Category Archives: 18F Russian Proverbs

One Head, Two Heads

Title: One Head, Two Heads

General information about item:

  • Verbal folklore, proverb
  • Language: Russian
  • Country of origin: Russia
  • Informant: Mikhail Gronas
  • Date collected: 10/31/18

Informant Data:

Professor Mikhail Gronas teaches in the Russian department at Dartmouth College. He is 48 years old and was born in Central Asia before moving to Moscow. He studied in the United States and has lived in Hanover for 12 years.

Contextual Data:

The proverbs, Professor Gronas said, are rather old-fashioned, but most Russians would know them. He learned the proverbs in childhood and said they are a common part of the language.

Item

Одна́ голова́ — хорошо́, а две — луч́ше.

Literal translation: “One head is good, but two heads are better.”

Meaning: You can do more by collaborating than by working alone.

Associated file: 

Transcript: “‘Одна́ голова́ — хорошо́, а две — луч́ше.'” Which literally means, ‘one head is good, but two are better.'”

Informant’s comments:

“The idea is here that collaboratively, you can do more things, do them more effectively than on your own.”

Collector’s comments:

Other proverbs I looked at tended to value friendship over other things, or to say that old friendships are better than new. This was the only one to explicitly say it is better to have more friends than fewer. It did fit in with a more group-centric mindset I saw in many of the proverbs I collected, where it is seen as valuable to be part of a larger group rather than alone.

This proverb is structured with a kind of parallelism, where the structure of the second half of the sentence mirror the first half: “x is … ,” “y is … .” Other proverbs I collected also exhibited this kind of structure. Unlike others, this proverb emphasizes the second item as the good thing, rather than the first item (“better” rather than “worse”).

Collector’s name: Zachary Benjamin

Waiting for One

Title: Waiting for One

General information about item:

  • Verbal folklore, proverb
  • Language: Russian
  • Country of origin: Russia
  • Informant: Amanda Durfee
  • Date collected: 10/31/18

Informant Data:

Amanda is a senior at Dartmouth College. She was raised in Wisconsin, but attended a Russian camp during the summer when she was in high school, which is where she learned the proverbs she shared. She has also studied abroad in Russia, and is majoring in the subject at Dartmouth, where she is currently taking coursework in the language.

Contextual Data:

Amanda learned this proverb while at Russian camp in high school. She is also currently taking classes in Russian at Dartmouth to fulfill her major in Russian.

Item

Се́меро одного́ не ждут.

Literal translation: “Seven will not wait for one.”

Meaning: The group as a whole should not suffer for an individual.

Associated file: 

Transcript: “‘Се́меро одного́ не ждут.’ And that translates to, ‘Seven will not wait for one.'”

Informant’s comments:

Amanda didn’t have many comments on this piece of folklore, beyond reaffirming its general meaning of the importance of the group over the importance of the individual.

Collector’s comments:

Again, this proverb was not particularly focused on friendship, per se, as it was on social relations as a whole. I found it to be very collectivistic in its mindset. Similar to another proverb Amanda provided, this one seems focused on obligations rather than on rewarding good behaviors. Interestingly, Amanda did not say that this proverb was Soviet in its origin, unlike the other collectivistic one she provided.

This proverb is structured as almost a commandment, pronouncing a moral judgment that ought to be followed. Its language is absolutist, as if the outcome has already been decided — seven “will not” wait, rather than “should not.” It’s also possible to read it not as a moral judgment, but as a simple statement of facts — regardless of whether or not it is good, seven will not wait for one.

Collector’s name: Zachary Benjamin

Working and Eating

Title: Working and Eating

General information about item:

  • Verbal folklore, proverb
  • Language: Russian
  • Country of origin: Russia
  • Informant: Amanda Durfee
  • Date collected: 10/31/18

Informant Data:

Amanda is a senior at Dartmouth College. She was raised in Wisconsin, but attended a Russian camp during the summer when she was in high school, which is where she learned the proverbs she shared. She has also studied abroad in Russia, and is majoring in the subject at Dartmouth, where she is currently taking coursework in the language.

