半生缘

[Fred0]

What a lot to learn from two paragraphs. Many thanks. 

 

I apologize for not having Pleco. I will get it as soon as it's available for Mac, which should be soon.

[Fred0]

Manlu is dying and has brought Manzhen's child which she has been raising to Manzhen, to tell her that she will have to marry Hongcai so she can raise the child after Manlu dies.

只有这一个办法，我死了你可以跟他结婚——”曼桢道：“这种话你就不要去说它了。我死也不会嫁给祝鸿才的。”曼璐却挣扎着把孩子抱了起来，送到曼桢跟前，叹息着道：“为来为去还不是为了他吗。你的心就这样狠！”

 

What does 为来为去 mean?  

[Jim]

It's coupled with the 为了他 that immediately follows and works primarily through the repetition of similar phrasing, means something along the lines of back-and-forth/round-and-round/for the sake of this or that etc but in the end it's all about him (the baby). 

[Fred0]

Yes, that makes perfect sense. Thanks very much.

[ibag]

?

[Jon Long]

Hi, I made this online tool that displays all chapters of 《半生缘》(text from Luoxia.com) with pinyin annotation, dictionary/grammar lookup, and learning feature.

Attached is the screenshot when you hover over the word "杏".

By default all words show pinyin, but you can turn that off in settings. Then you can hover over any word to show pinyin, and if you click on a word to make it bold and make the pinyin stick.

I hope this helps somewhat.

[Fred0]

Manlu is holding the baby. She has told Manzhen she is dying. She is choked up at the thought of having to leave the baby with no one to care for it. She says:

 

“我这时候死了，别的没什么丢不下的，就是不放心他。我真舍不得。”

 

I take 别的没什么丢不下的 to mean "there is nothing else (I) wouldn't (willingly)  abandon."  I'm taking 丢不下 to mean "would not abandon."  I this correct?

 

At the time that I die, I will have nothing that I wouldn't willingly to abandon. It's only It's only him that I am uneasy about. I really hate to part with him.

[陳德聰]

Pretty much. But there are some logical connections missing from your translation.

 

我這時候死了，...

*If* I die now, ...

 

別的...，就是...

It's a contrastive structure with the main clause in the post position, so the general meaning is really like "There's nothing much I can't leave behind, except him. I'm worried about him."

[Fred0]

Big help. Thanks very much.  

[Fred0]

Manzhen, on an impulse, followed some schoolboys into the longtang where she knew her four year-old son was being raised by Hongzai, her dead sister's widower, and the boy's father. By luck she runs into Hongzai's older daughter with the four year-old son in hand. Afterwards she is considering her good luck in seeing him but realizes that she can't go see him again.

 

这次总算运气，一走进去就看见了他。以后可不能再去了。多看见了也无益，徒然伤心罢了。

 

Does the last phrase mean it would be in vain for her to (try to) stop grieving, or that she couldn't see him again so she would stop grieving because she would be grieving in vain, or is ba here a final particle and the clause just means she would grieve in vain?  I favor this last reading.

[Jim]

罢了 is a particle and means "and nothing else" "nothing more than" so you're there or thereabouts; no profit in seeing more of him, all she would be doing is hurting herself for no good reason.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/罷了

[Fred0]

Mujin is describing his life runniing a small hospital in a small town. He is saying that the local gentry are suspicious of him even though he was born and raised in that area.

他说他在六安虽然是个土生土长的人，当地的官绅始终认为他这人的行径有些可疑，在这种小地方办医院，根本没有钱可赚的，使人疑心他一定是有什么作用。

 

Is this saying that when they see that he is not making much money it makes them doubt that he is not having any effect (as a doctor) or that his behavior is suspect?

 

他说：“其实我这人最最脑筋简单了，我自己知道能力也有限，就只想在极小的范围内做一点有益的事情。但是这个话说出去，谁也不能相信。所以我跟他们这些人也很少来往。He said, "Actually my way of thinking (mental ability?) is very simple, I know my own abilities are limited, I only think that within my range (of abilities?), to a small extent I do beneficial things. But, having said that, who would be convinced. So I don't have much to do with those people (the gentry?).

 

Is he saying his reasoning is very simple, or that his intelligence is limited? Is it because of his limited finances that his scope is limited, or is he saying that his abilities as a doctor limit him. So, is he saying that he doesn't have much to do with the educated people in the area because they don't trust him as a doctor?

[Jim]

First is the latter, they suspect him of having some other motive since the hospital can't be making money in their hick town - 作用 can mean motive or intention though AFAIK that's quite rare these days, see sense three and example sentence here: https://www.zdic.net/hans/作用

 

Second question it's your first version, he's a simple man (i.e. with none of the cunning nefarious hidden motives they might be imagining) - he knows he only has limited abilities so just wants to do some small worthwhile thing in a limited compass. But if he told them that they wouldn't believe him. That's why he doesn't have much to do with them - i.e. since they're the sort of people who wouldn't believe him if he told them the truth about himself and what he's doing.

[Fred0]

That's a great help. Thanks very much.

 

[Fred0]

This is a little off of the topic but someone wrote to me about a novel that she read:

 

总的来说不算特别喜欢这个小说，我觉得形式的创新意义大过于内容的表达。

 

I understand the second clause to mean: I feel the formal innovations are more significant than the actual content  expressed. In other words, that the author cares more about writing in an innovative style than he cares about the substance of what is being expressed. Is that a correct reading?

[Jim]

Yes, I think you're right. 

[Fred0]

Manzhen's son has scarlet fever, and while it would be best for him to go into a hospital, Manzhen does not have the money to pay for it, and Hongcai, the father, cannot be relied on to pay for it.

 

曼桢本来想着，如果进医院的话，她去照料比较方便些，但是实际上她也出不起这个钱，也不能指望鸿才拿出来。不进医院也罢。

 

How should one undersand 也罢 in the last sentence? Would it be something like "He won't go into the hospital and that's the end of it?"

[Jim]

It's what they term here "expressing concession": https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/也罷, so something like, "Well , he won't be going to hospital then." (since it's the case that no money or available or forthcoming)

[Fred0]

Thanks! And thanks for the reference.

[Fred0]

This sentence is explaining the impossibility of Weimin, Manzhen's younger brother, taking in their mother to live with him and his wife and mother-in-law.

 

伟民那里也挤得很，一共一间统厢房，还有一个丈母娘和他们住在一起，...

 

I don't understand 一共一间统厢房. I understand 厢房 to be a wing of a traditional Chinese house. Does 一间 mean one room, or is it a measure word for 厢房？Does 统 here mean whole, as in "the whole wing of the house?"  There at Weijin's house it's very crowded, altogether in one room ... (?)