Holding on to the day 攀住一个日子

[Lu]

I'm taking a course in literary translation Chinese to Dutch, and we've now moved on to a text by Shen Congwen. This is markedly more difficult for me, I read (and translate) almost exclusively contemporary literature and I think that's what's tripping me up here, I sometimes just plain don't understand what a sentence is doing.

 

So, I have a question. The context: It's evening in the border town, young girl Cuicui is sitting outside feeling melancholy. Then the sentence: 翠翠觉得好象缺少了什么。好象眼见到这个日子过去了，想在一件新的人事上攀住它，但不成。好象生活太平凡了，忍受不住。

 

I have this as (approximately, translated into English from my Dutch):

Cuicui felt that something seemed to be lacking [her]. As if now that this day was about to end, she wanted to hold on to it with something new that was happening, but didn't succeed [in holding on to the day]. As if her life was so plain that she couldn't bear it any longer.

 

But I'm having difficulties with that 想在一件新的人事上攀住它. I don't really understand how this sentence works. 攀住 means 'to grasp', but I'm not sure how to 攀住一个日子在什么东西上.

 

Can anyone help? Thanks in advance for any good advice!

[Mandarincave]

Pls see if below in 參考答案 16. can help.

 

https://m.ruiwen.com/wenxue/yuedudaan/376793.html

[Lu]

Thanks, that's an interesting resource! About this sentence, it says: 文中说，“想在一件新的人事上攀住”，就是指有所爱的人来填补自己的空虚和寂寞，实际上，翠翠此时所缺的就是爱情。 So that explains the underlying meaning, but if someone can help with the grammer and the meaning of the words on the surface, I would still be grateful!

[Publius]

On 11/10/2021 at 4:46 PM, Lu said:

but if someone can help with the grammer and the meaning of the words on the surface

I'm afraid that'll be an exercise in futility.

Quote

"Pǔtōnghuà is the standard form of Modern Chinese with the Beijing phonological system as its norm of pronunciation, and Northern dialects as its base dialect, and looking to exemplary modern works in báihuà 'vernacular literary language' for its grammatical norms."

These guys practically invented the modern grammar. A frequent question faced by highschool teachers is "鲁迅写得，为何我写不得？" The standard response is "Because you're not Lu Xun."

Maybe some words are regional, or maybe the author was experimenting. Who knows? At least I don't know.

Yet children are required to study this text. Isn't that a bit cruel and unusual?

[Lu]

On 11/10/2021 at 2:54 PM, Publius said:

Yet children are required to study this text. Isn't that a bit cruel and unusual?

Good thing I'm not a child ?  Thanks for your reply, at least I know it's not just me, it just really is difficult. But do you understand the sentence, and what is your take on what's going on with that 攀住?

[Publius]

On 11/11/2021 at 3:59 PM, Lu said:

what is your take on what's going on with that 攀住?

I take it to mean something like 系住、拴住. That still leaves us with a very awkward sentence, though I understand the general meaning is to 找到什么人什么事来把它留住. Does that help? I don't even know if it's the right interpretation.

[Lu]

Consensus in class was that this is indeed a difficult sentence, and the meaning is something along the lines of: This day/this life/times is suddenly over; Cuicui hoped that something would happen/someone would appear through which/whom one could stop time/anchor time. Life here is the same every day, something needs to happen, something beautiful, something important, something different, so that my life does not just pass me by.

 

Thanks for the help!