I couldn't talk to the large upright beings, but I could talk to Murka quite easily, so my view of the world outside had to come from her:
We lived v kvartirye (in a house) located v domye (in a building) v gorodye (in a city). Kvartira had mnogo (many) komnat (rooms). In each komnata lived sjemja (a family). Murka tried to get into each of them, because she was naturally very curious, which almost got her killed many times. Some komnati were guarded very diligently and she spent hours stalking these doors, because the best guarded komnati had the coolest stuff. For example, after she finally made it into one of them, she discovered a cage s (with) ptizami (birds). Murka opened the cage door and ate ptiz, except one, to play with later in private. She had no difficulty in escaping when someone opened the door to go inside. Ever since then she had to be very careful to stay away from the members toy sjemji (that family), because they would hit her whenever they saw her.
"Chto takoje ptizi?" I asked.
"They are tasty little morsels that can lyetatj," explained Murka.
"Chto takoje lyetatj?
"They can move through the air flapping their appendages."
"Ya hochu lyetatj!"
Murka examined my arms sceptically, "No, not with these. Theirs are wide, when they flop them, they are as big as their whole bodies."
"Skolko sjemjei (how many families) zdesj (here) zhivut (live)?"
"About six, I think. But I never could get into tri (three) komnati, so I don't know if there are more."
According to Murka, kvartira also had one vannaya komnata (a room with a bathtub) and two tiny rooms s tualjetami (with toilets). Murka loved sneaking into those, because sometimes brown water rats would poke their faces iz tualjetov (from toilets). Murka wouldn't try to catch them in their environment, because they were very large and strong, but sticking iz tualjeta they were a fair game. If she was fast enough, Murka could sink her fangs into their heads and yank them out like rutabagas.
Then there was kuhnja where ljudi (the large upright beings) cooked food. Kvartira had dva (two) vhoda - the main entrance, which all the guests used, and the secondary emergency exit from the kitchen. Murka never used the main entrance - it was a wide stairway that led down to the busy street. The second exit was a very narrow lestniza (stairs) that led vverh na cherdak (up to the attic) i vniz na dvor (and down to the courtyard).
Cherdak was the most wonderful place in the world: It was huge and dark, there were wood beams which one could scratch as much as one's heart desired, there were dumb golubi (fat city ptizi that were lazy and easy to catch), and other koti and koshki to visit with. Lyudi used cherdak to hang the sheets to dry, but it was more like a jungle. One had to watch out for the brown rats and bad lyudei which hid there sometimes from other lyudei.
Murka didn't go na ulizu (out into the street). Everything she needed was v kvartirye, na cherdakje, i vo dvorje. There was a fish store on the ground floor, which provided an ample supply of fish heads and tails. There was also kabak (a bar) which threw away lots of scraps from its kuhnya.
"I wish I could go with you!" I told Murka enviously.
"You will be able to walk in a while, but you won't go with me when you do," said Murka in a sad tone.
"I would too!"
"Vzroslije won't let you. They don't let djetyam do anything."
"Chto takoye djeti?"
"Djeti - children - they grow into vzroslih - into grown ups. Vzroslije don't let djetyam to go anywhere alone, they go with them to protect them. The world is a dangerous place - opasnoje mjesto."
"Pochemu?"
"That's just the way of the world; it was always that way and will always remain so..."
_____________________________
Vocabulary:
odin - one
dva - two
tri - three
na - on, on top of, to
v - in
c - from, from top of
i - and
iz - from, out of, from behind of
pod - under
nad - over
vniz - down, downwards, move down
vverh - up, upwards, move up
Ya hochu - I want
Chto eto? Chto takoje? - what is it?
pochemu? - why?
djeti - children
pochemu? - why?
mjesto - place
opasno - dangerous
opasnostj - a danger
opasniy (masculine), opasnaya (fem.), opasnoye (neuter)
(There are 3 genders in Russian: feminine, masculine and neuter. The adjective and verb endings have to change according to genders.)
