В тихом омуте черти водятся
With accent marks:
В ти́хом о́муте че́рти во́дятся.
Translation:
In a quiet whirlpool, demons live.
Meaning:
This proverb usually characterizes an unremarkable, inconspicuous person who suddenly turned out to be capable of extraordinary acts, not always good.
The proverb comes from the old Slavic beliefs, according to which the whirlpools are the habitat of water demons and evil spirits. It was believed that they were the ones who dragged swimmers to the bottom.
The English analog of this proverb is "Still waters run deep".
Other Russian proverbs
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Как аукнется, так и откликнется
What goes around comes around.
-
Strike the iron while it's hot.
-
С кем поведёшься, от того и наберёшься
With whom you are friends with, from them you will learn.
-
За двумя зайцами погонишься – ни одного не поймаешь
If you are chasing two hares at once, you won’t catch a single one.
-
В чужой монастырь со своим уставом не ходят
Don't bring your set of rules in a foreign monastery
-
When I eat I am deaf and mute.
-
The quieter you go, the further you'll get.
-
Лучше один раз увидеть, чем сто раз услышать
Better to see once than hear a hundred times.
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