Which does ‘there’ refer to, in the bazaar or in the nearest village?

[Kyaw Thura]

The man went to the nearest village and there in the bazaar he found various kinds of meat and fish.

[rdearman]

The man went to the nearest village and there in the bazaar he found various kinds of meat and fish.

the bazaar

[Adrianslont]

The man went to the nearest village and there in the bazaar he found various kinds of meat and fish.

the bazaar

I’m not being funny - I’m pretty sure it is referring to the village. And “in the bazaar” is an elaboration, adding some precision. I think it needs commas before and after “in the bazaar”.

[Cainntear]

The man went to the nearest village and there in the bazaar he found various kinds of meat and fish.

the bazaar

I’m not being funny - I’m pretty sure it is referring to the village. And “in the bazaar” is an elaboration, adding some precision. I think it needs commas before and after “in the bazaar”.

If it had commas you would be right. However, this looks like a slightly archaic turn of phrase -- think "here in my arms".

Where did the original sentence come from? What is the context?

[Adrianslont]

The man went to the nearest village and there in the bazaar he found various kinds of meat and fish.

the bazaar

I’m not being funny - I’m pretty sure it is referring to the village. And “in the bazaar” is an elaboration, adding some precision. I think it needs commas before and after “in the bazaar”.

If it had commas you would be right. However, this looks like a slightly archaic turn of phrase -- think "here in my arms".

Where did the original sentence come from? What is the context?

Fair enough.

Lacking in punctuation or slightly archaic source? We will probably never be sure of the author’s intentions. However, a quick google took me to similar enquiries on stackechange with Myanmar origins and to a Facebook page with Myanmar origins. And I note OP has Myanmar origins. This leads me to think slightly archaic might be on the right track. I can hear the very formal old school English of two Burmese acquaintances of mine as I think about this.

OP, can you enlighten us in the origin of this?

[Iversen]

The village is apparently known to the man, and he knows that there is a bazaar there (or maybe he just assumes that any decent village has got a bazaar). As I see it "there" refers to the village because the movement goes to the village, and in that village the man locates the bazaar and buys some meat and fish from one of the merchants there.

NB: I just used "there" with a reference to somewhere inside the bazaar (using a merchant as a pinpoint), but in the original sentence there is no reference whatsoever to places inside the bazaar - It is treated as a black box, so if you had to refer to a place in it you would use some kind of indefinite locative word like "somewhere": "The man went to the nearest village and somewhere in the bazaar he bought various kinds of meat and fish". Here "somewhere" definitely refers to the innards of the bazaar. I can't see that "there" in the original sentence does that, but you could make this point even clearer by moving "there": "The man went to the nearest village and in the bazaar there he found various kinds of meat and fish".

I don't see the need for commas: after all the man could also have bought his meat and fish in a supermarket (if there is one in the village), so by using commas you would be indicating in a fairly demonstrative way that the man of course did his shopping in the bazaar, and that the reader really ought to have been able to figure that out without your help.

[Adrianslont]

It seems this has taunted students in Myanmar for some years. It’s all over parts of the internet where students are preparing for their English exams. I imagine there will always be unhappy students who justifiably will feel they have been unjustifiably marked wrong for this question, frustrated teachers besieged by their students arguing their case and other parties such as us trying to get to the bottom of things.

Some comments: we only have one sentence so we are missing the context of the story this is from. I have found the story and will include below. I don’t know if it was especially written pedagogical material, a traditional story or a more modern story. Note, that in the story, the “man” is referred to as the “Medico”. Context usually helps but I think it’s still not possible to give a definitive answer to OP’s question.

Iversen, I didn’t think we can assume the man knows the village. That would make sense if he lived in the area but not necessarily if he was passing through the area. The original story indeed says he was passing through. Interestingly, he didn’t even buy any bloody meat and fish! Not from a specific vendor or supermarket even! Nevertheless he did look “there”, wherever there may be.

This is the second old chestnut from south east Asia I’ve got caught up in in the last couple of months. I’m bowing out now, I think, though I will keep my eye open for any flashes of insight. FYI and some context:

TOO MUCH KNOWLEDGE MAKETH FOOLS
Once upon a time, there were four youths studying under the famous professor Disaparmauk of Taxila. They all came of rich families from different lands. Each followed his natural bent and specialized in different branches of study. One studied music and dancing, another studied medicine, another studied astrology; and the fourth, philosophy.

After studying for three years they were considered proficient in their respective subjects, and the time came to say good-bye to their professor and return to their respective parents. As a parting gift the professor gave them a cooking pot, as well as some grain, in order that they would have something to cook and eat should their dry rations run out before they reached home.

