半生缘

[Fred0]

Does it mean the philosophy of idealism- that it is only what is in the mind that is real- is refuted by the bright color of the yarn which are so dazzling to the eye?

 

Pressing on the red woolen yarn,  (lies) the praiseworthy Elements of Socratic Method. But this book which strings together the prejudices of  the philosophy of idealism, ( is refuted by) the opposite philosophy (that the material world is real) by the brightly colored yarn which is so dazzling to the eye.

[Publius]

It means your text got messed up.

 

I find no philosophy in this paragraph at http://www.my285.com/xdmj/zhangailing/bsy/004.htm

今天这小馆子里生意也特别冷清，管帐的女人坐在柜台上没事做，眼光不住地向他们这边射过来。也许这不过是世钧的心理作用，总好像人家今天对他们特别注意。那女人大概是此地的老板娘，烫着头发，额前留着稀稀的几根前刘海。总是看见她在那里织绒线，织一件大红绒线衫。今天天气暖了，她换了一件短袖子的二蓝竹布旗袍，露出一大截肥白的胳膊，压在那大红绒线上面，鲜艳夺目。胳膊上还戴着一只翠绿烧料镯子。世钧笑向曼桢道：“今天真暖和。”曼桢道：“简直热。”一面说，一面脱大衣。

 

[Fred0]

 It comes from 99lib. I just checked it and that sentence is still right there on the website. I think there are at least two versions of this book. I remember reading that she revised it at least once. My text also does not correspond to the English translation I am using to assist me. This sentence also doesn't appear in my English translation.

 

http://www.99lib.net/book/2972/index.htm   chapter 2

From a stylistic point of view, there doesn't seem to be much sense in writing the description of the 管帐娘 but to make this point about idealist philosophy and her disdain for it.

 

Do you have any suggestions about the sentence as I quoted it. Does it make any sense?

 

[Publius]

Texts from these pirated e-book sites are prone to typos, OCR errors, character conversion errors, etc.

[Fred0]

Thanks for the tip. I should try to buy buy the book.

 

I would still like to know if the sentence makes any sense to you.

[Publius]

1 hour ago, Fred0 said:

I would still like to know if the sentence makes any sense to you.

No, no sense at all.

 

"可贵的辩证法因素。但此书贯串着唯心主义的偏见，如对唯" this part obviously is from another text but somehow crept into your sentence. A quick Google search reveals that your novel is not the only one being affected. We can even see the rest of the sentence: ……如对唯物主义哲学评价过低或不予详细介绍。

[Fred0]

Yes, I can see now that the text I'm using is seriously corrupted. I will use the text that you just referred me to at my258.com. Thanks so much for rescuing me from  a lot of aggravation.

[Fred0]

After Man Zhen’s father died, her older sister became responsible for the support of the family. The only way she could make sufficient income was to become a 舞女. From there her situation further deteriorated, we are told. This is a discription of Man Zhen’s living situation.

 

她家里现在住着的一幢房子，还是她姊姊从前和一个人同居的时候，人家给顶下来的。后来和那人分开了，就没有再出来做了。她蜕变为一个二路交际花，这样比较实惠些，但是身价更不如前了。有时候被人误认为舞女，她总是很高兴。

 

Question 1: What is a 舞女。In my English version it is translated as “taxi-dancer,” which is a woman who works at a dance hall dancing with men for a fee.

 

Question 2: What is an 二路交际花，which is translated as “second-tier escort,” which might mean, grade b prostitute?  Please parce 二路 and 交际花 for me.

 

Question 3:  What does the term 一幢房子 imply other than “a house, apartment, or room.” It’s translated “a set of rooms,” which suggests to me something less than an apartment. Where does that notion (i.e. a set of rooms)  come from in the text.

 

Question 4: In the phrase 人家给顶下来的, I take 人家 here to mean “he,” the man the sister was living with, and 给顶 (gave roof) to be a euphemism for paid the rent. Yes?/No?

