The origins of the idiom "stay with nothing" lead to the fairy tale "About the fisherman and the fish". The work condemns reckless greed and shows that these harmful desires are ultimately punishable.
Storyline
A fairy tale in verse was written by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. He made a wonderful stylization of folklore.
The story begins with a mention that the old man and the old woman lived for thirty-three years in a wretched dugout on the shores of the blue sea, which fed them. Every day the husband went fishing and the wife spun. Often in the net came across either mud or seaweed. But once the catch turned out to be unusual - a fish, but not a simple one, but a talking one. She begged for mercy, promising in return to fulfill any wish of the fisherman. But the simple-hearted old man let her go without any ransom, just like that.
When he got home, he told his wife what had happened. She immediately realized that the old man had missed such an opportunity to profit from the fish. So she sent him back to the sea to beg for something. And sinceher big ambitions had not yet matured, she named the first thing that came to her mind, namely the trough. The old one, they say, has already completely split. Well, not a royal crown, but an ordinary trough. The thing is unpretentious, and in the economy there is no way without it. And the old man went to the fish with a request. She promised to fulfill his little wish. And indeed: his wife met him with a brand new trough. But that wasn't enough for her.
And then it began: each time she increased the degree of her desires, again and again sending the unfortunate old man to the fish. After the trough, she wanted a hut with a room. Then the old woman decided to turn from a peasant woman into a columned noblewoman, then go higher and become a queen. All these whims the old man unconditionally passed on to the fish, and she fulfilled them. Everything would have been fine if the old woman had stopped in time. I would live in the status of a queen and would not know grief. But no. She wanted the impossible - to become the mistress of the ocean, so that even the fish itself would be under her control. After the old man asked for this whim, the wish fulfillment shop closed. Arriving home, he saw his old woman, who had to stay with nothing, that is, with nothing. Everything is back to normal. Here is such an instructive climax of the tale.
"Stay with nothing": the meaning of phraseology
The plot of the fairy tale has become a textbook, it was studied at school. And over time, the expression "to be left with nothing" began to be used independently more and more often. Its meaning was clear even to those who did not read it. Pushkin's works. Little by little, it turned into a stable lexical unit - a phraseological unit. To be left with nothing is to lose everything that was, to fail, to lose all generous gifts, to lose a high position after dreams or chances for something good did not come true.
More often than not, when someone tells someone's life story and uses this phraseological unit, it is clear that the speaker does not feel strong sympathy for what happened. Somehow involuntarily, after this expression, I want to add that this is how he needs it, let him know.
Typical situation
Examples of how in real life you can stay with nothing, a dime a dozen. And most often this happens in business or family relationships. The inability of a person to say “stop” to himself in time plays a cruel joke with him. He becomes a hostage to his own ambitions, which by inertia drive him further and further.
It all happens like this: the role of the "fish" is usually played by a man holding a leadership position, well, and the "old woman" is, of course, a woman. For example, a typical director-secretary couple, who are connected not only by business relations.
At first, this cunning lady does not show herself as a greedy consumer at all. On the contrary, she may seem executive and proactive. But at some point, a small and insignificant request comes from her, a mere trifle "a la trough", which it costs nothing for a man to fulfill, and he considers himself obliged to her. And everything, from this moment "goldenfish" on the hook. The "old woman" begins to pull all the juices from her, usually associated with material gains, and if she is refused, she rolls up a huge scandal and still gets her way.
There can be no question of any love in such a relationship. This is pure consumerism, emotional vampirism. But one day the patience of the "goldfish" ends, the relationship is broken completely, the "old woman" is deprived of all the benefits, and the loss of a job usually follows. In a word, this is what is called "to remain with nothing." This example was fictional, but very typical.
There are also many stories from the life of famous people who at some point found themselves at the very bottom. And not everyone was able to get up.
"Stay with nothing." Real life example: Kim Basinger
She was known to everyone for her extravagance and her fondness for expensive purchases. She once purchased an entire city in the state of Georgia. But the Oscar winner and ageless beauty once fell into a debt hole. She pulled out of the film and had to pay a pen alty of nearly $9 million. As a result, Kim declared herself bankrupt.
Pamela Anderson
Another Hollywood star, due to the inability to properly manage funds, owed a construction company a rather large amount - 800 thousand dollars. Having spent over 1 million on the design of her new mansion and about the same on all sorts of plastic surgeries, Pamelasomehow forgot that taxes also have to pay. Therefore, in 2012, her total debt was $1.1 million. For a while, she didn't even have a place to live and slept in a trailer.
Wesley Snipes
Even the huge fortune that this actor earned after the release of "Blade" did not keep him from complete bankruptcy. The fact is that because of greed, Snipes forged his income tax return, and the US Internal Revenue Service does not forgive this. He had to not only pay $12 million, but also serve 3 years in prison.
Danila Polyakov
This red-haired guy once conquered the catwalks of Europe, and now he is begging and completely dependent on the support of his acquaintances. Blame it on his inability to spend money. He is not at all ashamed of his position and always accepts food and clothes given to him by passers-by on the street.
It seems like a simple children's fairy tale with a clear moral was written by a poet. But, you see, not only for young readers, it was intended. There are too many such "old women" in today's life who claim to be the "mistress of the ocean." But in the end, life makes even such people understand what it means to be left with nothing.
