In those ancient centuries, when Russian sayings and children's riddles were composed, for the most part people thought in much more chaste categories. It would never have occurred to anyone to look for Freudian associations on the question of a woman standing on the floor, who opened the hole, it was clear to all adults that it was a stove, but the children should break their heads, and even then not for long. Equally simple was the riddle about what kind of object it was - without arms, without legs, it was a gallop.
Children's riddle
Today, water supply is an ordinary thing. And if you need to go to a well somewhere in the countryside, they usually do without a rocker. Two buckets - a considerable weight, and usually they send a man for water. It is now. But a hundred or more years ago, the rocker nevertheless served as a complement to the female image, the peasant with him was usually not depicted in the paintings, and there are no such photos. But how gracefully our great-grandmothers could handle him! Beautiful posture, light and graceful gait, in comparison with which all the attempts of the current models on the catwalk look ridiculous, demonstrated real Russian beauty in movement. The women themselves, however, were then called differently, but for some reason they were not offended. So, what is hiding behind the charade of “no hands, no legs on a gallop woman” is an ordinary rocker. Although in reality this is not such a simple subject.
Rocker arm
At first glance, there is nothing complicated in this subject of folk life . Two vessels at the same time are worn by women on their shoulders in different countries, but in Russia the rocker arm became utensils in the manufacture of which the creative inclinations of the master were manifested. In addition to utilitarian properties (equilibrium, smoothness, strength), it should also be beautiful. It was often covered with elaborate carvings; special types of wood (usually beech, hazel, birch or maple) were chosen for manufacturing. Ergonomic qualities were also considered important, unlike their European counterparts (usually round), Russian samples in the cross section are oval, which more correctly distributes the load. In general, the requirements were such that the instrument itself requested on the shoulder. Just like that: without arms, without legs - a woman is hopping.
Other riddles, other answers
People came up with other riddles about the rocker. It was compared with a bridge between the seas. He was likened to female logic, the same two-sided and somewhat curved. The expression "smoke yoke" is used today as a symbol of rampant revelry. But about the jumping armless and legless object in the postwar years, a new mystery appeared for children and adults. And the answer to it was not at all cheerful.
Some (and many) war veterans who returned home had a lack of limbs. There were not enough men in the country. Yesterday's soldiers were mutilated, but young and sometimes very temperamental. The fate of the disabled has become the theme of beautiful films. In life, women who were sharp on the tongue sometimes called them so: “Without arms without legs, a woman is galloping”. With humor peculiar to our people, at least sometimes very bitter.