"The curious Barbara's nose was torn off in the market": the meaning of the proverb and interpretation. Curious Varvara had her nose torn off at the market. What if they get into your soul? In different countries there are analogues of the saying "The curious Barbara's nose was torn off in the market"

Everyone knows that rumors and gossip are bad. But the temptation is too great, you always want to peep how the life of others goes, if your own does not shine with emotions. But it’s not for nothing that there is a proverb “a curious Barbara’s nose was torn off in the market”, she says that interest in other people’s affairs is fraught with danger.

Meaning

The meaning of the expression is not difficult to interpret: if a person gets into other people's affairs, he may regret it greatly. Moreover, in this case, interest in the life of stars does not count, because this is a kind of style modern life. Those who are not involved and are not involved in any scandals are trying hard to fan the fading flame of the attention of the masses. When creativity is in crisis, you need to somehow keep afloat. Let's not judge strictly Western and our television divas and icons.

Here the saying “curious Varvara’s nose was torn off at the market” does not work, a situation is needed when the peeping, eavesdropping got into an unpleasant situation, just because he was trying to get into someone else’s life.

The History of Marty McFly's Parents

Fans know that this episode is the key to the first part of the Back to the Future trilogy. Grandfather Marty knocks down his father, who somehow ended up in the middle of the road during the day, mom takes care of dad, obeying the effect of Florence Nightingale, falls in love with him, although he is nothing outstanding. Ah, if we loved only worthy people, what a life would come! However, we digress. So, when Marty traveled back in time, he found out that his father was spying on his mother. To be on the same level with the windows of the house, he had to climb a tree. On it, George McFly held on with difficulty, and as a result of an awkward movement, he slipped, and then the car of the future father-in-law arrived in time.

Whatever one may say, but the illustration to the stable expression "curious Varvara's nose was torn off at the market" is excellent. Yes, this once again speaks, of course, that the ways of the Lord are inscrutable: I got hit by a car, and in the end I won the jackpot - Lorraine is pleasant, beautiful girl who, if not for the accident, would never have become interested in George - the subject of bullying throughout the school at that time. But even with all the bonuses and benefits that fell to Marty's father, it's worth saying that he could have been shot down to death.

Curiosity and inquisitiveness

The words are similar, but very different in essence. Dictionary defines the first quality as "petty interest in all, even small details." It seems that even the dictionary is disgusted by the word, but, of course, this is not so. Curiosity also has a second meaning: "The desire to learn, to see something new, the manifestation of interest in something."

The noun inquisitiveness in the dictionary is defined by its association with the adjective "inquisitive". An authoritative source recorded the following interpretation: "Prone to acquiring new knowledge." Moreover, it is not difficult to catch a feature: a curious person (regardless of the first or second meaning) is looking for information for fun, he does not have a specific purpose for using it. And for the inquisitive, information is knowledge, that is, he knows exactly why he needs what he is interested in. True, this is not necessarily some kind of material goal, perhaps he is studying something for general development.

Romanticism and pragmatism

But the hero of the saying “a curious Varvara had her nose torn off at the market” can also be presented in a different light. We already have too many people who are only interested in what is necessary for the business, and the rest does not affect them, because it does not bring money, why waste time? Thus, curiosity changes the pole from negative to positive, and curiosity vice versa. Although, of course, such a message replaces concepts. Indeed, even if we imagine that a person studies philosophy, art or higher mathematics for his own pleasure, then this is still not curiosity, but curiosity, because such information inside still contains knowledge that changes a person, but greasy details from the life of stars are unlikely capable of adding personality. Of course, I would like to present a curious romantic, but in the end one vulgarity comes out. A romantic can only be inquisitive.

- Ba, let me knead pancakes, - Polinka, a girl of 4 years old, spun around at the feet of Nadezhda Semyonovna, - Ba, give me ...

Nadezhda Semyonovna slowly removed her great-granddaughter from the table. She carefully shook off the excess flour into the sink and turned to the little cook, who was still trying to reach her hands to the dough:

- These will not be pancakes, but shanezhki. This is first. And secondly, first put on something, otherwise you will be all in flour. Well, at least tie a towel around you.

“Bah, can I put on your apron?” Ba, can you teach me how to knead shanezhki? Bah, what are we going to eat with? Ba,….

Questions poured out of her like peas from a can. Here is the curious Barbara.

