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In Russia, the saying “You don’t need to share the skin of an unkilled bear” appeared after Lafontaine’s fable “The Bear and the Two Hunters” was translated into Russian. The plot of the fable is as follows. Two hunters went into the forest, aiming for a bear. They walked through the forest, got tired and sat down to rest. They had not even met a bear yet, but both were confident of success. Young people began to fantasize and discuss what they would do with the animal as soon as they got it.
It is interesting that at the beginning of the 20th century in Russia it was customary to say not to “divide” the skin of an unkilled bear, but to “sell” it, because there is no point in dividing the skin, it is valuable whole.
The bottle of wine they had with them came in very handy. The wine warmed up the fantasy, and the hunters began to invent scenes more and more beautiful: they imagined that the bear had already been defeated, and the skin was in their hands. Everyone had big plans. Both young men grew frustrated, completely forgetting that the fight with a real bear is yet to come, and it's too early to relax.
This is where the bear came in. He hid in the bushes and listened to the speeches of unlucky hunters. As soon as the young men saw the bear, both of them were terribly frightened. The first had the strength to jump up and rush into the bushes. He ran as fast as he could, and the bear was chasing him. The hunter managed to escape because the bear did not pursue him for a long time. He returned to the clearing, where the second young man lay unconscious, who lost consciousness as soon as he saw the bear. His legs buckled, his body became wadded, he could not even get up and try to run away, like his friend.
A Russian proverb similar in meaning: “Don’t say “Gop” until you jump over.”
The bear did not touch the second hunter. He leaned towards him, whispered something in his ear and went into the forest to do his business. When the hunters managed to meet again, the runaway plant asked his friend about what had happened to him. He told him everything and said that the bear leaned towards him and whispered the following words in his ear: “First, you should kill the bear, and only then you can drink, and think about how to sell the fur, and have fun.”
The origin of the saying in Russia
Some experts believe that the saying “You don’t need to share the skin of an unkilled bear” did not appear because of the fable of Jean Lafontaine, since most people were still not familiar with it: it was not customary for the common people to read French fables. epic students and folk art people are sure that the Russians adopted the proverb from other peoples who already had it. For example, they like to talk about the skin of a bear in France and Germany, there are other peoples who are familiar with this expression.
It is believed that Jean Lafontaine himself took a folk saying as the basis for the plot of his fable, which in fact may be older than his work. Years of life of La Fontaine: 1621 - 1695.
Encyclopedic dictionary of winged words and expressions Serov Vadim Vasilyevich
Sharing the skin of an unkilled bear
Sharing the skin of an unkilled bear
The original source is the fable "The Bear and Two Comrades" by the French poet and fabulist Jean La Fontaine(1621 - 1695).
It is noteworthy that back in the 30s. 20th century in Russia it was customary to say: “Sell (and not divide. - Comp.) the skin of an unkilled bear. This version of the expression is much closer to the original source, and more logical, because there is no benefit from the "divided" skin, it is valued only when it remains intact.
Allegorically: anticipate the results of the case. An analogue of the saying "Don't say "hop" until you jump over."
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Philologist, candidate of philological sciences, poet, member of the Writers' Union of Russia.
Publication date: 21.09.2019
Many have heard about the skin of an unkilled bear, but not everyone is reliably aware of why it should not be divided.
Where did the mention of the bear come from? Why do they say so about him, and not about a wolf or, for example, a boar? What synonyms can replace this phraseological unit?
Let's look into the secret depths of the language and look for answers together!
The meaning of the proverb
The proverb " share the skin of an unkilled bear They usually remember when they begin to manage the results of an unfinished, and sometimes not even started business. The goal has not yet been reached, but the person is already planning a step forward. He is so confident in himself that he does not allow the possibility of a misfire.
Overconfidence is rarely good. At some point, circumstances begin to get out of control and lead to a completely different result.
There are many examples of this idiom. “I’ll graduate from the institute, I’ll find such a job that I’ll row the money with a shovel!” - the tenth grader will dreamily say. To this, the older sister may coldly remark that she has not even entered the institute yet.
"What are we going to do with the mushrooms?" - the son will ask his mother, leaving the house with a basket. “Wait to decide! - Reasonably stop his mother. “First, find at least one mushroom.”
