concept
Egyptian labor (idiom)
Egyptian labor
also: египетская работа, Egyptian labor, Egyptian bondage
A Russian idiom for grueling, forced drudgery, drawn from the Biblical account of the Hebrews' slave labor building projects under Pharaoh (Exodus 1-5); applied to the raftsmen's all-night task of dismantling and rebuilding the footbridges and their own raft.
Reading notes
- On the River §37 Egyptian labor
"Egyptian labor" (yegipetskaya rabota) is an idiom drawn from the Biblical account of the Hebrews' slave-labor building projects under Pharaoh (Exodus 1-5), used here for the raftsmen's grueling, unpaid all-night task of dismantling and rebuilding both the footbridges and their own raft.