AtD translation: though to what pleasures given posed a question far too dangerous

[Mike Jing]

Thanks, Mark and Monte.

On Thu, Feb 15, 2018 at 9:55 AM, Monte Davis <montedavis49 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Odalisques were imagined as "given to" (accustomed to, fond of, trained
> for) pleasures. The inversion "to what pleasures given" is poetic diction
> common in English poetry (or ornate prose) of the 16th-19th centuries,
> faintly archaic in this context. "Far too dangerous": in parallel with the
> other descriptions -- we're not even sure if that's a face, or human --
> what awful activities might give it pleasure?
>
> On Thu, Feb 15, 2018 at 7:56 AM, Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> P141.24-32   “More like due diligence,” replied Dr. Counterfly, “and a
>> respect for probabilities.” He gestured toward the image transmitted by the
>> prisms of the instrument, which had been growing steadily clearer, like a
>> fateful dawn none await with any eagerness. Too soon we discovered that we
>> could not look away. Though details were still difficult to make out, the
>> Figure appeared to recline on its side, an odalisque of the snows—though to
>> what pleasures given posed a question far too dangerous—with as little
>> agreement among us as to its “facial” features, some describing them as
>> “Mongoloid,” others as “serpent-like.”
>>
>> What does "to what pleasures given" mean?
>>
>>
>
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