In the Geng-Chen edition what she said was 「你請我一請兒」, which sounds similar to modern Mandarin. The「兒」 at the end is likely the common phonological phenomenon "erhua", also common in Nanjing dialect (https://grokipedia.com/page/Erhua).
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"揉搓 means to torment or torture"
In this context maybe it's better to understand it as a playful pestering? In the Geng-Chen edition what Baoyu did was 「便猴向鳳姐身上」, which I like a lot. Think a kid (Baoyu was around 12yo here) shaking the arm of an older sibling while rubbing a bit, when they beg for something. I asked ChatGPT what would be a fitting translation and it gave me "pawing at someone".
Thanks! Yes, I think 你請我一請兒 makes a lot more sense. I'm not sure what the manuscripts look like for that particular sentence - I'll get to those eventually (probably in a few years at this rate, haha).
I think that 揉搓 in this context is almost certainly playful pestering or rough housing.
"你請我請兒 is kind of an odd phrase to understand."
In the Geng-Chen edition what she said was 「你請我一請兒」, which sounds similar to modern Mandarin. The「兒」 at the end is likely the common phonological phenomenon "erhua", also common in Nanjing dialect (https://grokipedia.com/page/Erhua).
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"揉搓 means to torment or torture"
In this context maybe it's better to understand it as a playful pestering? In the Geng-Chen edition what Baoyu did was 「便猴向鳳姐身上」, which I like a lot. Think a kid (Baoyu was around 12yo here) shaking the arm of an older sibling while rubbing a bit, when they beg for something. I asked ChatGPT what would be a fitting translation and it gave me "pawing at someone".
Thanks! Yes, I think 你請我一請兒 makes a lot more sense. I'm not sure what the manuscripts look like for that particular sentence - I'll get to those eventually (probably in a few years at this rate, haha).
I think that 揉搓 in this context is almost certainly playful pestering or rough housing.
I'm not certain this is the legit scanning of 《脂硯齋重評石頭記》but it seems to be 「你請我一請」(without 「兒」) on page 300 (https://archive.org/details/1_20201215_20201215_1626/%E8%84%82%E7%A0%9A%E6%96%8B%E9%87%8D%E8%AF%84%E7%9F%B3%E5%A4%B4%E8%AE%B0%E5%BA%9A%E8%BE%B0%E6%9C%AC%EF%BC%88%E5%AD%98%E4%B8%83%E5%8D%81%E5%85%AB%E5%9B%9E%EF%BC%89/page/n299/mode/2up), which sounds more natural to me, a northerner.
Thanks! I'm not sure if this is a legit scan of the original manuscript either, but I've got it in my collection of original documents...
Sorry meant to comment but replied to your email instead