I’m readinga novel about a nurse and i came upon this sentence:
まるでゆりかごに揺られるかのように 、 ゆっくりと 、その意識は傾いては元の位置へと戻る 。
This part bugs me:
意識は傾いて
I don’t really understand or i’m not sure how to understand it:
For context i will give you the precedent sentence to better understand it:
自分の身体すらも認識することのできない 、 心地良い浮遊感 。 まるで ゆりかごに揺られるかのように 、 ゆっくりと 、 その意識は傾いては元の位置へと戻る 。
if i translate it literally it 意識 means consciousness and 傾いて means leaning towards, so how should i understand “意識は傾いて”: not being able to concentrate oneself/focus on something or being interested in something or am i completly wrong? Because by reading the precdent phrase i would by context think that not being able to focus seems to be correct, but i’m not sure. If anyone can help or guide me, that would be great!
Can’t be sure without more context, but I think その意識 refers to the 心地良い浮遊感 mentioned in the previous sentence. So essentially the character’s consciousness sways back and forth like a cradle. Just my guess though.
Thank you very much for your help,
Actually it’s a fantastic novel about a clumsy, unsuccessful nurse who uses “black magic” to heal their patient after forming a pact with a spirit. As compensation the spirit get to control her body more and more each time she uses magic. The story really starts there.
I exactly thought the same thing as you but as i was not sure as some japanese expressions can be difficult to comprehend for non natives and/or have a completly different meaning. I also found some examples sentences but these did not help me very much, that’s why i asked here on the forum, i prefer to be sure before learning something. If any other japanese learner or a japanese person can help and/or confirm what we are thinking, that would be great.
Update, so we were all right, I got to ask a native outside of lingq and got an answer: As raro28 wrote, 意識は傾いて means that [a state of mind] “leans” towards something, someone or another state of mind, so essentially it means not being able to focus, because the conscious “leans” towards something other than it should focus on. So what amop567 wrote is also correct. In short the character’s consciousness, which isn’t focused on what it should be focused, sways back and forth like a cradle, that’s essentially the idea behind the sentence. Thank you all for your help!