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Up at a Villa – Down in the City
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Up at a Villa – Down in the City
by R. Browning
Had I plenty of money, I maintain it, no more than a beast!
Money enough to spare, But bless you, it’s dear – it’s dear!
The house in the city square: Fowls, wine, at a double rate.
Ah, such a life, such a life, They have clapped a new tax upon salt,
As one leads at the window there! And what oil pays, passing the gate –
Something to see, by Bacchus, It’s a horror to think of.
Something to hear, at least! And so, the villa for me, not the city.
There the whole day long, Beggars can scarcely be choosers:
One’s life is a perfect feast; But still, – ah, the pity, the pity.
While up at villa one lives,
8 Из списка данных пословиц выберите те, которые можно использовать при обсуждении данных тем и конкретных ценностей.
Еда. Работа и бизнес. Отдых и путешествие. Дружба. Времена года. Здоровый образ жизни.
Лучше поздно, чем никогда. В здоровом теле, здоровый дух. Дорога ложка к обеду. Старый друг лучше новых двух. Что посеешь, то и пожнешь. Лучше синица в руках, чем журавль в облаках. Трус умирает тысячу раз.
Money makes money. Many physicians have killed the king. He who sleeps catches no fish. A friend in need is a friend indeed. East or West home is best. He works best who knows his trade. A good beginning makes a good ending. Everything is good in its season. An early riser is sure to be in luck. Dry bread at home is better than roast meat abroad.
9 К приведенным ниже темам / ситуациям / проблемам подберите по 3-4 пословицы, которые можно было бы использовать в каждом случае в качестве предупреждения или совета.
– War and peace.
– Ignorance.
– Wealth (its importance, its disadvantage, its relative unimportance, its sources, its effects).
– Relationships between people.
– The attitude to work.
10 Ознакомьтесь с предлагаемыми ситуациями. Определите, какие пословицы могут использоваться в данных ситуациях в качестве предостережений или советов.
а) Молодая семейная пара разошлась во мнениях в вопросе воспитания детей. Они обратились за помощью и советом к семейному психологу.
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б) Молодой специалист готовится к устному собеседованию со своим потенциальным начальником. Его товарищи помогают ему советами.
в) На занятиях кройки-шитья ученицы готовятся раскроить свои первые самостоятельные изделия. Все они слегка нервничают, но при этом ведут себя совершенно по-разному: кто-то слишком торопится, кто-то чересчур осторожничает, кто-то очевидно ленится. Учитель дает полезные советы.
г) Начальник в очередной раз столкнулся с фактом халатного отношения к делу со стороны одного из своих подчиненных, который, по всей видимости, при всей его необязательности, в ряде случаев проявил исключительную креативность, находчивость и смекалку. Он размышляет о данном человеке, его роли и месте в компании.
Практические задания
1 Find odd words and mistakes in the proverbs; give the correct variant.
a) There is no best place on earth than like home.
b) Always early to bed, and early to rise makes every a man healthy, wealthy and really wise.
c) Everything is of course very good in its own season.
d) The better appetite comes with plenty of eating.
e) A one bird in the hand is worth two pretty big birds in the bush.
f) He who serves God for a money will serve the devil for a better wages.
g) A lot of much water has flowed passed under the bridge since…
h) Scratch my back and I always will scratch yours.
2 Re-order the words to make up proverbs.
Out of / sight/ troubles /East/ /best /An apple / is /trouble /keeps away / out of /mind / He / laughs / home / a doctor / best /or / who / West / last / Don’t / a day /trouble /until you /laughs / trouble / is half the battle /When the cat is /Deeds / away the mice /not words / Scratch my /will play /back and / I will scratch /yours / Spare the rod /The first blow /the child /speak / louder/ and spoil.
3 Change the proverbs to make it a headline, an advertisement, a notice or slogan. For this divide the proverb into several extracts (e. g. Eat the grapes, not the vine. Variants: You eat the grapes. We’ll take care of the vines. Vines are our business/ Grapes are yours. ), add some words or parenthesis.
a) Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
b) You can take the horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink.
c) He who pays the piper calls the tune.
d) One good turn deserves another.
e) Two wrongs do not make a right.
f) While there is life, there is hope.
4 Match each of the English proverbs in the left column with a similar one in the right column. More than one variant is possible.
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1) Actions speak louder than words. a) A bird in the hand is worth two in
the bush.
2) Once bitten, twice shy. b) All things are difficult before they
are easy.
3) Any port in the storm. c) He who gives fair words feeds you
with an empty spoon.
4) Forbidden fruit is sweetest. d) All good things come to an end.
5) Learn to walk before you run. e) Deeds not words.
6) All are not thieves that dogs bark at. f) All’s grist that comes to the mill.
7) Every little helps. g) As well be hanged for a sheep as
a lamb.
