва . . . : which surprised me at first. в концё концбв is a more or less self-evident idiom which can be translated with finally here, though it sometimes means last of all.
The verbs in the title of Obraztsov’s book are all perfective, and imply that he is summing-up after a completed experience. We should probably leave увйлел as I saw, but узнал is rather come to know or got to know, and пбнял might be similarly treated.
176
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
Куда ^Со^лурсгу
Кому
'Zaie^K^ іілмхял.
CciZfo^AJz4 ^ 1
г гN й1^' уК"*';;— 9 0 J -
Ч К ] -- - - - 1 —, 3’ 4—S1 -W—J—LJ—J—II—
сл’^ел а ;^у-мая^а ^у-малд ду-мал^/ірУ'''®^І’*^ 55.
СТАРЫЙ
ДЕД
Задумал наш старый дед, У 2 раза Другой раз жениться Сидел а думал, а дума. ", " Другой раз женйться Если стару жёну взять. Работать не станет. Сйдел а думал . . . Работать не станет. Молодую жёну взять, Ёго не полюбит. Сйдел а думал . . . Ёго не полюбит.
2
р4за
214
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
A КОЛЙ полюбит, To не поцелует, Сидел a думал . . . To не поцелует. А коль поцелует Отвернётся, плюнет, Сйдел а д^мал . . . Отвернётся, плюнет. Другой раз женйться Дело не годйтся. Сйдел а думал . . . Дело не годйтся. This song offers examples of the rather earthy, spicy humour which hes at the other end of the folk-song spectrum from the poetic-melancholy. Если . . . взять: the use of the infinitive after ёсли was dis¬ cussed on page 178. In the third verse, the idea of if is expressed by the infinitive alone, without ёсли. стару жену: the adjective here has the short ending; examples of this kind of inflection (similar to the inflection of сам, see page 194) are found in the folk-song and folk-tale (Passage 37); жен;^ is the usual accentuation for the accusative of жена. работать не станет: we have seen numerous instances of стать used with the sense of become) it can also mean to start doing something; in the present case, however, it merely makes a future tense, as if the text read работать (not the usual stress) не б^дет; the present-tense forms are стану, станет, etc. полюбит: strictly speaking, as the perfective can not refer to a continuing state of affairs полюбйть should mean fall in love, come to love, but she won’t love him, is a perfectly adequate trans¬ lation here, and this sentence offers a useful reminder that the difficulties of Russian verbal aspect may sometimes be exag¬ gerated. кбли (this is the usual stress) and коль are frequently found in the vernacular instead of ёсли.
55. SONGS
215
дбло не годйтся: годйться mean to be fit for (with dative), to be useful, and дёло has various shades of meaning—affair, business, matter, thing] the flavour of the last line is near to that of the thing’s no go.
56.
ГОД
В
ПОДМОСКОВЬЕ
Снежный покров под Москвой лежйт сто сорок дней. К веснё низкое серое нёбо голубёет, снег покрывается слепящей ломкой корочкой, потом садйтся, подтаивает и, источённый лучами солнца, в начале апреля совсем сходит. Сквозь комья землй пробивается трава, лес одевается в «зелёную дымку». По подсохшим полям идут трёкторы с плугами. В самом конце апреля лопаются почки берёзы. Около десятого мая поёт первый соловей. Зацветает черёмуха, за ней сирень. Приходит лето с жарой, с грозами, с грибами, с сенокосом. В знойные июльские дни термометр поднимается выше плюс 30 градусов по Цельсию в тенй. Наливаются и сгибаются под собственной тяжестью колосья. По вечерам вода в реке тепла как «парное молоко». Но вот замечает глаз осенние пряди в лйстве. Жатки косят рожь, машут крыльями. В конце августа начинается листопад. Дождь спешйт отдать земле свой годовые 600 миллиметров. Лес чернеет, нёбо затягивается сёрой дымкой туч, на огородах торчат корешкй от капусты. В середйне октября мелькает пёрвый снег. К концу ноября он ложйтся сплошной пеленой. И вот ужё в трескучие январские ночи ртутный стблбик падает нйже 30 градусов . . . (из газёты Спутник 10-17 мая, 1958г.) Russian names of regions are sometimes made on the pattern of Подмоскбвье; we have seen Предуралье and Примбрье in Passage 13; it is not always convenient to translate them, although Подмоскбвье can be explained as the Moscow Region— it corresponds in a way to the Londoner’s use of the expression the ‘Home Counties’ for the belt of counties which surround the capital. годуббет: some verbs with infinitive in -еть have the sense of
2l6
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
being or becoming (e.g. a colour); other examples are желтбть, синёть, темнёть in Passage ii, белёть in Passage 49, and чернёть in this text. садйтся here: settles. в зелёную дымку: accusative; we get into our clothes to dress. в самом концё: the accent indicates that this is adjectival самый meaning the very, as it usually does when followed by a noun. no Цёльсию: according to Celsius, i.e. centigrade) this could also be rendered by Цёльсия alone. колбсья is plural to кблос (nominative, and subject of the sentence). машут крйльями: махать (present машу, машет) takes the instrumental case where we might expect accusative (to flap with the wings); крылб has plural nominative крйлья, genitive крыльев. листопад is a nice example of the Russian compound word, compare лист leaf and падать to fall; the link vowel in such compounds is usually -0-. СПлошнбй neленбй: we might say in {a solid shroud); the basic idea of сплошнбй is that of continuousness, totality, not firmness, and a more daring translation which breaks away from the word-for-word method would be lies like a shroud everywhere.
Ы.
АРИФМЁТИКА
Давайте займёмся простой арифметикой. Русские польз¬ уются тем же знаком сложения как и мы, а йменно -(- «плюс». Сложйте два и пять! «К двум прибавить пять, будет семь», йли гораздо проще: «два да пять — семь». В случае вычитания говорят: Вычтите три из шестй! 6—3 = 3, т.е.: шесть мйнус три равняется трём, йли: три из шестй — три. Знак — называется мйнусом. Умножение труднее. Нужно сначала выучить наизусть таблйцу умножения, например: дважды два — четыре, дважды три — шесть, дважды четыре — вбсемь и т.д. Подобным образом говорят: трйжды два — шесть; четырежды два — вбсемь: пятью два — десять, шестью два — двенадцать, семью
57. ARITHMETIC
217
два — четырнадцать; дёсятью два — двадцать и т.д. По¬ множьте тринадцать на семь! 13 х 7 =91: семью три — двадцать одйн, запишйте одйн, два в уме; одйножды семь — семь, плюс два — девять; запишйте девять. Произведение равняется девяноста одному. Упражнение: если дать 14 мальчикам по три книг, сколько нужно книг? Значит, помножить четьірнадцать на три: четырежды три — двенадцать, запишйте два, одйн в уме, трйжды одйн — три, плюс одйн, запишйте четыре — нужны сорок две кнйги. Разделйте двадцать пять на пять! 25 : 5 = 5 (Знак деления:). Двадцать пять разделённое на пять равняется пятй, или пять содержится в двадцатй пятй пять раз. Если бы наоборот требовалось разделйть пять на двадцать пять, то получйлась бы дробь. Простая дробь: ^ — пять двадцать пятых (под¬ разумевается «частей»), йли j — одна пятая. Десятйчная дробь ^ = 0,2 , то есть нуль целых (чйсел), две десятых. 2,54 — два целых, пятьдесят четыре сотых. По-русски «пи» (я:), отношение длины окружности круга к длине его диа¬ метра, 3,14159 и Т.Д., говорйтся: три целых, одна десятая, четыре сотых, одна тысячная и т.д. (Заметьте, что для отде¬ ления целых от дробей употребляется не точка, а запятая.) С другой стороны, при большйх чйслах, чтобы отделйть тысячи, миллионы, и Т.Д., обычно употребляются промежутки (шпации), например, 3 000 000 — три миллиона, йли же точки — 3.000.000.) давайте: this type of imperative was introduced in Passage 34; the sense of it emerges if we expand the sentence along the lines of give (us permission that) we occupy ourselves, etc.; either the infinitive or a personal present tense form, as here, may be used after давайте. займёмся: let us first simplify by removing ся; we should then expect to find the verb in a dictionary at the position of the stem займ-, but should fail to do so; the infinitive of this (perfective) verb is занять, and the present forms are займ;^, займёт, etc., other compounds of the non-existent ‘ять' also insert -h- in the infinitive, e.g. понйть understand, нанять hire, which have present (= future) пойму, найму, etc. взять is a compound of the same
2i8
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
root verb with the prefix вз-/воз- and the present forms are возьму, возьмёт, etc. (compare page 177); the corresponding imperfective verbs, compounded with за-, па-, по- to give занимать, нанимать, понимать have quite regular forms, present занимаю, etc., but the imperfective verb corresponding to взять is брать. Both заниматься/заняться and пбльзоваться are used with the instrumental. йменно alone means namely (compare ймя) but it is often preceded by a, which may be omitted in translation. сложйть (imperfective складывать) means hterally to put with, and imperfective вычитать, perfective вйчесть with из to count out of) the simple verb читать means to read but in compounds -читать and -честь often mean to reckon or count) the irregular forms of -честь are discussed on page 197; for multiply both mh6жить/помнбжить and умножать/умнбжить are used, with на as the preposition corresponding to by, делйть divide has perfective раз делйть and again на corresponds to by— the context of a sentence would usually prevent confusion of forms of дёлать to do with those of делйть (presents дёлаю, дёлает and делю, дёлит respectively). прбще; the simple adjective is простбй; гораздо is generally associated with comparatives, and may be translated with much or far more. The numerals ending in -жды (times) are called multiplicatives; from 5 onwards they are replaced by the instrumental of the cardinal numerals, a usage similar to the English, e.g. two by five. девянбсто appears here for the first time; like сброк and CTO it takes the ending -a for all cases except nominative/ accusative. дать 14 мальчикам по три кнйги: this construction looks unusual, but it is the normal way of expressing give 14 boys three books each) the analysis of this construction may be easier if we regard no here as meaning at the rate of... each, then we have to give to (dative) someone at the rate of so much each, and the so much will be in the accusative case; this is called the distributive use of HO, which may then be followed by the accusative case, although dative is also used, for instance with the numerals 5 and above, HO ПЯТЙ, etc.
57. ARITHMETIC
219
бели бы трббовалось: if it would require itself, i.e. if it were required', it is useful to remember that English were may take the place of would be, and трёбоваться may be translated be required. заметьте, also помножьте and вычтите will be readily recognised as plural imperatives; the corresponding statement forms (called indicative forms) are замётите, помнбжите, вычтете—imperatives often shorten -и- to -ь-, and sometimes have different stress from the 2nd person plural indicative.
58.
СПОРТ
В Советском Союзе очень много внимания уделяется спорту во всех его вйдах. Вряд ли можно назвать спорт, который не был бы популярным — за исключением типйчно англййских и американских крйкета, регби и бейсбола. Советские спортсмены играют в воллейбол, баскетбол, хоккей на льду, теннис и т.д. Онй бегают, плавают, прыгают, занимаются боксом и атлетикой. Есть и возможности ездить верхом, плавать на яхтах, участвовать в велосипедных и автомобйльных гонках. Популярны и скачки, в которых едут на традиционных русских тройках (каретах йли санях, в которые запряжено по три лошади). Другой традиционный спорт — охота. Даже в европейской части СССР, кроме мелких дйких животных и птиц, как например лиса и заяц, тетерев и утка, епдё водятся волки и медведи и другйе звери, и за нйми охо¬ тятся много охотников. Альпинйзм тоже популярен, так как на Карпатах, на Тянь-Шане и на Кавказе прекрасные места для этого спорта. По словам одной официальной кнйги: «Неразрывной частью советской культуры является физйческое воспитание народа, спорт. Физкультура и спорт в СССР стали достоянием миллионов трудяпдихся. бто одйн из итогов культурной революции в стране. Нельзя найтй завода йли фабрики, учебного заведения йли колхоза, в котором не было бы физкультурников, спортйвной секции . . . Советские спортсмёны уверенно вышли на международную арену. Онй
220
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
ЯВЛЯЮТСЯ чемпионами мира по гимн4стике, тяжёлой атлетике, классйческой борьбе, шахматам, лыжам, стрельбе и некоторым другйм вйдам спорта . . . Советский спорт становится всё более массовым. В этом его сйла, в этом залог его будущих успехов.» И на самом деле достижения советских спортсменов, например в Олимпййских йграх, весьма значйтельны. Загранйцей особенной славой пользуются футбольные команды «Динамо» и «Спартак». Йбо в СССР, как и в большинстве стран Европы и Америки, футбол стал самой популярной массовой игрой, «королём советского спорта». Каждую суб¬ боту много тысяч «болельщиков» ходят на стадионы, чтобы смотреть, как играют команды, за которые онй болеют. Вот цитата из описания одного матча в газете Ленинградская Правда: Реванш Динамовцев. Вчера ленинградский «Зенйт» на стадионе ймени С. М. Кйрова принимали московскую команду «Динамо». Мяч в игру ввелй Динамовцы, и сразу же завяза¬ лась напряжённая, изобйловавшая многими интересными моментами спортйвная борьба. Уже на первых минутах состязания хозяева поля предпрйняли несколько острых атак, и Суркову удалось вырваться к воротам «Динамо», но он послал мяч мймо. Защйтники московской команды сумели отразйть этот натиск, и на 37-й минуте напада¬ ющему «Динамо» Шаповалову удалось забйть первый гол в ворота хозяев поля. После перерыва ленинградцы сначала захватйли инициатйву, но поспешность нападающих у ворот гостей не позволила им добйться желаемого результата —уравнять счёт. Следует отдать должное вратарю «Динамо» Беляеву, блестяще про¬ ведшему весь матч. На 72-й минуте стремйтельный проход москвича Ѵ’рина и мощный его уд4р привелй к вторйчному взятию ворот «Зенйта». Интересная встреча закончилась победой ком4нды моско¬ вского Дин4мо с результ4том 2:0. котбрый не был бы: for discussion of this conditional form, which can be translated by a present indicative in EngHsh, see page 124.
58. SPORT
221
за исключёниѳм: за would be translated by with in this expression. лёд reduces its stem to льд- in the inflected forms, плавать can mean to swim and also to be afloat, e.g. in a boat, ёздить, ёдут: ёздить means to ride habitually, ёхать to ride in specific circumstances; the difference of sense is hke that between ходить and идтй. The present forms of ёздить are ёзжу, ёздит, etc., of ёхать: ёду, ёдет, etc. See also Passages 21,
47
-
в котбрые запряженб пб три лбшади ; this again introduces the distributive no, discussed in Passage 57; as лбшади is a part of the no group, it cannot be subject to the verb, which is there¬ fore neuter; we translate into which are harnessed three horses each. водйться is a word of very general meaning; to be, be found, be about, go about. неразрйвной частью; if an instrumental expression occurs, unless the sense is immediately obvious, it is worthwhile looking to see if any word in the sentence can account for this case, as here является; in the following sentence instrumental достоянием immediately follows стать and is therefore easier to recognise. завбда, фабрики, genitive because the statement is negative (нельзй). не бйло бы; the general reason for this construction has been discussed; the form бьіло is used because the words физкульт;^рников, сбкции are genitive, and cannot be subjects, no гимнастике; we must translate no with in here, станбвится; is becoming] становиться is the imperfective form corresponding to стать; this verb does not have ов/у variation, but has present становлюсь, станбвится, with вл for в before ю. в этом; we are used to seeing the forms of этот used adjectiv¬ ally, but here the word is used as a true pronoun. болбть means hteraUy to be ill, but болёть за (accusative) also means to be a 'fan' of a team, etc. принимал; принимать generally means to accept or receive but also in sport to meet an opponent. A member of the ‘Dynamos’ is a динбмовец; the plural динамбвцы can be translated simply by the name of the team, мяч в игр;^ ввелй looks unfamihar, mainly because the idiom
222
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
led the ball into the game may not at once suggest kick-off, which is the translation; this word-order throws the word of major interest, динамбвцы, into an important position at the end of the phrase; спортивная борьба is the subject of the next clause— note that the adjective means sporting not sportive—and the word напряжённая is best read before these words; the participial expression изобйловавшая , . . can then conclude the sentence with a which clause; this is a good example of a ‘difficult’ Russian sentence which is not so difficult if the reader can keep cool, account for every word (on rough paper!), and then apply the techniques of turning the evident sense into idiomatic Enghsh. хозяин, hke so many other words which denote persons, is irregular in its forms, at least in the plural, which has nominative хозяева, genitive хозйев, dative хозяевам, etc. (it is still the Russian author’s responsibffity more than the reader’s!); the hosts of the field are of course the home team, and their guests the away team. ворбтам; looked at in the right way, the goal is like a gate, сумёли: сумёть is perfective to умёть understand) what has been understood perfectly may then be executed or managed. добиваться and добиться have the genitive case of the object, отдать дблжное: the adjective дблжный means due) the neuter form can be used as an abstract noun, so that дблжное may mean that which is due (or simply due) or tribute. мбщный егб удар: note the word order—^we expect егб to stand first.
59.
СОЦСТРАХ
И
ЗДРАВООХРАНЁНИЕ
В СССР, как и в разных другйх европейских странах, значйтельная часть государственного бюджета расхбдуется на такйе «социально-культурные мероприятия» как здраво¬ охранение и социальное обеспечение и страхование (соцстрах). Из средств социального страхования рабочие и их иждивенцы получают пособия, если онй не могут работать вследствие болезни, йли по другйм причйнам, как например беремен¬ ность, кормление ребёнка и уход за ним; получают пенсии
59. SOCIAL INSURANCE
223
ПО инвалйдности, старости, и в случае потери кормйльца. Ежегодно за счёт средств социального страхования миллионы людей отдыхают на курортах Крыма, Кавказа и в другйх местностях. Существует отлйчная система общедоступного медицйнского обслуживания с широкой сетью всяких здравоохранйтельных учреждений — больнйц, родйьных домов, научноисследовательских институтов, поликлйник, диспансеров, санаториев, домов отдыха и т.п. С 1917 года в пять раз увелйчилось колйчество медицйнских учебных заведений, в которых готовятся квалифицйрованные хирурги, врачй, фельдшера, медсёстры. Даже в такйх отдалённых районах как восточная часть Сибйри, где раньше совсем не знали медицйнской помощи, были созданы больнйцы и институты. Вот описание медицйнского обслуживания рабочих на одном заводе — московском автомобйльном заводе ймени Лихачёва: «. .. за здоровьем рабочих и служащих наблюдают 15 профессоров, 138 врачей, 227 фельдшеров, акушерок и медицйнских сестёр. В поликлйнике завода, где больных принимают врачй всех специальностей, имеются рентгеновские аппараты, электрокардиографы, физиотерапевтйческая аппа¬ ратура. Отлйчно оборудованы также клйнико-диагностйческая лаборатория, станция переливания крови, грязе¬ лечебницы, кабинет лечебной физкультуры. Широко при¬ меняются новейшие методы лечения: озокерйт, рентгеновская терапйя, антибиотики. Кроме поликлйники, на заводе работает 17 цеховых медп;^ктов, 2 цеховых ингалятория, диетйческая столовая. Работники завода имеют возможность провестй свой отпуск в своём санатории на Рйжском взморье, в дом отдыха в Подмоскбвье, в здравницах Крыма и Закавказья».