Nadezhda Semyonovna did not even try to answer. She knew that her great-granddaughter in this state still listens to her with only one ear. Polinka was really impressed by what was happening on the table.

- Bah, and shanezhki are like Easter cakes, right?

Nadezhda Semyonovna took a towel and wrapped it around the tiny body of her great-granddaughter.

- No, these are not cookies. This is different. This is such a pastry ... very homemade or something ...

And she turned back to the table.

Polinka felt that mentally they were again moving away from her, and immediately rushed to the chair and tried to drag it to the table. Then she scrambled up onto it and held out her hands to the dough.

- Come on, - Great-grandmother slapped the baby on the hands, - And you washed your hands. The dough requires purity, respect and slowness, and you are like a top.

Polinka pouted her lips at first, but where is there .... After all, there, on the table, there were shanezhki. And without her...

She jumped down from her chair, darted to the sink like lightning, rinsed her hands, and materialized again in her place.

The tiny hand reached for the dough again.

Nadezhda Semyonovna cut off a piece of dough with a knife and pushed it to her great-granddaughter.

- Bah, and the shanezhka because it is tender? Ba, do you know that I love your shorts? Ba, can you teach me?

- Well, tsits, do not crack. The dough does not like noise and fuss. You him so softly ...

She gently showed me how to knead the dough.

The phone rang at the wrong time. Nadezhda Semyonovna again dried her hands and picked up the phone:

- Yes, everything is fine ...

Polinka fussed more than usual:

“Bah, who is this?” Bah, tell 'em we're shanezhki. Bah, it's mom, right?

She jumped off her chair and, running up to her great-grandmother, grabbed her hand.

- Yes, you wait. Here is the curious Barbara .... She pushed her great-granddaughter away, trying to hold onto her towel, which was already somehow covered in flour.

Polinka turned away in disgust.

When the conversation was over, Nadezhda Semyonovna, embracing her great-granddaughter, said:

- Polinka, you can't do that. There are strangers there, and you are screaming. You can't be that curious. Curious Varvara's nose was torn off at the market, did you hear?

Polina's eyes widened and she, dumbfounded by this news, whispered?

- Why? Bah, why did they cut her nose off?

Nadezhda Semyonovna picked up her granddaughter and put her on a chair:

- And then. For her curiosity unhealthy. Understand?

So who is this Varvara, whose nose was torn off at the market?

There is such a story that in ancient times in Byzantium there was such a punishment for a caught thief - his nose was cut off.

In China, they cut off their hands, in Russia they flogged them with rods, and in Byzantium they cut their noses.

Cruel, of course, but very effective. Therefore, there were almost no thieves there. But there were a lot of visitors. And by commercial affairs, and travelers, and simply dashing people who were attracted by everything unknown and forbidden.

And such here are not their people, aliens, at that time they called barbarians. Hence the Barbara.

And if such strangers were caught stealing, they could immediately feel the full gravity of their act. No excuses about ignorance of the law worked. The thief was left without a nose.

- Bah, I'm not Varvara, I'm Polinka. Bah, who called? Ba, but Baba Tanya is coming, - Polinka could hardly stay in her chair, trying to do everything together: asking questions, licking jam from the shanezhka and looking out the window.

Nadezhda Semyonovna went into the kitchen with a book.

“Now I’ll tell you who this curious Barbara is.

She sat down heavily on a chair and opened the book.

Children's poet Andrei Usachev.

Came to the market
And stuck it in her nose:
In boots, in sour cream, in lard,
In honey, in mustard, in turpentine ...
- What did you buy? How sold?
— Where was the samovar stolen?
— How many steam in a samovar?
What is the hole in the guitar for?
- What was found on the sidewalk -
Three kopecks or five? ...
Threatened at the market
Tear off Varvara's nose.
- How?! Barbara jumped up. —
Are they tearing their noses?
I would gladly buy
A couple of things for beauty?
And why do you have a mustache?
They took it here, and Varvara's nose
Ripped off at the market.
— Ah! – Barbara with curiosity
He looks at his nose. —
And say, abroad
Are noses in good demand?
- Where did you get the nose with a “potato”?
- Today they wear "kalach"?
- And you get scratched by a cat
Or hit with a stump?
Where?.. When?.. Why?.. How much?..
The people ran from the market.
Everyone is shouting: “Calm down, Barbara!”
- Guard! the people shout. —

And without a nose - the nose is vain!

