# μην ακούσει το αιμα καμιά αρκούδα



## dukaine

I think this phrase has something to do blood attracting a bear to the scent, but would like to confirm. Α girl has just killed a deer she found in a trap.

Του ζήτησε συγνώμη για τον πόνο κι άναψε φωτιά. Έπιασε να καπνίζει όσα κομμάτια έκοβε πριν σκουληκιάσουν. Και φυλαγόταν *μην ακούσει το αίμα καμιά αρκούδα*.

Thanks!


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## Perseas

dukaine said:


> I think this phrase has something to do blood attracting a bear to the scent, but would like to confirm.


Yes. Here it means "to smell".
It's the meaning no. 8:
*8)*_Aισθάνομαι με αισθητήριο του σώματός μου· (εδώ της όσφρησης) οσφραίνομαι: την μυρωδιάν ακούσι (Eρωτοπ. 159)_
Επιτομή Λεξικού Κριαρά

This is not the standard use of ακούω, it's rather related to literature or dialectal.


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## dukaine

Perseas said:


> Yes. Here it means "to smell".
> It's the meaning no. 8:
> *8)*_Aισθάνομαι με αισθητήριο του σώματός μου· (εδώ της όσφρησης) οσφραίνομαι: την μυρωδιάν ακούσι (Eρωτοπ. 159)_
> Επιτομή Λεξικού Κριαρά
> 
> This is not the standard use of ακούω, it's rather related to literature or dialectal.


Okay, so the word order is a bit different than English, so would I be correct to translate this as "no bear smelled the blood" or "any bear didn't smell the blood"?


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## apmoy70

It's dialectal, the Cretans "hear" of odours, which is (astonishingly) comparable to some Russian dialects who also "hear smells" слышатъ запах


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## ioanell

dukaine said:


> Okay, so the word order is a bit different than English, so would I be correct to translate this as "no bear smelled the blood" or "any bear didn't smell the blood"?



The correct -in my opinion- translation is: “She was watching out that no bear would smell the blood”.


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## dukaine

ioanell said:


> The correct -in my opinion- translation is: “She was watching out that no bear would smell the blood”.


Thank you!


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## dukaine

apmoy70 said:


> It's dialectal, the Cretans "hear" of odours, which is (astonishingly) comparable to some Russian dialects who also "hear smells" слышатъ запах


Thank you!


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## Αγγελος

Also note that μη (without a preceding να) is the conjunction used to express fear:
Φοβάμαι μην πεθάνω (=I am afraid I may die)
Ανησυχώ μη δεν γίνω ποτέ καλά (=I am worried I may never get well)
Πρόσεχε μη μας ακούσουν (=Take care lest we be heard)
Similarly here, φυλαγόταν μην ακούσει το αίμα καμιά αρκούδα = she took precautions lest some bear smelt the blood.
The admittedly unusual use of ακούω to mean 'perceive' is not solely Cretan; people do say such things as ο δυόσμος δεν ακούγεται = you can't taste the mint (that has gone into a dish).


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## dukaine

Αγγελος said:


> Also note that μη (without a preceding να) is the conjunction used to express fear:


Oh, didn't know that, that's helpful, thank you. Your examples were great as well.


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## Helleno File

Hi Άγγελε. Verbs of fearing are another "blind spot" of mine which I can trace back to school Latin, even though I was quite good at it!  

Is it possible to say φοβάμαι ότι. Or even πως?  And isnt it supposed to be "φοβάμαι/ανησυχώ _μήπως_ του συνέβη κάτι"? Or are some of these interchangeable? 

Your other examples are indirect commands and I think I'm clear that μη(ν) is the correlative pronoun.


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## Andrious

If you say «Φοβάμαι ότι/πως του συνέβη κάτι», you find it very possible that something happened to him.
If you say «Φοβάμαι μήπως του συνέβη κάτι», you don't find it that possible.


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## Helleno File

Thanks Andrious.  Your pair of examples are very clear.   I had wondered if μήπως expressed a (high) degree of doubt. It's helpful to have the two possibilites.

I think the difficult example for me is from Άγγελος  when he writes "Φοβάμαι μην πεθάνω". He translates it as "I'm afraid I may die", when it looks like a negative statement to me!  And then he gives "Ανησυχώ _μη δεν _γίνω ποτέ καλά." for an actual negative. I think something like this was one of my difficulties this kind of construction with Latin all those years ago!


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## Αγγελος

Andrious said:


> If you say «Φοβάμαι ότι/πως του συνέβη κάτι», you find it very possible that something happened to him.
> If you say «Φοβάμαι μήπως του συνέβη κάτι», you don't find it that possible.


«Φοβάμαι ότι/πως του συνέβη κάτι» definitely means "I believe something unpleasant may have happened to him." «Φοβάμαι ότι/πως...» can even be a less direct way of stating something unpleasant: «Φοβάμαι πως η γυναίκα μου με απατά» means "I have cause to believe that my wife is cheating on me."
«Φοβάμαι μήπως του συνέβη κάτι» does not mean that I don't find it possible that something unpleasant may have happened to him; I definitely worry about that possibility, I just don't think it as likely as if I said «φοβάμαι ότι...» «Φοβάμαι μήπως η γυναίκα μου με απατά» means "I am worried that my wife may be cheating on me, but I am not sure yet."


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## Helleno File

Sorry I missed your excellent reply Άγγελε. That couldn't be clearer!


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