What to Do on Christmas Eve Posted by yelena on Jan 6, 2012 in Culture, Traditions
‘Twas the night before Christmas… when the devil stole the moon, two drunken Cossacks lost their way in a snowstorm, a village blacksmith spoke with a Russian tsarina and a young peasant girl got her wish.
Since this is the night before Christmas in Russia (remember, Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas on January 7) as well as the beginning of a weekend, you might have достаточно свободного времени (enough free time) to read this beautiful story, «Ночь перед Рождеством» (Christmas Eve) by Nikolay Gogol. It is available through an online open library.
As enjoyable as this story is to read, it can be quite difficult even for advanced learners of Russian. Written in 1832, it uses quite a lot of words that are no longer used, such as городничий (a district police-inspector) and шинок (a hole-in-the-wall pub). Another difficulty is that Gogol set this story in a Ukrainian village and many of the words he used he had to clarify to his readers in the foreword.
It is a challenge, but a very rewarding one. If you do not feel like reading the entire story in Russian, you can watch полнометражный мультфильм (feature-length cartoon) or a movie based on the story after reading the plot summary in Russian or English.
Much like Christmas in the US, Christmas in Russia is the time for merriment and gift-giving. It is also time for visiting family and friends. And, as with other holidays, it is time for delicious food. Christmas is preceded by a lengthy рождественский пост (Christmas fast) that begins back in November. Some spend the entire канун Рождества (Christmas Eve) abstaining from food and waiting до первой звезды (until the first star).
This year I will отмечать праздник (lit: mark the holiday; greet the holiday) у друзей (at a friends’ place). They maintain the tradition of preparing 12 dishes for праздничный стол (holiday table), 12, of course, being the number of the апостолы (disciples). The dishes are also kept traditional, including сочиво also known in the south of Russia and in Ukraine as кутья. This is a dish of cooked пшеничное зерно (wheat grain) mixed with raisins, nuts, honey and poppy seeds.
Other traditional блюда (dishes) will include блины (pancakes), рыба (fish), курица (chicken), медовые пряники (honey cakes), узвар (a drink made with dried apples and pears) and колядки also known as калитки – small pastries with sweet or savory filling.
Originally these колядки pastries were given out to колядующие, youth who would go from house to house singing колядки – short jingles with good wishes. Колядующие would put the treats into small bags known as калита (originally these bags were used as purses). Many of the singers would наряжаться (dress up) in costumes and were called ряженые. Do you remember, from “War and Peace”:
Наташа ещё не кончила петь, как в комнату вбежал восторженный четырнадцатилетний Петя с известием, что пришли ряженые…
(Natasha had not quite finished her singing, when fourteen- year-old Petya, all excitement, came running into the room with the news that some maskers had arrived.)
The twelve days after Christmas are known as святые дни (holy days) or святки. This is the time when many girls try out ворожба (divination) and various святочные гадания (fortune-telling). If you’d like to try it yourself, here’s a very simple one, called гадание по книге (fortune-telling on a book). Pick up a book by your favorite author (say, “War and Peace”), hold it shut in front of you, ask a question, and pick a line number (decide beforehand whether you will count from the top or from the bottom of the page). Then open the book randomly and count down to the line. Read it and it will reveal the answer. Sounds a bit like getting a fortune cookie, doesn’t it?
If you feel a bit more adventurous and quite brave, then why not try гадание c зеркалом (fortune-telling with a mirror). You have to be in a place considered нечистое (unclean) and a bathroom will do. Besides, it already has a large mirror.
Lock yourself there before midnight along with two столовые приборы (table settings), a watch and a candle. Set up the table ware, light the candle in front of the mirror, say суженый, ряженый, приходи ко мне ужинать (betrothed, masked, come dine with me). Now sit down and wait.
Shortly after midnight (brr, I’m getting мурашки по коже (goosbumps) just typing this), you will see a man in the mirror looking over your shoulder. Take a good look at him ‘cause this is your future spouse. Then, and it is crucial for your safety, say Чур сего места! (Keep away from this place!)
Whether you are going to be spending Christmas and the following святки fortune-telling, merrymaking with friends, exchanging gifts with family, reading Gogol’s “Christmas Eve” or working, have a good time!
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Comments:
Lyle Neff:
In case anyone is interested, there are two operas on YouTube that are based on Gogol’s story “Christmas Eve.” Here are the playlists:
Tchaikovsky’s “Cherevichki” — http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCA4FF214C5BB9446
(Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherevichki)
Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Christmas Eve” (in English translation) — http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA4CA9BE710275860
(Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Eve_%28opera%29)
Moonyeen Albrecht:
Lyle, thank you so much for posting this. I came to the comments page to mention these two operas but was so delighted to see these websites. I saw the Rimsky “Christmas Eve” at the Maryinsky Theater Concert Hall two years ago on the real Russian Christmas Eve. It was wonderful! By the way, for those interested, the Maryinsky has English surtitles so, come, and enjoy wonderful Russian opera!
