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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Vocabulary

Clay cutting

Hello,

In the book "Parrot and Olivier in America" by Peter Carey that I am translating, the two main characters Parrot and Oliver are in a "Hitheren Wharf" and they are ready to board a ship (steamer).

"When we were finally above the wharf, I looked hard at John Larrit (Parrot)... We were by now descending a clay cutting to where the Zeus lay moored in a stench of mist and fish and coal."

Could you help me, please, how shall I imagine the "clay cutting". Was it a kind of tunnel?

Thank you for your help.
  

Top answer

A sort of roofless tunnel, you could say. The bank is steep, and in order to reach the wharf a sort of graduated V-shaped inclined path has been cut through the clay bank. Here's one:

— Mister Micawber

  • A sort of roofless tunnel, you could say.
  • The bank is steep, and in order to reach the wharf a sort of graduated V-shaped inclined path has been cut through the clay bank.
  • Here's one:
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1 Answers
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A sort of roofless tunnel, you could say. The bank is steep, and in order to reach the wharf a sort of graduated V-shaped inclined path has been cut through the clay bank.

Here's one:

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