Then, as his final gift to his students, the professor gave them a piece of advice. “Remember,” he said to them, “the four of you may be proficient, each in your own subject, but if you don’t have the sense to act suitably to the time and circumstance of a situation, you may have to go hungry.” Not quite comprehending what the great teacher meant, they looked at one another, but said nothing, and after paying their respects to their professor, set forth on their journey home.

After travelling for a number of days their dry rations ran out and the pot and the grain given to them by the professor came in very useful indeed. “How thoughtful our great-teacher is!” they felt and got down to the business of cooking themselves a meal. There was rice enough for all four of them all right, but they would have to do something about the curry. So they drew lots, for the different tasks to be carried out in order to get a decent meal.

Thus, the man of music and dancing was to cook the rice. The medico was to buy meat and fish; the astrologer was to gather vegetables; and the philosopher was to get some ghee (which is clarified butter) to cook the curry in. And thus each set out to do his task.

The medico went to the nearest village and there in the bazaar he found various kinds of meat and fish. He looked around for some time and found that nothing suited him. His medical knowledge now seemed to warn him which meat or fish was indigestible, which not nutritious, which unseasonable, which would cause what disease, which would upset the stomach and which the bile, till finally he left without buying any meat or fish!

The philosopher, however, got the required ghee, which he packed in a green leaf, and retraced his steps. On the way he soon became lost in philosophical speculations. “Ghee”, he said to himself, “comes from cow’s milk. Cows eat grass, and yes, leaves, too. Ah then, in a way, ghee comes from cow’s milk and cow’s milk comes from leaves, and so the ghee and the leaf are related!” On and on he philosophized, quite happily unaware of the ghee in the leaf in his hand melting gradually and dripping.

By the time he met the medico, who was coming back empty-handed from the village market, there was nothing left of the ghee he had bought! He, too, was now empty- handed. The two of them looked at each other, not knowing whether to smile or weep and each recounted to the other what had happened to him, as they walked back to-where the man of music’ and dancing was supposed to be cooking the rice. But there, to their horror, they found their friend looking as disconsolate as ever, moping beside a broken pot with the rice strewn all over the fire-place.

“Soon after the three of you left,” wailed the cook, “I built a fire, rinsed the rice, put it in the pot, added the required amount of water, and placed the pot on the fire. After some time, the pot began to simmer, and then it started to boil. I watched and could not help but hear the bubbling noise of the boiling rice. To my ears it sounded so much like the rhythmic beats of music coming from a drum that I started dancing to it’. And,…and,…”

“And what happened?" asked his two friends. "And," continued the cook "one backward kick of my right heel caught the pot. And there, as you can see, is the end of our rice!"

The other two, who had come back empty-handed, now found it quite easy to admit to the cook that they, too, had failed to accomplish what they had set out to do. Suddenly, they remembered their astrologer friend, who was to get some vegetables. Off they went to look for him in the forest, and there atop a tall bael tree was their friend, sitting tight.

Before they could say anything, the astrologer called out to them "Hey, I’ve got all the tender bael leaves that should go well with our meal. See!” he said, holding up the leaves he had plucked. "Then why are you still there astride that branch? What are you staying on there for?"

"Ah," replied the astrologer, “the climbing up was easy because at that moment I was under the influence of an ascending constellation. But now, the climbing down is quite a different matter. You see, the stars are not just right as yet and I am waiting for the moment when I’ll be under the influence of a descending constellation.”

"Oh, to hell with your stars and constellations!” the three on the ground yelled, almost in unison. "Just come you down!"

The poor astrologer was frightened out of his wits. He started to climb down —slowly, shakily. But he was trembling so much that he half-slipped and half-fell, and lay in a stunned heap on the ground. His three friends lifted him up and all he had were bruises and cuts. No tender bael leaves!

Now with no meal in sight, each began to realize how and why he had failed in carrying out his lot. Then, slowly, the wisdom of the parting advice given to them by their great teacher dawned upon them.

"Remember, the four of you may be proficient, each in your own subject, but if you don’t have the sense to act suitably to the time and circumstance of a situation, you may have to go hungry."

[Iversen]

I think we can assume that the medico knew that some village would be the nearest one, which explains the definite article. The only problem was to find it (and to find some suitable transportation) - and of course to be able to take a decision. I'll remember this nice little fable the next time I visit a market or bazaar and leave without having bought anything.

[Ani]

Why does there have to refer to one thing? The bazaar is in the village. The are overlapping spaces.

[Iversen]

There are cases where "where" doesn't refer to a location - like when it is used as a dummy pronoun (as in this sentence). But in the sample sentence it definitely referred to a village somewhere (rather than to a place inside a place inside that village).

And now that I have written this I have come to think that the first "there" actually may refer to somewhere in a virtual world built of words where you can find cases...

OK, enough philosophy