GR translation: rarely enough to matter

[Monte Davis]

I get half a meaning: that the sound of the droshky is not so common as to
be lost in urban background noise. But in what way might it "matter"? The
context suggests it might be coming, ominously, for him, but that's pure
guesswork.

On Sat, Jun 10, 2017 at 4:11 AM, Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
wrote:

> V345.21-28, P350.25-33   What did Tchitcherine have to say? Was
> Tchitcherine there at all? sitting back in the dingy room while the
> lift cables slapped and creaked through the walls, and down in the
> street, rarely enough to matter, a droshky rattled whip-snapping over
> these black old cobbles? Or while snow beat at the grimy windows? How
> far, in the eyes of those who would send him to Central Asia, was too
> far: would his simple presence in these rooms have gotten him death
> automatically . . . or was there still, even at this stage of things,
> enough slack to let him reply?
>
> What does "rarely enough to matter" mean?
> -
> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>
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