Today, in the area of special attention, the expression “the mountain gave birth to a mouse”, we consider its history, meaning and interpretation.
Origin
Phraseologism is very old, and so much so that it is impossible to find traces of it. One thing is clear: the ancient Greeks used it. He is known thanks to Aesop’s work “Pregnant Mountain”. But the fabulist only immortalized the Greek proverb, which, apparently, by that time was already well known.
But initially the story of the origin of the phraseology “the mountain gave birth to a mouse” is like that. There was a king in Sparta, his name was Agesilaus, the great commander. The ruler was literally world famous. Therefore, it is not surprising that when the Egyptians had difficulties, they urged the great commander to come to their aid. The king came, and his army was huge and majestic. The Egyptians were impressed, but when the king himself stepped forward, one of the observers said: “Mountain gave birth to a mouse!”
The thing is that Agesilaus was already, to put it mildly, aged, his physical form was not staggering, and besides, he did not like the external effect of luxury, so he was poorly dressed. This story was told by Plutarch. It is clear that Aesop is older than Plutarch, but Sparta as a historical phenomenon is much older than Aesop.
Value
When the story is known, it is easy and pleasant to talk about the meaning. The object of study has two meanings:
- So they say about people who talk a lot, but do little or nothing. Actually, this is the moral of Aesop's fable.
- And so they say about deceived expectations. Let us recall the story of Agesilaus: the Egyptians thought to see the thunderer Zeus in human guise or, at worst, Hercules, and a pensioner in not the best shape appeared to them.
Well, almost quoting our illustrious football player Andrei Arshavin, let's say: their expectations are their problems. It is imperative that the tsar justify the basic hopes of the people and support the power in the military sense, and what it looks like is the tenth thing.
Inconsistency of reality with expectations in science
Of course, examples are needed. Imagine that a person for a long time and tediously tells everyone what kind of scientific work he will have, how it will shock the scientific community, in short, the point is that after the publication of a dissertation or a book, the researcher will gain world fame. But, when the defense was over, it turns out that the scientist defended his right to the degree somehow and barely overcame the barrier. Many who have heard this story will remember the expression “the mountain gave birth to a mouse” and will be right.
The phenomenon of “pregnant and giving birth to the mountain” is impossible without the public
And although we said a little higher that the expression has two meanings, they are still internally related to each other. Because someone needs to speak, and certain expectations also arise on the basis of either what has been said or done. That is, a person who plays the role of a source of excitement of people, himself stirs up this hype.
If our scientist from the example above did not say anything to anyone about his dissertation, but simply quietly and peacefully defended himself, then no one would say a word to him. As we recall, it was precisely the noise in Aesop's fable that attracted onlookers, and if there had been no noise, then so many would not have rushed to the eyewitnesses.
