Василиса Прекрасная

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

I... like to do this all in one go. I just finished reading Василиса Прекрасная, and it had to have been one of the hardest kids' stories I've ever read in regards to vocabulary. The immense amount of slight alterations to every word throws me off and frustrates me. Here are my questions, as always...

I also have another request. If in the vocabulary you see a conjugated verb, can you please give me the infinitive (it means I didn’t find it in my dictionary)

Vocabulary: потужить, запрется, гонит, тихонько, горница, скачет (мимо неё всадник), обомлела, вкопанная, обнюхав, настряпано, закром, ранешенько, избавительница, стемнело, изволь, подосадовать, обогнать, похаживать, диковинный, приемыша моего

 

Phrases: Пестом погоняет: She smelled a stink?

 

Тогда и дам тебе огня, а коли нет, так я тебя съем!

 

Подавай-ка сюда: I’ve never seen this participle –ка, what is it, exactly?

 

Мне хотелось бы спросить тебя кой о чём

 

Только не всякий вопрос к добру ведет

 

Так вот что!

 

Я хоть прясть буду – I was under the impression that хоть was an “although.” She just asked an old lady to buy her some flax.

 

General Questions:

 

In here: Но он обманулся и не нашёл в ней доброй матери для своей Василисы – they’re referring to the father and the step mother, but if he was deceived, how could he find that there wasn’t a good mother in her? Or maybe I’m not reading this correctly (Also, why is доброй матери in genitive? Shouldn’t it be that he found в ней добрую мать?)

 

После такого наказу – Is it allowed for наказ to be in the genitive ending with –y?

 

Утро мудреней вечера then later on… Утро вечера мудренее: I’m aware of the superlative of the latter, but is the former right or typo? Or another “it’s a fairy tale thing?”

 

Внесли череп в горницу, а глаза из черепа так и глядят на мачеху и её дочерей, так и жгут! Те было прятаться, но куда ни бросятся – глаза всюду за ними так и следят; к утру совсем сожгло их в уголь, одной Василисы не тронуло – A) There was a place to hide, but nowhere to hide? I’m kind of in the dark about that. B) Сожгло их в уголь – Burnt them to a crisp? (charcoal) C) There was no one to bother the lonely Vasilisa?

Comments

[insaint.livejournal.com]

For some of the verbs, I'd need to see the context to translate them properly. It's been about 15 years since I read the story. :)

Vocabulary:
потужить - to worry
запрется - will lock himself in. The infinitive form запереть means "to lock" (as in, a door or a chest). The suffix ся means that the action is applied to the person.
гонит - the infinitive form is гнать. As for translation... depends on the context. It could mean "to hurry someone" or "to shoo away" or (in the modern day slang, which likely doesn't apply to the story :)), "to blatantly lie"
тихонько - either "quietly" or "slowly, carefully", depending on the context. It's a form of тихо.
горница - in a Russian house (изба), this is the first room you enter. The English term is escaping me at the moment, sorry.
скачет (мимо неё всадник) - the infinitive is скакать. It means, "to ride on horseback". Всадник means "horse rider".
обомлела - the infinitive is обомлеть. "To be stunned." Я обомлела - I was stunned.
вкопанная - literally, "dug into the earth" (adjective). Usually used in situations where someone is standing unmoving, possibly stunned.
обнюхав - infinitive: обнюхать. To smell. Обнюхав = having smelled (something)
настряпано - this is formed from the verb стряпать, which means "to cook".
закром - basically, a place of storage.
ранешенько - early in the morning
избавительница - female saviour
стемнело - infinitive: темнеть. Стемнело means "it got dark outside."
изволь - this one depends on the context. For example, изволь подождать = you'll just have to wait/please wait. ну, изволь = as you wish (if you offered something to someone and they refused),
подосадовать - I'd translate досадовать as "to regret" or "to worry about a problem"
обогнать - pass (as in, a car on the highway)
похаживать - either "to walk" or "to visit"
диковинный - strange, odd, miraculous
приемыша моего - my adopted son


Phrases: Пестом погоняет: She smelled a stink?

Hmm. I'm not sure how to translate this one accurately. I'd say it's along the lines of "chases with a pestle". Basically, the pestle is being used in place of a whip.

Тогда и дам тебе огня, а коли нет, так я тебя съем!

"And if not". I'm going to guess that the previous sentence contained a deal of some sort and this was a condition... so, the whole sentence is something like "Then I'll give you the fire. And if you fail, I'll eat you!"

Подавай-ка сюда: I’ve never seen this participle –ка, what is it, exactly?

It's basically a colloquialism. It can be safely dropped from the word without any loss or change of meaning.

Мне хотелось бы спросить тебя кой о чём

I would like to ask you about something

Только не всякий вопрос к добру ведет

But not every question leads to good.

Так вот что!Я хоть прясть буду – I was under the impression that хоть was an “although.” She just asked an old lady to buy her some flax.

Прясть - to spin wool. :)
Хоть in this case isn't really "although"... It's more like an "at least."

(continued in another comment.)

[oryx_and_crake]

Strictly speaking, the first room you enter in Russian traditional izba is seni. Горница is a living room (where the entire family lived, normally).

Прясть - to spin wool.
It does not have to be wool, though :-)

Пестом погоняет
The traditional vehicle that Baba-Yaga uses for flying is a huge mortar. Naturally there is a pestle to go with this mortar, and Baba-Yaga uses it as a kind of accelerator :-)

Но он обманулся и не нашёл в ней доброй матери для своей Василисы
He made a mistake: she did not make a good mother for Vasilisa.
Не нашел доброй матери is in genitive because there is a negation - он нашел добрую мать/он не нашел доброй матери.

Утро вечера мудренее actually means "You think that you have problems now? Just you wait until morning..." Мудренее is a comparative form of мудрёный - difficult, complicated. People usually get it wrong because they confuse мудрёный with мудрый (wise) and understand the whole sentense as "you will be wiser in the morning than you are in the evening".

[insaint.livejournal.com]

Strictly speaking, the first room you enter in Russian traditional izba is seni. Горница is a living room (where the entire family lived, normally).

Ah, yes. You're quite right. I couldn't remember for sure and apparently misremembered. :)

People usually get it wrong because they confuse мудрёный with мудрый (wise) and understand the whole sentense as "you will be wiser in the morning than you are in the evening".

And here I disagree. When I was growing up, that's exactly how the phrase was always used. "Do not make a decision now, wait till morning. You will be wiser then."

[oryx_and_crake]

"When I was growing up, that's exactly how the phrase was always used." This is exactly what I said. People get it wrong most of the time, because they mix up мудрёный and мудрый.

[insaint.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately I don't have access to actual printed dictionaries at the moment, so I have to rely on the web. But...

Your etymology is correct, but I disagree with the final translation. In this case, мудренее comes from the verb мудрить, which (among other meanings that support your explanation) also means хитрить, думать.

The proverb "Утро вечера мудренее" means that it's best to put the decision off till morning because you'll be in a better shape to think and deal with it then. 'Morning is more capable of creating complex solutions than the evening.' :)