How can 蔫 be translated as "mischievous"? 《饥饿的女儿》虹影 著 ch. 2, sect. 4 has the following text:

在学校, 最蔫的男同学对我也没兴趣, is translated by Howard Goldblatt as: "even the most mischievous boys in class showed little or no interest in me".

How is this possible given the meaning of the adjective 蔫, e.g.: iciba: &lt;形> (精神不振) listless; spiritless; droopy. In the present context it seems "mischievous"
in fact would make better sense than "listless".
Apparently it can mean something like &quot;mischievous&quot; in old Beijing dialect, ex 蔫坏:又称“蔫儿坏”，老北京方言，也称“蔫土匪”。意思是不声不响的动坏心思、做坏事，在别人面前却是一副正人君子的模样。通常形容那些背地里使坏的人。
Also see here for an explanation of 蔫 in a Tianjin dialectical context: 这个[“蔫溜儿”的]“蔫”，就是玩儿阴的，暗中进行。