#302 三島由紀夫『にっぽん製』
「今晩のマダムきれいでしたわねえ」
「きれいだなあ。いつもあの人は」
桃子が店へ来るほどの男から、こんな無邪気な溜息をきいたのははじめてであった。
Vocabulary:
三島由紀夫 みしまゆきお Mishima Yukio (1925-1970)
無邪気 むじゃき innocent
溜息 ためいき sigh
Translation:
“The lady of the house was beautiful tonight, wasn’t she?”
“She was so beautiful. She always is.”
This was the first time Momoko had heard such an innocent sigh from the kind of man that frequents a place like this.
Link for the text I used:
Dear Bunsuke,
I can understand words in this excerpt, but I don't understand the sentences, even with your translation.
A lady of the house - what is this house? A house where someone is living? A mise in the meaning of a bar?
And I don't get why 店へ来るほどの男 translates as the kind of man that frequents a place like this.
Help !
Hi Bunsuke, I thought there were two interesting things from a translation point of view it in this short passage. I’ve never read the story, and now I totally want to, but I think the lady of the house is not the best fit if her name is in the story that would work the best, but if it’s not there, maybe calling her the owner or the barkeep or whatever is a better translation. The translation would depend on what Madame refers to. but I don’t think lady of the house works very well for this context. If madame is a patron there maybe is a better fit for the English. I also think there’s something really interesting to be said about the use of wa and ga in the excerpt and how that is wonderfully reflected in the other character using the phrase itsumo. I think the translation worked well… the Japanese so evocative. I wonder if the story is ever been translated into English if not, you should definitely do it! It’s a beauty.