La piedra lunar

[Perikles]

Desde sus primeras soledades de viuda elle entendió que aquella frase no escondía la amenaza mezquina que le había atribuido en su tiempo, sino la piedra lunar que les había proporcionado a ambos tantas horas felices (Márquez)

What on Earth, or Moon, does this mean?

(Aquella frase : "Recuerda siempre que lo más importante de un buen matrimonio no es la felicidad sino la estabilidad")

Thanks

[swr999]

I'll give it a try:

"From her first lonely moments as a widow she understood that the phrase did not hide the (petty) threat which she had at that time attributed to it, but rather [it hid] the moonstone [the key element?] that had provided so many happy hours for the two of them."

I take the basic meaning as: the phrase didn't hide a threat, but rather the key, to a successful marriage.

I'm unsure about how to best translate mezquina and piedra lunar in this context .

I look forward to seeing a good translation for this. Anyone?

[Rusty]

feciles = felices

[Don José]

elle = ella

Although I'm not a good translator, the translation by swr99 sounds good to me.

As far as I know, 'piedra lunar' means nothing but moonstone. As a metaphor, who knows? Assuming that this is a fragment from a novel, I would wonder if the writer is to explain it later on.

Out of curiosity: that Márquez is Gabriel García Márquez?

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by Don José

Out of curiosity: that Márquez is Gabriel García Márquez?

Yes, I've been annoying people here with it for some time, trying to understand his idiosyncratic style. I seldom know whether expressions like 'piedra lunar' are generally known, or simply GGM being clever, or trying to be clever.

[Don José]

I'll try to be clever too.

Piedra angular = cornerstone

I found in a dictionary that they can be used in the same ways both in English and Spanish, and 'cornerstone' could suit in the text. So: could he be using 'piedra lunar' as 'piedra angular'?

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by Don José

I'll try to be clever too.

Piedra angular = cornerstone

I found in a dictionary that they can be used in the same ways both in English and Spanish, and 'cornerstone' could suit in the text. So: could he be using 'piedra lunar' as 'piedra angular'?

That's an idea - thanks.

[aleCcowaN]

There were no translations asked, so I won't offer one.

I'm sure "piedra lunar" is something an educated person should recognize instantly, maybe a literary reference, but I'm not educated enough to spot the meaning -I'm resistant to read any fiction-. I don't know why but I think that "piedra lunar" may be the place where two loving souls have agreed to meet in case they got split up -what would make some sense as some widower is there-. It also might have a meaning related with "piedra de la luna" ("labradorita") a not too estimated semiprecious stone but a very hard one, what may have some symbolic meaning in a Victorian way, who knows?

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

For some superstitions (or esoteric theories, whatever) the moonstone is a gem related to Aphrodite, therefore to love.

@Alec: La novela de Wilkie Collins es más bien sobre el robo de una joya con un ópalo engarzado. Probablemente tenga una mínima referencia al simbolismo de la piedra con respecto al amor de la pareja protagonista, pero no es una componente principal en la historia.