Chapter 10

0001 　柳原带她到大中华去吃饭 Maybe Liuyuan did choose the restaurant on account of its name.

0010 只管向里看着 I suppose that this is a traditional Chinese way to tell the future? Or is Liuyuan just improvising?

0013 一棵翠生生的芭蕉 I suppose that 翠生生 means "green like growing plants"

0014 就像没膝的蔓草与蓬蒿 What is the point of 没膝?

0014 流苏凑 She got closer?

0014 柳 0015 原就探过身来指点着。"Liuyuan leaned forward as he pointed."??

0017 柳原道：“回到自然。" Did the old Chinese have this idea, or does he borrow from Rousseau?

0019 ……不过我也不能想象你不穿着旗袍 Its all about the Chinese identity , whatever that is!

0022 可是线条又太硬 What is a "hard" body shape?

0025 罗曼谛克 My dictionary does not have it, but it must be "romantic".

0026 我何尝爱做作这也 0027 是逼上梁山。We had "当面何尝不奉承着她" recently, I find the "何尝" difficult to translate. I assume something like : "I don't like affected and extreme language."

0031 流苏道：“我又不是你肚里的蛔虫。” Strange picture.. I suppose that they understand you completely from within?

0036 又开 0037 始他的上午的调情 He is withdrawing - because she does not even try to do what he promised to do for her : see him as he is. Admittedly, that might not be so easy.

0040 格罗士打 is transliteration of what?

0040 思豪酒店 I don't know what the 思豪 comes from ...

0040 印度绸缎庄 He even follows her when she's shopping clothes, he's really serious. ..:)

0041 她自己都不能够相 0042 信他连她的手都难得碰一碰。"She did not believe that it was accident that he kept touching her hand."?

0054 那口渴的太阳汩汩地吸着海水，漱着，吐着，哗哗的响。The sun is doing all this, and is also the grammatical subject of the next sentence.

0065 用望远镜望出来 As Liuyuan probably knows.

0066 就把那萨黑夷妮烧了灰 This is not good. But what about the 烧了灰? Is it simply "Sahaayini was tanning"?

0010 只管向里看着 I suppose that this is a traditional Chinese way to tell the future? Or is Liuyuan just improvising?

Actually I did not make this association ... and I don’t know about a practice like this. Usually it is bamboo strips, coins, astrology...
I thought he really just sees the stunning green of the tea leaves and associates. Did you think tea leaves instead of coffee dregs?

0013 一棵翠生生的芭蕉 I suppose that 翠生生 means "green like growing plants"

Yes – the tilted glass, full of leaves, held against the light, looks like the fresh green of a banana stem/trunk. I don’t know whether you are used to drinking green tea – but in the end the dried leaves expand to their original size and look completely alive, like grass again – and you have them in the glass, individually, not in a pot, at least according to certain methods

0014 就像没膝的蔓草与蓬蒿 What is the point of 没膝?

Hmmm –kneeless, without a bend? I am struggling with the plants themselves, but since they must be creepers, I imagine straight tendrils...

0014 流苏凑 She got closer? 0014 柳 0015 原就探过身来指点着。"Liuyuan leaned forward as he pointed

Yes, I see her leaning to one side or forward – not sure how they are sitting – but in the process he leans over or forward, too and they see each other’s eyes “through a glass darkly“.... This is another one of the scenes when ZAL really goes for imagery, isn’t it?

0017 柳原道：“回到自然。" Did the old Chinese have this idea, or does he borrow from Rousseau?

That was my question, too. Well, the guy is „under the influence“ of the West for one thing and yes – there is a tradition, isn’t there to value nature and withdraw from the world, in China too. But when all is said and done: it is another declaration of his takenness with her.

0019 ……不过我也不能想象你不穿着旗袍 Its all about the Chinese identity , whatever that is!

Yes – and a very specific type of „Chinese“, too. But isn’t he also being a bit cheeky---he is harping on her not wearing this, not wearing that, having this shape or the other... I might get uncomfortable, too if I was a decent Chinese girl ;)

0022 可是线条又太硬 What is a "hard" body shape?

线条 according to my dix means Kontur ... outline. She is worried about too harsh, to revealing perhaps, an outline (maybe see above)

0025 罗曼谛克 My dictionary does not have it, but it must be "romantic". Must be.

0026 我何尝爱做作这也 0027 是逼上梁山。We had "当面何尝不奉承着她" recently, I find the "何尝" difficult to translate. I assume something like : "I don't like affected and extreme language."