Contextual Data:

Amanda learned this proverb while at Russian camp in high school. She is also currently taking classes in Russian at Dartmouth to fulfill her major in Russian.

Item

кто не работает, тот не ест.

Literal translation: “Whoever doesn’t work, doesn’t eat.”

Meaning: Everyone should do their part, and in exchange they will be rewarded.

Associated file:

Transcript: “‘кто не работает, тот не ест.’ Which translates to, like, ‘He who does not work, does not eat.'”

Informant’s comments:

Amanda noted that this phrase came into use during the Soviet Union, adding an interesting note to its history. In addition to the obvious meaning of the importance of work in earning a reward, it also adds an element of class struggle in which the non-working bourgeoisie do not deserve to eat.

Collector’s comments:

This proverb was probably the least directly connected to friendship, instead serving as a more general form of commentary of the nature of relationships and where they fit into the social sphere. It is phrased negatively, with a focus on obligations — good deeds are not rewarded, bad deeds are punished. It is also a strongly collectivist saying.

It follows a parallel structure of the form “If [not] x, then [not] y,” which does come up in other proverbs as well. This serves to drive home the relationship between the two things. Because x and y are, in this case, verbs, it also serves to highlight them as actions, creating a proverb that is focused on doing and that feels, as a consequence, alive.

Collector’s name: Zachary Benjamin

Friends and Rubles

Title: Friends and Rubles

General information about item:

Verbal folklore, proverb
Language: Russian
Country of origin: Russia
Informant: Amanda Durfee
Date collected: 10/31/18
Informant Data:

Amanda is a senior at Dartmouth College. She was raised in Wisconsin, but attended a Russian camp during the summer when she was in high school, which is where she learned the proverbs she shared. She has also studied abroad in Russia, and is majoring in the subject at Dartmouth, where she is currently taking coursework in the language.

Contextual Data:

Amanda learned this proverb while at Russian camp in high school. She is also currently taking classes in Russian at Dartmouth to fulfill her major in Russian.

Item

Не имей сто рублей, а имей сто друзей.

Literal translation: “It’s better to have 100 friends than 100 rubles.”

Meaning: Friends are more important than material things.

Associated file: 

Transcript: “‘Верный друг лучше сотни слуг.’ And that translates to, roughly, ‘It’s better to have 100 friends than 100 rubles.'”

Informant’s comments:

Amanda commented that while 100 rubles would not be worth very much today, when the proverb originated this would have been a much more significant sum. She thinks it emphasizes the importance of building friendships rather than focusing on money, and of the value that friendship adds to one’s life in general.

Collector’s comments:

This proverb, like other Russian proverbs I collected, emphasized the importance of friendship, in particular, over other aspects of life. It also reinforces the idea that money is only of so much value, by directly dismissing a large amount of money as inferior to friendship. This suggests a generally collectivist mindset, emphasizing that one person cannot survive on their own without the help of the community.

Like many Russian proverbs I collected, this one follows a two-part structure in which one thing is directly compared to another, with the first one being considered superior. It also uses a large quantity (a hundred of each item) to emphasize its point. I did find this interesting, given that 100 friends is so large as to be considered almost abstract, compared to the power of naming a single friend.

Collector’s name: Zachary Benjamin

Business and Friendship

Title: Business and Friendship

General information about item:

Verbal folklore, proverb
Language: Russian
Country of origin: Russia
Informant: Katarina Nesic
Date collected: 11/9/18
Informant Data:

Katarina is a junior at Dartmouth College. She is 21 years old and was born and raised in Serbia. At 16, she attended boarding school in Switzerland and came to Dartmouth after.

Contextual Data:

Katarina learned this proverb while studying abroad in St. Petersburg in the summer of 2017. She is also currently taking classes in Russian at Dartmouth to further her study of the language.

Item

Дружба дружбой, а служба службой.

Literal translation: “Business is business and pleasure is pleasure.”

Meaning: The needs of a friendship are different than the needs of a business relationship, and attempting to conflate the two is likely to end up hurting at least one of them.

Associated file: 

Transcript: “‘Дружба дружбой, а служба службой.’ It translates to, like, don’t mix business and friendship, or don’t mix business and pleasure.”

