Volitional form + かと


> それから、少し手足を伸ば **そうかと** 、道路のむかい側にあるパン屋まで歩いて買物に行くことにした。  
>  After that he stretched out a little and decided to go to the bread shop on
> the opposite side of the street.

First of all I'm not sure if he stretches and then goes shopping or whether he
uses the walk to the bread shop as a means of stretching.

Regarding 伸ばそうかと I'm assuming we have a volitional form + か + と. My first
inclination was to treat と as the conditional and get "Upon stretching he went
shopping". But that leaves no place for the volitional or the か. This has to
be wrong.

My second guess is that this is an abbreviation of 手足を伸ばそうかと思って "he thought he
would stretch out and _go shopping_ ". But I still don't understand the
purpose of か. Why is there any element of questioning in this?




You are right in thinking そうかと is そうかと思って.

The relevant meanings of か are [the
following](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E3%81%8B/#jn-34861)

> ４ 勧誘・依頼の意を表す。「そろそろ行こう―」「手伝っていただけません―」
>
> ７ 引用した句の意味やある事実を確かめ、自分自身に言い聞かせる意を表す。「急がば回れ―」「そろそろ寝るとする―」

The particular instance can be understood as inviting oneself to stretch out,
so 少し手足を伸ばそうかと would literally mean _thinking 'let's stretch out a little'_.

A few examples:

  * 話題の新作を見ようと映画館に行った With the intention of watching the new film, I went to the theater.
  * 残り物を食べようと冷蔵庫を開けた Trying to finish off the leftovers, I opened the fridge.

* * *

So it should be counted as another mistranslation.

  * [誤訳・珍訳 日本語版ハリー・ポッターの不思議 Wiki](https://wikiwiki.jp/harrypotter/)

I've read neither the original nor the translation, but heard that Harry
Potter was originally very minor, the huge success was not expected, and
(accordingly) the translation is not of great quality.




You are right in thinking そうかと is そうかと思って.

The relevant meanings of か are [the
following](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E3%81%8B/#jn-34861)

> ４ 勧誘・依頼の意を表す。「そろそろ行こう―」「手伝っていただけません―」
>
> ７ 引用した句の意味やある事実を確かめ、自分自身に言い聞かせる意を表す。「急がば回れ―」「そろそろ寝るとする―」

The particular instance can be understood as inviting oneself to stretch out,
so 少し手足を伸ばそうかと would literally mean _thinking 'let's stretch out a little'_.

A few examples:

  * 話題の新作を見ようと映画館に行った With the intention of watching the new film, I went to the theater.
  * 残り物を食べようと冷蔵庫を開けた Trying to finish off the leftovers, I opened the fridge.

* * *

So it should be counted as another mistranslation.

  * [誤訳・珍訳 日本語版ハリー・ポッターの不思議 Wiki](https://wikiwiki.jp/harrypotter/)

I've read neither the original nor the translation, but heard that Harry
Potter was originally very minor, the huge success was not expected, and
(accordingly) the translation is not of great quality.

