hello again, the moment you’ve all being waiting for… another post, another twenty or so puzzling questions waiting for a genuis to solve them and give them rest so let’s get right into it…
1 – in this passage ” She would have been, he thought, a very clever woman, had she fixed her
gaze. But this led to that; that to the other. What went in at this ear, went out at that. And all were circled, as happens after seventy, by one recurring question…”
so here, what does he mean “had she fixed her gaze”?
in the beginning i thought it really has to do with the way she looks at things “Mrs. Swithin’s eyes glazed as she looked at it” but then i changed my mind after re-reading, i think he’s referring to her distracted mind and lack of focus, am i right?
also ” this led to that, that to other” he talking here about the way she jumps from a subject to another like going through a rabbit hole, right?
2 – in this passage :
“Streatfield. A good fellow, who smoked cigars in the vestry.
He needed some solace, doling out preachments to asthmatic elders, perpetually repairing the perpetually falling steeple, by means of placards nailed to Barns”
is there really a falling steeple that’s being repaired or is it a metaphor? also, how is ” placards nailed to Barns” gonna help reapair the steeple, and why is mrs.swithin nailing placard on the barn all the time? what does that placard say?
3 – in this passage : ” the doors at the end
stood open, as they did to let the wagons in–the long low wagons, like ships of the sea, breasting the corn, not the sea, returning in the evening shagged with hay”
what does breasting mean? i guessed from the context that it meant “crossing” or “going through” but i didn’t find that meaning in the dictionary
and what does shagged mean? i guessed it meant “filled with” or “overloaded with” but the same as “breasting” i didn’t find that meaning, so could you asure me if i’m correct
4 – “Young men and women–Jim, Iris, David, Jessica–were even now busy with garlands of
red and white paper roses left over from the Coronation”
what coronation? is it a real coronation that took place? i dougt that, but what is it then, it’s not elabrotated on afterwards.
5 – “Old Flimsy” (Mrs. Swithin’s nickname) had been nailing another placard on
the Barn”
does she nailing them on the exterior of the barn above the door, or inside te barn because in my language i have to specify when translate it, the equivalent of “on” in my laguage would indicate the placard is being nailed outside of the barn, why does this matter anyway? it matters to me as a pro translator to get even the minute details right
6 – The old girl with a wisp of white hair flying, knobbed shoes as if she had claws corned like a
canary’s”
i asked chat gpt just to get the gist of this metaphor, even he didn’t know what it’s meant by this..
first, what are knobbed shoes? can someone please put a link in the comments of an image of these so i would get an idea,
second, what are “corned claws” and does canary have them really? i looked for corned, i found out that it means to preserve by salt and i still can’t imagine any relation between that and canary feet and old flimsy’s shabby shoes, maybe her shoes are so old that salt gathered on them?
7 – “and black stockings wrinkled over the ankles, naturally made David cock his eye and Jessica wink back, as she handed him a length of paper roses. Snobs they were; long enough stationed that is in that one corner of the world to have taken indelibly the print of some three hundred years of customary behaviour. So they laughed; but respected. If she wore pearls,
pearls they were”
so what is meant by “**snobs**” here? i think it’s a person who show utmost respect for the elites but they can’t be snobs then since they are laughing at mrs.swithin, also how can someone laugh at you while being respectful at the same time? that’s an impossibility right there, also, ” **if she wore pearls, pearls they were**” i didn’t get that
8- oh… tricked ya, there’s no eigth question, but in all seriousness though, i begin to like mrs.swithin, i don’t see why they’re making fun of her, she is blessed with a wild imagination and curiousity, also, i like the way she jumps from subject to another, i did that – on purpose – in some of my stories to drive my readers crazy and also to confuse them and to test their attention, i also like old bart, not the way he mocks and scorn his sister, but i liked him when he played that prank on little goerge and the way he got dissapointed when the boy started crying, it’s like, what else did you exepect would happen, also like the way how the author linkens him to his dog ” the old brute” ” he growled” and also love how she describes old people by ” girl ” or “boy” , it’s like when they get old they go back to their younger self, it’s correct in some aspects, because they become weaker again and maybe even naive, also care-free, i had a grandma that would say anything that occurs to her without giving a damn about anyone
anyway, the book is terrific, wait for the next part of this post series, bye
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by SaidNadir2021