"Shen-laoshi is an intellectual who believes in atheism. I'm sure you don't believe in ghosts, do you?"
It’s a bit different in my version, and I don’t know whether it actually changed in the copy the translators were looking at or if the differences are just translation choices: “沈教授是高知，讲究唯物主义，肯定不相信这种鬼东西吧？”
“Professor [jiaoshou, not laoshi, mind you] Shen is a high-level intellectual, particular about the belief that the physical world can explain everything [aka materialism]. Surely you don’t believe this kind of ghost story?”
And then I have to note that 鬼东西, which we have either translated as “ghosts” or “ghost story,” literally means “ghost things” and has the colloquial meaning of “this goddamn thing” or “this shit.” You’d call something a 鬼东西 if you were really unhappy with it and/or confused by it. So by another interpretation Zhao Yunlan is saying, “Surely you don’t believe these laughably strange beliefs?”
Ooh, so Da Qing’s comment in the original is: “我只是觉得那个沈教授有些不对劲，说不出是哪不对，但靠近他让我觉得非常舒服。”
which I interpreted as: “I only thought this Prof Shen felt a little suspicious, and I couldn’t say how, but after getting close to him I felt very comfortable.”
with the implication of “I was ONLY getting close to him to investigate him, but then his arms were so comfy…”
but the official translation makes slightly more sense.
no subject
It’s a bit different in my version, and I don’t know whether it actually changed in the copy the translators were looking at or if the differences are just translation choices: “沈教授是高知，讲究唯物主义，肯定不相信这种鬼东西吧？”
“Professor [jiaoshou, not laoshi, mind you] Shen is a high-level intellectual, particular about the belief that the physical world can explain everything [aka materialism]. Surely you don’t believe this kind of ghost story?”
And then I have to note that 鬼东西, which we have either translated as “ghosts” or “ghost story,” literally means “ghost things” and has the colloquial meaning of “this goddamn thing” or “this shit.” You’d call something a 鬼东西 if you were really unhappy with it and/or confused by it. So by another interpretation Zhao Yunlan is saying, “Surely you don’t believe these laughably strange beliefs?”
Ooh, so Da Qing’s comment in the original is: “我只是觉得那个沈教授有些不对劲，说不出是哪不对，但靠近他让我觉得非常舒服。”
which I interpreted as: “I only thought this Prof Shen felt a little suspicious, and I couldn’t say how, but after getting close to him I felt very comfortable.”
with the implication of “I was ONLY getting close to him to investigate him, but then his arms were so comfy…”
but the official translation makes slightly more sense.