四周围黑黑的

[taigunjeung]

有什么意思？ 在我课本有故事关于鲁迅， 小女孩问她伯父鲁迅为什么他鼻子又扁又平，鲁迅回答他小时候碰壁多，所以他鼻子不高不知。鲁迅对他问，“你想，西周围黑黑的，还不容易碰壁吗？” 什么意思？

I guess it means "all around is dark/pitch black", but then what's so funny? I guess I'm looking more for the cultural meaning. Does this have to do with a book of his or something he wrote?

thanks, y'all

[skylee]

碰壁 = hitting the wall = making mistakes / not getting what one wants (imagine telling a brick wall what you want)

"all around is dark/pitch black" implies that the society / bureaucracy was dark (not transparent) and corrupt, and one couldn't see which way to go, therefore making mistakes, and getting hurt (the nose flattened by the wall analogy).

I am not sure if it is supposed to be funny.

Edited September 16, 2009 at 12:12 AM by skylee

[muyongshi]

What skylee said...

Kind of an ironic humor in my mind. Why are you so good at explaining things Skylee?

[QiYanJie]

鲁迅's articles are hard to understand thereis so much metaphor.

西周围黑黑的，还不容易碰壁吗？

（literal meaning）1. as skylee sid

（amplification）2. when 鲁迅 was young,the darkness of the society brought him much trouble.

[kurii]

His description of the constant frustration being experienced in his youth as a result of prevalent socio-economic deprivation, is packed with witty sarcasm. Lu Xun's dry sense of humour, that is; not necessarily funny.

[carter003]

Qijian 正解（EN. right）