From 《活着》: is the 馒头 his ball sack? I'm confused.

[艾墨本]

家珍怀着有庆有六个月了，自然有些难看，走路时裤裆里像是夹了个馒头似的一撇一撇，两只脚不往前往横里跨，我嫌弃她，对她说：“你呀，风一吹肚子就要大上一圈。”

 

A few questions:

What does 有庆 mean?

What is the 馒头?

Why would it 一撇一撇?

Why is this a lead-in to talking to his daughter, “你"?

 

Thank you.

[Publius]

I haven't read the book. But it seems 家珍 is a pregnant woman, 有庆 is the name of the baby 家珍 is carrying. 走路时裤裆里像是夹了个馒头似的一撇一撇 describes how that woman (她=家珍) walks. 饅頭就是普通的饅頭啦。。。

[Guest realmayo]

有庆 is a given name of if I remember right their future child, Jiazhen is six months pregnant with it.

[Guest realmayo]

Ah, beat me to it!

 

(I remember this book introduced me to the fact that 裤裆 is used much more frequently in Chinese than its English equivalent is used in English.)

[Wurstmann]

Might contain some mistakes, but something like this:

When Jiazhen was six months pregnant with Youqing, she naturally was a little unseemly. When she walked it looked like she had a mantou tucked in her pants that was swinging around, her two legs wide apart. I avoided her and said: "As soon as the wind blows your belly gets big". 

[Publius]

“一撇一撇”指的是她的步態(像鴨子一樣，外八字)，不是指的饅頭

[Angelina]

The wind or the Wurst? Speaking of food.

[Wurstmann]

哦，原来如此！ Thanks for the correction.

[艾墨本]

Thanks all. This cleared it up. When I first read this I was confused then after trying to break it down, I was laughing. Glad I checked on this one.

[baihua]

Would it be an idea to start a 活着 reading thread. I'm dipping in and out of it.

[艾墨本]

I like the idea, baihua. Care to get it started?

 

I'm under the impression that a lot of people read it as a first or one of their first full Chinese novels, so it could benefit future readers as well. 

[anonymoose]

Why does wind blowing make the belly big?

[Guest realmayo]

I'd assumed it's simply to suggest that it's getting bigger all the time?

[Shelley]

"As soon as the wind blows your belly gets big"

 

 

I have no knowledge of the book or any of the other things discussed in this topic but this sentence might mean that she gets pregnant very easily. There is a similar saying in English, she gets pregnant every time the wind changes direction.

 

I may be way off track here but thought it was worth throwing into the mix.

[imron]

Would it be an idea to start a 活着 reading thread

There's one here if you're interested.

[Guest realmayo]

Shelley: I think the 'every time the wind changes direction' is basically the same implied meaning as in the Chinese. So yes it's 'every time the wind blows'.

But I think as for the belly being big, it's just that her husband reckons she's getting visibly bigger every day. She is six months pregnant at this stage.

[Angelina]

I am reading Cries in the Drizzle, this one is the masterpiece.