The meaning of the phrase "mistress of the sea" is known from Alexander Pushkin's fairy tale about a goldfish. It is about a greedy and ambitious old woman who did not want to be content even with the position of the queen. “I want to be the mistress of the sea” - these are her words addressed to the magic fish. What associations this expression is associated with will be discussed in the article.
Dictionary interpretation
To better understand the meaning of the words "mistress of the sea", you should first consult a dictionary. There, regarding the first of them, the following is said: this is the feminine gender of the noun “lord.”
Usage examples:
- One of the epithets of the Mother of God is such as "the mistress".
- Among the ancient Greeks, the goddess Artemis was the mistress of forests and mountains, animals and birds, she watched over their inexhaustible fertility.
- In the 17th century, after numerous wars, England began to dominate the sea, and she began to be called the "mistress ofseas.”
Further on, it would be appropriate to consider the interpretation of the lexeme "lord", to which the link is given. In the dictionary, it is accompanied by the mark "bookish" and means the ruler, the ruler.
Sample sentences:
- Myths of different nations, dedicated to gods and heroes, are replete with such stories in which heavenly rulers enter into a relationship with earthly women.
- Unfortunately, the filibusters at that time were the true masters of the local seas.
Let's consider synonyms for the first of the indicated tokens.
Synonyms
Among them you can find such as:
- ruler;
- ruler;
- mrs;
- lady;
- queen;
- hostess;
- head;
- steward;
- leader;
- patroness;
- owner;
- owner;
- owner;
- monarchine;
- empress;
- queen;
- empress;
- porphyry bearer;
- crown;
- autocrat;
- scepterbearer;
- ruler;
- sovereignty.
Next, we should proceed to a direct consideration of the expression "mistress of the sea".
In Pushkin's fairy tale
It should be noted that in it the expression under study is used only twice, at the end of the story. For the first time, when the old woman refuses to be a "free queen" and wants to become a "mistress of the sea." She wisheslive not on land, but in the ocean-sea and have a goldfish on their parcels.
That's all the information available in the famous fairy tale about the expression that interests us. The second time it is mentioned is when the old man conveys the words of his excessively ambitious wife to the goldfish. As a result, the fish returned everything to normal, leaving the old woman with nothing.
From the story, we can conclude that a person should appreciate the real things that he has, achieving them with his own labor, and not indulge himself in transcendental unrealizable fantasies, the symbol of which in this case is the desire to become the “mistress of the sea”.
Goddess Matsu
It is she who is called the Lady of the Sea in Taiwan. This is the most popular of the local deities, patronizing all sailors. Over time, from the goddess of the sea, she also turned into the goddess of rain. Many Taiwanese believe that prayers and sacrifices to Matsu can make it rain.
If excess precipitation leads to floods, then the magical power possessed by the goddess "pacifies the rivers." To achieve this, people put her statue on a palanquin and carry it around a special place where they smoke incense. According to beliefs, even if there are floods this year, water flows will flow in the direction in which the procession is moving, and the surrounding fields and settlements will not be flooded.
Matsu commands not only waves, rain, floods, but also winds and typhoons. At her command, the waves calm down and the winds subside,typhoons and floods cease. And vice versa, if the goddess so desires, then the elements can rage. That is, Matsu is in charge of all the "water management" in Taiwan.
In cities, seaports, in villages, on the coast, in the depths of the island - everywhere there are temples dedicated to her. But prayers and sacrifices are also held where there are no such temples. This usually happens shortly before the goddess's birthday, which falls on the twenty-third day of the third month according to the lunar calendar.
Pilgrimages are held a few days before. On the eve of the birthday, the Matsu idol is sent on a so-called inspection trip. He is carried in a palanquin through the territory under her protection. The whole journey is usually about two hundred kilometers, and in time the pilgrimage takes up to eight days.