We cannot always predict the consequences of our actions and accurately predict the outcome. That is why the skin of an unkilled bear is something ephemeral, divinatory, something that could be if the action had already ended in the way we want.
It is clear that it is impossible to dispose of imaginary property, and it is even more stupid to share it.
Origin of the proverb
This expression owes its origin to the French fabulist La Fontaine. In the 17th century, the fable “The Bear and Two Comrades” came out from under his pen, the plot of which looks something like this:
Two friends went to the forest to hunt. They dreamed so much that they would overwhelm the bear that the success of catching seemed to them a matter decided. Friends almost fought, arguing about who will get the bearskin. Suddenly, a real bear came out to meet them. From fright, one of the comrades climbed a pine tree, the other fell to the ground. The beast sniffed it, touched it and moved away, thinking that it was dead in front of it. When the danger had passed, the friend, descending from the pine tree, asked his partner what the bear was doing to him. He replied: "He whispered in my ear that the skin of an unkilled bear should not be divided."
The popularity of La Fontaine's fables was colossal. Having circled Europe, the plot also reached Russia, where at first it became a proverb, word for word repeating the remark of the second friend, and then turned into a short phraseological unit “to share the skin of an unkilled bear”.
By the way, even before La Fontaine, Aesop described a similar plot in one of his fables. La Fontaine only translated it into a poetic language understandable to his contemporaries. So these two fabulists rightly divide the glory of the discovery in half, like the skin of an already killed bear.
Synonyms
In Russian, the idiom, which is French in origin, has many relatives. About those who start dreaming about the result before they complete the work, we can say this:
- Don't say gop until you jump over;
- Do not boast about going to the army, but boast about going with the army;
- Not the bread that is in the field, but the one that is in the bins;
The following expressions can be considered foreign analogues of phraseological units:
- Count the chicks before they hatch (English);
- Do not praise the day before the evening. (Not yet evening) (German).
Yes, it is not worth rushing to conclusions, and even more so, actions. Things may not go according to plan, and this should be taken calmly. Only the proud believe that life is entirely under their control. Man only proposes, but God disposes.
- a saying about those who share income, benefits, which do not yet exist and may not exist at all; (colloquial irony). ( Dictionary Russian language (1992), N. Yu. Shvedova, "Skin")
This proverb came to the Russian language from Europe. So, in France there is a proverb "You should not sell the skin of a bear until it is killed." A similar floorboard is available from Germany.
Serov V.V. in the book "Encyclopedic Dictionary of Winged Words and Expressions", 2003, he writes - "back in the 30s of the XX century, it was customary in Russia to say:" Sell (not share) the skin of an unkilled bear "".
Probably the phrase became popular in Europe thanks to the fable of La Fontaine (1621 - 1695):
The Bear and the Two Hunters, Lafontaine (Translated by Krukowska)
"Two comrades who were in need of money sold a bear skin to a furrier neighbor.
The bear had not yet been killed by them, but they promised to catch it immediately.
They went to the forest. They met a huge bear. Both friends were scared.
One climbed a tree, and the other fell to the ground and pretended to be dead.
The bear approached him, began to sniff him, turn him from side to side.
The man held his breath. The bear decided that he was dead and left.
When the danger had passed, one man got down from the tree and asked another:
What did the bear do to you?
He said in my ear that you should not sell a bear skin until the bear is killed."
Examples
Boris Muradov
"Let's not share the skin of an unkilled bear. To begin with, it is necessary to secure funding for this project and start construction, and only then we can talk about some real terms."
Chakovsky A.
"It's already morning":
“The herring is still walking somewhere in the sea and does not suspect that it has already irrevocably entered the plan of our production ...
There is even a fairy tale about this...
— What is it?
- How shared the skin of an unkilled bear"
(1896 - 1984)
"Conversations with Ranevskaya" (Gleb Skorokhodov, 2004):
"Became mentally share the skin of an unkilled bear: first of all, I will return the advance, debts, and, perhaps, something else will remain.
