Quote Originally Posted by Throbert McGee View Post


So, if someone walks past you with an empty bucket, and greets you, does the bad luck come from staying silent, or from speaking to him?

I mean, does the imperative промолчи have a conditional "if" meaning in this context, or is it a "normal" imperative?
It's a normal imperative.
So my question for Russians is this -- are you familiar with the variant in which воробьи are the "villains" and ласточки are the "good guys"
No, I'm not familiar, but I think there might be something like it in Russia. I don't exactly know the origin of the word "воробей", but the birds are kind of a bad guys - "воробей" sounds very semiliar to "вора бей" or the same "бей вора" (beat the thief). The bird is probably inclined to steal, but, I suppose, you may have known it without me.