Richard:
Я желаю всему Счастливое Рождество. Я желаю для всех нас мир и счастье.
Rob McGee:
Shortly after midnight (brr, I’m getting мурашки по коже (goosebumps) just typing this), you will see a man in the mirror looking over your shoulder.
“Candyman… Candyman… Candyman… Candyman… Candyman!”
😀
Очень надеюсь, что этот офигенный фильм ужасов пользовался популярностью у русских зрителей, и что цитированные выше слова будут всем понятны.
P.S. By the way, someone asked about literal translations of idiomatic phrases, so note that мурашки по коже literally means “little ants [crawling] over the skin”.
yelena:
@Rob McGee Lol, Rob 🙂 I have no idea whether Candyman was popular. I seriously don’t like фильмы ужасов. Can’t watch them, not even previews (yeah, I do close my eyes and cover my ears in the movie theaters if such a preview is shown). Thank you tons for stepping in and providing the literal translation of мурашки по коже phrase! I should get into the habit of doing the same.
Richard:
Я сейчас прочитал “Ночь Перед Рождеством” (на английском языке), и думаю, что это замечательный рассказ!
Молодец, Гоголь!!! 😀
yelena:
@Richard Richard, was the English version available online? If so, would you share a link, please?
Minority:
I doubt I can translate it properly: Гадания под рождество связаны с поверьем, что на сочельник в наш мир проникает нечистая сила. Именно благодаря этой нечистой силе и можно узнать свою судьбу. Поэтому, насколько я знаю, при гадании стоит снимать нательный крест, а также избегать скрещивания рук и ног, т.к. это может отогнать нечистую силу, и гадание не удастся.
However, I don’t believe in this stuff. =)
yelena:
@Minority Minority, great explanation. I’m going to try translating it: “Christmas-time fortune-telling tradition has its roots in the belief that on Christmas Eve devil and other evil beings (lit. unholy beings) can sneak into our world. It is thanks to these unholy beings that we get a glimpse of our fate. That is why, as far as I understand, one should take off a cross as well as avoid crossing one’s arms or legs otherwise evil beings would get scared away and fortune-telling won’t work out”
David:
How would Russians say the “I’m getting” part of I’m getting мурашки по коже? Мне становятся? or получаю? or something else? Similar, is there an equivalent in Russian for ” I get chills up and down my spine when I hear Ой Да Не Вечер”?
yelena:
@David David, there are several ways of saying the whole “I get goosebumps/chills down my spine” and they all use “мурашки по коже” expression 🙂 Some that I frequently use and/or hear from others include “У меня аж мурашки по коже”, “У меня даже мурашки по коже”, “У меня мурашки по коже”, “У меня просто мурашки по коже”, “У меня прямо мурашки по коже”. Now, you can add “пошли” after “по коже” or you can leave it out. I think that in an informal face-to-face conversation, where emotions come through clearly, the verb is not that important.
Minority:
> ”I get chills up and down my spine”
David, Yelena, we also have expressions: “пробежал мороз по коже” and “пробежал холодок по спине”, though they sound closer to “get chills up and down my spine”, but we use ’em to explain feeling of horror (“мороз”) and fear (“холодок”).
David:
Thanks Minority and Lena for expanding on goosebumps and chills (do you remember the song from Grease with the line “I got chills…”). I was intrigued by “мурашки (singular мурашка”) – thinking of it as a diminutive of муравей, I wonder why it isn’t муравка? I did a Google search on it and it seems that мурашки также могут пробежать по спине.
Literal translations of expressions like these are tremendously helpful – in my experience the phrase gets hard-wired into the brain much easier. So thanks to Rob for little ants!
Richard:
I read “Ночь Перед Рождеством” in a book of Gogol’s tales: http://www.amazon.ca/Collected-Tales-Nikolai-Gogol/dp/0375706151/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326160671&sr=1-1
I’ve looked and I’ve looked but I haven’t been able to find an English version online.
However, I did find this little gem, a 1913 film by Ladislas Starewitch. It’s an amazing production especially if you love early cinema!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7J3y4AJ5kw
If you go to 29:35 on the YouTube video, you’ll see the expression сей же час, is this emphatic particle still used this way today or has usage changed with time?
Thx
yelena:
@Richard Thank you for the links, Richard! Regarding the use of же… It is still in use, although the expression сей же час is used mostly in literary works, replaced in conversations with сейчас же. However, if you have Russian friends with young children, you’ve probably heard such phrases as “сию же минуту” (this very minute) and “сейчас же” (right now), alongside any of the following words: иди кушать (go eat), иди спать (go sleep), в кровать (off to bed), мыть руки (wash hands), выключить телевизор (turn off the tv), убрать игрушки (put away toys), etc, etc. It might even be preceded by “сколько раз тебе говорить” (how many times can I tell you). So the entire phrase that uses the particle же would be, for example, “сколько раз тебе говорить, сию же минуту обуй тапочки, полы в доме холодные” (how many times can I tell you, put the house shoes on right this minute; the floor in the house is cold).