8) Better an egg today than a hen h) As you make your bed, so you must
tomorrow. lie in it.
9) Bad news travel fast. i) Moderation in all things.
10) The greatest talkers are the least j) Take care of the pence and the pounds
doers. will take care of themselves.
11) A stitch in time saves nine. k) Never judge by appearance.
12) Enough is as good as a feast. l) A bad workman always blames his
tool.
13) All’s fish that comes to the net. m) Full of courtesy, full all craft.
14) All work and no play makes Jack n) The apples on the other side of the
a dull boy. wall are the sweetest.
15) As you sow, so shall you reap. o) No news is good news.
16) The best of friends part. p) Many a little makes a mickle.
17) Many kiss the hand they wish q) Variety is the spice of life.
to cut off.
18) Little strokes fell great oaks. r) Who repairs not his gutters repairs
his whole house.
19) In for a penny, in for a pound. s) Practice makes perfect.
20) A bad shearer never had a good t) A burnt child dreads the fire.
sickle.
5 Match each of the English proverbs in the left column with a similar Russian one in the right column. Tell if the cultural connotation of these proverbs is identical.
1) Hew not too high lest the chips fall in a) Руби дерево по себе.
thine eye. б) Сражаться с ветряными
мельницами.
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2) As well be hanged for a sheep as a в) Взялся за гуж, не говори, что не
lamb. не дюж.
3) Every cloud has a silver lining. г) Кому счастье служит, тот ни о
чем не тужит.
4) Faint heart never won fair lady. д) Семь бед, один ответ.
5) First think, then speak. е) Смелость города берет.
6 Hawks will not pick hawk’s eyes out. ж) Одна паршивая овца все стадо
портит.
7) He dances well to whom fortune pipes. з) Нет худа без добра.
8) He that would eat the fruit must climb и) Любишь кататься, люби и
the tree. cаночки возить.
9) In for a penny, in for a pound. к) Что с возу упало, то пропало.
10) Let sleeping dogs lie. л) Молвишь – не воротишь.
11) Many words will not fill a bushel. м) Не буди лиха, пока лихо спит.
12) One scabbed sheep will mar a whole н) Ворон ворону глаза не выклюет.
flock.
13) There’s no use crying over spilt milk. о) Что имеем не храним, потеряв-
ши плачем.
14) To fight with one’s own shadow. п) Из слова шубы не сошьешь.
15) We never know the value of water till
the well is dry.
6 Match each of the proverbs in the left column with an opposite one in the right column. One of them might be odd.
1) He who hesitates is lost. a) Many hands make light work.
2) Too many cooks spoil the broth. b) Practice makes perfect.
3) Absence makes the heart grow c) Look before you leap.
fonder.
4) Do as I say, not as I do. d) Faint heart never won fair lady.
5) Hew not too high lest the chips e) Practise what you preach.
fall in thine eye.
6) All good things come to an end. f) Out of sight, out of mind.
7 Find mistakes in the proverbs and correct them.
1) Лучше птица в руках, чем две в кустах.
2) Все наваливают поклажу на послушную лошадь.
3) Одна ласточка лета не делает.
4) Пророков уважают, но не в своем отечестве.
5) Не осуждай, и тебя не будут осуждать.
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6) Life is long, art is short.
7) Rats run away from the sinking ship.
8) Time cures.
9) To destroy (ruin) is not to build.
10) Man proposes, God possesses.
8 Match each of these proverbs with its correct definition. Define the cultural values expressed in them.
1) Hew not too high lest the chips fall in thine eye.
2) Little pitches have long ears.
3) The devil was sick… (The devil was sick, the devil a monk would be; the devil was well, the devil a monk was he).
4) Love me little, love me long.
5) Many a little makes a mickle.
6) Men strain at gnats and swallow camels.
7) A bad penny always comes back.
a) Do not let your passion for a person to become too strong, for it may soon burn itself out. Mild affection is more likely to be long-lived.
b) This is hypocrisy, the behaviour of those who speak loudly against small offences while committing much greater offences at the same time. The first part of the saying means to filt the wine after finding a small flying insect that bites it.
c) We use this proverb in reference to a young man, who leaves home in disgrace and returns there after a long absence in the hope that all is forgiven.
d) The initial saying the proverb is based on is a play of words. People who make pious resolutions in time of illness or peril forget all about them when they are healthy and safe again.
e) This advises thrift. If you start with a little and continually add a little, you will eventually have much. If, for example, you put aside 10 shillings a week you will have 130 pounds in five years. The word used for “much” in the text of the proverb is of Anglo-Saxon.
f) Don’t be too ambitious and realize your limitations, otherwise if you try to live above your proper station you are liable to suffer humiliation.