 

Question 5:  I understand 这样比较实惠些 to mean “by doing this (i.e. becoming an 二路交际花）she realized a rather small (些) tangible benefit. The English version says she made less money doing this. If this is correct, I am reading it wrongly. I should read it, “in this way (of making a living) the remuneration is rather small. Please help me out of this quandry.

 

Question 6: 但是身价更不如前了。I read this as “but her social status is even more not as good as before,” i.e. her social status is worse. The English says this trade is more respectable, i.e. higher social status. So should I be reading this as saying, “but her social status was even more not as good as (this one) before?

 

I frequently find that I am reading the opposite to the correct meaning into a Chinese sentence. These seem like good examples to learn from. Are there any consistent mistakes that you can point out to me.

[Publius]

I think the translator is largely to blame for the confusion. See this link.

 

交際花 and 舞女 are practically synonymous in the context of 1930s Shanghai.

舞女 is more literal. You know what a 舞男 is? A gigolo. 舞女 is the female counterpart, a gigolette. In fact, the word 'gigolo' is derived through back-formation from a French word 'gigolette', meaning a woman hired as a dancing partner. You pay them to dance with you. But often there is more involved than dancing.

交際花 was original meant to be a translation of the French word 'courtesan'. The concept is somewhat alien to the English-speaking world and I don't think 'escort' quite covers it. As you can see in this Wikipedia page, there are two types of 交際花. The best of them lead a glamorous lifestyle à la Madame de Pompadour, become mistress of a wealthy, influential patron, or marry into the upper class. They're essentially prostitutes, only they're more exclusive, more expensive, usually well-educated, enjoy higher social status than, say, the streetwalkers or the whores in a brothel. I think that's what the translator's note meant to say. But he got the reduced income part wrong.

 

二路, as I understand it, means 二流 'second-rate, second-tier'.

In 交際花's case it means the second category, where there is less dancing/chatting/drinking/etc, more sex.

 

Your understanding of 實惠 is wrong.

It means economical. Becoming a 二路交際花 is more economical because the overhead costs are lower. You don't have to spend a lot of money on clothing, transportation and such. But consequently your 身價 (literally 'price of a person') also drops.

 

To me 一幢房子 always means a house. Not an apartment, not a room, but a proper, standalone house. I have no idea where “a set of rooms” come from.

 

And lastly, 頂 is a verb. He bought (頂_下來) the house for (給) her.

17.    指轉讓或取得企業經營權或房屋租賃權。
   ▶ 《官場現形記》第五十回：「一注是在上海頂人家一爿絲廠，出股本三十萬。」
   ▶ 茅盾《子夜》十七：「上海有一種會打算盤的精明鬼，頂了一所舊房子來，加本錢粉刷裝修，再用好價錢頂出去。」
   ▶ 巴金《關於〈海的夢〉》：「本來我那兩個朋友和我都不想再搬家，可是那裏的二房東要把房子頂出去。」

——《漢語大詞典》

 

[Fred0]

Thank you so much, Publius. Without you I would have missed out on the subtle irony in that sentence. I am working through your reference on 苹果生活 website, and then I will look at the Chinese Wikipedia link. I am not only learning Chinese from you, but I am learning how and where to find answers for myself. I much appreciate the links you provide, as well as, of course, your fine teaching.

[Fred0]

小大姐阿宝正在厨房里开啤酒，桌上放着两只大玻璃杯。

Manlu is the oldest child in the family, Manzhen is the second oldest. What is  阿宝, 小大姐? Bai Du gives this definition: 小大姐，其实是对女性的一种尊称，说明这个人长的年轻。Does this mean that the xiao da jie is the sister who is "chief" of the younger children in the family? Is this a kind of honorary title for a nanny-type person, or an actual sister who has this role as the oldest who is still not going out to work?

[Publius]

From the context A Bao must be a maid.

 

http://www.guoxuedashi.com/hydcd/140231a.html

小大姐

补义条目
方言。青年女佣。

 

Also https://kknews.cc/zh-hk/news/jlap4y.html

小大姐——

 

舊社會稱年輕女傭為「小大姐」。與「大小姐」只倒了一下位置，身份大不同。

 

 

[Fred0]

Manzhen's mother has seen a photo of Manzhen standing beside a strange man. She asks her about it.

