The origins of the phrase “stay with nothing” lead to the tale “About the Fisherman and the Fish”. The work condemns reckless greed and shows that these destructive desires are ultimately punishable.
Plot
A fairy tale in poems was written by Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin. He got a wonderful stylization for a folklore work.
The story begins with a mention of the fact that the old man and the old woman lived for thirty-three years in a wretched dugout on the shores of the blue sea, which fed them. Every day the husband went fishing and the wife spun. Often in the network came across either mud or algae. But once the catch turned out to be unusual - a fish, but not a simple one, but a talking one. She prayed for mercy, promising in return to fulfill any desire of the fisherman. But the simple-minded old man let her go without any ransom, just like that.
Arriving home, he told his wife about what had happened. She immediately realized that the old man had missed such an opportunity to profit from the fish. Therefore, she sent him back to the sea, so that he would beg at least something. And since her big ambitions had not yet matured, she called the first thing that came to her mind, namely the trough. The old, they say, has already completely cracked. Well, not the royal crown, but the usual trough. The thing is unpretentious, and in the economy without it in any way. And the old man went to the fish asking. She promised to fulfill his little desire. And indeed: his wife met him with a brand new trough. But this seemed to her not enough.
And then it began: each time she increased the degree of her desires, again and again sending the unfortunate old man to a fish. After the trough, she wanted a hut with a lodge. Then the old woman decided to turn from a peasant into a pillar noblewoman, after going higher and becoming a queen. The old man unconditionally passed all these whims to the fish, and she fulfilled them. Everything would be fine if the old woman stopped in time. I would live to myself in the status of the queen and grief would not know. But no. She wanted the impossible - to become the mistress of the ocean, so that even the fish itself was in her submission. After the old man asked for this whim, the wish-fulfillment shop closed. Arriving home, he saw his old woman, who had to stay with nothing, that is, with nothing. Everything is back to square one. This is the instructive climax of the tale.
"Staying Broken": The Meaning of Phraseologism
The plot of the tale became a textbook, it was studied at school. And over time, the expression "stay with nothing" has increasingly become used on its own. Its meaning was clear even to those who did not read this work of Pushkin. Little by little, it has turned into a stable lexical unit - phraseological unit. To remain at a trough is to lose everything that was, fail, lose all generous gifts, lose a high position after dreams or chances for something good have not been realized.
Moreover, most often, when someone tells someone’s life story and uses this phraseological unit, it is clear that the speaker does not have a strong sympathy for what happened. Somehow, involuntarily, after this expression, I want to add that he needs it, let him know.
Typical situation
Examples of how in real life you can stay with nothing, a dime a dozen. And most often this happens in business or family relationships. The inability of a person to say “stop” to himself plays a cruel joke with him. He becomes a hostage of his own ambitions, which by inertia drive him further and further.
All this happens like this: in the role of a "fish" a man usually occupies a leading position, well, and the "old woman" is naturally a woman. For example, a typical director-secretary couple who are not only connected by business relationships.
At first, this cunning lady does not at all manifest herself as an avid consumer. She, on the contrary, may seem executive and proactive. But at some point a small and insignificant request came from her, a mere trifle "a la trough", which a man does not cost to fulfill, and he considers himself obligated to her. And that’s it, from that moment on, the “golden fish” on the hook. The "Old Woman" begins to draw from her all the juices, usually associated with material benefits, and if she is refused, she rolls up a huge scandal and still gets her way.
There can be no talk of any love in such a relationship. This is pure consumerism, emotional vampirism. But once the patience of the "goldfish" ends, the relationship is completely broken, the "old woman" is deprived of all the benefits, usually followed by a loss of work. In a word, this is called "staying with nothing." This example was fictitious, but very typical.
There are also many stories from the lives of famous people who at some point found themselves at the very bottom. And not everyone was able to rise.
"Stay with a broken trough." Life example: Kim Basinger
She was known to everyone for her extravagance and craving for expensive purchases. Once she acquired a whole city in the state of Georgia. But the owner of the Oscars and the ageless beauty once fell into a debt hole. She refused to shoot in the film and had to pay a penalty of almost $ 9 million. As a result, Kim declared herself bankrupt.
Pamela Anderson
Another Hollywood star because of the inability to properly manage the funds turned out to be a considerable amount to the construction company - 800 thousand dollars. Having spent more than 1 million on the design of her new mansion and about the same amount on all kinds of plastic surgeries, Pamela somehow forgot that taxes must also be paid. Therefore, in 2012, her total debt amounted to 1.1 million dollars. For some time she did not even have a place to live, and she spent the night in a trailer.
Wesley Snipes
Even the huge fortune that this actor earned after the release of "Blade" did not deter him from complete bankruptcy. The fact is that because of greed, Snipes falsified his income statement, and the US tax office does not forgive this. He had to not only give away $ 12 million, but also to serve 3 years in prison.
Danila Polyakov
This red-haired guy once conquered the catwalks of Europe, and now he begs for alms and is completely dependent on the support of his friends. The blame for his inability to spend money. He is not at all embarrassed by his position and always accepts the food and clothing that passers-by give him on the street.
It seems that a poet wrote a simple children's fairy tale with understandable morality. But, to see, it was intended not only for young readers. There are too many such "old women" in today's life claiming to be the "mistress of the ocean." But in the end, life makes such people understand what it means to stay with nothing.