g) This is another way of saying “Not in front of the children”. Although they may not give that impression young children often take in every word spoken by their elders. “You know who I am, don’t you? ” the visitor asked Tommy. “Oh, yes. Dad says you are the biggest idiot he’s ever met. ”
9 Find the proverbs in the following extracts and give their correct variant. Define what cultural values are expressed in them.
a) A man said to his companion in a public house: “Who’s that down-at-heel fellow propped against the bar? I seem to know his face. ” “Don’t you remember him? That’s Alec Palmer, the drunken oaf. His father threw him out years ago. When the old man died, he sneaked back home to live rent-free and spend his mother’s pension on beer. A bad penny if ever there was one. ”
b) The source is Matthew 23: Jesus says to the scribes and the Pharisees: “Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. ”
c) Voltaire wrote, “God is always on the side of the big battalions”. Abraham Lincoln was of another opinion: “It has been said of the world’s history hitherto that might is right. It is for us and for our time to reverse the maximum, and to say that right makes might. ”
10 Complete the following extracts with suitable proverbs; give reasons for your choice (based on cultural values).
а) Charlie was anxious to have a home with Honoria in it. He had got a lease on a new apartment and was going to employ a French governess. He tried his best to assure Marion that she could have entire confidence in him. Of course, it was within human possibilities, he might go wrong once or twice, …
b) When he arrived home alone he turned the key in the lock in wild anger. How could he know she would arrive an hour later alone, that there would be a snowstorm in which she wandered about in slippers too confused to find a taxi. Then the aftermath, her escaping pneumonia by a miracle, and all the attendant horror. Going over it again brought Helen nearer, but …
c) You know I never did drink heavily until I gave up business and came over here with nothing to do. Then Helen and I began to run around with …
Proverbs: Beggars cannot be choosers. A man is known by the company he keeps. Accidents will occur in the best regulated families. A rotten apple injures its neighbours. One cannot turn back the clock. The first blow is half the battle. What is bred in the bone will not go out of the flesh. Appearances are deceptive.
11 Think of the situations in which the following proverbs could be used as warning, advice, threat or moral.
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a) Better a lean peace than a fat victory. It is a great victory that comes without blood. A just war is better than unjust peace.
b) He that knows nothing doubts nothing. What you don’t know can’t hurt you. He that knows little often repeats it.
c) It takes two to tango. Everybody’s business is nobody’s business. As you sow, so you reap.
d) A heavy purse makes a light heart. It’s not what is he, but what he has. Money isn’t everything. Money makes money. Manners and money make gentlemen. Prosperity makes friends, adversity tries them.
12 Read the given proverbs and texts in which the meaning of these proverbs is given. Match each of these proverbs with its correct definition. Discuss with your group mates which proverbs represent the values of thriftiness, patience, hard work, friendship, etc.
a) In for a penny, in for a pound.
b) It is better to wear out than to rust out.
c) It is useless to flog the dead horse.
d) Let not your wits go wool-gathering.
e) Light not a candle to the sun.
f) A lion may come to be beholden to a mouse.
g) If the cap fits, wear it.
h) The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.
1___; 2___; 3__; 4__; 5__; 6___; 7___; 8__;
A Don’t allow your mind to wander, concentrate on what you are doing. Literally it means to go at random here and there, collecting fragments of wool (fleece /fur /hair) torn from sheep by bushes and the like.
B Once we have committed ourselves to some extent in an undertaking, we may as well get through with it. A similar proverb is As well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb. The meaning of that proverb goes back to the early history of Britain, when a person guilty of sheep stealing was sentenced to death. Stealing a lamb was as great a crime as stealing a sheep and the penalty was the same. So, a thief might just as well steal the larger animal and so have more meat for himself and his family. The modern meaning of the proverb can be illustrated by the situation. “Dad said I was to be home from the dance by 11 o’clock, but I enjoyed myself so much that it was midnight before I realized it, so I thought I might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb and stayed on till the end. ”
C There are times when the weak can help the strong. A rich, eminent and powerful person should treat a poor or obscure man with consideration for one day he may do him a great service and he will be indebted to him. There are fables and fairy tales with the similar plot, when the king of animals, or a hunter spared the life of a small animal or an insignificant person and was later rewarded by him, as he freed him when he was trapped or offered him some other kind of invaluable service.
D If you take everything personally, if you think that what I am telling is about you, you are welcome to this opinion. If you find the words of blame and criticism apply to you, then accept them. The expression originally spoke of the fool’s headgear, decorated with bells, which was worn by fools and jesters. They were entertainers who, from medieval times, held permanent position at court or in the households of distinguished noblemen. Shakespeare’s King Lear gives us a penetrating insight in a jesting fashion.
E The proverb is often quoted by elderly people, who remain active in old age and seem to do more than old people should do. They believe it is better to die as the result of being worn out with activity than as the result of doing nothing.
