Milk rivers and jelly banks: the meaning of a phraseological unit

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The article considers the meaning of phraseologism "milk rivers and jelly banks". It is told about how and when this expression appeared, in what fairy tales and other sources of world literature it can be found. Examples from the texts will be given.

Origin

"Milk rivers and jelly banks" is a fairly well-known expression that owes its origin to Russian folklore. For example, in the Russian folk tale "Three Kingdoms - copper, silver and gold" tells about a long, unusual, abundant time:

In that old time, when the world of God was filled with goblin, witches and mermaids, when the rivers flowed with milk, the banks were jelly, and fried partridges flew across the fields, at that time there lived a king, named Peas with a queen Anastasia the Beautiful…

It is characteristic that the original "markers" of that time are not only these rivers and banks, but also King Peas. This character personifies the distant prescription of years, literally meaning - it was not known when, buta long time ago.

Thus, milk rivers and jelly banks symbolize abundance and prosperity - such that it’s not worth working, everything will come into your own hands. In addition, it is implied that prosperity and carelessness, since the rivers are magical, will never dry up. And in the context of the aforementioned fairy tale - such a time was once a very long time ago, it was, but it has passed.

Vasilisa the Wise and the Sea King

True, folklore sources mention this expression in various variations. In the Tale of the Sea King and Vasilisa the Wise, the heroine turns horses into a river of honey and kissel banks - after all, folk tales existed in the oral version, if the narrator did not like milk, he could replace it with honey.

By the way, please note that we are not talking about the beekeeping product we are used to - thick honey, in which sometimes a spoon stands (it would be difficult to imagine such a river), but about the Russian national drink - honey. It is a non-alcoholic or alcoholic drink based on honey. It was known and prepared, however, not only in Russia, but in almost all of old Europe. There are quite a few types of drink: honey, mead, sbiten, etc. But in a fairy tale, not honey could be mentioned, but, for example, satiated - water simply sweetened with honey.

Swan Geese

And in this Russian folk tale, a milky river with jelly banks occurs in a completely different context: it appears on the path of a girl who has lost her little brother. It occurs twice - and both times not as a symbol of abundance and prosperity, but asa kind of pass to the world of the dead. After all, oatmeal jelly and milk are traditional "funeral" and "funeral" food, in particular, in the Russian North. Refusing to taste this treat, the heroine entered the "interworld", located in a special space - and not in the world of the living, and not in the world of the dead. There is the hut of Baba Yaga, in which the boy, the girl's brother, is being held captive.

And in order to return to the "world of the living", the heroine has to taste both the jelly coast and the milky river. This is a kind of sacrifice to the ancestors.

The apple tree with apples in the Russian folk tale "Swan Geese" personifies vitality, and bread and the oven act as a symbol of human society - sitting in the oven, the girl and the boy seem to be hiding from the messengers-birds from the world of the dead among people.

In fairy tales of other nations and in mythology

In Romanian folk tales, rivers of milk were enclosed in banks made of hominy (the so-called steeply brewed porridge made from cornmeal).

And the Bulgarian legend tells how St. George chopped off the head of the three-headed snake Lami, and milk, wheat and wine flowed from these places.

The Slovenian legend is interesting in content: it tells that a long time ago there was such a fertile time when the udder of the cows was so huge that it was not difficult to get milk. There was a lot of it, and women even bathed children in it and washed themselves. Because of this abundance, people are completely lazy, which is whyThe Creator became angry with them and took away his mercy. But at the request of the cat, who was very fond of milk, he left a few nipples with the cow.

In the medieval epic of the Armenian people "David of Sasun" tells about an unusual milk source, beating on the top of the mountain. According to the story, David drank from this source, and his strength increased so much that he was able to fight with the troops of Melik.

Milky rivers can be called a kind of symbol of the "upper world", if we are talking about the mythological tradition. For example, Yakut myths will tell about the upper rivers, personifying contentment and abundance, and the lower ones, dirty, filled with blood and tar.

In the Bible

And here's what you can read in the Bible, in the Book of Exodus: God told Moses that he would bring the people of Israel out of Egypt and lead them "to a land boiling with milk and honey" - that is, where there is eternal abundance and we alth.

By the way, later the biblical expression was taken up with pleasure by the writers. For example, M. E. S altykov-Shchedrin in the collection "Well-intentioned speeches" (essay "Father and Son", 1876) it is written:

At that time… the general's house was seething with milk and honey.

In addition, in the Old Testament apocryphal Book of Enoch and the Koran, heavenly blessed rivers of honey and milk are mentioned.

On the farm

Finally, we can mention the traditional treat of Russian cuisine -hearty milk jelly or an oat-based dish filled with milk. It is worth mentioning that livestock, in particular, the cow was the basis of the peasant economy. But not all families had it.

Therefore, a dish of milk and jelly, served to guests as a treat, testified to the well-being of the host house. Perhaps it is thanks to this culinary tradition that the expression "milk rivers and jelly banks" appeared - that is, everything you could wish for.