A Theory of Evolution Explained by Wordplay

Ostav' nadezhdu, vsyak syuda vkhodyashchii (Abandon hope, all ye who enter here). Although this quotation from Dante was never officially made the motto of Soviet customs, it certainly does catch a certain part of the atmosphere that still lingers over Sheremetyevo 2. One can also easily think of a number of other circumstances in which this quotation would be appropriate. But I was fairly shocked the other day when I went visiting a Russian friend, a clever intelligent, who greeted me at his door with these words.


The Russian language, as I'm sure most will agree, is particularly rich in proverbs, expressions and pithy quotations from novels and movies, all of which reflect the language's role in Russia's ancient, fertile culture. Clever speakers are never at a loss for a handy cultural reference in any situation.


What is equally interesting to me is how Russians have taken this varied body of sayings and transformed them into second and third generations of expressions which usually illustrate a clear evolution from the wise to the witty to the dirty. Unfortunately, in a family newspaper it is impossible to do full justice to this topic, but I encourage the intrigued to conduct research on their own.


This brings us back to Dante. You see, as I was pulling off my cap, I misheard my friend's words, which were really "Ostav' odezhdu, vsyak syuda vkhodyashchii" (Abandon your clothes, all ye who enter here). In addition to being a humorous stand-in for the pedestrian razdentes' pozhalyista (Take off your coats, please), this gem serves well at the banya I am told.


It also, I think, points down the evolutionary path mentioned above. Here is one more example which I think can be safely quoted. Volkov boyat'sya -- v les ne khodit' (If you are afraid of wolves, don't walk in the forest) runs a conventional folk tidbit. Who was it, though, who thought up the variant, Detei boyat'sya -- v les ne khodit' (If you are afraid of [having] children, don't walk in the forest)?


Like this example, which hints at the housing shortages of Soviet times, many second-generation sayings bridge the gap between timeless wisdom and prosaic reality. As the traditional expression goes, nebo v almazakh (Heaven is full of diamonds). The pessimistic post-Lenin version presents a simpler picture of nebo v kolbasakh (Heaven is full of sausages).


From time immemorial, the folk have noted that Ryba ishchet gdye glubzhe, a chelovek -- gdye luchshe (A fish hunts deeper waters, and a person searches for a better life). In the lean days of Brezhnev, this saying was an easy target: Ryba ischet gdye glubzhe, a chelovek -- gdye ryba (A fish hunts deeper waters, and a person searches for a fish).