And we continue to publish the most interesting quotes of all times and peoples, and today we have an interesting quote, or rather an excerpt from prose - What Russian does not like fast driving?
The author of this quote is N. Gogol “Dead Souls”
And what Russian does not like to drive fast? Does his soul, seeking to spin, take a walk, sometimes say: “Damn it all! » - whether his soul does not love her? Is it not to love her when something enthusiastic and wonderful is heard in her? It seems that an unknown force has taken you on a wing to itself, and you yourself are flying, and everything is flying: miles are flying, merchants are flying towards them on the framing of their wagons, a forest is flying on both sides with dark formations of firs and pines, with a clumsy knock and a crow's cry, flying the whole road, God knows where, into the vanishing distance, and something terrible is contained in this quick flickering, where the vanishing object does not have time to appear - only the sky above the head, and light clouds, and the moon trudging through, alone seem to be motionless. Eh, trio! bird troika, who invented you? to know that you could only be born among a lively people, in that land that does not like to joke, but spread out like a smooth smooth halfway across the world, and go and count miles until it fills your eyes. And not a cunning, it seems, road projectile, not an iron one covered by a propeller, but hastily equipped and assembled you alive with one ax and a chisel by a smart Yaroslavl peasant. The coachman is not in German boots: a beard and mittens, and the devil knows what he sits on; but he got up, and swung, and dragged on the song - the horses whirlwind, the spokes in the wheels mixed into one smooth circle, only the road trembled, and the pedestrian who stopped screamed in fright - and now she rushed, rushed, rushed !. . And you can already see in the distance, with how something dusts and drills the air.
Isn't it true that you too, Rus, that a brisk, unbeatable troika are rushing about? The road smokes under you, the bridges rumble, everything lags behind and is left behind. The contemplative, amazed by God's miracle, stopped: is it not lightning thrown from the sky? what does it mean terrifying movement? and what kind of unknown power lies in these horses unknown to the light? Oh, horses, horses, what horses! Are whirlwinds sitting in your manes? Does a sensitive ear burn in every vein of yours? They heard a familiar song from above, together and at once strained their copper breasts and, almost without touching the ground with their hooves, turned into only elongated lines flying through the air, and everything inspired by God rushes! . Rus', where are you going? Give an answer. Doesn't give an answer. A bell is filled with a wonderful ringing; the air torn to pieces rumbles and becomes the wind; everything that is on earth flies by, and, looking sideways, step aside and give it the way other peoples and states
And what Russian does not like to drive fast?
Is it his soul, seeking to spin, take a walk, sometimes say: “Damn everything!” - Does his soul not love her? Is it not to love her when something enthusiastic and wonderful is heard in her? It seems that an unknown force has taken you on a wing to itself, and you yourself are flying, and everything is flying: miles are flying, merchants are flying towards them on the wings of their wagons, a forest is flying on both sides with dark formations of firs and pines, with a clumsy knock and a crow's cry, flying the whole road goes nowhere into the vanishing distance, and something terrible is contained in this quick flickering, where the vanishing object does not have time to appear - only the sky above the head, and light clouds, and the pushing moon alone seem to be motionless. Eh, trio! bird troika, who invented you? to know that you could only be born to a lively people, in that land that does not like to joke, but spread out half the world as evenly as possible, and go and count miles until it fills your eyes. And not a cunning, it seems, road projectile, not captured by an iron screw, but hastily, alive with one ax and a hammer, an efficient Yaroslavl peasant equipped and assembled you. The coachman is not in German boots: a beard and mittens, and the devil knows what he sits on; but he got up, and swung, and dragged on a song - the horses whirlwind, the spokes in the wheels mixed up in one smooth circle, only the road trembled, and the pedestrian who stopped screamed in fright - and there she rushed, rushed, rushed! .. And you can already see in the distance, as something dusts and drills the air.
Isn't it true that you too, Rus', that a brisk, unbeatable troika is rushing about? The road smokes under you, the bridges rumble, everything lags behind and is left behind. The contemplator, struck by God's miracle, stopped: is it not lightning thrown from the sky? what does this terrifying movement mean? and what kind of unknown power lies in these horses unknown to the light? Oh, horses, horses, what horses! Are whirlwinds sitting in your manes? Does a sensitive ear burn in every vein of yours? They heard a familiar song from above, unanimously and at once strained their copper breasts and, almost without touching the ground with their hooves, turned into only elongated lines flying through the air, and all inspired by God rushes! .. Rus', where are you rushing to? Give an answer. Doesn't give an answer. A bell is filled with a wonderful ringing; the air torn to pieces rumbles and becomes the wind; everything that is on earth flies by, and, looking sideways, step aside and give it way to other peoples and states.
