Lovey-dovey Stuff

Hi everyone, how are you? Have a look at this photo before you start reading the blog. It is a statue of one of the Soviet leaders, Kirov. Actually, it is not important who he is as I just want you to laugh at his new winter hat and fur collar :) I took this photo in a park the day before yesterday. As you can see, it was snowing quite heavily on that day :)

As you know, there was another task from Trudi. This time I needed to write a story with the use of love-related expressions. I must confess that this time I racked my brain, trying to use all the expressions given.

… It was a glorious early morning. The tops of the trees were waving in a warm breeze. Invisible birds were chirping away happily in the bushes. Various little forest creatures were scuttling in the grass between the roots of the trees. Some unusual atmosphere seemed to have enshrouded the whole forest and Mr. Rabbit’s burrow was literally oozing amorous waves.
“Rabbit, Rabbit… You can’t stay in all day. Get your fluffy bum out of the bed. Honestly, you are acting like a lovesick teenager,” tutted Mr. Pine Marten.
“What are you talking about? It’s just this migraine is killing me…” groaned pale-looking Mr. Rabbit.
“Uhuh. Migraine. Listen, Rabbit, I know there is no love lost between us but since it was me who found you nibbling bitterly on a carrot (and everybody knows that rabbits can’t nibble on a carrot bitterly whatsoever) under the full moon in the meadow yesterday, I feel somewhat responsible for you,” said Mr. Pine Marten.
“Just of the love of our old school days, will you kindly leave me alone?” said Mr. Rabbit faintly.
“Oh, no, Rabbit. You are loved-up. You will not feel better until you tell this ephemeral Ms. Doe-Rabbit everything about your feelings. She really is very pretty, isn’t she?” Mr. Pine Marten gave a wink.
“I will not dare tell her everything for love or money. She despises me and will start despising me even more after she knows how I feel about her.”
“Rabbit, are you really this stupid or is it just a result of what happens when puppy love hits you at the age when you are not an adolescent any more? I think you are a typical example of a late bloomer. Mr. Rat can help us solve your little problem. I am sure he won’t refuse as he is now at the hate stage of his love-hate relationship with cricket; so he’s got plenty of spare time“.
“What’s your plan?”
“As far as I know, all girls are scared of mice… And you will save her! You will be her hero. Does the idea of it appeal to you? Come on, you must agree, all fair in love and war.”

… It was another wonderful morning. Birds were chirping away happily… Mr. and Mrs. Rabbit were in the middle of a lovey-dovey chat in their garden when Mr. Pine Marten announced his presence with a delicate cough.
“Hello Mr. Pine Marten,” said Mr. and Mrs. Rabbit in unison.
“Hello, how are you?” replied Mr. Pine Marten.
“We are fine, thank you,” said Mr. Rabbit and added as an afterthought, “Listen, Marten, I owe you a favour”.
“It was a labour of love, Rabbit. Be happy!” said Mr. Pine Marten and left murmuring something under his breath.

Oh, Trudi, I am not the best poetry analyser in the world. We had to do it at school and I loathed it. Anyway, I’d better stop whinging right here. The present the poet is giving to her lover is an onion. I think the man she is giving it to is not her first love and she has got in her head a very clear image of love and how love develops. The onion is supposed to represent her idea of love. She compares the onion to a moon in brown paper. This is to mean that in the beginning love attracts by its mystery, the further you go the fewer layers of wrapping paper is left; the brighter the light, the more involved you become. Love, like an onion, can make you cry and it is also shown in the lines. As you cut an onion, i.e. as your relationship progresses, the rings become smaller and smaller and at some point they become the size of a wedding ring and people get married. The last line suggests that marriage is the last stage to which love can progress and that people will live by the feelings they experienced before their married life ever after, it might also mean that their feelings will never be as strong as before. Only scent. She might be right. But it all depends. It is also unclear from the last lines how long the period between “a wedding ring” and the word “lethal” is.

Trudi, you asked to shed some light on the reason why Alexanders in Russia usually go by the shortened name Sasha. Well, it’s easy. Lots of Russian names are too long and they sound too formal when you say them aloud. Most people use their full name only at work or in other formal situations, but they will call everyone by their shortened name when interacting with friends and relatives. Each Russian name can have quite a few shortened versions of which normally only one is used universally. Like it is in the Alexander case (“Alexander” is pronounced as “Alek-sun-der” in Russian, so I guess the “sun” or “san” bit is used to form the following names), Sashik, Sashulya, Sashenka, Sanya, Sashok, Sashka, Sasha are all derivatives of the name Alexander, but Sasha is the most stylistically neutral one, so it is used by everybody. The most common endings of shortened names in Russia are –ya, -sha, -ka. More examples, Maria – Masha, Olga – Olya, Konstantin – Kostya, Mikhail – Misha, Anna – Anya, Stanislav – Stas, Anastasia – Nastya etc. How do you like my shortened name?! I certainly like your nickname :)

Hm, I can’t say that I got a shock when I saw the prices in the UK. I couldn’t have expected them to be less than very high if one British pound is exchanged for fifty Russian roubles and London is considered the most expensive city in the world :) Meanwhile, football ticket prices here are certainly much lower than they are in the UK, but not by 50 times - by three times at the most.

Now to some of the comments you wrote.

Anita, thank you for such a detailed explanation about the –ova ending in your surnames. What about your middle name? How do you get it? Is it normally one’s father’s first name, as it is in Russia?

Rosa, I saw the Disney cartoon called “Anastasia” and it was about the “lost” princess Anastasia. The story was romanticized because the princess’s body was not found after the whole royal family was killed in 1917. However, her remains were discovered near a country road in Ekaterinburg oblast last year.

Mercé, yes, I know paella :) Alex and I even cooked it following blogger Silvia’s recipe in the New Year holiday :)

Pary, see, your comments do appear! :)

Paco, will you believe me if I say that I even saw snow in the UK in July!?

Christine, I don’t think I have ever heard of Russian writer Vladimir Sorokin. He must be a modern writer.

Eugeny, I know what resort you are talking about. There is also Abzakovo centre near it. Maybe their hotels aren’t that good, but their ski-slopes are definitely better than those in Nechkino. I must sound unpatriotic...

Angela, as Trudi said, my knowledge of ballet is sketchy. (In wisper) I know nothing about Polina Semyonova. But I promise to tell you about Russian wedding traditions in my next blog.

Hope you all have a good weekend,

With best wishes,

(Nasty)A nastasia

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