Informant’s comments:

“The one about, like, ‘don’t mix business and pleasure,’ like, uh, started being a thing in the Soviet Union. … The one about, the ‘don’t mix business and pleasure,’ I heard, like, every other day in St. Petersburg.”

Collector’s comments:

The proverb follows a kind of parallel structure — one thing is affirmed to be itself, as is the second thing. This serves both to make the proverb pithy and memorable, and also to emphasize the importance of keeping the two ideas separate.

I found it interesting that this proverb first became popular during the Soviet Union. Ostensibly, communism is about attempting to lower class divisions and make business for and by the people. Yet this proverb contains a clear distinction between personal relationships and business ones — an attitude I would normally have associated with capitalist sensibilities.

Collector’s name: Zachary Benjamin

An Old Friend

Title: An Old Friend

General information about item:

Verbal folklore, proverb
Language: Russian
Country of origin: Russia
Informant: Katarina Nesic
Date collected: 11/9/18
Informant Data:

Katarina is a junior at Dartmouth College. She is 21 years old and was born and raised in Serbia. At 16, she attended boarding school in Switzerland and came to Dartmouth after.

Contextual Data:

Katarina learned this proverb while studying abroad in St. Petersburg in the summer of 2017. She is also currently taking classes in Russian at Dartmouth to further her study of the language.

Item

Старый друг лучше новых двух.

Literal translation: “An old friend is better than two new ones.”

Meaning: When meeting someone new, you should not fully trust them until you get to know them better.

Associated file:

Transcript: “‘Старый друг лучше новых двух.’ An old friend, uh, or one old friend, is better than two new ones.”

Informant’s comments:

“[It’s] pretty standard. … When you meet new people and you’re kind of, like, unsure about them, you would use, like, the ‘an old friend is better than two new ones.’ That one I heard more than the other ones.”

Collector’s comments:

This proverb, like other Russian proverbs I collected, emphasized the importance of prior relationships. In particular, it seems related to the idea of building trust capital. An old friend is better not just because they are older, but because new people have not yet had the time to fully establish themselves as deserving of one’s trust. Thus, loyalty is not just benevolent, but also self-interested.

Like many Russian proverbs I collected, this one follows a two-part structure in which one thing is directly compared to another, with the first one being considered superior. It also uses a disjoint in quantity (one vs. two) to emphasize its point, which came up in other Russian proverbs as well.

Collector’s name: Zachary Benjamin

A Loyal Friend

Title: A Loyal Friend

General information about item:

  • Verbal folklore, proverb
  • Language: Russian
  • Country of origin: Russia
  • Informant: Katarina Nesic
  • Date collected: 11/9/18

Informant Data:

Katarina is a junior at Dartmouth College. She is 21 years old and was born and raised in Serbia. At 16, she attended boarding school in Switzerland and came to Dartmouth after.

Contextual Data:

Katarina learned this proverb while studying abroad in St. Petersburg in the summer of 2017. She is also currently taking classes in Russian at Dartmouth to further her study of the language.

Item

Верный друг лучше сотни слуг.

Literal translation: “A loyal friend is better than a hundred servants.”

Meaning: It is more important to have someone who values and respects you than to have possibly disloyal followers.

Associated file: 

Transcript: “‘Верный друг лучше сотни слуг.’ A lawyer friend- a loyal frie-friend — oh my God — is better than a hundred servants.”

Informant’s comments:

“[It’s] pretty common … I [didn’t hear it] so much … I learned [it] in class.”

Collector’s comments:

This proverb, like other Russian proverbs I collected, emphasized the importance of existing friendships over new ones. It also reinforces the idea that money is only of so much value, and that it is strong social relationships that should instead be cultivated. This proverb was in use before the advent of the Soviet Union, but an attitude of trusting one’s peers rather than one’s inferiors also seems like it could strike a note there.

Like many Russian proverbs I collected, this one follows a two-part structure in which one thing is directly compared to another, with the first one being considered superior. It also uses a disjoint in quantity (one vs. a hundred) to emphasize its point, which came up in other Russian proverbs as well.

Collector’s name: Zachary Benjamin