"Martyshkin work": origin, meaning and synonym

A meaningless and useless work has many other names in Russian. One of the most common is Martyshkin's work. We will devote this expression to our today's article.

Source - fable IA. Krylov's "The Monkey"

The work of our illustrious fabulist is a storehouse of winged expressions. Many phraseological units came out from under his pen and enriched the Russian language with his diligence. "Martyshkin work" (his meaning will be clear after the presentation of the plot of the fable) - is no exception. This is one of the brightest examples of how successful literary processing of a long-known story leads to the popularization of the plot.

Monkeys are wonderful creatures, but in the minds of peoples who are accustomed to living side by side with these tailed daggers, their image is associated with all the mean and low that is in human nature, for example, by arrogance, insolence, meanness and ridicule. Krylov exploits this myth in his fable.

Chump or plow

The peasant stood up to the first cocks and began to work. He plowed the field, with all the passion of his soul devoting himself to this difficult matter, and he was not tired of fatigue. The sun was rising higher and the first travelers appeared on the road. Whoever went by the plowman, everyone was surprised at his persistence. And everyone tried to encourage him with a kind word and praise, at least a little to ease his work. He did not answer and continued to work hard. In the branches of the green tree that stood on the edge of the field, it turned out to be a monkey, and the people complimented her with compliments. She also wanted a little glory and recognition. She thought that it was all about the complexity of the assignment, and if she would do anything with the same zeal, she would get what she wanted. Therefore, she found somewhere a heavy block and began to drag it from place to place, not at all embarrassed by the emptiness of this occupation. Meanwhile, the peasant continued to laboriously work on the plow land, and the praises of passers-by poured on him.

No one paid any attention to the monkey. Although the work of the two creatures is heavy, and the external signs are the same - fatigue and sweat hail - between them there is a huge difference, which is noticed by all who can compare them. A man works for good, his efforts feed the family, and the little animal is busy with the senseless dragging of a heavy piece of wood from place to place. Therefore, the meaning of the expression "Martyshkin labor" embodies the ultimate degree of unnecessary work for anyone, which does not benefit even the person himself, causing only negative reactions among the people around him.

Morality

The fable does not teach so much in the spirit of the nineteenth century (the work was printed in 1811), but rather in the spirit of the recent Soviet past, when not a person, but society was the yardstick of everything. I.A. Krylov instructs the reader: do not claim glory and praise, if the work is not useful. It was such a complicated phraseology "Martyshkin labor", which is very closely related to the work of the Russian classic.

Phraseological synonym - the myth of Sisyphus

The ancient Greeks had their own symbol of meaningless labor. The embodiment of groundlessness is Sisyphus - the divine descendant. He had one misfortune: he was cunning as a beast, and he wanted more than anything to lead immortal Olympians. Therefore, first he turned around the finger of the god of death - Tanata, and then the lord of the underworld - Aida.

And with the gods, as you know, jokes are bad. Sisyphus fully paid for his deception. Now he always rolls a huge stone to a high mountain: he pushes it up, sweating later, but every time he does not have enough just enough to finish work, and the boulder again rolls down. For Sisyphus this work is endless, pointless and groundless. Monkey, in contrast to the ancient Greek hero, at least not condemned to eternal torment.

Senseless work as a way to enlightenment or unraveling one's own life

Sometimes it's best not to ask any questions, just do something - and that's it. For example, in the famous film "Route 60" the main character wanted to get answers to all the questions. The genie played by Gary Oldman responded to his request and gave a knowingly useless work with some secret meaning. Only passing the path, the main character Neil Oliver realized that the task assigned to him has nothing to do with the phraseology "Martyshkin labor."

Buddhists and Pythagoreans experienced applicants wishing to get into their ranks, a work that obviously does not make any sense. By the rules, it should have lasted about 5 years. Who stood, he stayed.

Not only entire schools, but also individual sages harassed their students with what at first glance strongly contradicts common sense. Then the neophyte understood the profound wisdom of the mentor and, figuratively speaking, turned to his faith.

A person sometimes needs to rest from the meaning

The subtitle seems very strange, because everything should have a purpose. In fact, if a person is an adult and works, there is too much rational, justified, necessary and appropriate in his life. Therefore, during leisure, our contemporary wants to indulge in something meaningless, but pleasant. What for? Immersion in a non-serious and meaningless activity has a huge therapeutic effect, it helps a person to endure excessive intelligence of the rest of his life.

Hobbies are a haven from the obsession of the outside world. In it, a person hides and finds the illusion of harmony and peace, calms down. Each person draws strength in something: one reads books, the other collects models of steamers, the third chases after rare brands. From the point of view of an outside observer, a hobby can be absolutely meaningless, but for someone who is immersed in it, it is a saving island from the figures, tasks and goals that have absorbed the "adult world". In other words, a hobby is not pampering and not at all a martini's work, but a way of understanding one's own essence.