Thread: Курочка Ряба

I think that "дед да баба" does not necessarily mean "a grandpa and grandma". I don't think there were any grandchildren mentioned in the tale.

The word "дед" means "an old man" and "баба" means simply "a spouse", or more generally "a woman". Who knows, maybe the old man had a younger spouse?

So, I suggest translating "Жили-были дед да баба" at least as "Once upon a time there was an old couple".

Originally Posted by Crocodile

The word "дед" means "an old man" and "баба" means simply "a spouse", or more generally "a woman". Who knows, maybe the old man had a younger spouse?

LOL. Not sure how young the standard "baba" is supposed to be, but normally a peasant's spouse was not as light as a feather. Hence, the proverb goes “Баба с возу — кобыле легче.” (it's easier for the horse when the “lady” is off the cart.))

Баба - деревенская (обычно замужняя) женщина, крестьянка, весящая энное количество десятков килограммов. Воз - повозка (телега, сани и т. п. ) с кладью. Конечно же, кобыле, впряжённой в телегу становилось легче везти поклажу, когда баба, находившаяся в телеге, по каким-то причинам с этой телеги слезала.

Ответы@Mail.Ru: объясните пословицу. объясните пословицу баба с возу-кобыле легче

Originally Posted by diogen_

LOL. Not sure how young the standard "baba" is supposed to be, but normally a peasant's spouse was not as light as a feather.

The only reason I mentioned that "баба" could also be younger than her husband was to highlight that "баба" is probably just "a spouse" and not "a grandma" as the original translation suggests. Maybe, she didn't have children in the first place, let alone the grandchildren. Also, the fact that nobody except for the mouse was there to help the old couple to break the egg kind of implies they lived alone.

Btw, I'm kind of surprised what does the weight of "баба" have to do with the activity of breaking the eggshell?

The tale IMHO is about how the extraordinary does not belong in the ordinary. In an ordinary place two ordinary people who had an ordinary hen all of a sudden got an extraordinary thing - a golden egg. Being a perfectly ordinary, all they could use the golden egg for was to break the shell and fry the internals - they could find no other use to it. But their attempts to fit the extraordinary into the ordinary failed. So, eventually the egg fell down and became spoiled to be eaten. (But the most outstanding part - the golden eggshell - was still usable!) The ordinary people began to cry for they cannot get out of their cognitive box to realize the potential and the proper use of the extraordinary that they encounter. So, could they reflect on what happened and educate themselves and elevate their consciousness? No, that would be impossible for the ordinary, don't bother, stay where you are, forget the golden egg, we'll get you another perfectly ordinary egg you could use. Only then you'll be happy. No moving forward. End of story.