(1894 - 1940)
"I consider the figure of forty million tons arbitrary. More than a third is supposed to be taken from unexplored areas, which means share the skin of a bear, not only not killed, but not yet hunted down... "
(1793 - 1868)
"Russians in their proverbs", book. 3, 1832 - the words of the Russian Tsar Peter I:
"My rule, the conqueror of Charles XII used to say, without killing the bear, do not promise skin."
We often hear: "Do not share the skin of an unkilled bear." As a rule, we know the meaning of this phraseological unit. It boils down to the fact that one should not rush things, rush to write down something as an asset, set a mental “daw” for oneself.
What does phraseology teach
Like much folk wisdom, this saying teaches sanity. It boils down to doing everything right first, and only then celebrating the victory. If you look for a close analogue of the expression in Russian, then it will be: "Do not say "gop" until you jump over." Thus, everything must be done on time and in place. That is why they say: "It is not worth dividing the skin of an unkilled bear." The meaning, we think, is clear to both young and old.
But originally this expression was coined as an instruction to the young. After all, it is youth that is most prone to all sorts of projecting, she also believes that she still has a wagon and a small cart. On the contrary, mature people prefer to live with urgent tasks and deeds. Maybe because adults have them, and youth, as a rule, is carefree, and you constantly have to pull it up and say: “There is no need to share the skin of an unkilled bear.” The meaning of this expression is usually well known to young people, so they calm down, but not for long.
If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans
You can’t guess anything, because life is unpredictable. You can't place too much hope on anything. We put emotions into expectations, when the first ones do not come true, we get upset. If you do not hope and do not try to share the skin of an unkilled bear (we considered the meaning of the expression a little higher), then there will be no frustration.
Load of other people's expectations
There is an article on the Internet that describes in detail and even tediously why you can’t tell other people about your plans. The final thesis is this: consciousness is to blame for everything.
Our unfortunate consciousness takes speaking as a fait accompli and ceases to stimulate the body to achieve certain goals. There are only two things that bother me here:
- Is our consciousness really so stupid that it cannot distinguish the possible from the real?
- Is the person as a whole so stupid that he does not understand: no matter how much you say the word "halva", it will not become sweeter in your mouth?
Therefore, we believe that the matter is completely different, and the article to which we refer is a pure fantasy of its authors, and has no scientific, psychological basis.
When a person speaks to someone about something, he, as it were, makes a promise to the interlocutor. The weight of these promises is crushing, the person feels uncomfortable, as if in a cage. As a result, the plan is not realized. Therefore, one should trust the folk wisdom taught by the proverb (“to share the skin of an unkilled bear”). The meaning of phraseologism is saturated with love for the present moment. Not to what was in the past, and not to what will be in the future.
"Talk" by M. Heidegger and plans
Another version of the development of events and the answer to the question why people do not realize most of their promises and ideas in life.
Projections of a person are actually not so important for him, and he simply forgets about them. Life is fast, especially today, people tend not to remember 90% of what they say. Now communication has become one of the ways of relaxation. M. Heidegger called this "talk", i.e. the process of conversation is valuable in itself, but not in good sense, when we vigilantly follow its thread, meaning and content, and in the bad - we need to “hammer the air”, kill time, we need background noise. In such conversations, a person blurts out a lot of things. The interlocutor attaches excessive importance to this, and the speaker does not even remember his plans. So, the plans are not realized: a) the person eventually does not cope with the burden of other people's expectations and b) the spoken plans mean little to him. As a result, it turns out that it is better not to build plans at all, but such a model of life is available to a few, which is a pity. In other words, you should not share the skin of an unkilled bear. The meaning of the proverb is clear.
How to learn to live in the present?
Buddhists teach that every day is a small life. Armed with this extremely wise thesis, let's say that it is better not to build far-reaching plans at all at any age. All these mental constructs are very unnerving and do not allow a person to live normally and solve specific tasks. A person constantly oppresses himself with either the past or the future, not knowing how to enjoy the present.
In this context, the question we put in the title of the section is very important, the answer to it is both simple and complex at the same time. One should live step by step, gradually, without hurrying anywhere. Life is such that it is interrupted suddenly, so there is always a chance not to become someone and not be in time for something. But plans and constant striving for the future poison the present. So, it is not necessary to divide the skin of an unkilled bear ahead of time. The meaning of the proverb sets a person up for an indestructible union with the present.
