Meaning of 幼くして and 醒めている


> しかし、 **幼くして** 彼女はどこか **醒めている**
> ところがあり、真里亞が上機嫌に魔法のことを語るのを聞きながら、そんなものが本当にあるわけがないとも思っていた。

Why is it 幼くして, not 幼い彼女は・・・ ? What about 醒める here ?




I'll talk about 「醒{さ}めている」 first. In this context, it means " ** _(very)
realistic_** " or "level-headed". The little girl is not dreamy as one might
tend to expect.

Moving on to 「幼{おさな}くして」...

It means " ** _at a tender/early age_** " or more plainly, "for her age" in
this context. I tried to explain the nuance of 「～～にして」 here:

[Difference between 六歳にして and
六歳で](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/53725/difference-
between-%e5%85%ad%e6%ad%b3%e3%81%ab%e3%81%97%e3%81%a6-and-%e5%85%ad%e6%ad%b3%e3%81%a7)

> Why is it 幼くして, not 幼い彼女は・・・ ?

Because the author wants to imply that it is rather rare for such a young girl
to be 醒めている.

If one used 「幼い彼女は」, it would make it sound as if it were quite normal for
very young girls to be 醒めている.




I'll talk about 「醒{さ}めている」 first. In this context, it means " ** _(very)
realistic_** " or "level-headed". The little girl is not dreamy as one might
tend to expect.

Moving on to 「幼{おさな}くして」...

It means " ** _at a tender/early age_** " or more plainly, "for her age" in
this context. I tried to explain the nuance of 「～～にして」 here:

[Difference between 六歳にして and
六歳で](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/53725/difference-
between-%e5%85%ad%e6%ad%b3%e3%81%ab%e3%81%97%e3%81%a6-and-%e5%85%ad%e6%ad%b3%e3%81%a7)

> Why is it 幼くして, not 幼い彼女は・・・ ?

Because the author wants to imply that it is rather rare for such a young girl
to be 醒めている.

If one used 「幼い彼女は」, it would make it sound as if it were quite normal for
very young girls to be 醒めている.