From the poem (part 1, ch. 11) "Dead Souls" (1842) by N. V. Gogol (1809-1852).
Other articles in the literary diary:
- 31.01.2014. And what Russian does not like to drive fast?
- 01/27/2014. January 27, 1944
- 01/26/2014. January 26, 1944 Reports of the Soviet Information Bureau
- 01/25/2014. Happy Vladimir Vysotsky's Day... Happy Tatyana's Day!
- 01/21/2014. Hello World...
- 01/20/2014. January 20 already at 08:25 winter time...
- 01/14/2014. Happy New Year!
- 01/12/2014. Siege of Leningrad September 8, 1941-January 27, 1944
- 01/11/2014. I try not to forget to feed sparrows,
- 01/08/2014. Hello people...
- 01/07/2014. Merry Christmas!
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“And what Russian does not like to drive fast?” This rhetorical question, sounded from the lips of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, quite accurately characterizes the customs and driving style of a Russian person.
It would seem that the driving style is just an emotional outburst, a subjective impulse, can it be taken as a criterion that describes the spiritual properties of the people? “Of course not” - we will answer ourselves and, perhaps, we will be mistaken. Looking more closely, you can see in this habit the key to the unconscious Russian reality, an indicator and indicator of our state of mind. It is easier for foreigners, as people who are in a different reality, to see the essential in us, so the Russian driving style immediately catches their eye.
Thank God, driving licenses are not issued just like that today. Rather, there are cases that confirm the imperfection of any legal and moral system, but these cases are exceptional and, in general, "the speed is not affected." At the same time, it is unreasonable and dangerous to lose sight of them or neglect them, but now we are talking about something else. Not so long ago, early in the morning, I was awakened by a loud girl's conversation. Looking out the window, I saw two girls who, helping each other, performed a maneuver to drive a car inside the yard. The road on this side of the house is wide, so even parked cars do not interfere with two cars passing by. However, the lack of driving skills made adjustments to the movement - the girls had difficulty drawing a sinusoid, the critical points of which coincided with the dimensions of peacefully sleeping cars. Only a few centimeters separated the trajectory of their movement from the objects encountered on the way. At such moments, one of the girls, let's call her a navigator, ran out and began to correct the movement, helping to avoid a seemingly inevitable collision. The other girl is the driver, confusing the rotation of the steering wheel with the direction of travel, iron horse controlled in an experimental way, moving meter by meter in our small yard, like a child for the first time walking on the promised land. So my car was on the way, but I was lucky ... And so the young drivers overcame their first journey. Returning to the sofa, I continued the interrupted dream.
However, after a while I was awakened again. The already familiar voices were joined by another, male. It was getting light. Looking out the window, I saw an error in the sinusoid, marked by the contact of the “training” car with the parked one. Nearby stood the "happy" owner no longer the perfect car. From the conversation it turned out that trainees do not have driving licenses. What caused this fun trip - whether it was the consolidation of driving skills or other reasons - it does not matter, but the fact remains that driving without a license was the cause of this incident.
Unfortunately, similar case not a single one - the wording “the driver was without a driving license” is found in news reports. Such cases, since they were written about, are far from harmless, because if this happens on high speed, then it can already become a crime, leading to sad consequences. This is one of the features of the Russian mentality - permissiveness. Thank God, such cases are not numerous, but they have their place.
But let's leave this example, we are law-abiding, having passed the exams and having learned to drive, we got a license and the next step is to buy a car. For many, this is a vital step, because for a person a car is not only a means of transportation. It is also an indicator of success, status and pride. In the big cities of Russia you can meet many expensive cars. For example, SUVs, the purchase of which was previously justified by the ability to move freely along our roads. However, with a visible improvement in roads, the number of off-road vehicles did not decrease, it even increased - in addition to prestigious models, sports cars and business class cars appeared. Despite the low level of income and low well-being, which they like to reproach our country with, luxury cars are purchased in Russia in quantities no less than in economically developed countries. It is clear what is acquired by that part of the population who have much more material resources than everyone else, but that is another question.
We are not afraid of either the price of the car itself or the cost of its maintenance. The last fact that restrains the consumer impulses of residents of other countries, in which small cars are logically popular, is not significant for us. We do not yet pay attention to such trifles as the cost of gasoline or diesel fuel- after all, our country is rich in oil resources. We should have the lowest fuel price in the world, and no one should be interested in whether we use it wisely or not.
Today, many people understand that the problems traffic are primarily social. For example, traffic jams are not only an insufficient arrangement of the urban environment, but also an excessive number of cars, a low driving culture, and much more, which is based not on technological, but on social and ethical factors. Recently, attention has been paid to public transport, public discussion of the prospects for its development. The trend of reorientation towards two-wheeled, more mobile transport, including cycling, is noteworthy, which is an indicator of a freer society that actualizes a healthy lifestyle and consists of people who know how to rationally allocate personal time and their resources.