И
вслёдствиѳ may be regarded as a preposition with the genitive. ребёнка: the noun ребёнок shortens the stem in its singular forms; the plural is irregular—nominative ребята, accusative/ genitive ребят, dative ребятам, etc.; other words in -ёнок which denote the young of animals, have similar forms, e.g. телёнок calf, телята calves.
224
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
уход за НИМ: looking after it, or care for it; no in this sentence corresponds to for. всяких: although we have generally translated такбй by that or such it is a derived word in which the t- portion is the stem meaning that, and the -к- portion a modifier which indicates of a kind) similarly всякий means of all kinds) sometimes the ‘kind’ modifier takes the form -ковый, as in одинаковый of one kind] homogeneous. Т.П.: тому подббных. медицйнской пбмощи: genitive after the negative не знали. больнйх принимают врачи: the endings should make it clear who receives whom; принимать might well be translated here by see (in the professional sense, for examination). имёются: there are had, i.e. there are! кабинёт: this word must be translated according to circum¬ stance—study, consulting room, etc., and it may be a very large room (or department) of a hospital or other institution. работает: a singular verb is used when a collection of things or people are denoted by numerals.
60.
РУССКАЯ
НАРОДНАЯ М'^ЗЫКА
G давних времён иностранные путешественники по России отмечйли любовь русского и украинского народов к песне и танцу. Вплоть до начала XX века в жизни крестьян в деревне сохранйлись пережитки древних языческих обрядов и суеверий, и многие из народных песен и танцев брали своё начало в них — например весенний «хоровод» и рождестве¬ нская «колядка». Крестьяне исполняли эти танцы под песню йли под музыку такйх инструментов как балалайка (треугольный трёх струнный инструмент), семиструнная русская гитара, йли, на Украйне, бандура. В XX веке почтй национальным русским инструментом стал гармоника («гармонь» йли «гармошка»). Русский мужйк и русская баба пели песни обо всём — песни весёлые и грустные, «заунывные» как например всем известная песня волжских бурлаков:
60. RUSSIAN FOLK MUSIC
225
Эй ухнем, эй ^хнем, Широка и глубока, Ещё разик, ещё да раз, Ай-да, да, ай-да, ай-да, да, ай-да. Эх ты, Волга, мать-река. Широка и глубока. Многие из русских песен, которые знают иностранцы, на самом деле не русские, а цыганские. Эти песни часто мрачные, страстные, например «Очи чёрные»: Очи чёрные, очи страстные. Очи жгучие и прекрасные. Как люблю я вас,
Как боюсь я вас. Знать увйдел вас Я в недобрый час.
Существует чрезвычайно большое колйчество русских и украйнских танцев. В СССР часто исполняют их на сцене в живопйсной народной одежде — в особенности украинский «гопак» (произносится хопак), и другйе казацкие танцы. Вот прекрасное опйсание русской пляски из кнйги Максйма Горького Детство: Дядя Йков весь вскйнулся, вытянулся, прикрыл глаза и заиграл медленнее; Цыганок на минуту остановйлся и подскочйв, пошёл вприсядку кругом бабушки, а она плыла по полу бесшумно, как по воздуху, разводя руками, подняв брови, глядя куда-то вдаль тёмными глазами. Мне она показалась смешной, я фыркнул; м4стер строго погрозйл мне пальцем, и все взрослые посмотрели в мою сторону неодобрйтельно. — Не стучй, Иван! — сказал мастер, усмехаясь; Цыганок послушно отскочйл в сторону, сел на порог, а нянька Евгения, выгнув кадык, запела нйзким, приятным голосом: Всю неделю, до субботы. Плела девка кружева, Истомйлася работой — Эх, просто чуть жива 1 Б4бушка не плясала, а словно рассказывала что-то. Вот она идёт тихонько, задумавшись, покачиваясь, поглядывая вокруг из-под рукй, и всё её большое тело колеблется нерешйтельно, ноги щупают дорогу осторожно. Остановйлась, вдруг испугавшись чего-то, лицо дрогнуло, нахмурилось и тотчас засияло доброй, приветливой улыбкой. Откачнулась р
22б
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
В сторону, уступая кому-то дорогу, отводя рукой кого-то; опустив голову, замерл4, прислушиваясь, улыбаясь всё веселее, — и вдруг её сорвало с места, закружйло вйхрем, вся она стала стройней, выше ростом, и уж нельзя было глаз отвестй от неё, — так буйно-красйва и мила становйлась она в эти минуты чудёсного возвращения к юности! То travel in Russia is путешёствовать по Россйи, and similarly we have no in the first sentence—^which is not about travellers located in Russia. в них in the second sentence might here be translated by in these. в двадцатом вёкѳ . . . гармбника; here, as in earlier examples, the subject word is set in a ‘strong’ position, if the sentence had begun with the word гармбника the sense would be rather that among other things which the accordeon has done, it has become . . . etc.; the reader will soon grow accustomed to the Russian word-order, and although he may occasionally miss the special force of a particular word-order, it is not likely that a sentence will defy translation just because the words do not stand in the ‘English’ order. ббо: this preposition has three forms—^before a word which begins with a single consonant, о is used; before a word beginning with a vowel, об is used, and обо stands before a word which has a group of consonants initially, e.g. о мобй семьё, об этом, ббо мне {about ту family, about this, about me). The Song of the Volga Boatmen displays some interjections, exclamatory words which are difficult to translate, except by ringing the changes on ahs and ohs—эй, эх, ай-да, да; the да of ещё да раз has almost the value of yes here, as if we were to say once again, yes, once again ! котбрые may be nominative or accusative, but иностранцы can only be nominative because accusative of hving beings is the same as genitive, so that the word-order here offers no real difficulty. In the song ‘Black Eyes’ the word знать is not used in the ordinary way as an infinitive, but is used as an emphatic word, as we might say yow know, but with more force: it really was a bad hour when I caught sight of you.
60. RUSSIAN FOLK MUSIC
227
Яков весь . . . : the word весь is adverbial in force, but agrees with яков, referring as it were to the whole man) a similar construc¬ tion occurs in the last sentence: вся она. подскочйв: this is a perfective gerund meaning having sprung up, but we should translate by springing up, or with a spring] the same construction is used later with подняв брбви and выгнув кадіГік. вприсядку: adverbial—the присядка being the characteristic squatting position used as a figure in some Russian dances. разводй руками: the instrumental is used in reference to parts of the body which are moved, in expressions like nodding or shaking the head, flapping wings, see the note to махать крыльями on page 216. прбсто чуть жива may look a httle obscure, but the literal translation simply hardly alive should suggest a suitable version; the pithiness of the expression is characteristic of the folk-song style—an Enghsh rendering at about the same level would need more words, perhaps something hke you can hardly call her alive. 4t6-to: again generahses (compare notes on page 152), but it is sufficient to translate this with something. задумавіпись: as задуматься is a perfective verb, a present gerund cannot be used; the other gerunds in this sentence are present, but this can only be past; опустйв гблову is a further example; the form задумавшись demonstrates the alternative -вши which may be used instead of -в for forming past gerunds. её сорвйло . . . закружйло: the best way of rendering these neuter verbs is to say something tore her from the spot, etc. вьшіе рбстом: taller of stature.
61.
КТО
ТАКОЙ
СЕРЁЖА
И
ГДЕ
ОН
ЖИВЁТ
Выдумали, будто он на девочку похож, йто прямо смешно. Девочки ходят в платьях, а Серёжа давным-давно не ходит в платьях. У девочек, что ли, бывают рогатки? А у Серёжи есть рогатка, из неё можно стрелять камнями . . . А что у него такйе волосы, так их сколько раз стрйгли машйнкой, и Серёжа сидйт смйрно, закутанный простынёй, и тёрпит до конца, а онй всё равно растут опять. Затб он развитбй, все говорят. Он знает наизусть целую
228
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
кучу кнйжек. Два йли три раза прочтут ему кнйжку, и он уже знает её наизусть. Знает и буквы, но читать самому — очень долго. Кнйжки густо измазаны цветными карандашами, потому что Серёжа любит раскрашивать картйнки. Ёсли даже картйнки в красках, ои их перекрашивает по своему вкусу. Кнйжки недолго бывают новыми, онй распадаются на кускй. Тётя Паша приводит их в порядок, сшивая и склеивая листьі, изорванные по краям. Пропадёт какой-нибудь лист — Серёжа йщет его и успо¬ каивается, когда находит; он привязан к свойм кнйжкам, хотя в глубине душй не принимает всерьёз все эти истории. Звери на самом деле не разговаривают, и ковёр-самолёт летать не может, потому что он без мотора, это каждый дурак знает . . . Живёт Серёжа с мамой, тётей Пашей и Лукьянычем. В доме у них три комнаты. В одной спит Серёжа с мамой, в другой тётя Паша с Лукьянычем, а третья столовая. При гостях едят в столовой, а без гостей в кухне. Ещё есть терраса и двор. Во дворе куры. На двух длйнных грядках растёт лук и редйска. This and the following passage are taken from Vera Panova’s Seryozha, which describes events in the life of a small boy, son of a war-widow, in a provincial town. Серёжа is a familiar short form for Сергёй. Выдумали: they made out—or rather they had thought up the idea; the ‘they’ is the people of the grown-up world, as Sergie sees them. будто can mean as if and that it is (was) as if. давньім-давнб: see discussion on page i68. ходить can mean to go about, as well as simply to go. что ли: what do you think?, what, do girls really have catapults? A что: we should say and what if ... , and the following так may be translated by the exclamatory well!) note that вблосы is plural, rather more logically than our hair. затб: literally for that, but rather for all that or into the bargain. прочтет: for the forms of (про)честь see page 197; the perfective is used here to indicate completion of the action; although the tense is present (future) we might allow for the perfective in translation by saying when they have read.
61. WHO SERGIE IS
229
самому: dative case, but used as an adverb—by himself. Если даже: even if. ищет: the infinitive is искать, present ищу, йщет with variation ск/щ. успокаивается: the imperfective verb is успокаивать(ся) the perfective успокбить(ся); it is usual to regard the imperfective verb as the ‘dictionary’ or basic form, but it is evident from this example that one could regard some imperfectives as derivatives from a perfective, made by insertion of a syllable -ив- (also -ЫВ-, -OB-, -ав-) and sometimes with other alterations, such as that of 0 to a. Compare опаздывать and опоздать in Passage 8. при гостях means hterally in the presence of guests, but when they have guests will give a more usual English expression.
62.
СЕРЁЖА В
АВТОБУСЕ
На площади Серёжа с тётей Пашей сели в автобус, на детские места. Серёже редко приходйлось ездить в автобусе, он это развлечение ценйл. Стоя на скамье коленями, он смотрел в окно и оглядывался на соседа. Сосед был толстый мальчйшка, меньше Серёжи, он сосал леденцового петуха на деревянной палочке. Щёки у соседа были замусолены леденцом. Он тоже смотрел на Серёжу, взгляд его выражал вот что: «А у тебя леденцового петуха нет, ага!» Подошла кондукторша. — За мальчика надо платйть ? — спросйла тётя П4ша. — Примерься, мальчик, — сказала кондукторша. Там у них нарисована чёрная черта, по которой меряют детей: кто дорос до черты, за тех надо платйть. Серёжа стал под чертой и немножко приподнялся на цыпочках. Кон¬ дукторша сказала: — Платйте. Серёжа победно посмотрел на мальчйшку: «А на меня зато билёт берут, — сказал он ему мысленно, — а на тебя не берут, ага!» Но окончательная побёда осталась за мальчйшкой, потому что он поёхал дальше, когда Серёже и тёте Паше ужё пришлось выходйть. (Из кнйги Серёжа Вёры Пановой.) с тётей: we should probably say and rather than with Aunt P.;
230
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
the Russian for you and I is мы c вами, which has not occurred in any of the passages, but is mentioned here for information; the idiom is quite different from ours, but the logic is clear, as if we said we, that is, with you as well as me the speaker. приходйлось: this requires the dative — Серёже, стбя колёнями: there is no single word for kneel in Russian, and expressions of this kind are used; the plurals of калёно offer some difficulty—there is (first) the plural волёни with geni¬ tive genitive колёней, dative колёпям in the sense knee, second, plural колёнья (forms like the plural of nep6, see page 104), with the meaning joint, articulation, and third, plural колёна (regular) with the meaning bend; usually the context should help. смотрёть в окнб: we must simply admit that the idioms differ! In Russian the image is that of someone looking into the pane of glass; in Enghsh we refer to the general direction of the looking; translation of в окнб as through the window wiU always be correct, but gives less information than we should give. вот что: this may seem difficult because of the position of the words; if we take them first and translate this is what his look expressed . . . the meaning is clear. сосал . . . петуха: the genitive may seem strange, but the word петух means a rooster, and so the noun theoretically denotes a hving being. Lolhpops were traditionally made in the shape of a bird. там у них: they had there—the vague ‘they’—the administration of the bus-line, дорбс: from дорастй. кто ... за тех: as кто may refer to a plurahty of person, the next pronoun may be plural; тех (genitive) does duty as accusative when we speak of living beings. на меня затб билёт берут: they take а ticket for me, and the затб here has the flavour of so there ! or what’s more !; the basic meaning of затб is usually elusive, but probably most translators from English would find similar difficulties with Robert Burns’ 'A man’s a man for all that’, and затб is near to for all that, nevertheless: ‘whatever you think of me, I have to be paid for’. за мальчйшкой: victory remained with the boy. пришлбсь: compare приходйлось above, infinitive приходйть.
63. THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE
63.
КРАСОТЫ
PT^CCKOrO
231
ЯЗЫКА
Лёгкий ли русский язык? Ну, правду сказать, нет. Но не надо падать духом — «Не вдруг Москва строилась», а если читатель читает этот отрывок, он уже сделал успехи. Людям, изучающим русский язык, приходится время от врёмени проклинать его сложность. Поэтому, для того, чтобы ободрйть читателя, авторы хотят, во-первых, указать на некоторые красоты русского языкё, убедйть читателя, что очень стоит изучйть его; а во-вторых, научйть читателя, как следует проклинать его при желании! Ни в одной кнйге о русском языке нельзя обойтйсь без следующей цитаты велйкого писателя Тургенева: «Во дни сомнений, во дни тягостных раздумий о судьбах моей родины — ты одйн мне поддержка и опора, о велйкий, могучий, правдйвый и свободный русский язык! Не будь тебя —как не впасть в отчаяние при вйде всего, что совершается дома? —Но нельзя верить, чтобы такой язык не был дан велйкому народу Ь> Очень многие — и не только русские — хваляли русский язык за выразйтельность и сйлу. Нет лучшего доказате¬ льства этих качеств чем русский фольклор, в котором отражается богатая, красочная речь простого народа. В трйдцать седьмом отрывке мы дали одну из народных сказок, а теперь вот несколько примеров «народной мудрости» — пословицы:—Нет худа без добрй. Нет дыма без огня. Напйсано пером, не вырубить топором. Всяк кулйк своё болото хвёлит. В чужйх рукёх ломоть велйк. Коей, кос4, пока роса, роса долой — и ты домой. С волками жить — по-вол¬ чьи выть. На чужой сторон^ке рад своёй воронике. Счастье — вольная пташка: где захотела, там и сёла. Дуракам счастье. Пёрвая рюмка — колом, другая — соколом, а трётья — мёлкой пташечкой (это относится к водке). Муж да жена — одн4 душ4; Муж да жен4 — одйн сатан4 (о бр4ке). Дв4жды жен4 мил4 быв4ет — как в избу введут, да как вон понесут. Курица не птйца, б4ба не человёк. Есть и новые пословицы совётского перйода, напримёр: Тот колхоз бог4т, в котором лад. На тр4ктор надёйся, а коня не брос4й (это вари4нт ст4рой пословицы «на Бога надёйся, а сам не плош4й»).
232
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
Весьма типйчно длл русского языка употребление умень¬ шительных суффиксов. Онй не только указывают на размер, но выражают и эмоциональное отношение говорящего к предмету йли человеку, о котором речь идёт. Например: столик — это просто маленький стол, лесдк — маленький лес, и наоборот домище — это огромный дом. Но словй носик и ручка, О’ѵнос и рука, имеют и ласкательный оттенок, например — «у девочки был красйвенький носик», «он поцеловал её ручку» — а к тому же онй имеют специальные значения: ручка двери, носик чайника. Говоря с детьмй или о детях, русские очень часто употребляют такйе суффиксы, например «какое у неё мйленькое лйчико» (вместо милое лицо), «вот красйвенькая рубашечка для мальчика». Вообще уменьшйтельные употребляются чаще в разговбре с блйзкими друзьями и особенно в семейном кругу. При чтении русских романов иностранцы часто жалуются о слбжности имён действующих лиц. Надо справляться не только с Иваном Ивановичем (т.е. Иван сын Ивана) или Екатерйной Павловной, но и с такйми уменьшйтельными как Ваня, Ванька, Ванечка, Ванюта; Катя, Катенька, Катюша. Иные из этих форм ласкательные, иные же неодобрйтельные йли невежливые. Влюблённый русский парень, по крайней мере в песнях, обращается к своей возлюбленной такйми ласкательнымй словами как — душа моя, голубушка ты моя, ты моё сердечко, — йли называет её малйной, ягодой. Обратйм внимание теперь на другую сторону. Инте¬ ресно знать, как ругаться на люббм языке — конечно в пределах прилйчия, а не «как извбзчик» — это было бы «некультурно». Бранные выражения в русском языке так же выразйтельны и иногда живопйсны как ласкательные. Ничегб необыкновенного нет в такйх восклицбниях как Боже мой!, ради Бога!, Бог его знает! пошёл (йли убирайся) к чёрту!, чёрт поберй!, чёрт возьми! Но вот несколько более живопйсных и совсем недоброжелбтельиых выражений: Чтоб ты пропал !, пропади он пропадом !, чтоб вас разорвало!, раздай вас горой! ни дна бы вам ни покрышки! будь ты проклят! Совсем не рекомендуется назвать когб-нибудь вслух «мерз¬ авец», «свблочь» йли «сукин сын»!
