Day 133: A City Built on a Swamp
On the walls of the Peter and Paul Fortress, three friends, a Petersburger, a Muscovite and a man from Kazan, look out over the city.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title.
- Read the dialogue and its translation. The audio for this lesson is coming soon.
- Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native Russian audio, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.
Dialogue
Audio for this lesson is coming soon. For now, read the dialogue and its translation.
Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day
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A
Вот отсюда всё и началось. «Здесь будет город заложён назло надменному соседу», как у Пушкина.
This is where it all began. "Here a city shall be founded to spite our haughty neighbour," as Pushkin put it.
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B
Назло соседу, ага. Строить столицу на болоте, где полгода сыро, а полгода темно, мог придумать только очень упрямый царь.
To spite the neighbour, sure. Only a very stubborn tsar could have thought of building a capital on a swamp where it's damp half the year and dark the other half.
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A
Зато какой вышел город! Вы в Москве веками строили как попало, а у нас улицы как по линейке.
But look what a city it turned out to be! You in Moscow built any old way for centuries, and our streets are laid out as if with a ruler.
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B
По линейке и на костях. Ты в курсе, сколько народу погибло, пока эти болота осушали?
With a ruler, and on bones. Do you know how many people died while they were draining these swamps?
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C
Мужики, пока вы выясняете, чья столица лучше, у меня вопрос: зачем Петру понадобилось именно это место?
Guys, while you're arguing about whose capital is better, I've got a question: why did Peter need this particular spot?
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A
Выход к морю, Руслан: торговля с Европой, флот, шведы рядом. А Москва, при всём уважении, от моря далековато.
Access to the sea, Ruslan: trade with Europe, the navy, the Swedes close by. And Moscow, with all due respect, is rather far from the sea.
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B
Впрочем, столицей Петербург пробыл всего двести лет, а потом всё вернулось на круги своя.
Mind you, Petersburg was only the capital for two hundred years, and then everything went back to the way it was.
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C
А Казань, между прочим, старше вас обоих, так что спор ваш, ребята, по-моему, юношеский.
And Kazan, by the way, is older than both of you, so this argument of yours, guys, strikes me as rather juvenile.
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A
Вот так всегда: спорят две столицы, а побеждает Казань. Пошли на бастион, скоро полуденный выстрел, такого у вас нет.
It's always the same: two capitals argue, and Kazan wins. Let's go to the bastion, the noon gun's about to fire, you haven't got that back home.
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