[General] An ambiguous sentence.

[litangjia]

I came across a sentence when reading a novel that reads,

"The town we lived in was a provincial one at that time, in the far north of the country, almost as far as it was possible to travel from Copenhagen and still have streets to walk along."

This is from a five-year-old girl recalling her hometown. It seems to me logically ambiguous, esp. with the last phrases "and still have streets to walk along".

Does it mean that,

a. the town is so remote that, when you reach where a train or a bus takes you as far as it can, you still have to walk along several streets to get to the town, or;

b. the house the speaker lived in is so far that when you reach the town from Copenhagen, you still have streets to walk along to get to the house?

Or is it to be understood otherwise?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[mayita1usa]

I came across a sentence when reading a novel that reads,

"The town we lived in was a provincial one at that time, in the far north of the country, almost as far as it was possible to travel from Copenhagen and still have streets to walk along."...

I believe the meaning is:

c. The town was so far away from 'civilization' (Copenhagen) that if you went any further, you would be in a part of the country where there were no streets at all to walk on, just dirt paths or tracks.

 

[Tdol]

I agree with Mayita1usa, but almost suggests that the streets did continue a little bit beyond the town, but then there'd be paths, etc.

 

[litangjia]

Thank both of you! Your answers are helpful!