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Consider

> もうそんな寒さかと島村は外を眺めると、鉄道の官舎らしいバラックが山裾に寒々と 散らばっているだけで、 **雪の色はそこまで行かぬうちに**
> 闇に呑まれていた。

which apparently means

> When Shimamura gazed outside, thinking it had already gotten cold, railroad
> residence-like barracks were desolately dispersed at the foot of the
> mountains, and before the snow hues could reach that far, the barracks were
> swallowed by darkness.

I'm having trouble parsing "雪の色はそこまで行かぬうちに". What does うち mean in this
context, and how is it being used with the 連体形 before it to form the meaning
of "before the snow hues could reach that far"?
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question
translation reading-comprehension
Understanding "雪の色はそこまで行かぬうちに"
雪の色はそこまで行かぬうちに has the same structure as 花子が学校に着かないうちに = _before Hanako
reaches the school_. Thus it means _before the color of snow goes that far_.

I think it is a matter of interpretation, but the part resonates with the
beginning

> 国境の長いトンネルを抜けると雪国であった。夜の底が白くなった。

So it is late in the evening, and the scenery Shimamura is seeing is colored
white at bottom. He sees barracks in the distance, but the color of snow is
already gone around/before there. (This may sound not logical, but I don't
think it's surprising in Kawabata's writings.)

* * *

The translator takes the subject of '闇に吞まれていた' as the barracks. I'd say it is
possible, but then it would be definitely more natural to say 雪の色 **が**
そこまで行かぬうちに.
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answer