Having finished, Nadezhda Semyonovna took off her glasses and rubbed her tired eyes. Then she raised them to her suspiciously silent granddaughter.

Polinka sat, pushing her cup away from her. Her tiny hand covered her even tinier nose.

Nadezhda Semyonovna smiled... After all, the poet has talent.

I am always glad to see you on the pages of the site "I want to know everything"

You, of course, have heard the saying: "The curious Barbara's nose was torn off at the market." Do you think this is a hoax? But no! They tore off Varvara's nose. Only not in the market, but in another place. It happened on an island that lies in the middle big river. There were bad rumors about this island: as if from time to time the living dead, devils, witches and other evil spirits gather there at night.
No one saw them with their own eyes, and did not know what they were doing there, but many heard groans, squeals, screams and terrible laughter rushing from the island. And something was shining there. Many would like to know what is happening on the island, but they were afraid to poke their nose there. Even during the day, rare daredevils dared to swim up to the island, but they were afraid to go ashore - you never know. And no one could even think of going there at night.
Barbara, too, did not differ in courage. But her curiosity was over the edge. Oh, over the edge! And how could she not be curious, if her exorbitantly long and sharp nose crawled through any crack, squeezed into the smallest hole. Varvara knew everything about everyone: who, with whom, where and when. Yes, not only did she know, she spread it all over the village. And if only she told the truth. So no! Truth is a spoon, and fiction is a ladle. For this, Varvara was not loved, they called her a liar, but they listened willingly - she lied very well.
Varvara knew everything that happened in her native village and its environs. And only the island remained a mystery to her. And this riddle haunted her. It seemed to her that her life would be lived in vain if she did not see with her own eyes what was happening on the island at night, who was moaning and laughing there. Varvara was completely exhausted from curiosity, and ... one fine day she decided.
As soon as a fire was lit on the island and screams were heard, Varvara went ashore, got into a boat and set sail. Slowly she swam, looking back, with fear and trembling in her heart. Quietly she crept up to the island, went ashore and, stealthily, went into the light and the voices. Soon she saw a clearing illuminated by searchlights, in which something was happening. Varvara hid behind a wide tree trunk and began to watch.
In the middle of the clearing stood a pillar, and a girl of extraordinary beauty was tied to the pillar. The girl groaned and struggled, trying to break free from the bonds, but in vain. At the same time, on the edge of the clearing, not far from Varvara, a bipedal monster, huge, furry and clawed, was spinning and dancing. His bulging eyes were bloodshot and rotated alternately in one direction or the other. Varvara trembled with fear and pressed herself against a tree. Slowly rearranging huge knives, the monster moved towards the girl. The poor thing screamed wildly. Varvara couldn't help but scream too. The monster stopped, looked back in Varvara's direction, but seeing nothing, only let out a roar and let out a cloud of fetid smoke from its mouth. Varvara almost coughed from this stench.
The monster again moved towards the beauty, and its huge mouth grinned angrily. The girl continued to scream and fight, and the furry monster, growling and clattering its teeth, got closer and closer to her. It puffed the girl with fetid smoke and stretched out huge hands towards her. A little more and the monster will grab the poor thing. But then a young man ran out into the clearing.
- Anya!!! he shouted when he saw the girl.
- Vania!!! The beauty screamed back.
The monster turned to the uninvited guest and growled angrily.
- Run, Vanya, run! Leave me! the beauty pleaded. - He will kill you!
But Vanya drew his sword and boldly rushed at the monster. A struggle ensued between them, long, fierce, with wild cries and howls. Varvara bit her lips, scratched all her hands, rooting for Vanya. In the end, the young man defeated the monster and freed the beautiful girl. They embraced, and tears of joy flowed from Varvara's eyes.
