I read this sentence in a book for beginners, but I can't find the grammar in any of my books or online:
おばあさんが川で洗濯をしていると、川上のほうから、大きな桃が「どんぶらこ、どんぶらこ」と流れてきました。
Which I translate as
While the old woman was washing in the river, a big peach came floating down from upstream (with some sound effects).
However, I can't find any references that mention that the verb in -ている form followed by と should mean "while". Or indeed any references to such a construct at all. Can someone please explain this grammar, how common it is, and when it is right to use it? Note that I am familiar with the verb-ている form when referring to "verb-ing" or when there is a change of state. I'm also happy that と after a verb can mean "if", but that doesn't seem to work here.
Many thanks
Answer
It is indeed the conditional と but takes more of the form of 'when' rather than 'if', in a similar way to how とき is used. You'll see it used in this way quite a lot. This also means that anything before と doesn't necessarily have a cause-effect relationship. It's not because the the women was doing her laundry by the river that the peach came.
それは先生に聞くとすぐ分かった (I understood immediately when i asked my teacher) - DOBJG pg.481
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/と
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