To cherish as the apple of one’s eye - Беречь как зеницу ока
The apple of one’s eye is something very precious
to one, that which is especially prized. Apple is probably the corruption of pupil which is round like an
apple. (Compare the Russian: глазное яблоко.) The
pupil is regarded as the most sensitive and precious
part of the eye. The phrase appears in Psalms: “ Keep
me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow
of thy wings.” To cherish as the apple of one’s eye
means to treat with the greatest care possible something which is very precious.
George was the apple of his father’s eye. He
did not like Harry, his second son, so well. '
W. S. Maugham , The Alien Corn
Did the Law not know that a m an ’s name was
to him the apple of his eye, that it was far harder
to be regarded as cuckold than as seducer?
J. Galsworthy, In Chancery
Win had looked forward to the child: boy or
girl, she cared nothing; it was to have been her
eye’s apple, her h eart’s core, her dandling, her
nestle-chick, her doted dear; later, their hope and
pride.
R. Macaulay, I Would Be Private
1. В каком значении употребляется выражение беречь как зеницу ока? 2. Чем можно объяснить, что слова зеница ока стали употребляться для обозначения чего-либо, имеющего очень большую ценность? 3. Откуда заимствовано выражение?