F It is a waste of time to revive interest in a worn out or forgotten subject, to keep on talking about the same thing, or to argue about something that was settled long since. A similar proverb is Harp not for ever on the same string. The modern meaning of the proverb can be illustrated by the situation: “I said it at the time and I say it again that when they built the new bypass they should have taken it round the north of town, not round the south. ” “Why bring that up again? Nothing can be done about it now, so harp not for ever on the same string. ”
G Mothers, who look after their children are bringing up new generation of men. A mother’s influence is greatest of all. The recognition of the mother’s influence being paramount in a child’s early years finds expression in several European cultures, perhaps most memorable in the Spanish “What is sucked in with the mother’s milk runs out with the shroud. ”
H Don’t try to throw more light on a matter that is already clear enough. Don’t try to explain the obvious. Don’t take the easy course of repeating what is already known, instead of making original research into what is known.
13 Answer the questions using proverbs.
1) Why was Marion not sure that Charlie had turned over a new leaf? Why was she constantly recollecting and bringing out the past? (What is bred in the bone will not go out of the flesh).
2) Charlie understood, didn’t he, that the outcome of his Parisian visit depended very much on how he would manage to put the matter before Marion and Lincoln in their first attack? (The first blow is half the battle).
3) Why did Marion not want to return Honoria to her father though “his feet seemed to be planted on the earth now? (Appearances are deceptive).
14 Study the following situation. Tell what proverbs can be used as a warning or advice. Act this dialogue out using proverbs.
Joe: Hi, Pali. How is it going?
Pali: O. K. How are things with you?
Joe: Not too bad. In fact, pretty good! Did I tell you that I got a new job?
Pali: No, you didn’t. That’s good news!
Joe: Well, you knew that I was laid off last month. I heard about a job opening in another company. I applied and had an interview. Three days later, someone called to tell me that I got the job.
Pali: That’s great. How do you like the job?
Joe: I like it. The salary’s a bit higher than on my last job and the benefits are very good.
Pali: I am glad to hear that.
Joe: Yeah. The other job was really starting to get me down. There was never enough work. Also I can get a good raise in six months if I do well.
Pali: Sounds good. How long does it take you to get to your new job?
15 Read the proverbs and comment on them (their meaning, cultural values expressed in them). Make up a dialogue using 3-4 proverbs and act it out.
a) A friend is another self.
b) The best mirror is an old friend.
c) Books and friends should be few but good.
d) Lend your money and lose your friend.
e) As man sows, so shall he reap.
f) All the future exists in the past.
g) A burnt child dreads the fire.
h) Care killed a cat.
i) Constant dropping wears away a stone.
j) Don’t count your chicken before they are hatched.
k) The early bird catches the worm.
l) Every family has a black sheep.
m) Look before you leap.
n) God helps those who help themselves.
o) Curses like chickens come home to roost.
16 Choose an appropriate proverb to each picture and explain why you’ve chosen it. Give the title to a picture using proverbs; give reasons for your choice (рисунок 3. 5).
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
Рисунок 3. 5
17 Define what cultural values are expressed in the following proverbs.
It takes two to tango. It’s like building castles in the air. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. A drop in the bucket. As ye sow, so shall you reap. Time is money. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. The truth will out. He that knows nothing doubts nothing. Actions speak louder than words. A stitch in time saves nine. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Constant dropping wears away a stone.
Рекомендуемая литература
1 Очерк американского коммуникативного поведения / И. А. Стернин (науч. ред. ) [и др. ]. – Воронеж, 2001. – С. 14-15.
2 Карасик, В. И. Языковой круг: личность, концепты, дискурс / В. И. Карасик. – Волгоград: «Перемена», 2002. – С. 21-26.
3 Васильева, Л. В. Краткость – душа остроумия. Английские пословицы, поговорки, крылатые выражения / Л. В. Васильева. – М.: ЗАО Центрполиграф, 2004. – 350 с.
4 Елизарова, Г. В. Культура и обучение иностранным языкам / Г. В. Елизарова. – СПб.: КАРО, 2005. – C. 26-42.
5 Маслова, В. А. Лингвокультурология: учебное пособие / В. А. Маслова. – М., 2001. – С. 72-73.
6 Садохин, А. П. Межкультурная коммуникация: учебное пособие / А. П. Садохин. – М.: Альфа – М.: ИНФРА, 2006. – C. 45-55.
7 Словарь употребительных английских пословиц / М. В. Буковская, С. И. Вяльцева, З. И. Дубянская и др. – М.: Рус. яз., 1985. – 232 с.
8 Тер-Минасова, С. Г. Война и мир языков и культур: учебное пособие / С. Г. Тер-Минасова. – М.: Слово / Slovo, 2008. – C. 90-91.
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