so i’ve been translating virginia woolf’s last novel before her death ” between the acts”, and i have to be honest, it’s not an easy read for an english learner as myself, i found some metaphors and some dialogue that i haven’t been able to grasp, so could you help me here…
here are my questions : ( note: those references are all found in the first three pages of the novel )
1- Then there was silence; and a cow coughed; and that led her to say how odd
it was, as a child, she had never feared cows, only horses” so here she said how odd it was and then delve in stream of thoughts? or did she told them her childhood fears as well?
2 – It was a daylight bird, chuckling over
the substance and succulence of the day, over worms, snails, grit, even in
sleep” so here they are talking at night when she hears a daylight bird, so is ” even in sleep” a metaphor or is it literally because the bird is a daylight, it should have been asleep at that night
3-, she rose; paused; and then, as if she had heard the last strain die out, offered Mrs. Giles Oliver her hand.
But Isa, though she should have risen at the same moment that Mrs. Haines
rose, sat on. Mrs. Haines glared at her out of goose-like eyes, gobbling,
“Please, Mrs. Giles Oliver, do me the kindness to recognize my existence. . .
.” which she was forced to do, rising at last from her chair. ” here i didn’t get what’s happening, why did mrs.haines offered her hand to mrsoliver and what’s with her wierd words?
4 – pointz hall was a whitish house with the grey roof, and the
wing thrown out at right angles, lying unfortunately low on the meadow
with a fringe of trees on the bank above it” so this means that thier house location is on the meadow meaning plain lands.
then we read…
5 – ” she said: “Why, Bart, did they build the house in the hollow, facing north?”
Her brother said, “Obviously to escape from nature. Weren’t four
horses needed to drag the family coach through the mud?”
from my understannding a ” hollow” is a valley between two mountains, does it have another georgraphical meaning?
and her brother response is maddening, what does a coach pulled by horses have to do with the location of their house anyways?
by SaidNadir2021
1 Comment
1. I think she told them about her childhood fears
2. the bird is actually asleep, and making a sort of chuckling noise in its sleep
3. Mrs. H offering her hand to Mrs. GO is a signal for Mrs. GO to take her hand and stand up, but Mrs. GO is ignoring her until Mrs. H insists.
4. and 5. The meadow is a grassy area, but probably in a generally hilly area. The house is sort of nestled down between some hills, and because the water drains down into that area, it’s muddy (which is why when they moved in, as Bart tells us, they got stuck in the mud). And the house probably has a lousy view – not only is it in between hills, but the front of the house is perpetually in the shadow of the actual house because it faces north.