Не было (бы) счастья, да несчастье помогло

Used when trouble becomes a cause of unexpected pleasant events ~ Every cloud has a silver lining. No great loss without some small gain. What you lose on the swings, you gain on the roundabouts ^ It is a blessing in disguise # There'd be no good fortune if misfortune hadn't helped. An unfortunate event may become a godsend. Ср. Нет худа без добра

У нас, в Заволжье, пропасть дичи.
Ну, а у нас такой пропасти нету, но кое-что водится. Лоси, например, да и кабаны объявились. Не было счастья, да несчастье помогло: война пригнала с запада этих невиданных тут прежде зверей. (М. Алексеев. Ивушка неплакучая)

"We've got a lot of gamebirds in our Trans-Volga region."
"No, we don't have a lot. We've got something, however. Elks and wild pigs, for instance. They've migrated to us from the West. Every cloud has a silver lining, you know. It's the war that had turned them our way. They are indeed unusual for our forests."

* - Именно эта дивизия своим поздним выступлением из Смоленска и задержала седьмой корпус Раевского. Быть бы беде, да горе помогло! Начальник дивизии, принц Карл Мекленбургский, по обыкновению, проспал и выступил на три часа позже, чем полагалось. (С. Голубое. Багратион)

"This was the Division which had started out late from Smolensk and had held up Rayevsky's 7th Corps. It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good! As was his habit, Prince Karl of Mecklenburg, the Commander of the Division, had overslept and had led the Division out three hours after the appointed time."

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The Conventional Designations and Signs:

1. Brackets in combination with different letter types in the Russian title units. For instance, Бабушка (Бабка, Старуха) (ещё) надвое сказала (гадала), where the words Бабушка надвое сказала are the saying in its basic form. The words (Бабка, Старуха) given in brackets, are the variants of the basic component Бабушка; the word (гадала) is the variant of the basic component сказала; the word (ещё) is an optional component of the saying.
2. Description (in English) of a proverb's/saying's meaning is given in italics, e.g.: Бабушка (Бабка, Старуха) (ещё) надвое сказала (гадала) Nobody knows whether it is so or not, whether it will happen or not.
3. = is put before an English monoequivalent e.g.: Аппетит приходит во время еды = Appetite (or The appetite) comes with (or in, while) eating.
4. ~ is put before an English analogue, e.g.: Близок (Близко) локоть, да не укусишь ~ There's many a slip 'twixt cup and lip; or before an English antonym, e.g.: Скоро сказка сказывается, да не скоро дело делается (Contrast: ~ No sooner said than done).
5. ^ is put before a descriptive translation, in which components of an English proverb/saying or an English set-phrase is used, e.g.: Воду (в ступе) толочь - вода (и) будет ^ Beating the air is just beating the air. (The translation is made by way of using the English set-phrase "to beat the air".)
6. :: is put before such a descriptive translation as does not convey the image of the Russian proverb/saying, e.g.: Чем дальше в лес, тем больше дров:: Complications begin to set in.
7. # is put before such a descriptive translation as conveys, partially or in full, the image of the Russian proverb/saying, e.g.: Чем дальше в лес, тем больше дров # The farther into the forest, the thicker the trees. The deeper into the wood you go, the more timber seems to grow.
8. * (the asterisk) is put before those illustrations of the Russian proverb/saying's use where it has undergone an occasional change and/or participates in a stylistic device, e.g.: * Во-первых, как вам известно, вопреки пословице, брань на вороту виснет… (Ю. Герман. Я отвечаю за всё)
Firstly, because mud has a way of sticking, as you probably know…
9. Ср. is a sign of reference informing the reader that the site also contain number of similar Russian proverb/sayings, e.g.: Бабушка надвое сказала Ср. Это еще вилами по воде писано.

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