Suddenly, both the girl and the young man, and the defeated monster disappeared in an instant, as if dissolved in the air. Only then Varvara noticed several people in black robes and black caps with tassels. They sat at the far end of the clearing from Varvara on tall stumps. Each had an inscription on his chest: JURY. The men in black were throwing cones into a bowl on the table in front of them. One of the JURY counted the cones in the bowl and announced loudly:
- Author number eleven gets sixty-eight bumps!
And after a pause:
- Author number twelve is invited to the clearing.
A pretty woman came into the world and started her fairy tale:
- There was a king. And he had a daughter.
Immediately a king appeared in the clearing in luxurious robes with a crown on his head and young princess. And the action took off. At the end of the fairy tale, the JURY threw cones into the bowl again, and after the announcement of the result, the next author came out.
Even before Varvara noticed the banner with the inscription: "FAIRY TALE COMPETITION", she guessed what was happening here. I figured it out and stopped being afraid. On the fifth or sixth tale, in order to better see the action, she came out from behind a tree and stood at the very edge of the clearing. But in vain! The hero of the fairy tale, a brave fellow, came to get even with Baba Yaga. Seeing the long-nosed Varvara, he mistook her for Baba Yaga, ran up to her, grabbed her by the nose, tore it off and threw it far, far away, right into the river - only poor Varvara heard a splash of water. Her nose went to the bottom of the river. Barbara screamed wildly:
- What have you done, damned!
And well done in response in a whisper:
- You are not acting according to the plot, Baba Yaga.
- What a Baba Yaga I am to you! Barbara got angry.
And then the young man heard wild laughter. He turned around and saw another Baba Yaga. The good fellow was confused, he does not know what to do next.
- It's a setup! the author shouted. - I don't have two Baba Yags!
The JURIES jumped off their stumps, approached the laughing Baba Yaga, and asked:
- Who are you?
- I am Baba Yaga.
- And who are you? Barbara was asked.
- I'm Barbara.
- Where did you come from?
- I live in the village, I came here by boat to see what you are doing here.
We have an audience! – the JURY was delighted.
- So why are you mocking the audience, Herods! yelled Barbara.
She took her hand away from her face, and everyone saw two holes where her nose had been. The weak half of the JURY collapsed into a swoon, and one of the remaining, the smartest, shouted:
- The authors!! Which of you has a doctor in a fairy tale?
- I have! someone replied.
- Start your own fairy tale quickly. Yes, right from the place where the doctor appears.
Instantly, out of thin air, a doctor appeared in the clearing with a medical case in his hand. Sobbing Varvara was pushed towards him.
“And so the doctor gave the woman a new nose, more beautiful than the previous one,” the author proclaimed, correcting the plot on the go.
The doctor took out tools, jars, flasks from his bag and began to conjure over Varvara. When he finished, he handed her a mirror. From the mirror, a beauty with a small, graceful nose looked at Varvara.
- Ah! - she just said.
For this tale, the author received the maximum number of cones.
Varvara returned from the island a completely different person. Nobody recognized her. And not only because Plastic surgery made her a beauty - Varvara herself changed. She no longer sticks her nose into other people's affairs and does not spread gossip about her neighbors around the village. She has no time to do this. She now has another hobby, much more interesting - Varvara composes fairy tales. That's a job, that's a job! There is where to turn around and amuse yourself with fables. Take at least a person, at least an animal, at least an inanimate object and send them where fantasy leads. Now no one calls Barbara a liar. On the contrary, Barbara in the village - Respected man, a storyteller, and both children and adults listen to her tales. When the light comes on on the island, the whole village gets into the boats and sails to the competition of fairy tales: to see others and cheer for their Varvara.

