As instanced in these posts more than once, Y-H-B is prone to engage in silent autocommentary by repeating material from his fund of Russian lore. Today, under particularly onerous mental circumstances on a cold day in Vermont, the following two sayings/proverbs came to mind:
Не мытьем, так катаньем ‘By hook or by crook.’
Попытка не пытка, спрос не беда. ‘It can’t hurt to try.’
This paroemiac material was then mentally garnished with the following poem in prose by the great Russian writer, Ivan Turgenev:
Иван Тургенев (1818-1883)
Стихотворения в прозе: Русский язык
Во дни сомнений, во дни тягостных раздумий о судьбах моей родины, — ты один мне поддержка и опора, о великий, могучий, правдивый и свободный русский язык! Не будь тебя — как не впасть в отчаяние при виде всего, что совершается дома? Но нельзя верить, чтобы такой язык не был дан великому народу!
Июнь, 1882
[Translation: THE RUSSIAN TONGUE [Constance Garnett]
In days of doubt, in days of dreary musings on my country’s fate, thou alone art my stay and support, mighty, true, free Russian speech! But for thee, how not fall into despair, seeing all that is done at home? But who can think that such a tongue is not the gift of a great people!
June 1882.]
One’s thoughts do not necessarily have to be original to embody emotional force, especially in sad moments. Vox Populi, Vox Dei.
MICHAEL SHAPIRO
paroemiac: now that’s a new one for me. I didn’t see it in your glossary. I’ve read in some places that it’s archaic, in others, barely employed in our time. But as for its definition, this is all I could find and it doesn’t seem to quite apply to what you wrote. Please explicate.
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/paroemiac
It’s a rare word (according to the OED) which has the meaning “pertaining to proverbs or sayings”