63. BEAUTIES OF THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE
233
падать духом: we can say to kick with the feet, to write with the hand, but not to fall with the spirit, so some suitable idiom must be found corresponding to the sense, which should be clear; we might say you must not be downcast or you must not lose heart. уmkxB.:progress is made up of separate steps, so that the plural need not seem illogical. для тогб: may be left untranslated, стбит: is worthwhile (as well as is worth), but стойт: stands. при зкелании, and later при виде: при here corresponds to at. ни в одной . . . недьзя: it is important not to make two negatives into a positive; the use of одной is emphatic—not in a single book. мне поддёржка: quite Hterally a support to me. о велйкий: the 0 is an interjection, not a preposition here, не будь тебя: this is another way of expressing the idea of if, by using the imperative—if you did not exist. чтббы ... не был: here corresponds to что . . . н6 был бы. простбго нарбда: means here of the ordinary people. The proverbs and sayings often contain elements of the popular speech, and may also offer pecuhar difficulties because of their pithiness and brevity (compare Passages 37, 54, 55, 60). напйсано: it [has been) written. ВСЯК is a short form of всякий. The word чужбй is often translated with strange, but it usually means belonging to someone [somewhere) else. ломбть means a piece or chunk in general, but particularly a piece of bread, compare the other dog has a bigger bone. КОСЙ, коса: коей is imperative, коса may mean the reaper as well as his scythe', пока роей as long as there is dew, роса долбй when the dew is away—долбй usually means down, or off with, but here this would give the wrong sense. домбй is home with the meaning of being or going towards home— дбма means at home', c волками ... : we take our manners from our company; на чужбй ... : in a foreign land one is glad (even to see) a crow (from) one’s own—рад is used with the dative (see page 168); там и сёла—the sense of сёла here is alight or come down (but not when we speak of boarding a bus. Passage 62); дуракам счастье: this is so pithy that it may halt the reader, but
234
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the sense is all there in the two words—happiness (is) for-fools] кол is a stake, which could be used for impaling people—at the first glass we wonder what has stabbed us, the second is hke (instrumental) a hawk, the third like a gentle bird; вон; from there; человбк remember that this can mean a human being\ речь идёт does not correspond to the saying goes, but to is being spoken about (with o). For earlier examples of diminutives, see Passages 4, 5, 9. при чтёнии: in the reading of, when reading. Apart from the family name (фамйлия), Russians of either sex have a first given name (ймя), and a second ‘patronymic’ (бтчество) which indicates the name (ймя) of the father, thus we know that the father of Екатерйна Павловна was called Пйвел. пошёл; here does not mean he (etc.) has gone, but is used as an imperative—begone! (and that is just what be gone means!). Чтбб ты пропал; бы can be shortened to 6, and the sense of this wish is that you would (i.e. might) шжхй; пропадать /пропйсть implies a falling out of sight, existence, vanishing, etc., and it can be intensified by adding the noun прбпадом, i.e. fall {with) a {great) fall (compare Humpty-Dumpty); пропадй the imperative may be applied to other persons than the second; чтоб вас разорвало; a similar usage occurred with сорвать in Passage 60; раздуй вас горбй; may it blow you up like a mountain—the reader must use his imagination on this one!; с^кин; compare the words бабушкин, папип in Passage 31.
64. THE ORDER OF LENIN
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64.
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Ордена лёнина смолЁнской Области
вручЁниЕ
Смоленск, 13 (Спец. корр. «Правды») У трудящихся Смоленской области сегодня большой празд¬ ник. Во второй половйне дня в Смоленск для вручения области ордена Лёнина, которым она награждена за успехи в развйтии сельского хозяйства, прйбыл Первый секретарь Центрального Комитета КПСС, Председатель Совета Минйстров СССР товарищ Н. С. Хрущёв. По старому русскому обычаю от ймени трудящихся области Герой Социалистйческого Труда доярка колхоза «Россйя» Новодугинского района А. И. Ильин4 преподнесла Н. С. Хрущёву хлеб-соль, сердечно поблагодарйла пёртию и правйтельство за неустённую заботу о подъёме сельского хозяй¬ ства, о росте благосостояния народа. Тов. Хрущёв принимёет хлеб-соль и горячо благодарйт за тёплые словё. Женщины и дети вручёют Никйте Сергеевичу Хрущёву букеты цветов. Тысячи трудящихся на улицах Смоленска тепло приветст¬ вовали дорогого гостя, демонстрйруя горячую и безгранйчную любовь народа к пёртии и правйтельству. В торжественном убрёнстве сегодня областной драматйческий теётр. В зал на заседёние обкома КПСС и областного Совета депутётов трудящихся, посвящённое вручению области брдена Лёнина, собрёлись члёны обкома и депутёты областного Совёта, передовикй промышленности и сёльского хозяйства. Бурными аплодисмёнтами собрёвшиеся встречёют появлёние
23б
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
В президиуме Первого Секретаря ЦК КПСС и Председателя Совета Минйстров СССР Н. С. Хрущёва. [Следуют перечень присутствующих руководйтелей, пере¬ довых людей и гостей, и цитаты из речей разных ораторов, в том числе секретаря обкома КПСС, председателя колхоза ймени Сталина Почйнковского района, молодой свинарки колхоза ймени Сталина Вёлижского района, ткачйхи Смоле¬ нского льнокомбината и др.] В конце заседания тепло встреченный собравшимися выступил товарищ Н. С. Хрущёв. Его речь была выслушана с глубоким вниманием и неоднократно прерывалась бурными аплодисментами. Участники заседания прйняли приветствие Центральному Комитету партии и Советскому правйтельству. Онй заверили, что труженики Смоленщины в ответ на высокую награду умнбжат усйлия в труде и дадут стране ещё больше сельско¬ хозяйственных прод^тов. В. Поляков, Л. Волков. (Из «Правды» от четверга, 14 августа 1958 года) Смолёнской ббласти: this could be genitive, dative, or locative, but as a preposition is always used with the locative, this reduces the possibihties, and when we consider the meaning of вручёние— to present—it should be clear what is intended; the word вручёние is a good example of Russian word formation—^we have met the termination -ение in connection with all sorts of actions, делёниѳ division, получёние receipt, течёние ‘flowing’, i.e. current, and so forth; if we look at the first part of the word we may see a connection between вруч- and e.g. в руки, especially if we remember that к and ч are sometimes variants on each other; the reader wiU find it profitable at this stage of his studies to look at all the longer words he meets, to see whether he can discover associations between the parts of long words and other shorter words which he may know already; in this way he will not learn word for word, but will begin to acquire a sense for the structure of Russian vocabulary. The really curious student may like to discover, for example, the connection between хозяин and хозяйство, and he may hke to look in a Russian-English
64. THE ORDER OF LENIN
237
dictionary to see what goes to the making of развйть—^what have the compounds of раз- in common? A good etymological dictionary of English can be useful, too, if it tells us what is the ‘story’ behind the word develop. (These remarks are a counsel not of, but perhaps towards, perfection for the reader who by this time wishes to have a fuller understanding of what he is about.) для вручёния 66ласти брдена Лёнина: there are three genitives here—вручёния after для, and брдена Лёнина both ‘normal’ genitives; ббласти is dative, as in the title. КПСС: here genitive, Коммунистйческой партии Совётского Союза. По старому . . . : this sentence has no difficult forms, but it is long, and will need careful breaking-down; in accordance with the old Russian custom—^well, then, somebody did something—^who is the somebody? we look for nominatives and find гербй and доярка, and also the name A. И. Ильина, and these are all one and the same person, the Hero of Socialist Labour, milkmaid A .1.1.; Новодугйнского района tells us where she comes from; what did she do?—преподнесла хлеб-соль tells us this, the dative H. C. Хрущёву tells us to whom, and от ймени трудящихся tells us in (from) whose name, and finally ббласти tells us where the workers were from; everything is here in the sentence. ToB.: товарищ. демонстрйруя: the present gerund of -овать verbs ends in -уя. В торжёственном ... : as in other sentences which have been discussed, the subject областнбй драматйческий театр stands last; it would stand first if a previous sentence had made it clear that the theatre is the subject of interest, but that is not the case. обкбм: областнбй комитёт; на заседание here:/or the session’, посвящённое gives further information about this session; note that a Soviet Council is Совёт Депутатов with a further word or words to explain what sort of deputies they are; or it may be a Совёт Миийстров, etc. собравшиеся: the people who had assembled. ЦК КПСС: the full form of ЦК can be found in the first paragraph. и др.: и других. теплб встрёченныйdescribes Mr. Krushchev, and собравшимися
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RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
tells who gave him the reception (встречать indicates received here rather than met). умнбжат: a for я after ж; the a does not indicate that this is a form of imperfective умножать (which would have умножают for this person), but the verb is perfective умнбжить, here with future sense.
65.
ЛЁНИН
Какой бы была русская революция 1917-го года, если бы не было Лёнина? На этот вопрос, конечно, нет ответа. Советская энциклопедия описывает Лёнина слёдующим обра¬ зом: величайший гёний человёчества, создатель Коммуни¬ стической партии Совётского Союза, основатель Совётского социалистйческого государства, вождь и учитель трудящихся всего мйра. И без сомнёния, какого бы мнёния читатель ни был о дёятельности Лёнина, он во многих отношёниях был выдающийся человёк. Владймир Ильйч Ульянов (Лёнин) родился в 1870-м году в городе Симбйрске, где его отёц был дирёктором губёрнских народных учйлищ. В школе он, кажется, работал всегда на «отлйчно». Окончив гимназию, он поступйл в Казанский университёт. В том же году (1887) его брат Александр был повёшен за участие в покушёнии на жизнь царя Александра III, и сам Владймир Ильйч ужё начал свою революционную дёятельность. Вскоре он был исключён из университёта и выслан в дерёвню под надзор полйции. В слёдующем году ему было разрешено вернуться в Казань, но не в университёт. Тепёрь он вступйл впервые в марксйсткий кружок. Он продолжал учйться вне университёта и в 1891-м году сдал экзамены экстёрном на юридйческом факультёте Петербург¬ ского университёта, и получйл диплом пёрвой стёпени. После организаторской работы средй марксйстов в Самаре, он переёхал в Петербург, где вскоре стал руководйтелем петербургских марксйстов, и опубликовал пёрвую из свойх многочйсленных книг о коммунйзме. Там же он познакомился с Надёждой Крупской, своёй будущей женой и ближайщим
65. LENIN
239
ПОМОЩНИКОМ. За революционную работу в столйце он был арестован в 1895-м году и в 1897-м был сослан на три года в восточную Сибйрь. Вместе с ним поехала Крупская. В ссылке он написал свыше трйдцати книг и памфлетов, и планйровал будущую организацию своей партии. После окончания ссылки этому опасному человеку не разрешйли пребывать ни в Петербурге ни в Москве, и он уехал за гранйцу с целью издавать там политйческую газету «Йскра». Благодаря большинству голосов, которое он получйл на Лондонском Съезде Русской Социйл-Демократйческой Рабочей партии в 1903-м году, Лёнин стал прйзнанным руководйтелем новой крайней боевой марксйстской партии — «большевіжбв», и заклятым врагом более умеренных демократйческих «меньшевиков». В 1905-м год^ произошла бесплодная революция, и началйсь усйленные реакционные меры со стороны правйтельства. Лёнин и его сотрудники должны были выехать ещё раз за гранйцу, где он и жил (главным образом в Германии и Швейцарии) до 1917 г. В марте этого года, после пёрвой так называемой буржуазнодемократйческой революции в Россйи, немёцкие вл4сти, считая возвращёние Лёнина в Россйю фактором, содёйствующим поражёнию Россййской Импёрии в войнё, разрешйли ему проёхать чёрез Германию домой. В Петрограде Лёнин вмёсте с Троцким извлёк выгоду из недовольства народа и призвал рабочих превратйть революцию в социалистйческую, «пролетарскую» революцию. Благодаря ошйбкам и слабости врёменного правйтельства под руководством Кёренского, в октябрё того же года Лёнину удалось сдёлаться руководй¬ телем второго, большевйстского вооружённого восстёния, и впослёдствии пёрвым Председателем Совёта Народных Комиссаров (Совнаркома). В годы Революции и Гражданской войны Лёнин боролся против громадных трудностей за построёние Совётского государства, и благодаря своему уму и сйльному харёктеру сохранял едйнство партии, в которой ужё начали формировёться две враждёбные группы вокруг Троцкого и Стёлина. Но в 1922-м году у него был удёр, и его актйвная работа былё практйчески прекращенё. В январё 1924-го года он
240
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
умер. Саркофаг с его телом был установлен в мавзолее на Красной площади в Москве. Надо отдать справедливость — Лёнин был человек бес¬ корыстный, несомненного ума, фанатйчески преданный своему делу и самоотверженно работавший на его пользу. Но имея в виду одну только цель, он шагал к ней с неуклонной, железной волей и, кажется, в полной уверенности, что достижение этой цели оправдывает всякие средства. В Советском Союзе Лёнин почитается чуть ли не за святбго, и для коммунистов, по словам Маяковского, Лёнин и тепёрь живёе всех живых, Наше знанье сйла и оружие. Ёсли бы н6 было Лёнина? Бакбй бы бьіла . . . : the second conditional can be translated by would, although the verb here needs the past tense have been; the first conditional will be omitted in English, which uses an indicative with if, and we can say If Lenin had not been (or lived). какбй is instrumental, feminine singular, referring to революция. какбго бы мнёния читатель ни был; this is rather confusing until we see that the elements какого мнения can be translated literally of what kind of opinion, then читатель the reader, был бы might be; what is the function of ни here ? it does not correspond directly to a negative in Enghsh, but it does, in effect, add the idea of or not, and so widens and generahses the sense, in a way that could best be reflected in Enghsh by turning what into whatever. Generally, when a sentence contains a Russian conditional and ни, the conditional should be translated with may or might and the word or suffix—ever be attached to the appropriate word of the English version; we may call this ни the generalising ни. раббтал на «отлйчно»: на often implies looking towards the future and we could translate it by with a view to {gaining the report 'excellent').
65. LENIN
241
повёшен: past participle passive from повёсить, present повёшу, повёсит with variation of c/in; the imperfective verb is вёшать, with regular forms. ему біГіло разрешенб: impersonal construction, там же: in that same place. помбщником: although Nadyezhda was female, the word помбщник is mascuhne. где OH и жил: и has the force of in fact, indeed here, извлёк: past tense without -л from извлёчь (perfective), present tense извлек^, извлечёт, with variation of к/ч; the imperfective verb извлекать is regular. на егб пбльзу: егб here means its and not his (which would be свою if Lenin’s benefit were meant), чуть ли не: almost. и тепёрь: и means even here.
66.
СОВЁТСКОЕ
ГОСУДАРСТВО
В Советском Союзе государственное устройство двойное. С одной стороны есть формальная власть Советского правйтельства, а с другбй Коммунистйческая партия. На практике оба элемента совпадают и вся власть находится в руках у партии. СССР, говорйтся в Конституции, прйнятой в 1936 году, представляет собой социалистйческое государство рабочих и крестьян. Советский Союз является первой в мйре страной диктатуры пролетариата. Иными словами, руководящая роль в советском социалистйческом обществе принадлежйт рабо¬ чему классу. Это объясняется тем, что «по самому своему положению в общественном производстве рабочий класс — самый передовбй и революционный класс современности. Он руководйт всеми трудящимися в борьбе за создание коммунистйческого общества.» По словам «Гймна Советского Союза» СССР — «Союз нерушймый республик свободных», который «сплотйла навеки велйкая Русь». В состав СССР входят пятнадцать союзных республик, как например: Украйнская ССР, Белорусская Q
242
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
CCP, Литовская ССР, Грузйнская ССР, Узбекская ССР и другйе. «Суверенные права республик огранйчены лишь в тех пределах, в которых онй добровольно передали СССР свой правомочия при вхождении в состав союза. По всем другйм вопросам каждая республика самостоятельно осуществляет государственную власть, и каждая сохраняет право выхода из союза.» Самая большая союзная республика, Россййская Советская Федератйвная Республика (РСФСР), называется официально «первой средй равных». Органами власти в СССР являются Советы депутатов трудящихся, которые составляют политйческую основу госу¬ дарства. В их руках — от местных советов в сёлах (сельсовет) и городах (горсовет) до Верховного Совета СССР — якобы находится вся государственная власть. В стране насчйтывается всего около шестйдесяти тысяч местных советов. Средй депутатов есть значйтельное колйчество так называемых беспартййных, но все кандидаты выдвигаются в депутаты по согласованию между партййными и непартййными органи¬ зациями. Выборы депутатов во все советы происходят на основе всеобщего, равного и прямого избирательного пр4ва при тайном голосовании. На выборах обычно голосует не менее девяноста девятй процентов всего населения. Каждая союзная республика имеет свой Верховный Совет с Презйдиумом и Советом минйстров, а высшим органом государственной власти Советского Союза является Верхов¬ ный Совет СССР, избйраемый на четыре года. Это едйнственный законодательный орган страны. Он формирует правйтельство Союза (Совет минйстров), избирает Верховный суд и назначает Генерального Прокурора СССР. Верховный Совет состойт из двух палат: Совета Союза и Совета Нацио¬ нальностей. Депутаты Совета Союза представляют общие интересы всех советских граждан, незавйсимо от их национа¬ льности. Специфйческие интересы граждан десятков национальностей, населяющих СССР, представлены депута¬ тами Совета Национальностей. Обе палаты Верховного Совета равноправы. Верховный Совет СССР собирается на очередные сессии два раза в год в Кремле. На собраниях присутствует около тысячи трёхсот пятйдесяти депутатов. В перйод между сессиями постоянная текущая работа по
66. THE SOVIET STATE
243
управлению страной осуществляется Президиумом Верхов¬ ного Совета. Он состойт из председателя и около тридцатй членов. Председатель Презйдиума исполняет роль «Президента» СССР. Сейчас это Л. И. Брежнёв. Высшим исполнйтельным и распорядйтельным органом в стране является Совет минйстров СССР (до 1946 года Совет Народных Комиссаров—«Совнарком»). Совет минйстров состойт из Председателя и его заместйтелей, минйстров и руководйтелей специальных комитетов и комйссий. Он формально подотчётен Верховному Совету, и ответственен перед ним и Презйдиумом. На самом деле Председатель Совета минйстров является главой Советского правйтельства, можно сказать его «Премьёр-минйстром». Другой элемент в управлении СССР, Коммунистйческая Партия Советского Союза (КПСС), представляет устройство, параллельное системе советов. Роль едйнственной политйческой партии в СССР определяется офйциально так: «КПСС (прежде В КП (б)—Всесоюзная Коммунистйческая партия, Большевикй) — политйческий руководйтель всего советского народа. Её органы не подменяют ни одну из государственных йли общественных организаций, не коман¬ дуют йми. Тысячами нйтей связана КПСС с разлйчными массовыми организациями — советами, профессионаьными союзами. Комсомолом, и другйми. Через свойх членов, состоящих в профессиональных организациях, партия оказывает влияние на всю массу беспартййных рабочих и служащих.» Членов партии в СССР около семй миллионов. Основой партии являются первйчные организации на фабриках, заводах, в колхозах, частях Советской армии, сёлах, учебных заведениях и т.п. Первйчные организации посылают делегатов на городскую йли районную конференцию, и на них избирают делегатов на областную конференцию. Верховным органом партии является съезд КПСС. Очере¬ дные съезды созываются не реже одного раза в четыре года. Центральный Комитет (ЦК КПСС) избирается съездом, и между съездами он является высшим органом партии. Число членов на полном заседании ЦК КПСС (пленум) — между ста и двумястами. Между пленумами работой Центрального Комитета руководствует ещё более узкая
244
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
группа — Презйдиум ЦК КПСС (прежде называемый Полит¬ бюро). Во главе Презйдиума сидйт Первый Секретарь ЦК КПСС. Когда одно лицо является в то же время и Первым Секре¬ тарём партии и Председателем Верховного Совета (как в случае И. В. Сталина), этот человек фактйчески диктатор Советского Союза. оба элемёнта: the same construction is used with 66a as with два, i.e. the noun has the genitive singular form; similarly the feminine 66e палаты later in this passage. в руках у партии: compare note on page 201. диктатуры пролетариата: of, i.e. [having) a dictatorship of the proletariat. объясняется тем: we should say can be explained by this, namely самому may here be translated by very, and in the EngUsh version its for своему will precede it. при вхождении: on entering, at entrance, compare при чтёнии. Passage 63. якобы: here it is as if, i.e. ostensibly. всего около: about . . . in all. в депутаты: compare notes on page 197. осуіцествляется Президиумом: is carried out by the Presidium. командовать like управлять in Passage 12 and руководйть later, is used with the instrumental. связана КПСС: the subject is партия and связана is therefore feminine; it will be convenient to begin with this subject and verb (i.e. participle) in Enghsh. Оснбвой партии: the reader will by now be famiUar with the instrumental element of a sentence in the opening position— compare тьісячами нитёй above. избирается: here means is elected and съёздом explains by whom. двумястами: normal inflected form, corresponding to nomin¬ ative двёсти.