Hmmm--- how could I like such affectations (such exaggerated Compliments?) this too is a kind of 逼上梁山 being forced to join the Highwaymen of Liang shan....? She might be talking about her poverty and powerlessness which make her a butt of such cheap compliments????. Maybe you can consult your web-oracles ? ☺

0031 流苏道：“我又不是你肚里的蛔虫。” Strange picture.. I suppose that they understand you completely from within?

Yes, very gross picture but it seems to be everyday language. I even have had it applied to myself by a Chinese friend!! Since a lot of feeling is understood to be residing or held down in the 肚子 any inmate there would be in the know... :)

0036 又开 0037 始他的上午的调情 He is withdrawing - because she does not even try to do what he promised to do for her : see him as he is. Admittedly, that might not be so easy.

No, certainly not. He wants a traditional Chinese woman, sexy, of course, with the knowledge/interests of a therapist. Tall order!!

0040 格罗士打 is transliteration of what?

Beats me, too --- above all I just do not know the scene there

0040 思豪酒店 I don't know what the 思豪 comes from ...

again.. I think it is a name... at least I have it too in my book

0040 印度绸缎庄 He even follows her when she's shopping clothes, he's really serious. ..:)

That’s how I see it, too – or he ist he most expert fake!!

0041 她自己都不能够相 0042 信他连她的手都难得碰一碰。 "She did not believe that it was accident that he kept touching her hand."? Nono, opposite – he is being so correct, he barely even accidentally touches her hand. (I think)

0054 那口渴的太阳汩汩地吸着海水，漱着，吐着，哗哗的响。 The sun is doing all this, and is also the grammatical subject of the next sentence. Yep.

0066 就把那萨黑夷妮烧了灰 This is not good. But what about the 烧了灰? Is it simply "Sahaayini was tanning"?

Hmmm – I am almost tempted to translate: even if this S. was sizzling herself to ashes, LS would still have recognized her. ????
And while we are here by the beach and I am at a loss – what did you make of the ch.9, oo61 紅 男 綠 女 in the last chapter – the ones which kept Liusu away from the beach originally?

0010 只管向里看着 I suppose that this is a traditional Chinese way to tell the future? Or is Liuyuan just improvising?

Actually I did not make this association ... and I don’t know about a practice like this. Usually it is bamboo strips, coins, astrology... I thought he really just sees the stunning green of the tea leaves and associates. Did you think tea leaves instead of coffee dregs?

Yes, I thought about coffee dregs. Maybe he heard about them in London. Perhaps one of Zhang's evil points is that most of Liuyan's thoughts actually derive from European thinking - but he does not realise this.

0026 我何尝爱做作这也 0027 是逼上梁山。We had "当面何尝不奉承着她" recently, I find the "何尝" difficult to translate. I assume something like : "I don't like affected and extreme language."

Hmmm--- how could I like such affectations (such exaggerated Compliments?) this too is a kind of 逼上梁山 being forced to join the Highwaymen of Liang shan....? She might be talking about her poverty and powerlessness which make her a butt of such cheap compliments????. Maybe you can consult your web-oracles ? ☺

I have 逼上梁山 bīshàngliángshān id. ①be driven to revolt ②be forced to extremities.

0066 就把那萨黑夷妮烧了灰 This is not good. But what about the 烧了灰? Is it simply "Sahaayini was tanning"?

Hmmm – I am almost tempted to translate: even if this S. was sizzling herself to ashes, LS would still have recognized her. ????

Interpreting 灰 would be a resultative complement, but then the 了 would be at the end of the sentence, wouldn't it?

And while we are here by the beach and I am at a loss – what did you make of the ch.9, oo61 紅 男 綠 女 in the last chapter – the ones which kept Liusu away from the beach originally?

I have 红男绿女[紅-綠-] hóngnánlǜnǚ f.e. gaudy youth. I was assuming that she did not want to invite comparison with scantily clad good looking teenagers.

There are still a few raw edges i this chapter... But the 红男绿女 is beautifully solved -- thank you!! Certainly -- she is not into scanty clothing... but not necessarily because she can't afford it. She is only 28... More the Confucian anti bareness codes...??

During the concert tonight I kept wondering if the 把那萨黑夷妮烧了灰 might be a quip against the self-immolation of Indian widows... but that was just a frivolous thought on my part.

I am also happy about the explanation for 0026 and could consider something like: How could I like such affectedness -- such stuff forces me to rebel.