When we were children peeping at various interesting things, but not intended for the eyes of a child, our parents would catch us with the words: “The nose of the curious Varvara was torn off at the market.” And we understood what that meant, intuitively or consciously. In our article, we will deal with the meaning of this saying, and with whether it is good or bad to be curious.

Meaning

Imagine, a certain woman walks around the market, looks there, looks here, but she still has no money. And in one of the flea markets, she lost a very important part of her body for a person. Here is such an unpleasant story for her: the curious Varvara had her nose torn off at the market.

The proverb condemns excessive, senseless curiosity.

Curiosity and Curiosity

In serious psychology textbooks, you won't find a distinction between inquisitiveness and curiosity, but it's very interesting nonetheless.

Curiosity is the thirst for information that a person satisfies without any benefit to himself. For example, all people (both men and women, the former even more than the latter) love gossip. This is an example of pure, unadulterated curiosity, because how to use the information that Paris Hilton has a new lover, or that Ronaldinho's boots are made using solid gold, is completely unclear. Someone will ask: “Why do you need to know? And in general: the curious Varvara's nose was torn off in the bazaar. In some ways, Mr. Anonymous is right, but in some ways he is not. We move on.

Another thing is the cases of Freud, Jung or books on science and philosophy. We will not be very modest and say that this article is also intended for the curious. It is still useful to know the language you speak or read. An inquisitive person does not seek information for its own sake, he has a purpose. And the saying “curious Varvara’s nose was torn off at the market” defames those who do not have such a goal.

True, in this sense, like almost everything in the world, knowledge is relative. Information about Paris Hilton's lover can be useful to a scandalous journalist who writes a fresh article on a hot topic. Ronaldinho boots, or rather information about them, can serve a sports commentator or journalist who seeks to entertain the reader or listener.

Even the most senseless, it would seem, thing - gossip, can be an object of both curiosity and curiosity. For example, you hear at work that one man is dating some woman. At first you think it's just curiosity, but then it turns out that you can use this information to move up the career ladder. Of course, this example teaches bad things, but here we are arguing beyond moral categories. It is important for us to understand the difference between curiosity and inquisitiveness. We think everything is clear in this matter.

Gossip

Duty commands, after the immoral previous section, to say that it is very bad and low to use gossip against your colleagues or subordinates. Try not to turn to "black" technologies, even for the sake of a career. In general, you need to ignore various rumors, otherwise you can lose your nose, like the heroine of the proverb in question (“the curious Barbara’s nose was torn off at the market”).

Curious Varvara's nose was torn off at the market - you should not be interested in other people's affairs; excessive curiosity is a disadvantage; importunity in trying to learn other people's secrets; intrusive questions are immodest. The origin of the expression is unknown. The story circulating on the Internet about Byzantium, barbaric curiosity and punishment for it is, in my opinion, a beautiful fairy tale: the authorities of not only Byzantium, but China, Russia, Spain “dabbled” with the truncation of the nose of criminals, and even for simple curiosity - the punishment is too cruel.

Foreign analogues of the phraseologism "A curious Barbara's nose was torn off in the market"

• England: "curiosity killed the cat" - curiosity killed the cat
• Spain: por la boca muere el pez - the mouth killed the fish;
  la curiosidad mató al gato - curiosity killed the cat
• France: la curiosité est un vilain défaut - curiosity is a bad trait
• Italy: tanto va la gatta al lardo - just like a cat goes for bacon

Proverb synonyms

• You will know a lot - you will grow old soon
• Don't poke your nose into other people's business
• What they don't say, don't ask
• There is a fight in the hut - the people at the gate
• The less you know the better you sleep
• Curiosity is not a vice, but a big disgust
• Do not poke your nose into someone else's millet
• As you grow up with your mother, you will know everything
• Know-it-alls are taken to court, and Dunno is at home, sitting
• Curiosity Less, Do More

"Curious Barabara"

"Curious Barabara
Came to the market
And stuck it in her nose:
In boots, in sour cream, in lard,
In honey, in mustard, in turpentine ...
- What did you buy? How sold?
- Where was the samovar stolen?
- How many steam in a samovar?
What is the hole in the guitar for?
- What was found on the sidewalk -
Three pennies or five...
Threatened at the market
Tear off Varvara's nose.
- How! Barbara jumped up. -
Are they tearing their noses?
I would gladly buy
A couple of things for beauty?
And why do you have a mustache?
Taken here
And the nose of Barbara
torn off
At the farmer's market.
- Ah! - Barbara with curiosity
He looks at his nose. -
And say, abroad
Are noses in good demand?
- Where did you get the nose with a "potato"?
- Today they wear "kalach"?
- And you get scratched by a cat
Or hit with a stump?
Where... When... Why... How much...
The people ran from the market.
Everyone shouts: - Calm down, Barbara!
- Guard! the people shout. -
Curious Barabara
And without a nose - the nose pops!
(Andrey Usachev)

Andrey Usachev (1958)

Children's writer, poet, playwright, screenwriter, radio host, composer and singer. Author of twenty-eight collections of poems, fairy tales and fantasy stories for children, scripts for twelve films. his books have been published in millions of copies, translated into many foreign languages. Winner of several awards in the field of children's literature: "There are various writers. There are writers who spy on reality: how onions grow, how cats run. And there are writers who have everything out of their heads. I am from the latter, I don’t need anything but a computer, I have enough life impressions, I would have time to write it down”