GR translation: rarely enough to matter

[Mike Jing]

Thanks, Monte and David.

On Sat, Jun 10, 2017 at 8:50 AM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>  I think "rarely enough to matter" has to do with "was Tchitcherine there at
> all."  It speaks of his presence, his consciousness, his experience.  Thus
> the following  list of sights and sounds. If he is not "there" they do not
> "matter."
>
> David Morris
>
> On Sat, Jun 10, 2017 at 6:24 AM Monte Davis <montedavis49 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> 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
>>
>>
>
-
Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l