Is “as” used correctly in this sentence?

Question

Young, naive and trusting as I was, I believed every lying word he said.

From what I learned, "as" used the way here should mean "though". But if it means "though", the meaning of this sentence is wrong, and a correct sentence should be:

Young, naive and trusting as I was, I didn't believe a single lying word he said.

or

As I was young, naive and trusting, I believed every lying word he said.

Is my understanding right?

Answer 1

I happen to differ slightly with @RegDwight & @JSBangs on this point.

I believe "as" does not necessarily mean "because" in this context (although it might). I believe it can also be used in the second sense my Webster's gives, which is

2 during the time of being (the thing specified) : he had often been sick as a child | as a student, my nickname was Space.

So in that respect I believe it could mean that "by comparison to the way I am now (that is, older and wiser), I believed every lying word he said."

I think of the beginning of Dylan Thomas' poem "Fern Hill":

Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs
     About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green,
       The night above the dingle starry,
         Time let me hail and climb
       Golden in the heydays of his eyes

It is clear that what follows indicates a comparison to a later state, not a causal relationship. That is, the narrator of the poem is at a time of life when he is no longer so "golden" as before. The person who believed the lying bastard may mean the same kind of comparison.

Again, let me stress that I'm not saying that as can't or doesn't mean because in the OP's example; I'm merely pointing out that it may also mean something a little different.

Answer 2

The sentence is correct as written. As is used with the sense of because in this sentence, and is placed before the subject of the subordinate clause as a type of literary inversion. As RegDwight said in the comments, the sentence means "I believed every lying word he said because I was young, naive and trusting".

Answer 3

After reading through all the discussions, I think one of @RegDwight's comments address the problem most accutely. "As" is used in the sense of comparison here, as indicated by one entry of New Oxford American Dictionary:

2 used to indicate by comparison the way that something happens or is done : dress as you would if you were having guests | they can do as they wish.

But "as" could mean "though":

4 even though : sweet as he is, he doesn't pay his bills | try as he might, he failed to pull it off.

You can see, in fact, the form "as" is used in my sample sentence is a perfect example of this "even though" usage.

However, one interesting fact of English is that sometimes one has to reverse-engineer the usage of a word in a sentence from the acceptable meaning of the sentence, although generally one determines the meaning of a sentence from the usage of the constituent words.