Стоило кому-то что-то cделать, как.....

[freiburg234.livejournal.com]

Dear Community,

Could you please help me figure out how this Russian phrase works (in terms of inner-logic)?:

"Стоило кому что-то сделать, как.....". It seems to mean, "Как только кто-то начал делать что-то,...."

For example: "Стоило Шаляпину запеть, как все смолкли, и в зале наступила тишина".

- As soon as X began to sing, everyone became silent and the room fell quiet.

- No sooner had X begun to sing, than everyone became still and the room fell quiet.

Assuming this interpretation is approximately correct, what is the inner-logic behind having

"Стоило кому-то что-то cделать, как...." equate to "Как только кто-то начал делать что-то,...."?

Looking forward to your kind input.

ФБ

UPD: Thank you all for your great input. For me, the riddle is solved. One will go with "it took", "it took but", "it only took", "one only needed to" or phrases with approximate meanings as a suitable translation.

(no subject)

[upthera44.livejournal.com]

Could someone tell me where to find the songs from the movie Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears?

Lolita

[schlagen.livejournal.com]

Does anybody have a link to Nabakov's 'Lolita' in Russian? My google powers are failing me and I really want to read it.

Thanks in advance.