FURTHER STUDY
245
A NOTE ON FURTHER STUDY The reader will now want to ‘graduate’ on to Russian texts. In Great Britain these are now easily obtained through booksellers, and a wide range of pre-revolution and contemporary literature is available, mostly at modest prices. Various standard works are available in annotated and accented editions, and there are some collections of reading passages designed for students at various stages (Blackwell, Methuen, Oxford University Press, Pitman and others). The weekly illustrated Огонёк and the monthly Совётский Союз are also available in Great Britain, as well as numbers of Правда, Извёстия and the (political) humorous weekly Крокодйл. (АП these are published in the U.S.S.R.) There are numerous weU-known grammars, аП of them useful; it is invidious to name specific works in a note of this kind, but many learners in this country have used with profit the twovolume Elementary Course ‘Russian’ by N. F. Potapova, published in the U.S.S.R., and one of the most useful reference works is stiU N. Forbes Russian Grammar, pubHshed by the Oxford University Press. Courses with useful reference material include G. A. Birkett’s A Modern Russian Course (Methuen) and A. Semeonofi A New Russian Grammar (Dent). For advanced students the Russian Syntax of Borras and Christian (Oxford) contains much useful material, and for students who wish to speak, D. Ward’s Russian Pronunciation (Oliver & Boyd) is recommended. Some useful dictionaries are pubHshed in the U.S.S.R. and (in rising order of price) these include those of Zaimovskii, Akhmanova, Smimitsky (Russian-English) and MiiUer (EngHshRussian). As the distribution of books is less centralised in the United States, specific recommendations might not be very useful to American readers, and are omitted. Chapter VI of this book together with the index is also meant to serve for reference when the reader has progressed beyond the texts which we have given.
VI. GENERAL SURVEY AND GRAMMATICAL SUMMARIES The reader has now had the opportunity of deciphering numer¬ ous samples of Russian—some 20,000 words in all—and the authors have tried to assist him, not only to ‘read’ the passages, but also to become more self reUant in undertaking his tasks. Like all teaching, except the most primitive forms of drilhng, this has to be a ‘do it yourself’ method, and the repetition of annotations together with the occasional surveys of some points of grammar should have left the reader aware of the problems, even if they have not primed him with all the answers. He will probably have come to see that the difficulties—and now that he has read Passage 63, we dare to use that word—fall mainly under four headings; (i) Acquiring a stock of words which he recognises—a vocabulary. This means primarily learning to recognise the unchanging basic parts of words. (ii) Understanding the structure of words as it is displayed in the variations which we call ‘grammar’—or more strictly, inflection. This may involve also recognising changes which are not at the extreme end of the word, like the ‘characteristics’ of participles (see page 283) or the insertion of vowels into word stems, or such variations as OB /у or c /ш in the various parts of verbs. (iii) Understanding the structure of the sentence, and the relationship of words to each other in the groups in which they occur—the technical name for this is syntax. (iv) Recognising the meaning of those phrases which are not built with the word-groups which are normal in his own mother-tongue, such expressions as this calls itself, in the very thing and so forth, which we call idioms. We should have done little for our reader if we had merely enabled him to unravel sixty-six selected reading passages. We have, in fact, tried always to make him aware of the general 246
GENERAL SURVEY
247
problems which lay behind the example he was looking at, and in this survey chapter we propose to give him some more general equipment which can be used when he comes to read texts which have not been annotated. Most of the material will not be new to him, but we have tried to present it in summarised and tabulated forms which may display the general characteristics of the Russian language in a more systematic way than the separate text-annotations could do. For the acquisition of a large vocabulary, the only golden rule is; ‘acquire it’. But in a language in which many words are related to each other, or derived from each other, it is possible to recognise a number of pointers so that, for instance, путь, сп^ник, путешествовать, путешественник, and путешествие are not five entirely isolated words which must be learnt separ¬ ately, but form a group with a common element -пут, and with other elements such as -ать, -ник, -ствие, which may be recognised when they occur in other groups of words. We shall therefore give in this survey some lists of word formative elements and explain what kind of modification of a basic sense they usually denote. One of the most useful skills the reader can acquire is to recognise readily the significance of word inflections and to keep in mind the systems of inflection. When trying to learn this, it is useful to see a word displayed with all the modifications which it may undergo, and we shall therefore give tables of inflections for nouns, adjectives, pronouns, verbs. As the inflectional system involves the modification of case, we shall also list the prepositions according to the cases which are used with them, and we shall do the same, on a samphng basis, for some verbs. Inflection is very largely a matter of word-endings and we shall provide a table of final letters, which the reader may like to copy out. Sentence structure is often complex, and the more complete the survey, the less useful it may be. We shall therefore only offer some general principles in this field, and as much the same difficulty of finding a useful arrangement applies to idioms, these, too, will not generally be treated separately; in the glossary of this book reference may sometimes be made to the discussion of an idiom in the text, and most larger dictionaries list idioms under the appropriate key-word.
248
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
In the following sections the main characteristics of the parts of speech will be discussed briefly. For the inflected parts of speech, tables giving the complete sets of forms of typical words wiU be displayed, and some notes wiU be added on common usage of some kinds of word in the context of a sentence. To save space in tabulations, these abbreviations will be used— A: accusative, D: dative, F: feminine, G: genitive, I: instrumental, L: locative, M; mascuHne, N: nominative, Nu: neuter, P: plural, part.: participle, pres.: present. S: singular. Numbers in the text refer to pages, unless they have the sign § in front of them, when they refer either to a passage, e.g. §23, or to a sub-section of one of the earlier passages, e.g. §8.11.
NOUNS As the gender generally determines the whole system of variations which a noun will display, it is convenient to discuss the nouns according to gender. I.
Masculine
Regular mascuHne nouns have sets of forms with ‘hard’ endings, or with ‘soft’ endings, and a, y, ы of the hard set generaUy correspond to я, ю, и of the soft set. In the nominative singular, hard mascuHnes end in a consonant, soft in fi, ь, also ж, ч, ш, щ. A. Variations which may affect a masculine noun of any ізфе are: (i) The insertion of a vowel in the nominative singular which is absent in the other forms—these are sometimes called ‘reducing stem’ nouns, but it might be more sensible to speak of lengthened stems. Example: конёц end, GS конца. (ii) Accusative singular and plural identical with genitive for nouns which denote living beings (an asterisk in the tables refers to this). B. Variations which affect some nouns include: (i) Special case forms for the partitive genitive (81), and for the locative after в and на; such nouns are mainly mono-
GENERAL SURVEY
(ii)
(iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii)
249
syllabic in the nominative, and not all of them have these variations. (In the tables those forms are abbreviated tGS, tLS.) The use of и after r, к and x in nouns which are otherwise ‘hard’; the use of a, accented 0, у instead of я, e, ю in nouns having ж, ч, ш, щ as final sound of the stem, which are otherwise generally ‘soft’. It would be impossible to display all the variants of these types, which depend on the phonological rules of Russian pronunciation, but in any case the variations are of recognisable kind; samples are offered in columns 6, 7, 10. Nouns which have nominative plural in a or -я. Nouns of the type of крестьянин (103). Nouns of the type of ребёнок child (223). Nouns in a and я which have the feminine sets of forms. Nouns hke служащий which have entirely adjectival forms.
Sample Sets
(I)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
cupboard
tea
rouble
tsar
corner
чай чай чая чаю чаем чае чаю
рубль рубль рубля рублю рублём рублё
NS шкаф AS шкаф GS шкафа DS шкафу IS шкафом LS шкафе fGS — •j-LS шкафу NP AP GP DP IP LP
шкафьі шкафьі шкафбв шкафам шкафйми шкафах
—
чай чай чаёв чаям чаями чайх
царь *царя царя царю царём царё
:^гол ^гол углё. угл^ углём углё
—
—
—
—
рублй рублй рублёй рублям рублями рублях
царй *цар6й царёй царям царями царях
—
углу угль! углй углёв углём углёми углёх
250
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
(6) step
(7) rook
NS AS GS DS IS LS fGS fLS
шаг шаг шйга шагу шагом шаге
NP AP GP DP IP LP
шагй грачй шагй * грачёй шагбв грачёй шагам грачам шагами грачами шагах грачах
—
шагу
грач *грача грача грач^ грачбм грачб — —
(8) town гброд гброд гброда гброду г6родом гброде
(9) Englishman англичанин *англичанина англичанина англичанину англичанином англичанине
—
—
—
—
(іо)
grandfather дбдушка дбдушку дбдушки дбдушке дбдушкой дбдушке —
—
города англичане дбдушки города ^англичан *дбдушек городбв англичан дбдушек городам англичанам дбдушкам городами англичанами дбдушками городах англичанах дбдушках
Some nouns have more than one kind of variation, e.g. угол, грач.
2. Feminine Like the masculine nouns these have standard sets of hard and soft endings. One of the most noticeable features is the absence of an ending for the genitive plural. A. Variations which may affect a feminine noun of any type are: (i) The insertion of a vowel in the genitive plural. (ii) The use of an accusative plural identical with the genitive plural when the noun denotes a living being. (This applies only in the plural). (iii) The instrumental singular in ей or ой may always be replaced by forms in eio or oio. B. Variations which affect some nouns include: (i) The phonetic variations of the types discussed under A (ii) for masculine nouns. (ii) Nouns with nominative singular ь (and accusative the same).
GENERAL SURVEY
351
(iii) Nouns with nominative singular in ия or ья. (iv) мать mother, дочь daughter. (v) Some soft nouns drop the soft sign ь in the genitive plural, e.g. пёсня, GP пёсен song. Sample Sets
(I)
(2)
(3)
frame
melon
part
(4) little daughter
NS AS GS DS IS LS
рама раму рамы раме рамой раме
дьшя дйню
часть часть части части частью части
дбчка дбчку дбчки дбчке дбчкой дбчке
NP AP GP DP IP LP
рамы рамы рам рамам рамами рамах
ДЬІНИ
дьше дьіней дьше дйни
части дбчки части *дбчек дынь частёй дбчек ДЬІНЯМ частям дбчкам дынями частями дбчками дйнях частях дбчках ДЬІНИ
(5)
(6)
line
mother
лйния линию лйнии лйнии лйнией
мать мать матери матери матерью матери
ЛИНИИ
лйнии матери лйнии ^'матерёй лйний матерёй лйниям матерям лйниями матерями лйниях матерях
Some of these examples show different types of variation, e.g. дбчка. which has и for ы after к, lengthens the genitive plural stem, and has accusative plural like genitive. 3. Neuter The parallel sets of hard and soft endings occur, hard 0 corresponding to soft e in the nominative singular. Noticeable features are nominative plural in a or я, and genitive plural without an ending. The pattern is generally more like that of masculines, but the genitive and locative in у or ю do not occur, and the question of genitive = accusative does not arise, as words denoting living beings are not neuter (the plural дёти children is treated as neuter in most grammar books, but as the nominative plural ends in -и, and singular forms do not occur, this is rather an academic designation). A variation which may affect neuter nouns of any type is:
252
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
The insertion of a vowel in the genitive plural. which affect some nouns include:
Variations
(i) Phonetic variations of the types discussed under В (ii) for mascuHne nouns. (ii) Words with plurals in я, ья, although the singular is hard. (iii) Words with nominative plural in и or ы, and words with genitive plural in ев or ob. (iv) Nouns with nominative singular in ие or ье. (v) Nouns with nominative singular in мя. (vi) дёти has instrumental plural детьмй. Sample Sets
(i) matter
(2) sea
(3) building
(4) пате
(5) реп
N/AS GS DS IS LS
дбло дёла Дблу дблом дёле
мбре мбря мбрю мбрем мбре
здание здания зданию зданием здании
ймя ймени ймени йменем ймени
перб пера перу пербм перб
N/AP GP DP IP LP
дела дел делам делами делах
моря морбй морям морями морях
здания зданий зданиям зданиями зданиях
имена имён именам именами именах
пбрья пбрьев пбрьям пёрьями пёрьях
It will be noted that irregularities in nouns often consist of a ‘borrowing’ of forms from the pattern of another type or another gender, and these variations do not usually affect the recognisability of a form. For this reason we have felt able to omit further detailed reference to some irregularities which, for instance, a translator into Russian would need to know. The systems of endings for nouns is at first strange to the Enghsh-speaker, but after a while he comes to rely on the endings for valuable information, and is rather disturbed when he meets foreign words like метрб or the ‘letter words’ hke СССР which have no inflections. Although the inflectional endings are rarely unambiguous, nouns are often used together with adjectives
GENERAL SURVEY
253
(and pronouns) and the number of ambiguous combinations of noun-ending with adjective or pronoun ending is very small indeed; most of the instances occur with the feminine singular genitive, dative and locative, and even here, as the locative is only used with prepositions, and the dative occurs much less frequently than the genitive, the number of doubtful cases is, in practice, small, if the reader knows his endings reasonably well. ADJECTIVES Adjectives can be used in three principal ways: 1. In the ‘short’ form, relating to a noun or pronoun in the same sentence but not forming a group with these. This is the predicative use (see page 48). 2. In the ‘long’ form, relating to a noun or pronoun in the sentence, and corresponding in number, gender and case. This is the attributive use (see page 48). 3. In the ‘long’ form as a noun—^it may then refer to a noun which is not expressed, e.g. ванная (кбмната understood), or to a person, e.g. служащий (i.e. a ‘serving’ man), or to the abstract idea of a quaUty or characteristic, e.g. дблжное (that which is due). The short forms of the adjective usually occur only in the nominative and there are endings characteristic of each gender in the singular, and a plural ending. These endings are like those of nouns, and may be ‘hard’ or ‘soft’, following the same general rules as the noun forms. The mascuhne singular may have an inserted vowel (e or 0). Examples HOB
синь пблон сладок красен
new blue full sweet red
F нова синя полна сладка красн4
N
h6bo СЙНѲ
пблно сладко красно
P нбвы сйни пблны сладки красны
The long forms occur in sets for each gender of the singular and for the plural, with variations for each case. They may have
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
254
‘hard’ or ‘soft’ endings, usually consistent within each adjective, though the usual phonetic variants apply, so that, e.g. an adjective which has к (or г or x) as last stem-consonant will have и instead of Ы even if all the other endings are hard. The masculine nominative singular of ‘hard’ adjectives ends in 6й if the accent falls on the inflected syllables (and the accent always stays on the same syllable in the adjective).
Sample Sets
N A G D I L
Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
нбвый *
нбвая нбвую нбвой нбвой нбвой нбвбй
нбвое нбвое нбвого нбвому нбвым нбвом
нбвые *
сйнее сйнюю сйней сйней сйней сйней
сйнее сйнее сйнего синему сйним сйнем
сйнне *
нбвого нбвому нбвым нбвом сйний *
N A G D I L
сйнего сйнему сйним сйнем
Plural
нбвых нбвым нбвыми нбвых
сйних сйним сйними сйних
* If the noun qualified by the adjective relates to a living being (mascuhne singular, mascuhne or feminine plural), the accusative form is identical with the genitive, otherwise accusative is identical with nominative. Note that the participles of verbs are in effect adjectives, and have the same endings as adjectives, but only the past and present participles passive have short forms. The adjectives which occur as personal names have some 'short' and some ‘long’ endings, all belonging to known patterns. A. Other changes which may affect the shape of adjectives: I.
The ending ее may replace the ‘normal’ endings to give comparative sense, e.g. newer. This is a predicative form, and is invariable.
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2. Some modification may be made to the stem (either vowels or last consonants) and the adjective then ends in же, че, ше, ще, with comparative sense, and predicative form, as in (i) above. Examples; молбжѳ younger, корбче shorter, дбльше longer (time), слаще sweeter. There are a few exceptions, but they are normally shown in dictionaries. 3. A few adjectives modify in a similar way to that described in (2) and take the full set of attributive endings. Examples младший younger, віГісший higher. 4. An ending -айший or -бйший may be added, with either comparative, superlative or intensive force. Examples величайший biggest, very big, важнбйший very important, most important. These are attributive adjectives. 5. An ending -ватый may be used to indicate the idea of English ish, e.g. синеватый, bluish. 6. With a prefix наи- superlative sense is given, e.g. наиббльший biggest. B. The adjective also occurs in several combinations with neighbouring words: 1. Preceded by 66лее more or мёнее less, (§§10.6, 18.i) 2. Preceded by самый (fully inflected) meaning most, (§11.3) 3. If comparative, followed by чем or simply by a genitive case, either of which corresponds to than in this construction.
