Hawkes seems to have gotten "ignorant, literal-minded people" from the Gengchen (or another) manuscript, which uses the phrase 世間俗惡. The later print edition you are using has removed a good deal of wording in this paragraph. This unfortunately happens often.
I agree that "weak as though nursing an illness" is a term commonly applied to Lin Daiyu. You might compare this passage to a similar one in chapter 78.
Hawkes seems to have gotten "ignorant, literal-minded people" from the Gengchen (or another) manuscript, which uses the phrase 世間俗惡. The later print edition you are using has removed a good deal of wording in this paragraph. This unfortunately happens often.
I agree that "weak as though nursing an illness" is a term commonly applied to Lin Daiyu. You might compare this passage to a similar one in chapter 78.