曼桢这才明白过来，母亲刚才为什么老是那样笑不嗤嗤朝她看着。大概母亲一回来就看到这两张照片了，虽然是极普通的照片，她却寄托了无限的希望在上面。

 

What does 笑不嗤嗤  mean?  

 

Also, how would one read 一回来 here?  Since her return from her trip she had (already)scene the two photos- thus accounting for her strange expression (which preceeded this present encounter with the photos)?  Or does 一回来 itself mean "previously, already?"

 

[Publius]

It's dialectal and has about the same meaning as 笑嘻嘻地/笑眯眯地.

In the north, people are more likely to say 笑不唧唧, or in Beijing, 笑么唧儿.

嗤嗤 is onomatopoeic/mimetic. It makes the language more colorful.

不 has no meaning. Just there for rhythmic reasons. Compare 蔫了吧唧, 滑不溜丢, 黑咕隆咚, 白不呲咧......

[Fred0]

The paragraph continues:  大概母亲一回来就看到这两张照片了，虽然是极普通的照片，她却寄托了无限的希望在上面。

 

How would one read 一回来 here?  Since her return from her trip she had (already)scene the two photos- thus accounting for her strange expression (which preceeded this present encounter with the photos)?  Or does 一回来 itself mean "previously, already?"

 

 

[Publius]

The former.

Her mother came home ahead of her, saw the photos, and was beaming at her when Manzhen went upstairs to say hello. Now mother got the chance to ask her who is in that photo and Manzhen realized why the strange expression.

一A就B = B as soon as A https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Events_in_quick_succession_with_"yi..._jiu..."

[Fred0]

 

父母为子女打算的一片心，真是可笑又可怜的。

 

I am taking 一片心 to mean "with all their heart," even though 片 is not  a measure word for 心。

 

The whole-hearted emotional investment parents have in what they intend for  their children's future, could make you laugh and could make you feel pity.

 

Would you agree with this?

[Publius]

Actually, 片 is a measure word for 心.

But only when 'heart' means mind, thoughts, feelings, not the muscular organ, i.e. 心思, 心意.

And it only combines with 一.

 

《漢語大詞典》

12.  量词。用于情感、声响、景象等。限于与数词「一」连用。
  ●唐王昌龄《芙蓉楼送辛渐》诗之一：「洛阳亲友如相问，一片冰心在玉壶。」
  ●五代和凝《天仙子》词：「桃花洞，瑶台梦，一片春愁与谁共？」
  ●叶圣陶《线下·桥上》：「此时他们兴致正浓，只听见一片嚷嚷。」

如：一片新气象。

 

P.S.

This sentence 一片冰心在玉壶 is hugely famous. An early 20th-century writer chose 冰心 as her pen name. And here's more:

游人五陵去，寶劍值千金。分手脫相贈，平生一片心。（唐‧孟浩然 《送朱大入秦》）

逢人且說三分話，未可全拋一片心。（民間格言，語出明‧馮夢龍《警世通言‧卷三十二》）

只是，那么个心思狡诘的女人，偏偏以一片赤诚之心待我。就如这触手可及的夜色星光，剔透玲珑。（丁墨《你和我的倾城时光》）

他怀揣着对祖国的一片赤子之心，在接下来的工作生涯中，将毕生心力全部投入到了国家水利事业建设当中。（张海君《爱国‧爱国之心从分毫开始》）

 

[Fred0]

Much help yesterday, Publius. Thank you.

 

Today, Hongcai is looking through Manlu's photo album and comes across a photo of her as a little girl. When he realizes this is her, he says,

 

“哦，是你呀？”他仔细看看她，又看看照片，横看竖看，说：“嗳！说穿了，倒好像有点像。”

 

What does 说穿了 mean？

[Publius]

This phrase is not used in the way it's commonly used today.

The language is from another time another city. I'm not 100% sure but I guess he means 經你一說破，倒確實有點像。