 | Reading |
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Hello..........I am experiencing difficulty with the first sentence of a short story in Greek that I want to read. Actually, I have read about half of it, having skipped the hard parts. But I would like to face up to the challenge they offer. Maybe some kind person would help me. I copy out the sentence here, with the notation that it is the part in bold letters that is bothering me. Τη δεύτερη μέρα στα ρείθρα της λαχαναγοράς δεν βρήκε παρά κάτι ρόδια, αλλά κι αυτά τόσο χτυπημένα και στα όρια πια της σαπίλασ, που κανονικά θα πρεπε να τα είχε προσφεράσει. This is my feeble attempt at translation: On the second day all she found in the gutters of the vegetable market were some pomegranates, but even these (were) so beaten up and so rotten at the edges that normally she would give them away. the most confusing part of this is the word πια. Is it a misspelling for poia? Or does it actually mean never more or not nay more? Thanks in advance for whatever help you can offer. Blake More |
| Re: Reading |
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No, πια is not a misspelling of ποια, it's an adverb which means "at last, finally" or when used negatively means "no longer, no more": και στα όρια πια της σαπίλας = and at the point of rottenness (lit., at the limits finally of decay). By the way, the verbform is spelled προσπεράσει (from προσπερνώ, I leave behind, pass up): ... που κανονικά θα έπρεπε να τα είχε προσπεράσει. = ... which normally she would have had to pass up. Regards, Greg Brush |
