KAP DOCHKA, end of chapter 9, khot' shersti klok

[Alina Israeli]

I think it was in this article http://links.jstor.org/sici? 
sici=0037-6752(198321)1%3A27%3A1%3C1%3ATSATIT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P that  
Sergei Davydov was linking тулуп, платок, платеж etc. In other words,  
nothing is accidental in Pushkin.

As for the phrase itself, it's quite common and not humorous at all,  
I would say.

Alina

On Jan 12, 2007, at 6:04 PM, Robert Chandler wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> In the last lines of chapter 9 Savelich comes out with an odd  
> variant of the
> more usual ‘s parshivoi ovtsy khot’s shersti klok’.
>
> "Вот  видишь ли, сударь", - сказал старик,  - "что  я не даром подал
> мошеннику челобитье:
> вору-то  стало совестно, хоть башкирская долговязая  кляча да  
> овчинный тулуп
> не  стоят и половины того, что они,  мошенники, у нас украли, и  
> того, что ты
> ему  сам изволил  пожаловать;  да всe же  пригодится, а с лихой   
> собаки хоть
> шерсти клок".
> Transliterated, the last line is ‘da vses zhe prigoditsya, a s  
> likhoi sobaki
> khot’ shersti klok’.
>
> How comical is this?  I mean, is it just an acceptable variant of  
> the normal
> saying, or is Savelich getting laughably muddled?  What is the  
> relationship
> between the tulup and the shersti klok, or is that not intended?
>
> My draft translation is:
>  “His heart knows shame after all – not that a spindle-shanked  
> Bashkir nag
> and a sheepskin coat are worth half of what the bandits stole and  
> what you
> were pleased to give the rascal yourself.  Still they’re better  
> than nothing
> – and there’s worse to be got from a vicious dog than a tuft of fur.”
>
> But the last words no longer seem right to me.  They seem self- 
> consciously
> clever in a way that is quite wrong for Savelich.  I could, of  
> course, just
> change ‘fur’ to ‘hair’.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> R.
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> ---
>  Use your web browser to search the archives, control your  
> subscription
>   options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface  
> at:
>                     http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> ---

Alina Israeli
LFS, American University
4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington DC. 20016
(202) 885-2387 	
fax (202) 885-1076
aisrael at american.edu




-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------