媽媽，你料事如神，姜敏的媽真是個姨太太呀，而且是趕出門的姨太太。(楊絳 《洗澡》）

Mama, it's as if you had a crystal ball! Jiang Min's mother really is a concubine, and not only that, but a concubine who was sent away.

不理解，請教點評

My comments:

The crystal ball is a globe made of crystal or glass which supposedly allows the fortune teller to tell a person’s past fate and future fortunes.

This the fortune teller achieves by gazing into the glass.

A European tradition. Plus, it’s a superstition, not science.

Anyways, in our example, Mama somehow knew Min’s mother was a concubine, and that she was sent away. To the amazed daughter, it was as though she had a crystal ball.

Related stories:

a slap on the wrist

old timer

guilty pleasure

Pancake people

Go to the mat for somebody

Go to the balcony

Yes men

Call the shots

Carry the day

Asia pivot

credibility-sapping

tell-tale fingerprints

pluck a brand from the burning

for the sake of it

Go to Zhang Xin's column

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin（張欣） has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.