(urth) Editor in China requesting help with translation

[Jerry Friedman]

On Tuesday, December 17, 2013 10:25 AM, Lee <severiansola at hotmail.com> wrote:

>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.
>
>IIRC, the "she" is Thecla speaking to Severian while imprisoned. I can't 
>see why she would beg for pardon for saying he wasn't yet pale enough.
>
>Thecla struggled between dismissing Severian as a boy toy and truly caring
>about him. So I am with the majority in thinking the "blue" refers to beard
>shadow and this is an example in which she fears she had implied he was not 
>yet a man and hopes to make up for it.


I agree completely.  As a prisoner, she has nothing to think about all day but
whether she has offended her boy lover, who she hopes will be helpful to her.

>>confirm the outcome of a love affair by putting the elector of one suit atop
>> the patroness of another
>
>My first thought on seeing the word "suit" in the context of a love affair
>is the idea of seeking a hand in marriage, as in "suitor".
>
>Perhaps it is a bit of that, but I prefer the primary meaning as interpreted
>by Gwern as tarot card reading as it relates both to putting a suit upon a suit 
>and confirming a love affair outcome through fortune telling.                           


I agree again, except that the cards don't have to be Tarot cards.  You can tell
fortunes with regular cards, too, as Carmen does in the opera.  So the suits are
spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs, or swords, cups, coins, and wands, or whatever
they are in the Commonwealth.  (Is it strange that Wolfe doesn't make up suits for
us--rockets and chips, for instance?)  Elector and patroness are two ranks.  Does
Severian know anything about kings and queens?

Jerry Friedman