How does the day start big city? For those living on the first floors, the first sounds of awakening are far from natural. For millions of years, man has listened to the sounds of nature: animals and birds, the sound of wind, foliage, thunder, and other phenomena. Only in recent centuries, an industrial background has been added to the natural harmony. Sharp, metallic, with its cacophony dissonant with the usual rhythms. He has penetrated everywhere. Like a virus that spreads to all living things, it appeared on the street, it pours from the speakers of TVs and computers, its hard chords increasingly fill the melody of modern music.
But does this virus exist outside of our will? Isn't it our attitude to the world that recklessly fills the space with industrial excrement? Aren't we, who consider ourselves the masters of everything, creating a destructive resonance for the homeland that gave birth to us and protects us?
Everything starts with small things. I bought a car, transferred my big I to it, now it is a part of me and you take care of it more carefully than even your body.
There is no need to warm up the engine before a trip for a long time. But we are worried in the old fashioned way that the engine can wear out faster, we start it and it rumbles “idle” while we are busy with our household chores. Now it's easy - without getting out of bed, you press a button on the tenth floor, and your machine works, blowing carbon monoxide into nearby windows. Let your beloved warm up, and the place under the booty will be warm. The fact that the smoke bothers someone, the noise of the engine is annoying, you should not think - these are the problems of those who are annoyed by it.
This is not about us. We, without disturbing anyone, get into our favorite car, start it and drive to work. If we have to hurry (we admit, it happens ...), we can exceed the speed a little, or “accidentally” not notice the already fading green. But we never run, we never ride tram tracks, never "stop" traffic at an overloaded intersection.
On the way to work there are boors. They are trying to squeeze into the space in front of our car. We most of all dislike it, even hate it. No wonder, because this is my legal place, established by objective law, and some “impudent” wants to take advantage of it. "Brotherly love" also arises in the opposite case - when we do not have time and are forced to ask to be in the next row. We are also not inferior, we are on what light we cut "this miser".
What do we lose in both cases? In different ways: the integrity of the car, a healthy complexion, sometimes arms and legs, a good mood, love. What motivates? - you can say: “justice, lack of time, etc.”, but the truth will be - unwillingness (even greed) to let another be allowed more than you, craving for equality in the name of equality. What happens if we give in? - Nothing, maybe we'll lose a few seconds of our precious time. We will even receive gratitude, even if sometimes not expressed consciously.
Well, we're closer to our destination. We have a car, which means it should take us as close as possible to the goal. The issue of parking is secondary: the idea develops from the desire to be where it is no longer necessary to go, to the solution of the question - how to get around possible obstacles if it is forbidden to stop in this place? Why it is forbidden is not of interest to us - the question of the consequences of parking in inappropriate places with us it comes down to material losses, and not to the understanding of social inconveniences. There are motorists, unfortunately, there are many who do not accept a stop from which you will still need to walk a couple of hundred meters. The last one is quickly located - the state. It did not provide for the construction of parking lots in the city center. The possibility of this construction, both financial and physical, is not taken into consideration. The accusations are based on subjectively pragmatic principles that do not take into account other, including public and state interests.
Paid parking in the minds of such citizens does not solve the problem, because they are used to getting parking free of charge. And in general, we do not consider parking as a service. Praise and exemplify European states, With high level well-being, our comrades do not take into account that in these states in the central city blocks you will not find parking during the day with fire, and those that are "pleasantly surprise by the price." We get annoyed by traffic jams, yell at those parked in the wrong places, but we ourselves, if possible, do the same.
Day passed. Our beloved home is waiting for us. At full speed, regardless of the oncoming wind flows, we fly to our native nest. Someone with music, so that everyone can hear, someone without, but we all boldly move forward. Somewhere on a flashing green, somewhere on a red that has not yet gone out, somewhere exceeding the speed, while convincing yourself that driving skills will not create dangers, and God saves. It is this kind of driving that foreigners talk about when asked what was the first thing that caught their eye? They are watching our risky flights with fear and misunderstanding. But they don't understand us...
Here we are, with God's help, at home. True, for the most part, we do not mention God when everything is fine. We reduce everything to our own mind and experience - after all, we are the ones who create the world. Okay, we're already home. Good mood, close people, hearth, but how inopportunely there are talks about bad drivers who met us on this day, and, God forbid, tragic cases.
Good luck, and be careful on the road, be polite and kind to drivers and pedestrians, even violators, because you never know what they have in their souls. Give in to people. Perhaps, having felt such non-resistance to evil from us, the heart will tell them to do the same in the future.
