The Middle of Dnieper

Алексей Владимиров, Редкая птица
(http://fashionpark.kiev.ua/proekty/unikalnaja-skulptura-redkaja-ptica-na-dnepre)
no copyright infringement intended

В середину же Днепра они не смеют глянуть: никто, кроме солнца и голубого неба, не глядит в него. Редкая птица долетит до середины Днепра.

(Н. В. Гоголь. Вечера на хуторе близ Диканьки. Страшная месть)

One of the most celebrated passages in Russian literature.

No one dares to look over the middle of Dnieper, but sun and blue sky. Rare bird can fly over the middle of Dnieper.

(Gogol, Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka, A Terrible Vengeance)

And, as the story goes on, after telling these words of great praise, a miracle happens: both Crimea and Carpathians become visible from Kiev.

Here is how I came on this passage from Gogol. I was reading the discussions on a web forum, about the differences between Russian and Ukrainian (here is the link to it). I understood from there some phonetic differences that had been very unclear to me (г pronounced in Russian as g, in Ukrainian as h; Russian ы and Ukrainian и pronounced the same; Russian л becoming in Ukrainian в, and further in Polish ł; sometimes Russian е becoming in Ukrainian і; Ukrainian question phrases tending to follow the Polish pattern; and all these rules having their exceptions, to keep the fun going on). All these differences are not major, the problem comes when we talk about vocabulary: better said about influences in vocabulary. In Eastern Ukraine the vocabulary is strongly influenced by Russian, while in the West we observe the Polish influence. Which leads to the conclusion that in order to have a good command of Ukrainian language you need to be familiarized with the way it is spoken in the Eastern part as well as in the Western part. And that is far from simple: а ведь не всякая птица долетит до середины Днепра (not every bird can fly to the middle of Dnieper)!

So, one of the participants to the discussion on the web forum came with this phrase, а ведь не всякая птица долетит до середины Днепра, to emphasize that's not for everyone to get knowledgeable in both Western and Eastern Ukrainian.

This phrase sounded greatly, like a lesson of old times wisdom sent to the present. I wanted to know more about it and I did a search on the web, to find that it had been created by Gogol in his Вечера на хуторе близ Диканьки: Редкая птица долетит до середины Днепра

And Gogol, speaking about the great river challenging the brave ones, the happy few (only sun and blue sky dare to look over it, and even birds, symbol of unlimited spatial freedom, rarely can fly over the middle of Dnieper), actually had in mind that it is not for everyone to oversee from Kiev both Crimea and Carpathians. Good piece of advice for anyone seeking a solution for today's problems there.


(Gogol)