[General] Sentence meaning — But in the end that presence amounted to no more than a cup ...

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sasibhaskar

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But in the end that presence amounted to no more than a cup spilled over a Paris dress after the anniversary ball given by the Governor of the Colony.

The above sentence is from a short story by Alejo Carpentier, can anyone give an explanation of what does it exactly mean? The 'presence' here is the presence of water, flood...
 
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Tarheel

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I worry about whether I understand it correctly, but it seems to me that the writer is saying it's nothing more than something spilled on somebody's dress--no big deal.
 

sasibhaskar

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Then the May rains came and overflowed the lake. And the old Negress who unhappily was a maroon and kept pigeons under her bed wandered through the patio, muttering to herself: "Never trust rivers, my girl; never trust anything green and flowing!" Not a day passed without water making its presence felt. But in the end that presence amounted to no more than a cup spilled over a Paris dress after the anniversary ball given by the Governor of the Colony.

Here is the full paragraph containing the sentence.
 
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Raymott

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Yes, it means what Tarheel said.
 
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