Understanding に correctly in these two sentences

Question

戯れに触れれば融け行き、悪戯に払えば散りゆく。 かといって、お為ごかしに見過ごせばいずれは消えていく。

For context we're talking about snow here.

From what I know, に when used with a verb stem indicates a purpose. So 「戯れに触れれば融け行き、」 would translate to "If we touch it to play it's going to melt".

「悪戯に」 is giving me more trouble. I think the に is turning it into an adverb so the second part of that sentence would loosely translate to "If we casually dust it off it's going to dissolve."

I don't understand the function of the に in the third sentence. It looks like it means "On the other hand, if we overlook it under the pretense of being kind it's eventually going to disappear." but what is the usage of に here?

I'm pretty sure I'm making mistakes so any clarification is appreciated. Thank you.

Answer 1

「戯{たわむ}れに触{ふ}れれば融{と}け行き、悪戯{いたずら}に払{はら}えば散{ち}りゆく。 かといって、お為{ため}ごかしに見過{みす}ごせばいずれは消{き}えていく。」

You state:

"From what I know, に when used with a verb stem indicates a purpose."

But 「戯れ」、「悪戯」 and 「お為ごかし」 are all nouns; therefore, the "Verb in 連用形{れんようけい} (continuative form) + に" construct you speak of is not applicable here.

Instead, what you need to be looking into are the basic golden rules:

「Noun + の」 functions adjectivally and

「Noun + に」 functions adverbially.

Thus, 「戯れに触れる」 means "to touch out of mere caprice" or simply "to touch just for fun".

Likewise, 「悪戯に払う」 means "to brush off mischieviously".

And 「お為ごかしに見過ごす」, "to let pass ostensibly (for your own good)"