Phraseologism "a disservice" is used in cases where a person tries to help someone, but does it so badly, clumsily and awkwardly that instead of the desired support it only causes trouble, spoils the situation completely. In life, this happens quite often. I. A. Krylov has a fable called "The Hermit and the Bear." It was thanks to her that this phraseological unit appeared. What is it about?
The Hermit and the Bear
In the beginning, Krylov writes that there are situations when we need help, but it should be understood that not everyone will be able to provide it properly. It is necessary to stay away from fools, because a fool who wants to be useful is sometimes more dangerous than the most vicious enemy. They may be doing a disservice. You already know the meaning of phraseology.
The hermit life
Next comes the story itself, which tells of a hermit who has no family and lives in the wilderness. Of course, about loneliness, if desired, you can write very beautifully. But not everyone can live in such conditions, because most people want to share both grief and happiness with their loved ones. The author writes that they may object to him, because it is beautiful in the wilderness, especially in the presence of meadows, forests, mountains, streams, emerald grass. Krylov fully agrees with this, but says that all this can quickly get bored if there is no one to even talk to. Sometimes even betrayal, disservice, strife can seem less evil than loneliness.
Meet the bear
So the hermit once got tired of living away from people. He went to the forest, hoping to meet someone there. But after all, only bears and wolves live there. People are rarely in the forest. And indeed, the hermit met with a bear. He politely took off his hat and bowed, and the bear held out a paw to him. That's how they met. After some time, they became real inseparable friends, they could not part even for a few hours. Krylov writes that he does not know what they talked about and how their conversation went. The hermit was silent, and the bear could not be called too sociable. But, in spite of everything, the hermit was happy that he had found a friend. Friends often walked together, the hermit never tired of praising the bear and being touched by it. He thought that a wonderful time had come in his life. The unfortunate man did not yet suspect that he would soon be rendered a disservice…
Death of a hermit
One hot day, the friends decided to walk through the forests, meadows, plains and hills. Of course, a man is weaker than a wild beast, so after a while the hermit got tired and began to fall behind the bear. He realized that his friend could no longer walk, andinvited him to lie down and sleep if he wanted to. He also said that he could watch over him. The hermit was only too pleased with this offer. He sank to the ground, yawned, and immediately fell asleep. And the bear began to guard his friend, and he had to work hard. Here a fly sat on the hermit's nose, and the clubfoot drove it away. But the importunate insect flew to the cheek. As soon as the bear drove the fly away, it landed on the nose again. How cheeky she is! Without thinking twice, the bear took a heavy stone in its paws, squatted down and thought that now it would definitely kill her. The fly at that time was sitting on the forehead of the hermit. And so the bear gathered his courage and with all his might threw a stone at his friend's head. The blow was such that the hermit's skull split in two, and the unfortunate man remained lying in this place. That's what a disservice means.
A parable about a disservice
There is also a parable on a similar topic, which makes you think about your actions and life in general. Once a grandfather and his grandson were walking through the city, and suddenly they saw a boy whom his father asked to repair the fence, and only after that he allowed him to go play. The poor child kept falling out of the hands of the tool, the board did not get up in the right place. Here the boy accidentally struck his finger, and then, angry, threw the hammer away, looking sadly at the playing guys. The grandfather's grandson felt sorry for his peer, and he nailed the board to the fence. However, the old man immediately tore it off.
Grandsonsurprised grandfather asked: “How so? You often taught me mercy, and now you won't let me help the boy.”
Grandfather replied, “Don't you understand that this is a disservice? I wanted to instill kindness in you, but never hypocrisy. You fulfilled his duties for the boy, which means you deprived him of the opportunity to learn how to repair the fence on his own. But every person needs to have patience and do their job properly. You did him a disservice with your "merciful" act. Never do that again.”
Now you know what a disservice is. It is better not to help a person at all than to do so.