as promised, the three little pigs

[fox]

but first: a soviet joke --

В Америке можно всё, кроме того, что нельзя.
В Германии нельзя всё, кроме того, что можно.
Во Франции можно всё, даже то, что нельзя.
В России нельзя всё, даже то, что можно.

In America everything is allowed, except that which is forbidden.
In Germany everything is forbidden, except that which is allowed.
In France everything is allowed, even that which is forbidden.
In Russia everything is forbidden, even that which is allowed.

and now, Три маленьких поросёнка.

Жили-были три маленьких поросёнка. У них по соседтву жил большой безнравственный волк, которого поросята очень боялся.

<<Давайте построим дом, чтобы не пуска волк,>> сказали они.

А поросятя не могли договориться, из чего строить дом. Первый поросёнок хотел пользоваться соломой, потому что солома была самая дешёвая. Другой поросёнок хотел пользоваться деревом, потому что дерево было самое красивое. Последний поросёнок думал, что они должни строить дом из камня, потому что камень самый сильный. Наконец, каждый поросёнок построил свой дом.

Скоро пришёл волк. <<Ай, поросята, я вас съем,>> сказал он.

<<Вы никогда не сможете нас захватить,>> сказали три маленьких поросёнка. <<У нас сейчас есть эти чудесные новые дома.>>

<<Не правда!>> сказал волк. <<Ну, я пыхчу и я дую и я ваши дома свалю!>>

Волк пыхтел, и он дул, и соломенный дом первого поросёнка распался. Визжавший поросёнок убежал к брату. <<Помоги мне,>> он кричал, <<большой безнравственный волк гонится за мной!>> Второй поросёнок его пустил.

Волк пыхтел, и ещё раз дул, и деревянный дом второго поросёнка распался. Визжавшие поросята убежали к брату. <<Помоги нам,>> они кричали, <<большой безнравственный волк гонится за нами!>> Третий поросёнок их пустил.

Волк пыхтел, и ещё раз дул, но каменный дом третьего поросёнка выдержал и не распался. Рассерженный волк ушёл, и поросята там жил вместе.

Мораль рассказа такая: только дом построенный из камня, укрывая всех троих (как троицу), может выдержать, когда придёт волк. (Никогда не бросаите церквей, потому что только в церквях мы в безопасности.)

Всё.


and the translation: The three little pigs.

Once upon a time there were three little pigs. In their neighborhood lived a big bad (lit. immoral) wolf, of whom they were very afraid.

"Let's build a house so we can keep the wolf out," they said.

But the little pigs couldn't agree what to build the house out of. The first little pig wanted to use straw, because straw was the cheapest. Another little pig wanted to use wood, because wood was the prettiest. The last little pig thought they should build the house out of stone, because stone is the strongest. Finally, each little pig built his own house.

Soon the wolf came. "Ai, little pigs, I'm going to eat you up," he said.

"You'll never be able to capture us," said the three little pigs. "We now have these excellent new houses."

"Not so!" said the wolf. "Look, I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your houses down!"

The wolf huffed and he puffed, and the first little pig's straw house fell to pieces. The squealing little pig ran to his brother's. "Help me," he cried, "the big bad wolf is chasing me!" The second little pig let him in.

The wolf huffed and puffed again, and the second little pig's wooden house fell to pieces. The squealing little pigs ran to their brother's. "Help us," they cried, "the big bad wolf is chasing us!" The third little pig let them in.

The wolf huffed and puffed again, but the third little pig's stone house held and did not fall to pieces. The angry wolf went away, and the little pigs lived there together.

The moral of the story is this (lit. thus): only the house built of stone, sheltering all three (like the Trinity), can stand when the wolf comes. (Never neglect the church, because only in church are we safe.)

The end (lit. [That's] all).

Comments

[datlowen.livejournal.com]

Are the Czechs the only people that call the Germans something that doesn't even remotely related to "Germany" or "Deutschland"? (I'm aware the French call it Allemagne, but to this novice that looks like it's related to "Germany.") Czechs call the place Nemecko, which derives from an archaic form of "doesn't speak."

[thalia]

Believe it or not, Cecil Adams wrote a Straight Dope column about this years ago. It seems that pretty much everyone has a totally different name for Germans. He concludes with, "By my count this now gives us five entirely independent names for the home of the Volkswagen: Germany, Deutschland, Allemagne, Niemcy, and Saksa. To these we must add a sixth: the Lithuanian Vokietija. I dunno where it comes from, and I don't want to know."

[datlowen.livejournal.com]

Huh. Interesting.

>To these we must add a sixth: the Lithuanian Vokietija. I dunno where it comes from, and I don't want to know.

BUT I DO. I bet from some really cool random place like wherever the "Ugric" in "Finno-Ugric" comes from.

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

the russian for Germany is Германия, which is pronounced "ghermaniya" (i.e., hard "g") -- but the people who live there are called немцы (немец, немка), pronounced "nyemtsi" in the plural (and that last vowel is a little further back in the mouth than "ee"; if czech doesn't have that sound and if you're interested, ask me next time i'm up, and we can have russian-vowel lessons); "nyemets" is the masculine singular and "nyemka" is the feminine singular (so, okay, an all-female group of germans would be немки, "nyemki"). and it does, in fact, come from that root meaning "doesn't speak" -- is it doesn't, or can't? i feel like the professor told me it once meant "mute". the language is called немецкий, "nyemetskiy".

[datlowen.livejournal.com]

I believe it's "doesn't," as if the very first Czech to run across a German thought to himself, "I don't know what those noises he is making are, but I know he isn't speaking."

Whereupon the German invaded him. In a completely G-rated way. Well, PG. 13.