(urth) Editor in China requesting help with translation of certain sentences in BotNS

[Fred Kiesche]

Given the sentence it is used in, I thought "bluer in cheek" was pretty
much saying "heavier beard".


On Mon, Dec 16, 2013 at 3:54 PM, Antonin Scriabin
<kierkegaurdian at gmail.com>wrote:

> Well, "bluer of cheek" is a variation on the term "blue-blood", of course
> a reference to nobility ... you could see the surface veins of those who,
> because of their stature in society, had very pale skin (they didn't have
> to work outside at physical labor, thus acquiring a tan).
>
> In Solitaire, a black (or red) Jack is placed "on top" of a Queen of the
> opposite color (and a different suit, necessarily) ... so perhaps the
> "elector" is the Jack and the "patroness" is the Queen?
>
> "Theocenter" might simply mean "godhead", or a reference to the oneness
> and simplicity thereof, as the root of all existence, in a Judeo-Christian
> sense.  But don't quote me.
>
> Not sure about the other one, I'll have to page through my copy at home to
> get the full context.
>
>
> On Mon, Dec 16, 2013 at 2:58 PM, Daniel Otto Jack Petersen <
> danielottojackpetersen at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Got this alert from the Goodreads Gene Wolfe group:
>>
>>
>> https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1614149-help-some-details-in-the-shadow?utm_medium=email&utm_source=comment_instant#comment_88705259
>>
>> "I am a SF editor & Wolfe fan in China, and we are trying to publish The
>> Book of New Sun in Chinese. I've done a lot of work in reading and
>> translation , yet there are still some sentences I can't understand. Hope I
>> can get some help here.
>>
>> THE HOUSE AZURE
>> While I was undressing I said, “Nevertheless, we all seek to discover
>> what is real. Why is it? Perhaps we are drawn to the theocenter. That’s
>> what the hierophants say,that only that is true.”
>>
>> what does "theocenter" mean? I can't find this word in dictionary nor can
>> I google it. and what does the whole sentence mean?
>> --------------------------------------------
>> THE LAST YEAR
>> I carried them to her, and she said my beard had shot up like them, and I
>> should be bluer of cheek than the run of common men, and the next day
>> begged my pardon for it, saying I was that already.
>>
>> what does "bluer of cheek"and " run of common men" mean here?
>> -----------------------------------------
>> DORCAS
>> “Your pardon, sieur,” he said. “But I can’t come no nearer. Wet she may
>> be, but she gets too dry for me, or you couldn’t walk upon it.
>>
>> Does "she" refer to the boat or Cas' body? what does the sentence mean?
>>
>> ------------------------------------------
>> THE PLAY
>> confirm the outcome of a love affair by putting the elector of one suit
>> atop the patroness of another
>>
>> If the word suit refer to the some card game, then what does "elector"and
>> "patroness"mean?"
>>
>> --
>> Daniel Otto Jack Petersen
>>
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>
>
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-- 
F.P. Kiesche III

Husband, Father, Good Cook. Reader. Keeper of abandoned dogs. Catholic
Liberal Conservative Militarist. Does not fit into a neat box or category.
"Ah Mr. Gibbon, another damned, fat, square book. Always, scribble,
scribble, scribble, eh?" (The Duke of Gloucester, on being presented with
Volume 2 of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.) Blogging at Bernal
Alpha. On Twitter as @FredKiesche
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