тараканье молоко - coackroach milk

Elisa Comito wrote:

"Doors!" Lukeria shouted from the window. It was an orthodox greeting meant to hurry Tanya [her granddaughter] from the corridor, lest the Devil come in on a draught and blow out the candle.

Have you ever heard this orthodox greeting or is it an invention? If any such greeting (or a similiar one) exists, can you please give me the Russian form?

Daria Bontch-Osmolovskaia wrote:


Elisa, that sounds like a very fun book to read and to translate! Curiousier and curiousier...

My grandmother was very fond of shouting "Doors" (Dveri!)...

... but that was because, like the majority of Russian people she was pathologically terrified of draughts.

Regarding the spices cakes/cookies - insulso might be a very good word there, if it fits into the rest of the context. Tula cakes are basically ginger bread with a layer of jam in the middle, same sort of "spiciness". As someone else said, the spice is mostly ginger and vanilla, sometimes cinnamon as well.

Daria Bontch-Osmolovskaia wrote:

Hi Elisa,

About the temperatures in Russia - I certainly understand the importance of shutting the doors when it's all snowbound outside, but my grandma couldn't tolerate even a tiniest draught in summer. In central and southern parts of Russia it goes up to +30C in July, but even in that sort of weather she would wear a jumper in the lightest breeze...

Well, cuckoos don't say anything sensible - if you ask them a question, they just respond "cuckoo! cuckoo!". I vaguely recall a belief that a girl who asks the cuckoo about her future husband is particularly foolish, but can't find a reference just yet. So in your context, the girl is just told that she is asking stupid questions.

As for the rest... it just sounds like poetic license again Although I would have interpreted that passage not that the mother died in childbirth, but that she disgraced the family somehow before dying, and that's why her hard mother doesn't want to talk about her. But then I could be just reading too much into it.

P.S. I have to say, I am sweating over an extremely dry geological report right now, and getting slightly envious of your fun text

[Edited at 2011-02-01 02:54 GMT]

Elisa Comito wrote:
Ah, in this moment I am so tired with it I really wish we could change positions! Actually I think geological reports are interesting; I am always happy when I am assigned a scientific translation (although I am more expert in the biological-agrarian field). I work mostly in these two sectors, literary and scientific, and to alternate them is necessary for my peace fo mind!

Daria Bontch-Osmolovskaia wrote:

the last one I did was a large bundle of Russian fairy tales. Now, that was fun!

Elisa Comito wrote:

I treasure, since I was a child, a book of Russian tales with animals, written by Olga Perovskaia and with BEAUTIFUL illustrations by V. Vataghin and I. Godin. This book was translated in Italian and published in 1972 by Edizioni "PROGRESS" in Moscow (strange thing!)

I don't know any of these artists but these stories are wonderful!

Daria Bontch-Osmolovskaia wrote:

I think I know the book you mean - there are only a couple of Russian fairy tale compendiums that were published at that time, and they all had beautiful illustrations. Myself, I always liked Italian and Nordic fairy tales, they were so different to what I've grown up with! Italian especially, you could almost feel the hot summer sun on the rocks and coastal trees, there is no mention of miserable cold or snow or winter darkness

Elisa Comito wrote:

I would like to know what is the usual way in Russia to adress co-workers where there is a hierarchical relationship.
For example how would the head administrator of a museum adress to the employees of lower grade, with "vy" or "ty"? In the book he shows a paternalistic attitude and he calls the employees by their first name (without patronimic).
And the head recruiter of Aeroflot to a girl applying to work for the company? Also this woman has a very "confidential/maternalistic" way of speaking to this girl (often using "my dear"... "you must loose weight"... "I know what you are thinking"... and so on)
And what is the normal use between collegues of the same level?

Living in Rome, where normally it snows once every 14 years, for me is a blessing a winter with snow

Daria Bontch-Osmolovskaia wrote:

In a work situation it's the same, although it depends on the workplace and the "culture' there. Sometimes everyone calls each other by the familiar "ty" from the first day, but that's rare. Generally, colleagues would address each other by the polite form, until the permission is given (or they got so drunk together on a corporate Friday that it doesn't matter any more ).

"Ty" is used in familiar situations, towards family and friends, and usually children and pets. It's a little like "chan" in Japanese, as opposed to "san". However, well-brought up children are told to always address their elders in the polite form.

So, in your case, the museum administrator is definitely being over-familiar, and exploiting his power over the employees - it's not like they have anyone to complain to! Same with the Aeroflot recruiter - a woman like that sounds like a bully, she knows that the young girl really wants the job and she has that power to make her miserable. The use of "ty" emphasises that exploitation of power.

I hope that helps?