GeneD
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2017
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- Russian
- Home Country
- Belarus
- Current Location
- Belarus
There is a pretty funny sort of behaviour that, in my opinion, was very well conveyed by I.A. Krylov's fable "Elephant and Pug". I'll post here the only English translation I could find. I'm not sure it's not an amateur's or non-native speaker's translation though. But here it is:
Along the streets Big Elephant was led,
To show him off, most likely.
Since Elephants are not a common thing to see
A crowd of gapers followed on his heels.
All of a sudden Pug springs up in front of them.
And seeing Elephant, it raises a great rumpus,
It lunges, barks and howls
And does its best to pick a quarrel.
"Hey neighbor, stop the fuss,"
A mutt intones, "You? Deal with Elephant?
Look at you barking yourself hoarse, and he just strolls
Nonplussed
And doesn't care one bit about your noise."
"Ho ho!" Pug says,"That's just what I enjoy,
Since I can be a real tough guy
Without a single blow or bruise.
That way, the other dogs will say:
"To bark at Elephant this Pug
Must be a real strong mug!"
Are there any funny expressions which could describe a person behaving like a pug in the fable? In Russian, we would most often say that "He/she is Pug" or "He/she is Moska", being 100% sure that the addressee understands that it's the dog from the fable. [In the original Russian text the proper name "Моська" (Moska) is used.] Maybe in English you would also use some fictional character? Or maybe there is some well-known joke? Or just the right word?
Along the streets Big Elephant was led,
To show him off, most likely.
Since Elephants are not a common thing to see
A crowd of gapers followed on his heels.
All of a sudden Pug springs up in front of them.
And seeing Elephant, it raises a great rumpus,
It lunges, barks and howls
And does its best to pick a quarrel.
"Hey neighbor, stop the fuss,"
A mutt intones, "You? Deal with Elephant?
Look at you barking yourself hoarse, and he just strolls
Nonplussed
And doesn't care one bit about your noise."
"Ho ho!" Pug says,"That's just what I enjoy,
Since I can be a real tough guy
Without a single blow or bruise.
That way, the other dogs will say:
"To bark at Elephant this Pug
Must be a real strong mug!"
Are there any funny expressions which could describe a person behaving like a pug in the fable? In Russian, we would most often say that "He/she is Pug" or "He/she is Moska", being 100% sure that the addressee understands that it's the dog from the fable. [In the original Russian text the proper name "Моська" (Moska) is used.] Maybe in English you would also use some fictional character? Or maybe there is some well-known joke? Or just the right word?
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