Vershok/arshin/sazhen in Russian classical literature and translations

The article examines examples of using obsolete units of measurement (vershok, arshin, etc.) found in literary works that are employed by authors in engineering pedagogy when teaching STEM disciplines. It shows the importance of numerical quantities that describe everyday reality for the full realization of the author’s intent and for readers’ adequate perception of the text. The paper demonstrates the difficulties in conveying the author’s idea when pre-reform Russian units of measurement are converted into imperial units familiar to English-language readers (feet, inches). We analyze the examples of unit conversion complicated by various literary devices and by cultural differences between Russian- and English-speaking readerships. Based on the artistic description of the existing picture of the world, the article provides a quantitative estimate of the dimension distortions that arise as a result of translation. By generalizing our own teaching practice, we developed recommendations for improving the handling of measurement units in translation. The concept of “metrological inversion” is introduced, making it possible to distinguish cases that require exact versus approximate conversion of measurement units in translated texts. We show the relevance of the unit “vershok”, as a specific non-SI unit, used while working with computer and telecommunication equipment. The article briefly addresses the issue of changing the method of citing literary and other sources. Nowadays, with the development of information technology, articles and books are usually read not from printed editions, but from their electronic versions on devices connected to the Internet. Previously, for example, to verify the context of a quotation cited via a reference, one had to consult libraries – either personal or public. To facilitate this, the reference would additionally indicate the volume of the academic publication and the page number. Today, such thoroughness has become unnecessary: a computer, laptop, or smartphone user can make use of various search engines – both general purpose (browsers) and specialized ones.

1. Jones, A. Z. (2025). Teaching STEM for Dummies. A. Z. Jones. 406 p. Hoboken, NJ, John Wiley & Sons. (In English)

2. Ochkov, V. F. (2025). 16 zanyatii MIT: Matematika – Informatika – Tekhnika: nauchnopopulyarnoe izdanie [16 MIT Lessons: Mathematics–Informatics–Technology]. 292 p. St. Petersburg, Lan. (In Russian)

3. Eliseikin, M. M., Ochkov, V. F. (2024). O metrologicheskikh kharakteristikakh istoricheskikh dannykh [On the Metrological Characteristics of Historical Data]. Zakonodatel'naya i prikladnaya metrologiya. No. 5, pp. 47–51. (In Russian)

4. 451 gradus po Farengeitu [Fahrenheit 451]. Vikipediya. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Fahrenheit_451 (accessed: 03.12.2025). (In Russian)

5. Bityukova, G. V. (2019). Sistema mer i vesov v Rossiiskoi Imperii [The System of Measures and Weights in the Russian Empire]. Zakonodatel'naya i prikladnaya metrologiya. No. 3(160), pp. 46–54. (In Russian)

6. Tolstoi, L. N. (1927–1964). Polnoe sobranie sochinenii v 90 tomakh (Yubileinoe izdanie) [Complete Works in 90 Volumes (Jubilee Edition)]. Tom 18. Moscow. (In Russian)

7. Tolstoy, Leo. (1919). Anna Karenina: A Novel by Count Leo Tolstoi. United States of America, G.W. Jacobs. (In English)

8. Turgenev, I. S. (1980). Polnoe sobranie sochinenii i pisem: V 30 t. [Complete Works and Letters: In 30 Volumes]. Vol. 4, p. 246. Moscow, Nauka. (In Russian)

9. Ochkov, V. F. (2002). Fizicheskie i ehkonomicheskie velichiny v Mathcad i Maple (Seriya “Dialog s komp'yuterom”) [Physical and Economic Quantities in Mathcad and Maple (Series “Dialogue with the Computer”)]. Moscow, Finansy i Statistika. (In Russian)

10. Gogol, N. V. (2012). Polnoe sobranie sochinenii i pisem v 23 tomakh [Complete Works and Letters in 23 Volumes]. Tom 7, p. 97. Moscow, Nauka. (In Russian)

11. Gogol, Nikolai Vasilevich (1917). Dead Souls. Cournos, John. United Kingdom, J. M. Dent, (In English)

12. Turgenev, Ivan Sergeevich (1897). Novels: The Torrents of Spring, etc. United Kingdom, Macmillan. (In English)

13. Dostoevsky, F. M. (1973). Polnoe sobranie sochinenii: v 30 t. [Complete Works: In 30 Volumes]. Vol. 8. St. Petersburg, Nauka. (In Russian)

14. Dostoyevsky, Fyodor (1914). The Idiot. United Kingdom, Dent. (In English)

15. Serov Valentin Aleksandrovich [Serov Valentin Aleksandrovich]. Vikipediya. URL: https://ru.wikipedia.org/?curid=56159&oldid=151578736 (accessed: 07.01.2026). (In Russian)

16. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoi [Leo Tolstoy]. URL: http://tolstoy-lit.ru/words (accessed: 07.01.2026). (In Russian)

17. Proizvedeniya L'va Tolstogo [Leo Tolstoy’s Works]. URL: http://digital.tolstoy.ru/tolstoy_search/search (accessed: 07.01.2026). (In Russian)

18. Slovo Tolstogo [Tolstoy’s Word]. URL: https://slovotolstogo.ru/search?search=vershok (accessed: 07.01.2026). (In Russian)

19. Mayakovsky, V. V. (1957). Polnoe sobranie sochinenii: V 13 t. [Complete Works: In 13 Volumes]. Tom 7, pp. 192–195. Moscow, Gos. izd-vo khudozh. lit. (In Russian)

20. Russkaya poehziya serebryanogo veka, 1890–1917: antologiya (1993) [Russian Poetry of the Silver Age, 1890–1917: An Anthology]. P. 672. Rossiya, Nauka. URL: https://poemata.ru/poets/agnivtsev-nikolay/plangoroda-sankt-peterburga (accessed: 07.01.2026). (In Russian)

21. Plan S. Peterburga [The Plan of St. Petersburg]. URL: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Plan_SPb_1885-1887.jpg (accessed: 07.01.2026). (In Russian)

22. Bulgakov, M. A. (1927). Dni Turbinykh: (Belaya gvardiya) [The Days of the Turbins (The White Guard)]. P. 11. Paris, Concorde. (In Russian)

23. Dostoyevsky, Fyodor (1921). Sämtliche Romane und Novellen [Collected Novels and Short Stories]. Röhl, Hans. Germany, Insel-Verlag. (In German)

24. Dostoevskaya, A. G. (1987). Vospominaniya [Memoirs]. P. 186 Moscow, Pravda. (In Russian)

25. Yunusova, F., Yunusov, I. (2020). Poehtika zaglaviya povesti A. Gilyazova “Tri arshina zemli” v kontekste russkoi literatury XIX veka [Poetics of A. Gilyazov’s Story Title “Three Arshins of Land” in the Context of 19th-Century Russian Literature]. Filologiya i kul'tura. Philology and Culture. No. 4, pp. 145–152. (In Russian)

26. Matematika XIX veka (1978) [Mathematics of the 19th Century]. Pod redaktsiei A. N. Kolmogorova i A. P. Yushkevicha. Akademiya nauk SSSR. Institut istorii estestvoznaniya i tekhniki. 255 p. Moscow, Nauka. (In Russian)

27. Shafarevich, I. R., Remizov, A. O. (2009). Lineinaya algebra i geometriya [Linear Algebra and Geometry]. Gl. XII. 426 p. Moscow, Fizmatlit. (In Russian)