1943
If I've understood correctly, ちょうど followed by a counting word usually means
something like "just x" or "exactly x" depending on the context, but I can't
figure out what it means in this opening sentence of a novel:

バルサが鳥影橋をわたっていたとき、皇族の行列が、ちょうど一本上流の山影橋にさしかかっていたことが、バルサの運命をかえた。

I understand the overall meaning of the sentence, but the exact purpose of
ちょうど一本 here eludes me. What does the 一本 count? Or is ちょうど一本 some sort of set
phrase beyond counting cylindrical things?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-07-15T05:51:51.360
1942
2011-07-15T23:42:11.747
135
question
vocabulary translation
What is the meaning of ちょうど一本 in this context?
**Edited**. (As Tsuyoshi Ito points out, it may be more natural to take `ちょうど`
as modifying `さしかかる` rather than `一本`.)

Perhaps, this river has several bridges crossing it, and when バルサ was crossing
鳥影橋, the royal parade had just reached 山影橋, which is **one bridge** (i.e., the
next bridge) towards the upstream of the river (from 鳥影橋).

`本` is used to count long things. It does not necessarily have to be
cylindrical.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-07-15T06:05:35.993
1943
2011-07-15T23:42:11.747
2011-07-15T23:42:11.747
1942
answer