kofe

[Francoise Rosset]

My advanced students are reading "Nos" right now, 
where to their great glee, they found Ivan 
Jakovlevich having to choose between:

" ... Ì ·Û”Û ÔËÚ¸ ÍÓÙËÈ, - ÒÍýÁýÎ à’ýÌ üÍӒÎ’˗, -
ý ’ÏÂÒÚÓ ÚÓ“Ó žÓ—ÂÚÒþ ÏÌ ҙÂÒÚ¸ “Ó•þ—Â“Ó žÎ·–ý Ò ÎÛÍÓÏ.
to which his esteemed wife thinks in reply:
ÓÒÚýÌÂÚÒþ ÍÓÙ˜ Î˯Ìþþ Ôӕ–Ëþ"

Another version, the Russian on-line version, says:

  - ë“ӔÌþ þ, è•ýÒÍӒ¸þ éÒËÔӒÌý, Ì ·Û”Û  ÔËÚ¸  ÍÓÙ˜,  -  ÒÍýÁýÎ  à’ýÌ
üÍӒÎ’˗, - ý ’ÏÂÒÚÓ ÚÓ“Ó žÓ—ÂÚÒþ ÏÌ ҙÂÒÚ¸ “Ó•þ—Â“Ó žÎ·–ý Ò ÎÛÍÓÏ.
      (íÓ ÂÒÚ¸ à’ýÌ üÍӒÎ’˗ žÓÚÂÎ ·š Ë ÚÓ“Ó Ë ”•Û“Ó“Ó, ÌÓ  ÁÌýÎ,  —ÚÓ  ·šÎÓ
ÒӒ•¯ÂÌÌÓ Ì’ÓÁÏÓÊÌÓ Ú•Â·Ó’ýÚ¸ ”’Ûž ’˜ÂÈ  •ýÁÓÏ,  Ë·Ó  è•ýÒÍӒ¸þ  éÒËÔӒÌý
ӗÂ̸ Ì Μ·ËÎý ÚýÍ˞ ԕ˞ÓÚÂÈ.) "èÛÒÚ¸ ”Û•ýÍ ÂÒÚ  žÎ·;  ÏÌ  Ê  Îۗ¯Â,  -
ÔӔÛÏýÎý Ô•Ó Ò·þ ÒÛԕۓý, -ÓÒÚýÌÂÚÒþ ÍÓÙ˜ Î˯Ìþþ Ôӕ–Ëþ"

Translit.:  "ne budu pit' kofij / kofiju" and 
"ostanetsia kofiju lishnjaja porcija"


Now granted, this is Gogol writing the 
idiosyncratic speech of his narrator, y-e-a-r-s 
ago, but that masculine form suddenly made it all 
make sense, why they were told to say "krepkij 
kofe" or "chërnyj kofe" all those semesters ago.
-FR
-- 

Francoise Rosset
Russian and Russian Studies
Interim Coordinator, Women's Studies
Wheaton College                         
Norton, Massachusetts 02766
        
phone: 	(508) 286-3696
fax #:   	(508) 286-3640
e-mail: FRosset at wheatonma.edu

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