ADVERBS The adverbs of Russian may be divided into two large groups: those which in form and meaning are associated with adjectives, and the rest. A. The ‘adjectival' adverbs are usually identical in form with the neuter singular short form of the adjective, e.g. бьістро quickly, сйльно strongly, тйхо quietly, хорошб well', the ending 0 is very common, the ending e much less so, but there are a few adverbs in e, e.g. крайне (adjective крайний extreme). If the adjective ends in -ский in the long form, the adverb does not end in -CKoe, as we would expect, but in -ски, e.g. практйчески practically.
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The comparative forms of adjectives, mostly of the type discussed in A (2) (3) above, may be used as adverbs, e.g, корбчѳ more briefly, and бблее, мёнее are themselves comparative adverbs, скорёе means rather, i.e. sooner, and sometimes in adverbs ей replaces ее, so that скорёй is also found. Other modifications of 'adjectival' adverbs: The prefix no- may be used (i) with adverbs ending in -ски, e.g. по-русски, (ii) with the neuter dative form of some other adverbs, e.g. по-старому in the old way, (iii) with comparative adjectives (or adverbs), modifying the sense as we would if we used the words a little . . . e.g. подальше a little further. B. The non-adjectival adverbs may also be divided into two groups: those which are case-forms of nouns, and the rest. Case-forms of nouns are often instrumental, and examples are зимбй in winter, лётом in summer, порбй at times, but other noun and adjective derivatives are used, e.g. йменно namely. Among the rest, some adverbs may be made up of a preposition plus noun (or adjective) group, e.g. вообщё in general, безпрестанно incessantly, постепённо gradually, or other fairly self-evident groups like мало-по-малу little by little, немнбго rather, i.e. not much, сейчас at present, сегбдня today, наконёц at last, совсём entirely, and всегб in all, which is simply the genitive of the pronoun весь, also самом;^ by oneself. Some adverbs are independent words, though they may be derivatives of forms which no longer exist as separate words, compare, e.g. вчера last night and вёчер evening, and most of the short words which indicate time (тепёрь, тогда, когда), place (здесь, где, куда) and manner (так, как) quantity or measure (мало, мнбго, бчень, тблько) belong to this group. Adverbs may be modified by indefinite particles, e.g. где-то, somewhere, куда-нибудь to somewhere. The type полньім-полнб was noted on page 64. When it means also the word и functions as an adverb. In use in the sentence, adverbs will be found: 1. Modifying verbs, e.g. on говорит по-русски he speaks Russian, я живу здесь I live here. 2. Modifying adjectives, e.g. это ужасно трудная проблёма this is a terribly difficult problem. The comparatives бблее
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and мбнее are used in this way, and another common one is бчень very. 3. Standing alone in a sentence which has no verb, and in which we understand the present tense of the verb to be, e.g. трудно сказать it is difficult to say, and this is the usage which produces the ‘one-word’ statements like мбжно, возможно, нельзя (53), and some expressions relating to weather and time, e.g. теплб it is warm, хблодно it is cold, рйно it is early, also feelings, e.g. мне грустно / feel sad. PRONOUNS These are of various kinds, both in form and in meaning. main sets of forms are of three kinds:
The
1. Pronouns which have their own peculiar forms, Uke the personal pronouns я, ты, он, мы, вы, они, себя, which were tabulated in full on page 83 and will not be repeated. 2. Pronouns which have some inflections of the noun type and some of the adjective type, hke наш and сам. 3. Pronouns which have almost completely adjectival inflection hke котбрыЁ. Note that егб, её, их, мало do not inflect, and that мнбго, нбсколько may be used uninflected as pronouns, or inflected in the plural as adjectives. Some pronouns from these groups will be set out in aU their forms, and we will discuss them according to the kind of meaning they have. Personal Possessive. These are usually adjectival in function, i.e. they stand before nouns, but they can also stand alone. There are two types: мой, твой, свой which are more fully adjectival, and наш, ваш, which have some deviations from the adjective pattern. -
NS AS GS DS IS LS
Masculine мой my ♦ моегб моему мойм моём R
Feminine моя мою моёй мобй мобй мобй
Plural
Neuter моё моё моегб моем;^ мойм моём
N А G D I L
мой * мойх мойм мойми мойх
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258
Masculine NS AS GS DS IS LS
наш our * нашего нашему нашим нашем
Feminine наша нашу нашей нашей нбшей нашей
Plural
Neuter наше наше нашего нашему нашим нашем
N А G D I L
наши * наших нашим нбшими нбших
* The usual rule applies that accusative is identical with genitive when referring to living beings, otherwise accusative is like nominative. Although the words егб, её, их can stand before a noun, and function as possessive adjectives, it is important to remember that they are also normal case forms of он, and can therefore be simple accusative him {it), her {it) them, as well as simple genitive of him {it), of her {it), of them. Demonstrative. The two commonly used words are тот that and этот this or that (but near to the speaker). We give тот in full, and этот only where it deviates from the pattern. MS тот * тогб том^ тем, бтим том
FS та ту той той той той
NS то то тогб том;^ тем, бтим том
Р те, бти * тех, бтих тем, бтим теми, этими тех, бтих
In combination with же, тот means the same (see page 77). When TOT and бтот stand alone and do not qualify a noun, they may often be translated by this one, that one. The pronoun сей this is also demonstrative, but its forms are rarely seen independently, save in a few stock expressions like до сих пор to the present time, сиі5 же мин;^ту this very minute, сегб гбда of this year, сегб мбсяца ‘inst.’, and in formal correspondence СИМ by this, при сём herewith; in composition it forms part of сейчбс and сегбдня.
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259
Relative. Linking elements of sentences, and corresponding to English who and which are кто (masculine and feminine) and что (neuter). Кто can only refer to persons, i.e. not to ‘grammatically’ masculine and feminine nouns, and it can also have plural meaning. Что only refers to the neuter singular, and must be replaced by forms of котбрый for a plural reference. For whose the pronoun чей is used. N A G D I L
кто когб когб кому кем ком
что что чегб чем^ чем чём
М чей * чьегб чьему чьим чьём
F чья чью чьей чьей чьей чьей
N чьё чьё чьегб чьем^ чьим чьём
Р чьи * чьих чьим чьйми чьих
* Like nominative or genitive (according to the ‘Hving being’ rule). котбрый which is inflected like an adjective is used instead of both кто and что, and какбй of which kind is also used in this way. The forms of кто and что are also used as Interrogative pronouns: who? of which? by whom? etc. Definite Pronouns. self and весь all. N А G D I L
М сам *
N А G D
весь *
1 L
самогб самому самйм самбм
всегб всем;^ всем всём
Two of these have irregular forms: сам
F сама самоё or сам^ самбй самбй самбй самбй вся всю всей всей всей всей
N самб самб самогб самому самйм самбм
Р сами *
всё всё всегб всем;^ всем всём
все
* As nominative or genitive.
самйх самйм самйми самйх
* всех всем всбми всех
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RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
The other definite pronouns in common use are всякий every, другбй {an)other, инбй other (see page 76), самый the very (see page 194), такбй such, and these are inflected entirely as adjectives. Indefinite {and Negative) Pronouns.
The negative pronouns
никтб and ничтб belong to this group. The forms are exactly like those of кто and что with ни- prefixed. The nominative form ничтб is rare, as usually the genitive case is used in negative constructions. If these words or никакбй of no kind are used with a preposition, this comes between ни and кто, что, or как-, e.g. ни за что not for anything. The words нбкто and нёчто call for some explanation. In the old spelling, as well as these two words there existed also нѣкто and нѣчто, and the two pairs of words have become identical in modern orthography. As the first pair have negative meaning, the forms most commonly seen are the genitives нбкого, нёчего, and they are rather like the ‘one-word statement’ adverbs, i.e. they mean there is no one, there is nothing. They will usually be followed by an infinitive, e.g. нбчего сказать there is nothing to say, or they may be broken by a preposition, e.g. h6 за что it is for nothing, there is no cause (see page 160). The second pair нбкто, нбчто mean someone, something, and are usually found in the nominative case. Much more common is the adjectival word h6который some or a certain. Another adjectival pronoun is люббй any (see page 102). The forms of кто and что can also be made indefinite by the suffixes -либо any, any one you like, -нибудь any or some and -to some, e.g, чт6-то something, 0 чём-нибудь about something or other (see pages 133, 152).
NUMERALS The cardinal numerals can be grouped into: 1. Those which have the pronoun type of inflection. 2. Those which have noun type of inflection. 3. Those which have little inflection. In the first group are one, two, three, four, and also 66a both and these are set out in full.
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261
N M ОДЙН F однб N однб Р однй some MN два F две * * * A ОДН^ однб G одногб однбй одногб одних двух D одному однбй одному однйм двум I одним однбй однйм рднйми ДвумА L однбм однбй однбм однйх двух N А G D I L
MN бба
F ббе
три
*
*
*
оббих оббим оббими оббих
оббих оббим оббими оббих
трёх трём тремй трёх
четйре * четырёх четырём четырьмя четырёх
* Like nominative or genitive. In the second group are пять, шесть, семь, вбсемь, дёвать, дёсять, and those in -дцать, -десят, all like the feminine nouns in b, and тйсяча {thousand), половина {half) standard feminine, миллион standard masculine. In the third group are сброк forty, девянбсто ninety, and сто hundred which have the forms сорока, девянбста, ста for all except the nominative (accusative). Also полторб feminine полторьі, with полутора for all other cases except nominative (accusative) and полтораста 150, with полтораста for all other cases. The combinations of cardinal numbers are: Teens with надцать, e.g. thirteen тринадцать. Decades with modified forms of дбсять, e.g. twenty, thirty двадцать, тридцать, fifty to eighty with десят, e.g. пятьдесйт. Hundreds with forms of сто, e.g. 200 двёсти, 300 трйста, 400 четтГіреста, 500 пятьсбт, боо шестьсбт, etc. The compounding of numbers follows the EngUsh pattern without and, e.g. 1327 тйсяча триста двадцать семь. In combination with nouns and adjectives, for the nominative and accusative cases, 2, 3, 4 and 66a, полторб require the noun in the genitive singular, adjective in accusative or genitive plural, the numbers from 5 onward have adjective and noun in the genitive plural. For all other cases noun and adjective are in the appropriate plural case.
2б2
.
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
One is not expressed in час one o’clock, тйсяча one thousand. раз means one in counting. There are other kinds of numbers: Ordinal. These are adjectives: пёрвый first вторбй; second трбтий and the others are formed by adding -ый, etc. to the cardinal number or a shortened form of it, omitting ь; note сороковбй fortieth. In a compound ordinal number only the last numeral is inflected (cf. dates pp. 153-4). Collective, двбе, трбе, чётверо, пятеро, шбстеро, etc. These are mainly important when they are used with nouns which have plural form but singular meaning (see pp. 114-15). Groups, двбйка, трбйва, четвёрка and others in -ёрка a group of three, etc. Other variants; -жды times (see page 218); вдвбе, втрбе (бу) twice, (by) three times) два раза, три раза twice, three times {occasions)) in fractions -th is expressed by the ordinal numbers except половйна half, треть third, чётверть quarter) see also Passage 57. Note я сам-третбй I and two other people. PREPOSITIONS The noun which follows a preposition will be in some case other than the nominative (with one exception). Some pre¬ positions are used with more than one case, and it is important to know these, because the translation will often depend on the case. The case is less important if the preposition is only used with one case, but even so, it is useful to recognise that the ‘non-nominative’ case is present in the sentence because a preposition requires it—the reader will then realise that, say, the genitive after без, without needs no of, or that the dative after no needs no to. A fairly full list of prepositions is given below, grouped accord¬ ing to the case which is used with them. The meanings are selected common meanings, and not the full range of possible meanings—this point will be discussed later. Prepositions used with One Case
Accusative is used after про about, сквозь through, чёрез through. Genitive is used after без without, близ near, вдоль along,
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вмёсто instead, вне outside, внутрй inside, вбзле beside, вокр^ round, для for, до up to, until, из out of, йз-за from behind, because of, Й3-ПОД from under, крбме besides, кругбм round, мймо past, бколо about, near, от from, пбдле beside, позадй behind, пбсле after, посредй in the middle of, прбтив opposite, ради for the sake of, сверх above, средй among, у at, by, with. Dative is used after благодарй thanks to, вопрекй despite, к towards, to, навстречу towards, согласно in accordance with. Instrumental is used after над over, пёред before, in front of, под under. Locative is used after при at, in the presence of.
Prepositions used with More than One Case
в and на are used with both Accusative and Locative, the sense with the accusative being motion toward, and with the locative, position. (See §§ 3.4, 6.9). In the less Uteral senses, e.g. in expression of time and measure (page 119), and на meaning with a view to, etc. (see page 240), the accusative is often used. о is used chiefly with the Locative, and then means about, of) when it is used with the Accusative it means against or off. HO with Accusative sometimes, at {the rate of), for, to but usually with Dative, by, along, at the rate of. (See pages 60, 128, 218.) For a use with the Locative, and the sense of on see page 181. за is used with Accusative and Instrumental in the senses of behind, for, beyond, round. под is used chiefly with Instrumental in the sense of under, but with Accusative meaning accompanied by, and sometimes down or under if motion is implied. мёжду usually has Instrumental but occasionally Genitive, though the meaning is between, among in either case. c has Instrumental when it means {along) with, and Genitive when it means from. The Nominative follows the group что за meaning what kind of, and a pronoun may be inserted, e.g. что он за человёк? what kind of man is he? Some prepositions have alternative forms: без, в, из, к, над, от пёред, and с all add а final о (бёзо, во, etc.) when they stand before a word beginning with certain groups of consonants; 0,06, 660 has
2^4
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
three forms, see page 226; мёжду, средй and чбрез sometimes have the forms меж, средь, чрез. More difficult than the case usage with prepositions is the range of meaning of individual prepositions. Some of the prepositions have been discussed in the text annotations, e.g. в (pages 57, 99, 205), за (6o, 66, 177), на (43, 98-9,133, 240), no (pages 60-1, 128, 218), при (154, i66, 233-4), У (§3. P- 47)The reader is advised to build up his own ‘glossary’ of prepo¬ sitional usage, by noting examples from his reading. In the sentence structure the preposition is usually imme¬ diately before the noun or pronoun, or the adjective--!—noun group to which it relates. Note that special forms of он are used after prepositions (page 48), and that ничто and нёчего are spht by prepositions (page 105).
VERBS A. STRUCTURE AND FORMATION Each Russian verb has an infinitive, which is, as it were, the name of the verb; the infinitive is not a noun, but it behaves and is used very much like a noun. Just as we can say чтёниѳ бчень интербсно reading is very interesting, so we can say читать бчень интербсно to read is very interesting', similarly we may say я хоч;^ чаю I want tea or я хочу вйдеть егб I want to see him. The infinitive does not have case forms, and as a verb it is not tied to any idea of person or time. The formation of the infinitive is simple: the majority of infinitives end in -ть, preceded by a vowel, and if we remove the vowel and -ть, what remains is called the infinitive stem of the verb, save that if the infinitive ends in -ать, the a is kept as part of the stem. A small number of infinitives end in -тй, and the infinitive stem may be a modified form of the remaining portion, thus the ‘working’ stem from вестй to lead is ве-; similar variations occur if the infinitive ends in a consonant plus ть, e.g. сесть to sit with ‘working’ stem ce-. The term ‘working’ stem wih be ex¬ plained a little later. A few infinitives end in -чь, and this ending nearly always conceals another consonant, e.g. течь to flow
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has stem тек-, (г and к are often concealed by this infinitive: e.g. лечь, мочь, p. 154) Ihe other important stem of a verb is the present stem, which may be identical with the infinitive stem (as it is in most -ать verbs) or may have different vowels, or an extra vowel, or different consonants, e.g. брать to take, беру I take with infinitive stem бра-, present stem 6ep-. If we know these stems, we can recognise the formation of aU parts of a verb. From the infinitive stem are formed the past tense in -Л and the bffo past participles as well as the ‘past' gerund) from the present stem are formed the present tense indicative, i.e. the ‘statement’ form, and imperative, i.e. the ‘command’ form, the two present participles and the ‘present' gerund. It Nvill be seen that there is a logic about this. We shall not give examples here, as some verbs will be displayed in full sets later. What we called the ‘working’ stem of the infinitive is the stem from which the past forms are made, but it is not always the etymological stem of the word—^it may be incomplete, e.g. etymologically сед- is the stem of сесть, but the past tense is сел. Apart from the gerunds, the parts of the verb undergo various alterations: 1. The participles are adjectives as far as formation (and use) is concerned, i.e. they are quoted in the mascuHne nomina¬ tive singular, but have a complete array of adjectival forms. 2. The past tense is also adjectival, but is used only in the nominative case, and the forms are hke those of predicative adjectives, i;e. one for each gender singular, and one for plural. Normally they are quoted in the mascuhne singular, but sometimes this form deviates from the others, in which case the feminine needs to be known as well. 3. The present tense varies its endings according to the person indicated. As the present tense is the set of forms most liable to irregularities of variation it will be discussed in more detail, together with the imperative, which is a form of the present (but often deviates from the vowel pattern). The Present Tense. There are two sets of personal endings, one characterised by the vowel e in the endings of most persons, and one characterised by и in these endings.
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RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
Examples do дблаю дб лаешь дблает дблаем дблаете дблают дблай дблайтѳ
ist person S 2nd person S 3rd person S ist person P 2nd person P 3rd person P 2nd imperative S 2nd imperative P
live ЖИВ^ живёшь живёт живём живёте жив^ живй живйтѳ
burn горю горйшь горйт горйм горйте горйт горй горйте
shout кричу кричйшь кричйт кричйм кричйтѳ кричат кричй кричйтѳ
It will be seen that in the 1st person singular ю follows а vowel, and (sometimes) p and у generally follows a consonant, and in the 3rd person plural the ‘e’ verbs have ут, or after a vowel ЮТ, and the ‘и’ verbs have ят (or ат if ж, ч, ш, щ, ends the stem). The vowel of the infinitive is no guide to the present endings, save that most of the -ать verbs are hke дёлать. The variants of ending need not trouble the reader. What is more difficult, and may affect recognition of a verb is that many verbs change the last consonant of the stem in some persons, and it is important to know what are the usual variations. Let us take the personal forms of two verbs: Mor;^ мбжешь мбжет мбжем мбжете мбгут плач^ платишь платит платим плбтите платят
be able -pay
We see that ‘e’ verbs may vary in the ist person singular and 3rd person plural, ‘и’ verbs vary in the ist person singular only. There is a further variant: in the ‘e’ verbs, the consonant of the infinitive may not be that of the present tense, so infinitive писбть write has present пиш^, пйшет, i.e. the present tense has no internal variation, but is at variance with the infinitive. The combinations of these variants are very numerous, and the reader must turn to a reference grammar if he wishes to learn the forms, but as we are concerned rather with recognition of related forms, we wfil merely list the pairs of consonants which appear within the same pattern, and these are:
6,
B,
Г,
Д, 3, K, M,
П,
C,
CK, T, T, X,
which may become бл^ ВЛ^ Ж^ Ж^ Ж^ 4j МЛ5 ПЛ9 nij
4j п^ nij
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and, of course, we may meet either a form with the ‘first fine' consonant, or one with a ‘second fine’ consonant, so that it is important to know the correspondences both ways. Other irregularities of the present tense forms are: 1. The substitution of -y- in the present stem, for infinitive (see page loi).
