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Tue 16 Apr, 2013 11:37 pm
"Mitu was of the family of potters in the village. He was thin and wrinkled to the tautness of a threshing flail and bronzed deep red-brown from his hours sitting - legs extended - around a mound of clay while he pummelled and then caressed it into shape."
In this paragraph, what does "tautness of a threshing flail" mean? It seems that "wrinkled" means "soft" while "taut" means "tight". So I don't understand why the man is "wrinkled to the tautness".
@Justin Xu,
Justin Xu wrote:
It seems that "wrinkled" means "soft" while "taut" means "tight". So I don't understand why the man is "wrinkled to the tautness".
I agree, which means I can't help with your question at all.
To find out, you could have googled "threshing flail."
It is a farming tool, very thin and severe looking.
So he has no wrinkles, since that tool is very taunt (thin and straight, with no curves)
@PUNKEY,
But is says
Justin Xu wrote:
He was thin and wrinkled to the tautness of a threshing flail . . . .
You don't find that a scoshie bit contradictory?
@roger,
He was thin and wrinkled to the tautness of a threshing flail . . . .
Quote:You don't find that a scoshie bit contradictory?
Not at all, Rog. It equates to
He was wrinkled not at all/he was not at all wrinkled/he had not a wrinkle on his body/Nowhere on his skin was there a wrinkle/ ... .
Hey, you know Japanese!!