The great and mighty Russian language! How many secrets and difficulties are in you. You hide so much unknown and interesting in yourself. In stable Russian phrases incomprehensible to new generations, deep meaning and fascinating stories are hidden.
From school, we are in the search for meanings of words, expressions and works. We are looking for morality in fables, hints in fairy tales and what they can teach us. Proverbs, sayings, fragments of the works of famous writers, which have become aphorisms, all of them open our eyes to the artist’s vision. However, sometimes, not knowing some of the features, people misinterpret persistent phrases. But it is precisely thanks to such errors that the Russian language becomes richer and more interesting.
Many people are familiar with the work “The Word of Igor’s Regiment” and the well-known lines from it: “A prophetic boyan, if someone wanted to make a song, a cape spread over a tree, with a gray drag on the ground, with a gray eagle under the clouds”. In this article, we will explain one of the phrases contained in this passage.
The first interpretation of the line from the work “The Word of Igor's Campaign”
What does it mean to “spread thought on a tree”? This passage can be interpreted in two completely different ways. The meaning of the expression “thought spreads on the tree” will also change. Let's analyze a stable phrase based on this.
When interpreting the word “mys”, the translators converted them into “thought”, since their sound is very similar. If you do not go into details, then such a replacement seems quite logical and fits well in meaning. With such a transformation of the word, the lines in question have the following meaning: to rant, verbose, distracted by irrelevant details. Therefore, this stable expression is used when talking about unnecessary details that distract from the main idea and affect, like branches of a tree, secondary topics.
Second value
In the following interpretation, the definition of the expression is completely different, since from the Old Slavonic protein it is “cape”. If the author had in mind this forest animal, then the lines from his work can be read in a different way. It turns out in this case: “The prophet Boyan, when he wanted to make a song, spread a squirrel on a tree, a gray drag on the ground, a blue eagle under the clouds.” The author did not mean at all what many understand now. He said that while composing the song Boyan mentally embraced the whole world, running around the tree like a squirrel, being on the ground like a gray wolf, and flying under the clouds like an eagle.
It is worth noting an interesting point. The ancient Russian lexeme “cape” in the meaning of “protein” was used in Russia, namely in the Pskov province, right up to the 19th century.
As we see, one word changes the whole meaning of a statement. But due to the fact that many are more familiar and close to the interpretation of “thought” as a thought, we will analyze a stable phrase based on this interpretation.
Origin and translation
The line “spread by thought on a tree” appeared due to the rather well-known works of D. S. Likhachev, V. A. Zhukovsky and N. A. Zabolotsky. They translated the "Word of Igor's Campaign" in this form. We saw these lines in school textbooks.
The work-monument of ancient Russian literature “The Word of Igor's Campaign” really needed to be translated and adapted to the modern Russian language, as it was written back in 1185.
Where can I find the expression "spreading thoughts on a tree"
This phrase, like many other steady turns, replenished our vocabulary. We meet her in the print media, on the Internet, in fiction, and we hear her on radio and television. It is possible that someone even uses it in colloquial speech.
You can even imagine two classmates or students using this unusual phrase when discussing someone’s work: “How does the teacher not notice the obvious? After all, he does not know the topic at all. He "swims" in it! Spread thought on a tree. Just like Boyan in “The Word about Igor’s Regiment”, which we read not so long ago! ”
Synonyms and antonyms of phraseology “spreading thought through a tree”
In order to fully reveal the meaning of the expression in question, we will select the most stable stable meanings that are heard by many. These are the well-known phraseological units “pouring water” and “walking around the bush”. They are used in speech when talking about those who talk idly, in whose conversation there is no important information, who "spread their thoughts in a tree."
Let us select the stable phrase opposite in meaning to the expression in question. An excellent antonym is the saying “brevity is the sister of talent”. A concise but capacious narrative often tells us more than “water.”
Output
To summarize. In this article, we learned that the line in question from the monument of ancient Russian literature was translated incorrectly. However, at the moment in modern Russian, it is actively used. We have found that the expression “spreading thought through a tree” has more than one meaning. We found two versions of the interpretation of a stable phrase taken from the "Word on Igor's Regiment". They found out why the work was translated in this way, and who worked on it.
In order to better reveal the meaning of the line in question, we gave synonyms and antonyms. Mentioned where this expression is used. Knowing the significance of this sustainable turnover, you can correctly insert it into your speech, surprising others with a rich vocabulary, your well-read and wide-minded outlook.
Analysis of this phraseological unit has led us to the following conclusions. Sometimes errors in interpretation give us new stable momentum, that is, they enrich us. Much depends on translators. Incorrect interpretation, they can change the whole meaning of part of the work. In this case, readers could mentally imagine how the hero Boyan, composing a song, encompasses this whole world in his imagination. He, like a squirrel, runs around a tree, like a wolf, walks on the ground, and like an eagle, flies under the clouds. The picture is very large.
However, due to incorrect translation, the reader is deprived of the opportunity to present all this. But there is a positive side to this error. And this, as we have already noted, is the enrichment of Russian speech with a new phraseological unit. And as you know, steady momentum makes our speech bright and mark. Instead of saying “stop sharing extra information, get down to business”, you can briefly but succinctly say “stop spreading over the tree!” Thus, we will show our well-readness and expand the horizons of the interlocutor.