-ob-
of the
2. The substitution of a different vowel in the present stem for that of the infinitive, see the notes on петь, пить, лечь (pages 135, 206). 3. Other irregularities—брать see above, взять (see page 218), compounds of идти (112, 174), compounds in -пять (page 142, 217), дать (130), есть eat (138), ёхать (221), стать (214); хочу I want has хбчешь, хбчет, хоті^, хотйте, хотят, слать send has present шлю, шлёт. The other formations from the present stem are: 1. Present Gerund: я takes the place of ут, ют, ят of the 3rd person plural (and a takes the place of ат which only occurs after Ж, Ш, щ), e.g. говоря speaking, стуча knocking.
4,
2. Present Participle Active: щ;ий replaces the т of the 3rd person plural, e.g. говоряш,ий speaking. 3. Present Participle Passive: the ending ый is added to the ist person, e.g. любймый loved \ (there are a very few exceptions which change the vowel before m, e.g. искбмый sought). The Past Tense. In most cases this is formed by substituting л (ла, ло, ли) for the ть or тй of the infinitive, e.g. знал knew. The more common irregularities include: 1. A few cases where the infinitive does not show the last consonant of the stem, e.g. мочь, лечь, течь, with past мог, лёг, тёк, and in these cases the mascuhne singular has no л; the syllables ла, ло, ли are added to the mascuhne for the other forms, e.g. мог, моглй could. 2. The infinitive has the last consonant, but there is no hnkvowel, e.g. нестй, растй, and again the past masculine has no л: нёс, рос (this verb has a vowel-change).
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RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
3. Some stems in -a, -t lose this consonant before л, e.g. вёл, вела from вестй lead, present with -д- e.g. вед;^ / lead. Other irregularities will be found in a reference grammar. The other formations from the past tense (and in regular verbs the infinitive) are: 1. Past Gerund: by substituting в or вши for the л of the past tense, e.g. вйдев having seen. 2. Past Participle Active: -вший (-ший) replaces the л of the past tense, e.g. вйдевший (я man) who had seen. 3. Past Participle Passive: may be made by substitution of -H or -ННЫЙ for the л of the past tense, but see 94. A few verbs have -t- or -тый instead of -н(ный) (see page 133). In the case of ить verbs which are also ‘и’ verbs (see pp. 265-6), and which have a modified consonant in the ist person singular, -енный replaces the у of that person. Reflexive Verbs. These offer no difficulty of recognition. To any form of the verb which ends in a consonant or й or ь, the particle -СЯ is added; to any form of the verb which ends in a vowel the particle -сь is added (see the samples on page 270). Aspect. There are no structural differences between imperfective and perfective verbs; but perfective verbs do not have forms for the present gerunds and participles. It would not be strictly correct to speak of forming perfective verbs from imperfectives, or vice versa, but there are certain types of correspondence between pairs of verbs with the same basic meaning, and as some knowledge of these correspondences may help recognition of a verb when the other of the pair is already known, we list the principal similarities: I.
A perfective verb may have the form of an imperfective with a prepositional prefix. The most usual prefix is nobut other prefixes are used as well, and generally any verb with a prepositional prefix may be perfective. Only one particular preposition ‘makes’ a perfective, and any other preposition modifies the basic sense, e.g. рассмотрёгь means to examine. Examples: смотрбть look, посмотрёть have a look, дёлать, сдёлать do, знать know, узнйть re-
GENERAL SURVEY
269
cognise, find out (there is, strictly speaking, no perfective meaning to know). 2. A perfective verb may be generally similar to the corres¬ ponding imperfective, but have different endings, e.g. бросать, брбсить. In this case the infinitive in -ать is usually imperfective, and the more irregular infinitives often correspond to perfectives. The similarity may not be very close—vowels and consonants may differ, e.g. прощаться, простйться take leave, садйться, сесть he seated, sit down, становйться, стать become (see also §5 below). Occasionally one of the pair only may be reflexive. 3. Where an imperfective means to do something habitually it may be used with prefixes to make imperfectives, and the corresponding 'specific' verb with the same prefixes will make perfectives, e.g. находйть, найтй find (see pages 135, 181), приносить, принестй bring. 4. The use of a different verb as the regular ‘correspondent’, e.g. говорйть speak, talk, сказйтъ say) брать, взять take) класть, положйть put, lay. 5. If a perfective verb has a prepositional prefix, the corres¬ ponding imperfective often has the syllable -ив- or -ЫВ- ‘inserted’, and some modifications of vowels and consonants, e.g. разсматривать imperfective examine, разсмотрбть (compare §i above), similarly устраивать, устрбить arrange, давйть, дать give, пересйживаться, пересёсть change ifrains). 6. Some verbs are both imperfective and perfective, e.g. женйться marry {a wife). 7. покупать, in spite of the general principle mentioned in §i above, is imperfective and купйть perfective [to buy).
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270
Sample Sets of Verb Forms
I.
2. 345. 6. 78. 910. II.
12. 1314. 1516. 17-
Infinitive Present ist pers. S 2nd pers. S. 3rd pers. S. ist pers. P. 2nd pers. P. 3rd pers. P. Imperative Past Conditional MS Compound Future Present Gerund Past Gerund Pres. Part. Active Pres. Part. Passive Past Part. Active Past Part. Passive
2. 3456. 78. 910. II.
12. 1314. 1516.
* break
ломать ломаю ломаешь ломйет ломаем ломаете ломают ломай(те) ломал ломал бы буду ломать ломая [ломав(ши)] ломаюіций ломаемый ломавший
сломать сломаю сломйешь сломает сломйем сломаете сломают сломай(те) сломал сломал бы
—
speak
говорйть говорю говорйшь говорйт говорйм говорйте говорят говорй(те) говорйл говорйл бы буду говорйть — — говоря с ломав (ши [говорйв] говорящий — —
—
сломавший говорйвпшй слбманный говорённый sleep
cover
спать сплю спишь спит спим спйте спят спй(те) спал спал бы буду спать
пёкпш пекший
годйться гожусь годйшься годйтся годймся годйтесь годйтся годйсь-йтесь годйлся-йлась годйлся бы б^ду годйться годйсь [годившись] годйщийся
крыть крбю крбешь крбет крбем крбете крбют крбй(те) крыл крыл бы б^ду врыть крбя врывши крбющий
пёкший печённый
годйвпшйся —
спйвпшй
bake I.
break
печь пек;^ печёшь печёт печём печёте пек;^ пекй(те) пёк, пеклй. пёк бы б^ду печь —
be useful
— —
спйпщй
врйвший крйггый
— 17* This verb is perfective and the present forms have future sense.
GENERAL SURVEY
271
печь demoftstrates the irregular infinitive, past tense MS without Л, the regular variation of consonants in the present tense with ‘e’ endings; the past gerund is one of a few in -ши instead of -вши. годйться displays the reflexive forms, and also the regiflar variation of consonants in the present tense with ‘и’ endings. спать shows the п/пл alternation in the ist person singular present. крыть shows the unusual variation of stem-vowel, and a past participle passive in -T-. Apart from the absence of some present forms in the perfective сломать, some verbs have forms lacking in cases where the meaning of the verb makes it unHkely that the form would be used. The forms noted in square brackets are given here, and in other reference grammars, for the sake of completeness, but are hardly likely to be seen. B. THE VERB IN USE In this section we mention the principal shades of meaning of the various verb forms, and some of the combinations of verbs with particles, prepositions and cases. Constructions which apply to All Forms of a Verb The 'object' of a negative verb is often in the genitive case. If the verb has no direct object or only a complement (see page 277), the construction is strictly speaking impersonal, and if a past tense is used it will be in the neuter form—this principle accounts for such constructions as у нѳгб не бйло (neuter) дёнег (genitive). The reflexive use applies to all forms of a given reflexive verb, including pcirticiples. The different types of usage are: 1. Corresponding to a true (EngHsh) reflexive verb, e.g. вытираться dry oneself. 2. Corresponding to an action which in English takes no object (i.e. an intransitive action), but which is not reflexive in Enghsh весна вернётся Spring returns. If the English verb can have a complement, this is hkely to be in the instrumental case, e.g. становйться мйссовым спбртом become a popular sport.
272
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
3. Corresponding to an English passive, e.g. назывйется is called, OH родился he was born. This is one of the most frequent uses of the reflexive. 4. Corresponding to an EngHsh transitive verb, i.e. one which has a direct object; in this case the ‘object’ in Russian will be in a case other than the accusative, or a preposition will be used. Examples пбльзоваться репутацией (instru¬ mental) enjoy a reputation, нуждаться в деньгах need money (pages no, 191). 5. Corresponding to an EngHsh verb with one another, each other, e.g. целоваться kiss one another. Constructions which apply to Parts or Aspects of A Verb
Infinitive. This may be used instead of a person form after бели if, e.g. бели судйть по егб словам to judge from his words. It may correspond to an EngHsh verbal noun in -ing in such constructions as вмбсто тогб, чтббы идтй instead of going. It may be used where we should use a future, in questions, e.g. что дблать what shall we {1, etc.) do.^, and for such shades of meaning as what are we to do?, what can we do? It may take the place of an imperative: не сказать! don't tell; it is often grouped with давай(те) in this sense, see page 150. With the forms буду, б^дет, etc. (future of быть be), the infinitive forms a future tense of imperfective verbs. The sense is usuaHy that action wiU be going on in the future, but completion is not visualised: буду телефонйровать woifld mean I shall be occupied telephoning—for some period of time; this improbable situation was not that of Passage 28, where the perfective позвоню was used (we tend to use ring or call perfectively and telephone imperfectively in EngHsh). The infinitive of perfective verbs cannot be used with б^ду, etc. Present Tense. The most important usage to be recognised is that the present of perfective verbs has future sense, or at least envisages the imminent completion of an action. UsuaHy the context wiU alert the reader to inspect the verb to see if the future is indicated. The ordinary imperfective present corresponds to our ordinary
GENERAL SURVEY
273
present, e.g. I write, I am writing, I habitually write, and the translation should be chosen according to context. The present is also used in quotation of past speech if the speaker quoted used the present tense, e.g. сказал, что не хбчет пойтй he said he didn’t want to go. The 3rd person plural is often used to render the idea of people, they, everybody; as we use they in a similar way, this construction should offer no difficulty. It may sometimes correspond to an Enghsh passive, e.g. здесь стрбят нбвые квартиры they are building new flats here or new flats are being built. With present tense forms of the verb, personal pronouns may be omitted. With давай(те) the ist person present may be translated with an English infinitive, e.g. давай посмбтрим let us look, similarly the 3rd person with пусть, e.g. пусть он идёт let him go. The 'present’ tense of быть to be, with the forms б^ду, etc. has future sense, and present sense is ‘indicated’ by omission of a personal verb form, e.g. on инженбр he is an engineer. Imperative. Apart from its obvious uses, the imperative may be used in certain conditional expressions, e.g. не будь тебя if you were not (fhere). . . , Where it is evident that command or request is not involved this if [not) construction may be the solution. Past Tense. The imperfective past may correspond to a simple English past, or a form in was . . . ing, or used to ... , e.g. он читал Пекина he read Pushkin (at that time), he was reading Pushkin, he used to read Pushkin. The perfective past often corresponds to an Enghsh past with have or had, e.g. я купил кнйги I have bought the books (or I had in narration); if the verb is one which denotes an action which is by nature soon over, the ordinary English past may be used, e.g. OH ПОЗВОНЙЛ he rang, она узнала меня she recognised me (on sight). With бы or чтобы the past tense makes a conditional form (see page 124). This may correspond to an English construction with would, should or it may correspond to an English present in an ‘if’ clause or a clause expressing wish or command. Examples: это бьіло бы невозмбжно this would be impossible or would have been ...; я X04f, чтббы он посетйл нас. I want him to visit us. The essential idea in this usage is unreality or the s
274
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
fact that one cannot assume reality, e.g. хоч;^, чтббы все получйли письма I want everyone to receive letters (Passage 44). With бы and ни an idea of whatever, however, etc. is introduced, e.g. кто бы ни пришёл whoever comes, whoever may come. The past tense with бывало corresponds to {often) used to, e.g. OH бывало часто посещал нас he often used to visit us. The perfective future (present tense form) may be found instead of the past with бывало to give the sense of it was often the case that . . . Particifles and Gerunds. These are generally used Hke other adjectives and adverbs. Cases with Verbs. The accusative is the normal object case and needs no discussion, save a reminder that the accusative of living beings (except FS and NS, e.g. живбтное) is identical with the genitive. Apart from the use of the genitive just mentioned, and the negative uses discussed above, this case is used to mark the complement of some verbs, e.g. ббяться fear, хотёть wish, desire, ждать wait for, просйть ask (these last three verbs have accusative if the object is a specific thing); лишать(ся) deprive {lose), касаться concern (see pp. 135, 154). The dative is used after: дать, давать give, мешать hinder, радоваться be glad about, учйть(ся) teach, learn, also говорйть and ска.'іать. It is also used in such impersonal constructions as (мне) нравится (/) like, (мне) хбчется (/) wish, кажется it seems. The instrumental is used with a number of verbs which have a sense equivalent to be, become, etc. быть, стать, являться, also называться, слуя«йть serve as', it is used with a niunber of verbs which in English would have a simple object: гордйться be proud of, жбртвовать sacrifice, завбдовать manage, пбльзоваться use, enjoy, управлять manage', also with verbs which denote motion of parts of the body: покачать головбй shake the head, махать крйльями flap the wings. CONJUNCTIONS AND PARTICLES These are to some extent self-explanatory and can be under¬ stood as soon as they have been looked up in a glossary. Some are worth note.
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275
И, a, да all mean and; a has the sense of and on the other hand; да belongs rather to popular speech and the older style, и also means both, and as an adverb, even, too. a also means but {on the other hand), and но means but expressing the idea of nevertheless. или . . . ЙЛИ used correlatively mean either ... or. же has various shades of meaning, and it would be best to refer to pages indexed under PARTICLE. -ка is used in imperatives (see page 133), ли is used as a ‘spoken question mark’ (142) and as a conjunc¬ tion meaning whether (57); it also has rather elusive value in вряд ли and чуть ли не (see below). ни whatever is discussed on page 240; it also has negative meaning; ни ... ни neither . . . nor ни may also be used ‘adjec¬ tivally’, with the meaning not a single, e.g. ни слбва ббльше not another word! -те, see page 133. TO is adverbial in to ... to then . . . then or there . . . there (pages 163, 188) and in не то if not (62); it is an adverbial con¬ junction in бели .. .TO if.. . then. -TO and -нибудь are discussed on pages 172, 177. For неужбли and разве, which give a pecuUar emphasis to questions (see pages 174, 210). Some groups occur together: потому что because, так как as, вряд ли hardly, чуть не almost, чуть ли не almost {as if). Like the prepositions, the conjunctions and particles are best studied ‘in action’ and the reader will do well to compile his own notes, collecting examples of how the words are used.
THE SENTENCE AND THE CASES It is usual for a sentence to make a statement and this means that the minimum structure is usually a word (noun, pronoun) in the nominative case and a verb, or other predicate word, e.g. Иван солдйт Ivan is a soldier. The first thing to look for is the nominative. If there is no nominative to be seen the reasons will usuahy be;
276
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
1. The verb is used without a pronoun, e.g. шпіт^ I am writing, говорят they say, вйдумали they thought it up. 2. There is an adverbial expression of the type мбжно, надо, нельзя it is possible, necessary, impossible. 3. There is some other impersonal expression, e.g. нам сбвестно we are ashamed, ему нбкогда he has no time (usually a dative will indicate this type of construction. 4. The verbal construction is negative, in which case the words не or нет or another negative word will be found. The nominative may be several words, e.g. adjective(s) plus noun, or these plus other parallel expressions, e.g. the name of a person and some other description—^his trade, nationality, etc. (see page 237 note on доярка). The nominative is likely to be at or near the beginning of the sentence, or else at the end of the sentence or of the clause (generally the commas mark off the various clauses of the sentence, and generally there is one verb to one clause). It can, of course, be represented by the nominative or a relative pronoun—кто or котбрый. The subject answers the question who did it? The second element to look for is the verb, and by this is meant a present tense form, or an -л past tense form, or будет (or other persons) or forms of стать with an infinitive. If no verb can be identified the reasons are usually: 1. The present tense of the verb to be is impHed, but absent. 2. The sentence is of the type я на пбчту, where a verb (of motion) is missing; another example я тблько на пять минут I {have) only (come) for five minutes, etc. 3. The verbal idea is carried by an impersonal, or similar, ex¬ pression, probably with a dative case (ем;^ нбкогда) or possibly with the у plus genitive construction which is the equivalent of to have, or дблжен obliged, e.g. я дблжен I am obliged, although this is really a case of the verb to be omitted. The verb answers the question What did the subject do? Having found or accounted for a subject and a verb, we should look for a direct object of the verb as third element in our reading of the sentence. In a simple sentence it is likely to stand at or near the end, but wherever it is, we. are looking for an accusative case. If we cannot find one, the reason may be:
GENERAL SURVEY
277
1. That the verb is not of a kind which takes a direct object— this will be apparent at once if the verb is reflexive (look for -СЯ or -cb), unless the subject is also the object. Other instances of a verb without direct object will be discussed below. 2. If the object of the verb is a living being, we shall find a genitive case form instead of an accusative (except feminine and neuter singular). If the verb denotes the kind of action which does not directly affect an object, e.g. go, die, be, become there will be no direct object in the sentence structure. Most verbs of this kind will be readily identified by their meaning, but the Russian casesystem may help as well. The most hkely elements to be found in a sentence with no direct object are; 1. An instrumental case—many of the verbs hke быть, стать являться are completed by an expression in the instru¬ mental (e.g. кем быть? in Passage 12), and it is worth noting that the instrumental may stand at the beginning of the sentence (example in Passage 42). 2. With verbs of motion the completion of the verbal idea wiU often contain a preposition—one goes to, comes from, and in this case the EngHsh and Russian constructions are likely to correspond, although the preposition actually used may not be the one we would use—e.g. в Норвёгию in Passage 6. 3. Quite a wide range of verbs in Russian are followed by cases other than the accusative. Some details of these are given on page 274. The part of the sentence which completes the sense of a verb is called the complement, but this term is not used if the completion is, in fact, provided by a direct object. The object may be a whole group of words, noun plus adjectives, two nouns and so forth. Some verbs have two objects of different kind or a direct object and a complement. For instance he gave the driver a rouble has a direct object rouble, and an indirect object driver. The indirect object in Russian is very often in the dative case, as in this sentence он дал шофёру рубль.
