What does the saying "In the quiet waters of the devil are found"

To become "winged", the phrase should be thoroughly adopted in the people's mouths. And this happens only when it convincingly and accurately reflects some phenomenon or event. So there was a saying "In the quiet waters of the devil are found."

The meaning of the saying

The idea of the statement is that not everything that seems peaceful and calm is actually so. Somewhere deep and invisibly dark tempers can boil and vague hazards, ominous plans. Most often this saying applies to a person. Until then, he is quiet and humble, educated and secretive. But there comes a time when the "quiet" suddenly makes unexpected and bad deeds. The saying "In the quiet waters of the devil are found" is designed, therefore, to warn about possible unpleasant surprises that a man can impart with impeccable external behavior.

The hidden power of the whirlpool

The popular wisdom that took shape in the Russian saying originated in the primordially Russian environment and reflects local realities. Firstly, the whirlpool - that is, a deep pit, hiding at the bottom of the reservoir, is found in rivers and lakes, but not in seas and oceans. The whirlpool is most often formed as a result of a maelstrom, born of a counter current. The sinister power of the whirlpool is determined by its apparent tranquility. Secondly, in the pool of devils are found, according to widespread Russian legends about evil spirits. If we look at the associative series caused by the word whirlpool, we will see a gloomy and mysterious picture. It is a cliff, fear, rush, water, snag, darkness, cold, abyss, danger, death. According to legend, in the pools there are otherworldly creatures of the male sex who take wives of drowned women or witches. Fucking families, as the legends say, can get out of the whirlpool at night and replace human babies with their devils.

Why in the quiet pool the devils live

The belief that the devils live in the water may be related to the biblical story of how Jesus, when casting out demons from people, ordered the evil to enter the pork herd, which then threw itself into the water. There are sources claiming that deep waters as a habitat of evil forces were known even in pagan, pre-Christian times. However, today researchers of anomalous phenomena will also tell a lot of stories that some modern lakes and ponds are "famous" for having seen devils there. And this happens, they say, because there may be entrances to the parallel worlds at the bottom of the reservoir.

Foreign equivalents

Other peoples also have sayings similar to the meaning of the phrase "in the quiet waters of the devil are found." They also express a warning that humility and apparent complacency may be deceptive. In Greece, for example, they say: "Be careful of a quiet river, not a stormy one." The British express this idea thus: "Quiet waters are deep". Franz They caution: "No worse than the water that sleeps." In Spain, it is customary to speak of an imaginary peace: "Silent water is dangerous." The Italians say: "Quiet water destroys bridges", and the Poles believe that "Peaceful water is washing away the shores". In Slavs, the cunning of calm waters is closely connected with the evil spirits inhabiting there. The Ukrainian and Byelorussian proverbs, like the Russian one, assert: "In the quiet swamp the devils breed."

Literary life of the saying

Proverbs and sayings are used by writers to express their characters and the whole work. This fate did not bypass the proverb "In the still waters, the devils are found." It was mentioned by AN Ostrovsky in the play "The Heart Is Not a Stone", IS Turgenev addressed to the heroine of the novel "Fathers and Sons", FM Dostoyevsky in the story "The Double", VF Tendryakov in the essay " Heavy character ", PL Proskurin in the trilogy" Fate ". The proverb adorned the pages of the novel "Mountains and People" by Yu. N. Libedinsky. She was creatively reinterpreted in the story "The Chair" by I. Grekova, in the novel "Tsar-fish" by V. P. Astafyev, in the novel by L. Gorbatov "Donbass".