Meaning of "How can one admire a girl...so young she doesn't know how to bite her fingers"?

Question

In a [book of short stories](https://books.google.com/books?id=e6VqgWouUmUC&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33&dq=admire+girl+young+know+%22bite+her+fingers%22&source=bl&ots=8FlDs2ZAAA&sig=Iii5QPmHjunRBM8lcVeeG1IeVNY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwit1PansK7cAhVQmeAKHZNrBVQQ6AEIODAC#v=onepage&q=admire%20girl%20young%20know%20%22bite%20her%20fingers%22&f=false) by [Maasthi Venkatesa Iyengar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masti_Venkatesha_Iyengar), translated from Kannada to English, there is a story set in colonial India in which two male characters are discussing marriage. One character asks a second character why he wouldn't marry a young girl, as was the custom at that time. > "I need to find the right girl. I know an officer who got married only six months ago. He is about thirty and his wife is twenty-five, I am told. They will be able to talk lovingly to each other. Let's say I married a very young girl. She may take my words spoken in love as words spoken in anger....If one gets married, it should be to a girl who is mature. Otherwise, one should remain a bachelor. That's why I am not marrying now." > > "Is there any other reason?" > > "A man should marry a girl he admires. What we have now are arranged marriages. How can one admire a girl with milk stains on one side of her face and wetness on the other, or **so young that she doesn't even know how to bite her fingers**?" I need help understanding the bolded text, or why biting (or not biting) one's fingers is an indicator of extreme youth or immaturity. I have found the [same question](https://brainly.in/question/2753558) on other [Q&A sites](https://www.meritnation.com/ask-answer/question/what-does-this-line-mean-how-can-one-admire-a-girl-with-milk/author-and-the-book/6095956) but I don't understand the answers.

Answer 1

Biting one's fingers most likely refers to either biting one's fingers, but it could also be seen here as an umbrella phrase that includes sucking one's thumb. Generally young children have an oral fixation that can be triggered during times of fear or anxiety, we've all seen a child nervously suck their thumb or bite their fingers. Additionally this could mean she's so young that her mental acuity is underdeveloped to the point that she doesn't even yet know how to do something as basic as bite her fingers. Lastly, perhaps biting fingers is a crude sexual euphemism alluding to the fact that this girl is too young to be sexually mature or experienced.