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RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
The parts subject, verb, object (or objects, or complement) are the main parts of most sentences, and the reader may wonder how we account for the space used in a longer sentence! These are the main kinds of expansion to be found in the sentence; 1. The subject and the object are usually nouns. Further information about the nouns may be given by pronouns and adjectives; by the special kind of adjective called a participle (see pages 56, 147); by another noun linked to the first by a preposition, e.g. господин из Москвьі the gentleman from Moscow, or simply by the use of a case (usually genitive) портрбт п4пы dad’s portrait) by a whole descriptive clause, e.g. I know the girl who sells newspapers знаю дёвушку, которая продаёт газёты—this clause is itself a sentence with the relative pronoun котбрая as subject (and a relative pronoun in Russian always has a comma before it). Note that a Russian participle often needs an English clause for smooth translation; the girl who is selling newspapers stands on the corner дёвушка, прода¬ ющая газбты, стойт на угл;^. Generally we look for elements of the sentence which will answer such questions as what kind of girl? the girl doing what? whose book? 2. Further information may be given about the verb, either by an adverb, or by a group of words or clause. The adverb is easily recognisable, and need not be discussed here, but the clause is more complex. It is usually a complete sentence in its own rights plus a word which links it to the main statement of the sentence. The Hnk-word is called a conjunction and will have a meaning like when, whenever, as, how, where, if, that, so that. Descriptive groups of words are often introduced by a preposition, e.g. he sang in the great hall on пел в большбм зале. If the reader can recognise the elements of the sentence which we have discussed above, most of the problems of word-order will resolve themselves. The recognition of sentence-parts becomes easier as one grows familiar with the inflectional endings, and as one comes to appreciate the use of cases, which will be discussed in the last section of this chapter. A few points of word-order have been mentioned in the
general survey
279
annotations (pages 53, 71, no, 166), and the main pomts to remember are: 1. That the ‘outside’ positions, i.e. the beginning and end of a sentence (or clause) often contain the elements of major interest, whatever their grammatical forms, 2. That sense groups are kept together, e.g. the biggest hydro¬ electric plant in the world appears as biggest in the world hydro-electric plant (Passage 42). 3. There are a few (to us) unusual breaks in construction, e.g. with НЙЧТО plus preposition, or with такбЁ plus a noun. THE CASES Although the use of cases has been discussed at many points throughout the book it is one of the most striking features of Russian, and therefore we give again a brief summary of the principal senses and uses associated with each case. As all cases (except the nominative) are used with prepositions, and the cases are displayed in the section on prepositions, this use will not be discussed here. Nominative. Denotes the subject of a sentence, or clause. Otherwise it is only used when names are quoted (see page 197) and after что за what kind of. Accusative. Denotes the object of a direct verbal action. (If this object is a living being we may say that the accusative has the forms of the genitive, or that the genitive case is used instead.) It is also used in expressions of time and date (see Passages 22-24) measure (often with в). Genitive. The standard sense of this case is to indicate owner¬ ship in the hteral or figurative senses, and to indicate origin. The first translation to be tried is of. In simple possessive construction of may be replaced by's or s’, e.g, дом учителя the teacher’s house (but also the house of the teacher). The sense of ‘portion’ may be present and in this case we speak of the partitive genitive, and стакан молока corresponds exactly to our glass of milk, but Russian also uses this logically when we should not, e.g. наливают вбдки they pour out vodka, i.e. some vodka. We use of in attributing qualities to things or persons, in sa3dng that they are of a certain kind, material or temperament, and neither
28o
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
пиджак сйнего цвбта a jacket of blue colour nor товары вйсшего качества goods of the highest quality should offer difficulty. The genitive is also used in ways which are strange to the English speaker: The subject of the negatived verb to be is in the genitive, e.g. егб здесь нет he is not here, улучшёния не б^дет there will be no improvement. What we would call the direct object of a verb is in the genitive if the verb is negatived, e.g. я не нашёл ключй I’ve not found the key. The genitive forms replace the accusative when the object of a verb is a hving being (except feminine and neuter singular), and this applies to adjectives and pronouns as well as nouns. The genitive may be used instead of than in a comparative expression, e.g. он старше моёй сестры he is older than my sister. The genitive is used after numerals instead of the nominative and accusative (see page 85). It is also used in certain expressions of time and date, e.g. я родйлся вторбго августа I was born on 2nd August. After certain verbs the genitive takes the place of a direct object (see page 274); it will often be found that these verbs may be paraphrased by an expression with of, e.g. бояться fear or be afraid of. Dative. This case is named after the idea of giving, and it marks the indirect object of verbs like give, say, believe, etc. (see page 274). The standard translation is to. It is also used in the expressions called impersonal, like English it’s up to you, e.g. вам выбирать it’s for you to choose, but also other impersonal expressions which imply, e.g. possession ем^ двадцать лет there are 20 years to him = he has . . . = he is 20 years old, мне нбкогда I have no time, or something which comes to the object, e.g. ему удалбсь he succeeded (page 163) ем;^ пришлбсь it happened to him. Usually if the translation to is tried the sense will be clear, and the idiom may then be adjusted to Enghsh usage. Instrumental. This case has the sense of agency but also of association', for agency we use by and with, and sometimes through, for association we use [along) or {together) with. These translations should be tried first.
г8і
GENERAL SURVEY
Other uses are less obvious: the sense of in the shape or role of, as, e.g. служить солдатом to serve as a soldier, стбять дблгой линией to stand in (the form of) a long line, and particularly to be occup5dng a certain role or function, with verbs like быть, являться, e.g. OH являлся слабым помбвднивом he was a poor helper. Sometimes in is a suitable translation, as in долгой лйнией above, and in expressions like падать д^хом sink in spirit (but also see page 227). The instrumental often has an adverbial sense, and numerous adverbs have instrumental form (page 256). It is also used after a number of verbs (page 274). Locative. This offers no difficulty in translation, as it is only used after prepositions. In some grammars it is called the prepositional case, and the term locative is then reserved for forms of masculine nouns in у after в and на.
TABLE OF LAST LETTERS As the ends of Russian words give so much useful information, readers may Hke to see a fuU list of the grammatical forms denoted by final letters of words. Some of the consonants of the alphabet are not included, as they are not used in inflections. A word ending in a consonant not listed may be (i) a masculine noun in the nominative or accusative singular, (ii) a feminine or neuter noun in the genitive plural, (iii) a masculine past tense of the kind which has no final л, see page 267, (iv) an adverb, preposition, or conjunction. For abbreviations see page 248. Last letter
NSF of most nouns and pronouns, and predicative adjectives— see page 40. NS of some masculine nouns. GS of many masculine and neuter nouns. N(A)P of some masculine and many neuter nouns. Past tense FS of verbs in the group ла. Present gerund of verbs if after ж, ч, ш, щ.
a
GP of many masculine and some neuter nouns (ев, ов) Past gerund of verbs (ав, ев, ив, ув, яв)
в
282
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING Last letter
NAS of some neuter nouns and predicative adjectives. LS of most nouns. DS of feminine nouns. NAS of neuter adjectives in the groups ее, oe. Comparative of adjectives and adverbs in groups ее, же, че. ше, ще. NP of adjectives and some pronouns in groups це, ые. 2nd person plural present {you) of verbs in groups ere, ите. 2nd person plural imperative of verbs in ere, иге, йте, ьте. 1st person plural imperative of verbs in мте {let us).
e
NAP of M and F nouns and predicate adjectives. GDLS of F nouns and numerals which have ь in NS. IP of nearly all nouns, adjectives and pronouns in the group ми. Past tense plural of verbs in the group ли. Some verb infinitives in тй. Some 2nd person singular imperatives.
И
NAS of mascuhnes adjectives in groups ий, ой, ый. GDILS of feminine nouns, adjectives and pronouns in groups ей, ой. GP of numerous commonly used nouns in the groups ей, ий. NAS of a few masculine nouns.
Й
Past tense (masculine) of verbs.
Л
IS of masculine and neuter nouns in groups ем, ом. DP of all nouns, adjectives, pronouns in groups ам, ям, им, ым. LS of adjectives and pronouns, masculine and neuter in groups ем, ом. IS of adjectives and pronouns, masculine and neuter in groups
Л
им, ЫМ.
1st person plural present {we) of verbs in groups ем, им. Present participle passive of verbs. Past participle active of verbs (MS).
H
NAS of many neuter nouns, pronouns, predicative adjectives.
0
Many adverbs, лѵЫсЬ may make a 'statement’ (see page 52). GS of masculine and neuter adjectives and pronouns, in groups его, ого. Past tense (neuter) of verbs, in the group ло. 3rd person singular present of verbs, in groups ет, ит, ст, 3rd person plural present of verbs, in groups ат, ут, ют, ят. Past participle passive of some verbs (MS).
т
AS of many feminine nouns and some pronouns. DS of most mascuhne and neuter nouns. GS or LS of a few masculine nouns.
у
GENERAL SURVEY
283 Last letter
DS of masculine and neuter adjectives and pronouns in groups ему, ому. ist person singular present of many verbs. LP of all nouns (ax, ях), adjectives, pronouns (их, ых) GP of all adjectives and pronouns in groups цх, ых.
X
GS of many feminine nouns. NAS of masculine and feminine nouns and predicative adjectives.
Ы
NS of some masculine and NAS of some feminine nouns. GP of some feminine nouns, after a consonant. MS of some masculine predicative adjectives. Infinitive of verbs in groups сть, ть, чь. 2nd person singular present of verbs in group шь. Reflexive particle on verb forms in group сь.
b
AS of many feminine nouns, adjectives (ую, юю), pronouns. IS of some feminine nouns and pronouns in group ью. IS of feminine nouns, adjectives, pronouns in groups ею, ою. DS of some masculine and neuter nouns, ist person singular present of many verbs.
ю
NS of some feminine and a few masculine nouns, also of neuter nouns if in group МЯ. N(A)P of some neuter and a few masculine nouns. NS of feminine adjectives in groups ая, яя. Present gerund of most verbs. Reflexive particle on verbs in the group ся.
Я
Meaningful Letters near the Ends of Words These will be followed by the various inflectional endings: -ВШ-ическ-B-, -KOB-M-H-
-оват-CK-T-Ш-, -Ч-Щ-
Past participle active of verbs. Adjective, usually with sense -ic or adverb -ically. Meaning of a .. . kind. Present participle passive of verbs. Many adjectives; past participle passive of verbs (also -ня-). Adjectives with sense of . . . ish. Adjectives, indicating origin or nationality. Ordinal numbers, corresponding to -th; past participle passive of verbs. Often comparative of adjectives and adverbs. Present participle of verbs.
284
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
LIST OF COMMON PREFIXES Examples of words are not given, as it is easy to look these up in the glossary or a dictionary. без without, de-, un-, -less; в, во- in, into; вз-, воз-, вое-, вс- up, forth, indicates start of action; все- all) вы- out, ex-) до- thoroughly, up to a certain point) за- behind, also indicates start of action; ИЗ-, ИС- out {of) e-, ex-) мея{(ду)- between, inter-) на- on, onto) над- super) наи- superlative (see page 255); не- i. negative, w«-, in- etc.; не- 2. some, certain (see page 188); ни- negative; 0-, 06about, circum-)m-from, away, de-) пере- across, brans-, through, re-, over-) HO- usually perfective verbs, often to do a little of something, ‘have a go’; под- under-, sub-, but also approach, coming up) npe- very) and sometimes hke пере- with figurative sense, e.g. преступать transgress) пред-(перед-) before, pre-) при- arrival, coming into place or presence) про- throtigh, away; противagainst, anti-) раз-, рас-, роз-, рос-, dis-, apart, undoing, detail) C-, CO- with, cum-, but also off or down from; y- away, to, change of size. LIST OF COMMON SUFFIXES -анин inhabitant, person) -ец inhabitant, doer of action) -ик person, often diminutive, doer of action) -ист -ist) -ица female {doer of action) and also place) -ка female, often diminutive; -ние (also -нье) makes nouns with verbal idea; -ость abstract nouns denoting quaUty, -ness, -ity, -ence) -ота abstract quaUty, like -ость; -ство abstract nouns, quaUty also organisation, means; -тель person, or thing, which does something) -ье like -ние; -янин Uke -анин. Examples: англичанин Englishman, китаец, Chinese, купёц, merchant, мальчик boy, садбвник gardener, тракторйст tractor driver, красавица beautiful woman, 60 льнйца hospital, машинйстка typist, чтёние reading, нбвость novelty, newness, скбрость speed, чистота cleanliness, дётство childhood, государство state, учйтель teacher, бытьё existence, крестьянин peasant.
GLOSSARY A number refers to the page on which a word is discussed in more detail, and a number preceded by § to a Passage or section of a Passage. The figure 3 after the infinitive of a verb means 3rd person singular of the present (future) tense, the symbols OB/у, дж, с/ш, ск/щ refer to variations in the present stem of a verb, which are discussed on pages 100, 266. The sign / is to be disregarded in the word which carries it, but the sign ~ indicates that all the letters of the preceding word to the left of / are to be read. Example: the Russian following автббус is автоматйческий; the next Russian word following is автомашйна. A stress mark before / is to be disregarded if a stress follows —.
ABBREVIATIONS A few Russian abbreviations are given at the end of the Glossary. acc act adj adv aux coll compar condit dat dim f fig gen ger imperat impers impf indecl instr interj inierrog introd loc m n neg nom
num parenth part pass p’cle pers
accusative active adjective adverb auxiliary conjunction collective comparative conditional dative diminutive feminine (noun) figurative genitive gerund imperative impersonal imperfective indeclinable instrumental interjection interrogative introductory locative masculine (noun) neuter (noun) negative nominative
Pf pfx pi pass pp ppa ppp prep pres pron refl sg sht fm subj superl trans transl V voc w wd
285
numeral parenthetical word participle passive particle person perfective prefix plural possessive past participle past participle active past participle passive preposition present pronoun reflexive singular short form subjunctive superlative transitive translated verb vocative with word
286
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
a cj and, but; as introd wd often not transl, e.g. a йменно namely;
34
.
275
абсолютно adv absolutely август m August автб/бус m motor bus ~матйческий adj automatic ~машйна / ~мобйль m auto¬ mobile, car —^мобйльный adj —^нбмный adj autonomous автор m author аг4 interj aha! адмиралтёйство n Admiralty адрес m address азартный adj (hazard), gambling Ази/я/ Asia —ктакай. adj 4йда interj come on!, heave-ho! акт / m act, deed [legal) ~ep m actor ~йвный adj active акушёрка / midwife Алевсёндро-Нёвский adj Alex¬ ander Nevsky алтарь m altar, sanctuary, chancel алфавйт m alphabet альпин /ЙЗМ m mountaineering .—.йст m mountain-climber Алйска / Alaska амбйция / ambition Амёрива// America ~нский adj m American (man); ~нка ~нец / American woman Ам;^р m Amur river Англи /я / England, Great Britain —ЙСВИЙ adj —чёнин m —^ч4не pi —^ч4н gen pi Englishman —^ч4нва f Englishwoman ансёмбль m ensemble анти /бибтика / sg antibiotics ~реалистйческий adj anti-real¬ istic —религибзный adj anti-religious Антбн m Anthony аплодисмёнты m pi applause апбстол m apostle аппарёт / m ~^pa / apparatus апрёль m April аптёва f chemist’s shop, drug store арёна / arena &^ті!Оъктъ V impf &> pf OB/у arrest
арифмётика / arithmetic ёрка / arch ёрмия / army армйнский adj Armenian артйст m artist, performer Архёнгельсв m Archangel архи/епйскоп ж archbishop ~тект;^ра / architecture аскетйческий aiiy ascetic аспирёнтж post-graduate student ассортимёнт m assortment АССР/ (Автонбмная Совётская Социалистйческая Респ;^блика) Autonomous SSR Астрахань / Astrakhan атёка / attack ательё п indecl dressmaking and tailoring establishment атлётика / athletics ётомный adj atomic аттестёт m attestation, certificate a. зрёлости school-leaving certi¬ ficate Афйны f pi Athens ax interj ach!
