Categories: "Animals"

Обезьяна

by Olga  

The Russian word for monkey is обезьяна. Monkeys are very intelligent creatures and are often trained to perform in the Russian circus and can even help individuals with disabilities. Monkeys that are trained to perform at the circus are taught many tricks and are often dressed up in colorful and shiny costumes.

My grandmother told me the story of how her eye glasses were almost stolen once by a circus monkey. On my grandmother’s birthday, she decided to go to the circus with with my grandfather. When the circus show ended, the trainers came out and announced that individuals can buy an extra ticket to play with some of the trained monkeys after the show. My grandmother turned to my grandfather and said «Давай пойдем и поиграем с обезьянами после спектакля!» “Lets go and play with the monkeys after the show!” Once my grandmother walked into the room and saw all the monkeys bouncing off the walls, she said «Какие энэргичные обезьяны!» “What energetic monkeys!”

She approached one of the monkeys and began petting it. All of the sudden the monkey reached for her eye glasses and ran off with them. My grandmother began laughing when the monkey stopped and waved the glasses at her. Everyone around her began laughing loudly when the monkey put the glasses on himself. Everyone said «Какая смешная обезьяна!» “What a funny monkey!” My grandmother began chasing him and calling out «Oтдай мои очки!» “Give me back my eye glasses!” Eventually the monkey gave in and returned her glasses to her.


Don's additional notes: the word обезьяна includes both monkeys and apes, so it's a bit broader than “monkey” in English. I rather suspect that most readers won't know the difference between monkeys and apes. Hm. Now I'm curious. If you read this post, please add a comment to it saying something like, "Yes, I know the difference" or "No, I don't know the difference."

Собака (часть первая)

by Olga  

The Russian word for dog is сoбака Dogs are very active animals who can be very demanding of their owner хозяин but also especially loyal, loving, and supportive.

My dad has a friend who is the owner of two dogs. These dogs are pure Bijon Frise breeds and have lived with the owner for many years. Every once in a while, the owner leaves town and asks me to take care of the dogs. I hated the idea of having to feed, bathe, and walk two dogs but I agreed because the owner paid me very good money. Most dogs are very active animals however, these two were incredibly lazy ленивые and rude which annoyed me because they spent most of the day sleeping on their huge, fluffy doggie beds instead of running around like dogs should.

On one bright morning, I decided to take the dogs for a walk around the neighborhood. I called out to them, «Где ваши поводки? Мы сейчас пойдём гулять» “Where are your leashes? Were going on a walk now!” I grabbed their old leashes and watched them as they began wagging their tails and barking loudly while circling me. During the walk, I saw another person with a large dog and to my surprise, one of my dog’s leashes jerked right out of my hand and I saw him running away from me with great speed. I panicked and frantically ran after the dog while dragging the other one after me. «Бени! Иди сюда» “Beni! Come here!”. I saw my dog approaching the other person and I screamed out «Остановите эту собаку!» “Stop that dog!” Luckily, the other owner caught Beni and a great wave of relief came over me. I was very happy that this story ended happily and that I did not have to inform the owner that I lost one of his dogs!

Самец и самка

by Don  

The words for male and female in Russian are самец and самка. Самка is an uncomplicated word with genitive plural самок. Самец is an end stressed word:

SgPl
Nomсамецсамцы
Accсамцасамцов
Genсамцасамцов
Preсамцесамцах
Datсамцусамцам
Insсамцомсамцами

In English we might say "A rooster is a male chicken" or "A mare is an adult female horse," but we have to rephrase it slightly for the Russian version. In Russian one says «Петух — самец курицы» “A rooster is the male of the chicken.” In other words, the word that follows самец or самка needs to be in the genitive case. Likewise «Кобыла — взрослая самка лошади» “A mare is an adult female of the horse.”

Корова (часть первая)

by Olga  

The Russian word for cow is корова. Cows are an important addition to the food supply because they provide meat мясо, milk молоко, and milk products молочные продукты. Russians who live a village деревне often own cows. A person who owns many cows might say «в нашей деревне много коров» “In our village we have many cows.” А person who owns only one cow might say «в нашей деревне одна корова» “In our village we have one cow.”

Many years ago, my grandmother bought a calf телёнок. My grandmother milked this cow regularly and soon became very attached to it. After many years, the cow became old and my grandmother needed to give it away to the meat factory мясокомбинат. My grandmother told me that it was very difficult for her to give the cow to the meat factory.

Many people in the village cried that day because so many of them became attached to it just like my grandmother.

Осёл

by Don  

Warning! This entry is slightly vulgar.

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