The General Zima factor

As I write these lines, Moscow is being assaulted by a brutal cold spell surrounding the date of Orthodox Epiphany (Krescheniye), a time of traditionally cold weather long known as Крещенские морозы (Epiphany frosts). This prompted a local humorist to rephrase Pushkin’s famous winter line: И рады мы проказам матушки зимы  (“We are pleased with Mother Winter’s mischief.”) by adding a “ль” between рады and мы, changing the meaning to “Are we really pleased...?”

January’s freeze would seem to indicate that global warming is far from imminent. Weather forecasters promised that the mercury would dip to -37o Celsius – apparently a low not hit since 1940. At such times, we writers cannot help but consider the role of winter in Russian history and culture.

Winter weather lasts a good six months here – from mid-October through early April. So perhaps it is not surprising that many Russians adore this season, tenderly calling winter (a feminine noun in Russian) зима-красна (winter the pretty), or Зимушка-зима (little winter).

For the Germans and French, however, winter in Russia probably has less positive connotations. They came up with their own militaristic appellation of winter – генерал Зима – who, as they claim, “fought” alongside Kutuzov against Napoleon, and beside Zhukov against Hitler. Certainly many give General Winter more than his due in these wars (at the expense of human factors), but it is unquestioned that he had a role in leading many thousands of German and French soldiers to their eternal зимовье  (winter quarters) on the fields surrounding Moscow in 1941 and 1812.

Truth be told, not all Russians are huge fans of bitter cold. As the saying goes, русская кость тепло любит (the Russian bone likes warmth). But, then again, being winter-hardy (зимостойкий) is largely a matter of preparation: лето пролежишь, зимой с сумой побежишь (if you lay idle in summer, you will go crazy in winter). For what Russian does not know, deep in their warmth-loving bones, the axiomatic proverb, готовь сани летом, а телегу – зимой (prepare your sled in summer and your cart in winter)?

Not surprisingly, then, winter is associated with more than simply poetic “sun and frost” – мороз и солнце, which make for a marvelous day – “день чудесный” (a la Pushkin: “Мороз и солнце, день чудесный”). Unlike fall (осень), that exuberant season when, as a favorite proverb has it, “even a sparrow can afford some beer” (в осень и у воробья пиво), winter is a time of tribulation, of rationing the fruits of summer’s labor, that they may last until spring: лето припаси-ка, а зима прибери-ка (winter consumes what summer has stored up).

Thus, the verb перезимовать (literally, “to winter over”) is not always used in its direct sense. When you hear a Russian say: “Ничего, как-нибудь перезимуем” (literally: “It’s all right, we’ll live through the winter”), it simply means – “Oh, it’s OK, we’ll make it through somehow.” This “как-нибудь” and “перезимуем” are so deeply Russian, they are surely two keys to the much-vaunted mystery of the Russian soul.

Another important idiom based on the verb зимовать builds around the phrase, где раки зимуют (“where the crayfish spend their winters”). Someone who is clever is someone who knows where to find crayfish in winter – знает, где раки зимуют. And, if you want to “show someone a thing or two,” you can показать, где раки зимуют, e.g.: “Сейчас я ему покажу, где раки зимуют” (“Now, you wait, I’ll show him a thing or two.”) If you are on the receiving end of difficulties or punishment, you will узнать где раки зимуют.

As to the eternal debate between generations of Russians over when зима was настоящая (real) – now or in the mid-20th century, the lexicographer Vladimir Dal captured all that needed saying back in the 19th century. As a proverb recorded in his dictionary so eloquently puts it: не по образцам зима и лето бывает, по воле божьей (Winter and summer are not made according to patterns, but according to God’s will).