646 /a / peasant woman, woman (disparagingly) ~ушка / grandmother ~ушкин pass adj grannie’s Байкёл m Lake Baikal бавалёйный adj grocer’s балалёйва / balalaika балерйна / ballerina 6aлёт/m ballet —yoavl adj баловёть V impf ob /у indulge, pamper балтййсвий adj Baltic бандура / bandore, Ukrainian stringed instrument баптйст m Baptist бёржа / barge басветббл m basketball бассёйн m basin geol бётюшва m father as form of address to priest башвйрсвий adj Bashkir, a Tar¬ tar people of Central Asia башмёв m shoe быть под башмакбм у женй be hen¬ pecked бёшня / бёшен gen pi tower
GLOSSARY бёгать V impf гж run беда/ misfortune, trouble бёдный adj poor без / prep w gen without ~бёдный adj comfortable (living) —брёжный adj boundless ~врёдный adj harmless ~гранйчный adj infinite, bound¬ less ~надёа«ный adj hopeless ~66дачный adj cloudless ~опасный adj safe ~раб6тица / unemployment ~раздёльный adj undivided, com¬ plete бейсббл m baseball QeajeTbvimpf be/appear white, become white >~окаменный adj white-stoned ~ор;^ссия/ Belorussia, White Russia ~ор;^сский adj Belo¬ russian ~ый adj white / gate, doorway, goal ~арь m goalkeeper врач m doctor врём /я n врёмени gen time B. гбда season в. от врёмени from time to time во врёмя during тем врёменем meanwhile ~енный adj temporary; 115 вруч/&ть V impf hand over, pre¬ sent —ёние n presentation, investiture вряд ли adv scarcely, it’s doubtful whether всадник m rider, horseman все see весь 259 все /возмбжный adj all kinds of, every possible ~гда adv always ~г6 adv in all, altogether —^ббщий adj universal, general '^россййский adj All-Russian всерьёз adv seriously, in earnest всесоібзный adj All-Union всё-таки cj for all that, neverthe¬ less вскйнуться V pf throw oneself back вскбре adv soon вслед / adv following в. за after ~ствие prep w gen in consequence of, owing to вслух adv aloud всплеск m splash, ripple вставйть V impf встаёт 3 stand up, rise 124 встрёч/а/ meeting, encounter —^йть V impf встрётить v pf т/ч meet ветупйть г/)/ п/пл enter в. в брав marry в. в дёйствие соте into operation
291
всібду adv everywhere вся/ see весь 259 ~кий pron each, every, any, all kinds of 260 втевйть V impf flow into, discharge into втйскиваться v impf push one's way into вторгаться V impf intrude, invade втор/6й adj second ~йчный adj second (ary) —ник m Tuesday втрбе adv three times, thrice вуз m (вйсшее учёбное заведёние) higher educational estab¬ lishment, i.e. university, technical college or other such institution вульг&рный adj vulgar вход / m entry, entrance ~йть V impf д/ж enter вхождёние n entering въезд m drive in, entrance вы pron вас acc gen & prep’I вам dat вами instr you вы/бирбть V impf брать v pf берет 3 pick out, select, choose --^бор m choice ^-веска / signboard, shop sign —^вести V pf -ведет 3 -вел past -веден ppp lead out —^глядеть V impf д/ж look, look like ~гнуть V pf stick out ~давйть V impf ~даёт 3 give out, distribute —^дающийся pres part as adj out¬ standing ~двигйть V impf move out, put forward, nominate —держать v pf bear, endure в. экзймен pass an examination —^думать V pf invent, concoct ~ехать V pf go out, leave —^звать V pf call out /forth, cause ~емва/ taking out, collection ~играть V pf win, gain -^йти V pf -йдет 3 -шел, -шла past come out, go out —влючить V pf switch off -^мирбть V impf die out ~падать v impf fall out, fall (of snow)
292
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
~пить V pf drink оплачивать v impf pay off /up опускать V impf release, turn out опускнбй adj B. экзамен school¬ leaving examination оражать V impf express оражёние n expression оразйтельн/ый adj expressive oocTb -ness орасти V pf -растет у -рос, -росла past grow (up) орап^ивать v impf grow trans оращивание n growing, cultiva¬ tion орваться V pf tear oneself away, break loose, break through —росли see вйрасти орубить V pf cut out, cut' down —садиться V pf д/ж disembark, get off вйситься V impf rise, tower ВЙ /слать V pf —^вйшлет у send out, banish ослушать V pf hear out ВЫС /6 кий adj high оококвалифицйрованный adj highly-qualified oora / height обтный adj high, many-storied вы /ставлйть V impf оставить v pf put out, exhibit оставка / exhibition —^строить V pf —^стрбепный build оступать V impf оступить v pf П /пл come forward, advance, take the floor в. c рёчью make a speech ВЙС /ший adj compar higher, upper, highest вы /сыпать V impf pour out, empty отекать v impf flow out, result, arise, ensue отираться V impf wipe /dry one¬ self выть V impf вбет у howl вы/тйгивать V impf отянуть v pf stretch out, draw out оучить V pf learn, teach —ход m exit, leaving оходйть г; д/ж go/come out оходнбй день day off
—честь V pf вйчтет у вйчел, вйчла past subtract —^чистить V pf ст /щ clean очитание п subtraction очтйте see вйчесть вйше adj jadv compar higher вй /шив ка / embroidery ошла see вййти вязать V impf вйжет у bind, tie, knit газ / т gas оопровбд т gas pipe газет/а / newspaper оный adj галантерёя / haberdashery галлерея/ gallery галстук т (neck)tie Гаральд т Harold гармбника/ accordion, harmonica гастролйровать f im// ов/у per¬ form as a visiting artist, on tour гастронбм m (гастрономйческий магазйн) (epicure), grocery and provision shop где adv where где-то somewhere генеральный adj general гёний m genius герб m coat of arms Гермйния / Germany герб /Й m hero —^йческий adj ~ика / heroic emotions ~йня / heroine ГИГЙНТСКИЙ adj gigantic гидроэлектростйнция / hydro¬ electric station гимн m hymn гимна/зия / secondary schoo (before 1917) —стика / gymnastics -^стйческий adj гитйра / guitar глав/4/ head fig, chapter ~ный adj chief, main главное, что . . . the main thing is . . , главным 66 разом chiefly, princi¬ pally глаз m -4 pi глаз g pi eye глот4ть V impf swallow, gulp down глуб/ин4 / depth —^6 кий adj deep глупый adj foolish, stupid, silly глухбй adj deaf
GLOSSARY глядёть V impf д/ж look глйнцевый adj glossy, shiny ГМ irJerj hm, ahem гнездб n гнёзда pi nest говор/йть V impf speak, say ~йщий pres part as noun speaker говйдина / beef Гогён m Gauguin год/ж loc -kpl year ~ов6й adj annual, yearly годиться V impf be fit for, be of use гол те goal голов/а/ head ~н6й adj г6лод/те hunger ~ать V impf starve, go without food гблосI m -kpl voice, vote ~ование n voting ~овё,ть V impf &- pf OB /у vote голуб/ёть V impf turn blue, ap¬ pear blue 6Й adj light blue ~ушка dim of гблубь те dove гбмон те hubbub гбнва / race гопав те gopak гора/ mountain, hill пбд гору downhill гораздо adv much, far горд/йться V impf д/ж ш instr be proud of ~ocTb / pride ~ый adj proud гбре n grief, sorrow, woe горёть V impf burn гбрло и throat гбрный adj mountainous, hilly, mining гброд/ те town, city 1.3 ■~скбй adj urban, municipal горбшев те coll peas горсовёт те (городскбй совёт) town council горчица / mustard гбрький adj bitter; pen-name of Aleksei Peshkov; city of Nizhnii Novgorod renamed after him горйчий adj hot госпбд /ень, -ня pass adj Lord’s ~йн те господа pi gentleman, Mister
293
гост/еприймный adj hospitable ~еприймство n hospitality ~йная adj as noun drawing room, sitting room ~йница / hotel ~b те guest государств /о n state ^енный adj state r. служащий civil servant готбв/ить V impf в/вл prepare, cook -Я ger ~ый adj ready, ready-made градус те degree граждан /йи те граждане рі гр4 ждан^/^ citizen. Mister 103 ~ский adj civil граммофбн те gramophone грймота/ reading and writing почётная г. diploma гранй/ца/ boundary, border за гранйцу, за гранйцей abroad ~чигь V impf с W instr border upon -^чный adj frontier грач те rook грек те Greek Гренландия / Greenland грёческий adj Greek гриб те fungus, mushroom гроз /а / thunderstorm ~йть V impf зіж w dat threaten громадный adj enormous, colos¬ sal грош те formerly a half-kopek coin ни грбша not a bean грубый adj coarse, rough грудь / breast Гр;^зи/я/ Georgia ~нский я/;' Georgian грузовбй adj cargo-carrying, freight группа / group грустный adj sad, melancholy грйдка / bed (in garden) гряз/ь/ dirt, mud —^ный adj dirty —елечёбница / mud-baths губа / lip губёрн/ия / province of the Russian Empire ~ский adj гулйть V impf take a walk, stroll
294
RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
ГУМ m (Государственный Униве¬ рсальный магазйн) the main Moscow department store густбй adj thick, dense да cj yes, and, but, imperat: may да и н4до and indeed it’s necessary да здравствует . . . long live ... давйть V impf даёт j give давай (те) сп;^шать let us listen /24, 150 давн/ий adj ancient, bygone, long¬ standing c дйвних времён since ancient times ~6 adv long ago, for a long time давнйм-давнб very long ago дадйм, дад^ see дать даёт see давать дйже p’cle even дал see дать дал /ёкий adj far, distant далевб adv far away —ее adv comp further и так далее (и т.д.) and so forth, etc. ~ьний adj far ~ьнёйший adj comp further, sub¬ sequent ~ьше adv comp farther дйм /а / lady ~ский adj ladies’ дан see дать дань / tribute дать V pf дам, дашь, даст, дадйм, дадйте, дад^ fut дал past дан ррр give 130 дача / country house, summer cottage дайуг see давать два/, две пит двух gen and prep двум dat двумй instr two два-три two or three; 261 ~дцать пит twenty ~дцатый adj twentieth двадцатые гбды the twenties ~жды adv twice две /надцать пит twelve —сти пит двухсбт gen two hundred дверь / door движёние n movement, traffic
]і,в61впит two; 114-15 ~йн6й adj double, dual ~іородный брат, -ая сестра cousin двор / т yard, court(yard) на двбре outside ~ец т дворца gen palace ~ц6вый adj ~янйн т йне рі йн gen рі courtier, noble ~йнский adj двум, двумй, двух see два двумястами see двести двух/колёйный adj double-track ~лётний adj two-year ^часовбй adj two-hour дев/йца/ girl, maiden ~ка/ girl, wench ~очка / очек gen pi little girl —ушка / ушек gen pi girl, young woman девянбст /о пит ninety ~ый adj ninetieth дёвят /ь пит nine ~ый adj ninth —^нйдцатый adj nineteenth ~ьс6т пит nine hundred дед, дёдушка m grandfather 4.3 действ /ие n action ~йтельность / reality в дёйствительности in reality, in fact ~йтельный adj real, actual, true —^овать V impf ob /у act, operate дёйствун)ш;ее лицб dramatis persona, character декабрь m December декадёнтский adj decadent декорация/ decor, scenery, stage design дёлать V impf do, make -ся w instr become; 266 делегация / delegation делёние n division дёло n afiair, business, thing, cause на сймом дёле in fact дёло в том, что the thing (fact) is that . , . дёльта / delta демократйческий adj democratic демонстр /ация / demonstration -^йровать V impf ов /у demon. state дёнег see дёньги дёнежный adj financial, monetary
GLOSSARY день m дня gm day днём in&tr by day, in the afternoon 5 часбв дня 5 p.m. 13.1 дёньги//)/ дёнег^еи money; 127 депутат m deputy, representative дерев/ня/деревень village, country -^0 n дерёвья pi дерёвьев gen pi tree, wood (material) 108 ~йнный adj wooden, timber держать v impf дёржит у hold, keep reji: be held up, supported дёсят /ь пит ten —^ый adj tenth ~илётие n decade —^йчный adj decimal —^иэтажный adj ten-storeyed ~0K m десятка gen ten, ‘dozen’, ‘score’ деталь / / detail —^ный adj de¬ tailed дёт /и n pi детьмй instr (дитй n sing) children ~ский adj childish, children’s д. сад kindergarten —CTBO n childhood дёятельность / activity джйзовый adj jazz диагностйческий adj diagnostic диаметр m diameter диетйческий adj dietetic ДЙКИЙ adj wild, savage диктйт/орт dictator —^pa / dictatorship Динамо / n dynamo, Dynamo foot¬ ball team ~вец m ~вца gen Dynamo player дйннер m ‘dinner’ диплбм m diploma, degree дирёктор m director, manager диспансёр m dispensary диссертация / dissertation, thesis длин/4 / length длинбй в б мётров 5 metres long ~ный adj long длйтельный adj long drawn out, protracted для prep w gen for искусство для искусства art for art’s sake для тогб, чтббы in order that /to дна see дно днём see день Днепр m Dnieper river
295
дно n bottom Ha дне play title, usually transl The lower depths вйпить до дна drink one’s glass out to the bottom дня see день до/ prep w gen as far as, up to, till, before ~бавлйть V impf ~б4вить v pf add ~бйться vpf w gen attain, achieve, get добр/6 и good ~ов6льный adj voluntary —^ый adj good, kind добрб пожа¬ ловать! welcome до/бывать V impf obtain, get, mine ~верйть V impf confide ~воённый adj pre-war ~в6льно adv enough, fairly, pretty ^вбльный adj ~в6лен sht fm masc satisfied, pleased w instr: with ~гнать V pf ~г6нит 5 catch up with, overtake дождь m rain д. идёт it is raining до/исторйческий adj prehistoric дойть V impf milk до/йтйу// дойдёт 5 -шёл, -тл4 past go as far as, reach ~каз4тельство n proof, evidence дбктор w '^kpl doctor Д. на/к Doctor of sciences долг m debt, duty д6лг/ий adj long —^0 adv for a long time -дожданный adj long-awaited дблжный adj due, proper я дблжен, должна I must вы, должнб быть, чит4ли you must have read 5.10 дбллар m dollar долбй adv away (with) дбльше adv comp longer Д0М / m ~a pi house, home, building дбма adv at home домбй adv home (wards) йз дому adv out —^ашний adj house-, domestic —и к m dim little house ~йш;е m big house дбменная печь / blast-furnace домкрйт m jack
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RUSSIAN THROUGH READING
донёцкий adj of the Donets river до/растйг;^/ —^растёт ^ —^poc, ~росла^а5^ grow to a certain size or age 142 —революцибнный adj pre-Revolution(ary) дорбга / road, way дорогбй adj dear до/р6с see дорасти ~ставлйть V impf ~ст4вить v pf supply, deliver, afford д. нй дом deliver to the house ~статочно adv sufficiently, enough —^ст4ть V pf ^станет 3 reach, obtain, get ~стйгнуть V pf ~стйгнет 3 ~стйг, ~стйгла past w gen reach, attain, achieve ~стижёние n achievement —^стойние n property, fortune ^ст^пный adj accessible дочь / дбчери gen etc дбчка dim daughter 152 до /шёл, —^шла see дойтй ~шк6льный adj pre-school дойрка/ milkmaid драгоцённ/ость / jewel, gem ~ый adj precious драма// drama ~тйческий adj дрёвний adj ancient дробь / fraction дрова n pi firewood дрбгнуть V pf tremble, quiver друг m друзьй pi друзёй gen pi friend друг дріі^га, друг к др^гу each other, one another ^бй adj (an) other, next, second 159, 183
дружба / friendship друзьй see друг ~еліЬбный adj friendly, amicable дуб / w oak tree —^бвый adj oak д^ет see дуть думать V impf think дурак m fool дурнбй adj bad дуть V impf д^ет 3 blow jnyxl m spirit падать д^хом lose heart, be despondent pacnoложёние д^ха frame of mind, disposition, mood '^овёнство n clergy, priesthood
—^бвный adj spiritual ~ов6й adj wind д. оркестр brass band душ/а/ soul —ёвный adj emotional, mental дым / m smoke ^-ка / haze ~6b m cloud of smoke дышать V impf дйшит 3 breathe дьйкон m deacon, member of the lower order of priests ДЙДЯ m uncle 4.3 еврёй m еврёев^// Jew Евр6п/а / Europe /~ёйский adj егб see он едй/ eating, food, meal ёдет pron him, his see ёхать едйм see есть^ един /йца / unit —^ственный adj only, sole ~CTBo n unity ~ый adj one single, only, alone ёдут see ёхать едйт see есть^® её pron her see она еже/гбдно adv annually '-'-'Днёвно adv weekly езд/а / driving, travelling чёрез 6 часбв ездй after travelling for 6 hours ~HTb V impf д/ж go (not on foot), ride, drive, travel ей pron (to) her see она Екатерйна/ Catherine ёле adv hardly, scarcely ем^ pron (to) him see он Енисёй m Yenisei river ёсли cj if 178, 214 естёственный adj natural ecTb^ only existing part of Present of verb быть there is/are есть®® V impf ем, ешь, ест, едйм, едйте, едйт pres ел past eat, see 138 ёхать V impf ёдет 3 go (not on foot), ride, drive, travel 112-13, 188, 206 ешь see есть* ещё adv still, yet e. одйн another e. раз once again e. вбдки some more vodka что ещё ? what else ?
GLOSSARY ж see же жакёт т woman’s jacket жал/кий adj pitiful, wretched ~оваться V impf ов /у complain жар / т heat ж. -птица firebird ~а / heat (of weather) —еный adj fried, grilled, roasted —^вий adj hot жарко it is hot жаркбе roast meat жатка / reaper, harvesting machine жгли see жечь жгучий adj burning, fiery ждать V impf ждёт 3 w acc or gen wait (for); 135 же cj however, but; emphatic p’cle then; same я же не пойду (you may go but) I shan’t go йли же or else сразу же right away, immediately почему же? (but) why? что же, что ж? what about it ? why not ? тот же the same к том;^ же moreover, besides такйм же ббразом in the same way так же как just as тут же in the same place, on the spot; see Index, PARTICLE жел/ать v impf (w dat &> gen) wish (someone, something) 159-60 —^ание n wish, desire желё n indecl jelly желёз /о n iron ~ный adj iron -ая дорбга railway ~нодор6жный adj railway желтёть V impf желтёет 3 be yellow, turn yellow жёлтый adj yellow жёлудь m acorn жен /а / жёны pi wife ~йтый adj married (of man) -~йться V impf (S' pf (на w prep’l) marry (of a man) ~йх m fiancee, betrothed ~ский adj female, feminine —^щина / woman жёрт/венный adj sacrificial ~вовать V impf ов/у w instr sacrifice жёсткий adj hard, rigid жестбкий adj cruel жечь V impf жгу, жжёшь ... жгут pres жёг, жгла past burn 153
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жив /ёт see жить live ~6й adj living, alive, lively ~ёе comp ~опись / painting ~опйсный adj picturesque ~6тное adj as n animal •—'jr see жить жизнь / life жилбй adj dwelling, habitable Ж. ДОМ apartment house жит/ельт inhabitant ~ница / granary —^b V impf живёт 3 live жил-был once upon a time there lived жнйва / stubble журйвль m crane (bird) журнал/ m magazine, periodical ~йст m journalist aaprep w acc or instr (i) behind, beyond, after поворачивать за ;^гол turn (round) the corner за стол(бм) at table одйн за другйм one after the other за городом out of town (ii) for за пять рублёй for 5 roubles за грибами for (to fetch) mushrooms кбмната за нами the room is ours (iii) during за пёрвые гбды during the first years; see Index, PRE¬ POSITION забавный adj amusing забастбвка / забастбвок gen pi strike забйть V pf drive in, hammer in, score заббт/а/ care, trouble ~иться V impf Tj4 w 0 and loc trouble about, take care of забывбть V impf забйть v pf заб;^дет 3 forget завед /ёние n institution, establish¬ ment ~овать V impf ов/у w instr manage, be at the head of завёрить vpf assure, witness завйс /еть v impf depend 3. or w gen depend on ~имость / dependence в завйсимости от depending on, subject to
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завбд m works, factory, mill завоѳв /4ние n conquest ^ать V pf завоёвано ppp conquer зквтра / adv tomorrow ~K m breakfast вторбй з. lunch