vhod - entrance
vihod - exit
vzroslije - grown ups
We lived v kvartirye (in a house) located v domye (in a building) v gorodye (in a city). Kvartira had mnogo (many) komnat (rooms). In each komnata lived sjemja (a family). Murka tried to get into each of them, because she was naturally very curious, which almost got her killed many times. Some komnati were guarded very diligently and she spent hours stalking these doors, because the best guarded komnati had the coolest stuff. For example, after she finally made it into one of them, she discovered a cage s (with) ptizami (birds). Murka opened the cage door and ate ptiz, except one, to play with later in private. She had no difficulty in escaping when someone opened the door to go inside. Ever since then she had to be very careful to stay away from the members toy sjemji (that family), because they would hit her whenever they saw her.
"Chto takoje ptizi?" I asked.
"They are tasty little morsels that can lyetatj," explained Murka.
"Chto takoje lyetatj?
"They can move through the air flapping their appendages."
"Ya hochu lyetatj!"
Murka examined my arms sceptically, "No, not with these. Theirs are wide, when they flop them, they are as big as their whole bodies."
"Skolko sjemjei (how many families) zdesj (here) zhivut (live)?"
"About six, I think. But I never could get into tri (three) komnati, so I don't know if there are more."
According to Murka, kvartira also had one vannaya komnata (a room with a bathtub) and two tiny rooms s tualjetami (with toilets). Murka loved sneaking into those, because sometimes brown water rats would poke their faces iz tualjetov (from toilets). Murka wouldn't try to catch them in their environment, because they were very large and strong, but sticking iz tualjeta they were a fair game. If she was fast enough, Murka could sink her fangs into their heads and yank them out like rutabagas.
Then there was kuhnja where ljudi (the large upright beings) cooked food. Kvartira had dva (two) vhoda - the main entrance, which all the guests used, and the secondary emergency exit from the kitchen. Murka never used the main entrance - it was a wide stairway that led down to the busy street. The second exit was a very narrow lestniza (stairs) that led vverh na cherdak (up to the attic) i vniz na dvor (and down to the courtyard).
Cherdak was the most wonderful place in the world: It was huge and dark, there were wood beams which one could scratch as much as one's heart desired, there were dumb golubi (fat city ptizi that were lazy and easy to catch), and other koti and koshki to visit with. Lyudi used cherdak to hang the sheets to dry, but it was more like a jungle. One had to watch out for the brown rats and bad lyudei which hid there sometimes from other lyudei.
Murka didn't go na ulizu (out into the street). Everything she needed was v kvartirye, na cherdakje, i vo dvorje. There was a fish store on the ground floor, which provided an ample supply of fish heads and tails. There was also kabak (a bar) which threw away lots of scraps from its kuhnya.
"I wish I could go with you!" I told Murka enviously.
"You will be able to walk in a while, but you won't go with me when you do," said Murka in a sad tone.
"I would too!"
"Vzroslije won't let you. They don't let djetyam do anything."
"Chto takoye djeti?"
"Djeti - children - they grow into vzroslih - into grown ups. Vzroslije don't let djetyam to go anywhere alone, they go with them to protect them. The world is a dangerous place - opasnoje mjesto."
"Pochemu?"
"That's just the way of the world; it was always that way and will always remain so..."
_____________________________
Vocabulary:
odin - one
dva - two
tri - three
na - on, on top of, to
v - in
c - from, from top of
i - and
iz - from, out of, from behind of
pod - under
nad - over
vniz - down, downwards, move down
vverh - up, upwards, move up
Ya hochu - I want
Chto eto? Chto takoje? - what is it?
pochemu? - why?
djeti - children
pochemu? - why?
mjesto - place
opasno - dangerous
opasnostj - a danger
opasniy (masculine), opasnaya (fem.), opasnoye (neuter)
(There are 3 genders in Russian: feminine, masculine and neuter. The adjective and verb endings have to change according to genders.)
vhod - entrance
vihod - exit
vzroslije - grown ups
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