GR translation: who was crossing the great Rio forever

[Ian Livingston]

Is the Rio a stand-in for the Styx?

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 5, 2022, at 2:40 PM, Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> The published translation is something like this:
> 
> At the time, the dealer was going to cross the Rio Grande, into the
> wasteland of Mexico, and never to return.
> 
> So the interpretation is that he was crossing the river for good, but I
> don't think that's the same as "crossing the river forever".
> 
> 
>> On Sun, Jun 5, 2022 at 4:30 PM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> I don't think so but......
>> 
>> On Sun, Jun 5, 2022 at 11:09 AM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> The published translation interpreted "forever" as "for good", but I
>>> don't think it's the same thing, is it?
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Sun, Jun 5, 2022 at 4:53 AM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Right or wrong, I have always read this line as about an archetypal faro
>>>> dealer....unlike
>>>> Whappo and Crutchfield he has no name, he is a constant type and his
>>>> type is one who
>>>> is always, has always, crossed the great Rio over and over. Forever.
>>>> 
>>>> On Sun, Jun 5, 2022 at 12:24 AM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> V69.10-13, P70.28-31   Whappo is wearing chaps of imported gazelle hide
>>>>> that Crutchfield bought for him in Eagle Pass from a faro dealer with a
>>>>> laudanum habit who was crossing the great Rio forever, into the blank
>>>>> furnace of the wild Mexico.
>>>>> 
>>>>> What does it mean for the faro dealer to be "crossing the great Rio
>>>>> forever"? Did he actually cross it, or was he forever in the process of
>>>>> crossing it?
>>>>> --
>>>>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>>>>> 
>>>> 
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l