put down four and carry ..怎麼解釋

Question

Charles Dickens 的The Magic Fishbone有一段:

And then she put the wounded Prince's hand in a basin of fresh cold water, while they stared with their twice seventeen are thirty-four put down four and carry three eyes.

請問以黃色襯底的部分應如何解釋?謝謝大家一起腦力激盪.

Update:

這堂課我已經上完了,沒有人回答有點小落寞...

我把它解釋成:34隻眼睛當中,有兩雙眼睛是不敢看的,還有三個小公主小王子是半遮半掩(只敢睜開一隻眼睛看).

不知道有沒有更好的詮釋呢?

Update 2:

they stared with their twice seventeen are thirty-four 這是一個段落

Answer 1

Favorite Answer

這句英文，讀來不通順。我不知確切意思。我的推測:

put down four and carry three eyes.

34 put down (drop, 棄) 4 只取(carry) 30. 30 有人說3(O)，eye 是圓的，30說是3 eyes也不無可能。有人喜歡用俏皮的方式表達。

2010-01-31 14:28:13 補充：

我讀了這句的前後語，該是這樣

their twice seventeen are thirty-four put down four and carry three eyes.

他們的2乘17等於34,放下4進3(34)隻眼睛

twice seventeen are thirty-four 和put down four and carry three都是算術用語

Answer 2

妳們不是在United

States上小學的話　大慨就會不知道了。這就是一般數學老師教的乘法口訣：

2 x 17 = 34

Twice 17 are 34, put down 4 and carry 3

就是　二乘以十七是三十四，寫四進三。

再說eyes:

… while they stared with their (twice seventeen are

thirty-four, put down four and carry three) eyes. 就是

… while they stared with their 34 eyes.

就是:

Dickens 是以兒童的語氣　來描述這個緊張的場面。