One Japanese-to-English Translation a Day (270) "Why am I so drawn to such aimless, whimsical things?"
I have uploaded "Weekly Kotosakiku" Issue No. 5 to YouTube. This time, I am talking about the theme "Japanese is just too wonderful!"
(Continued from above)
This is a part of the lyrics from Yumi Matsutoya's "Paper Airplane." Among Yuming's songs, this is my favorite.
Now, for the English.
First, let's look at Gemini. Once again, Gemini's work is quite something. Of course, this is sarcasm. The following is the English created by Gemini.
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Literal and natural English expression
This is the most common and straightforward expression that is easy to fit to the melody of the lyrics.
"Why am I so drawn to such aimless, whimsical things?"
Poetic expression
This expression uses "directionless" and "random" for the word "toritomenonai" (aimless/incoherent) to create a more emotional atmosphere.
"Why do I feel so attracted to things that are so directionless and free?"
Colloquial and emotional expression
This is an expression closer to daily conversation, where emotions are expressed directly.
"How is it that I’m so captivated by things that just wander wherever they please?"
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No, no!
"A straightforward expression that is easy to fit to the melody of the lyrics," "a more emotional atmosphere," and "an expression where emotions are expressed directly"—none of these are true, are they?
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The problem is deciding on the Subject.
If you make "I" the Subject like Gemini did, it becomes a description from a "heavenly perspective" that views oneself from the outside.
This "monologue" by Yuming is not from that "heavenly perspective" of viewing oneself from the outside, but rather from a perspective within oneself.
Therefore, the Subject here must not be "I." Furthermore, "I" should not even be indicated as a word.
It is the same as how there is no "I" (watashi) in the original Japanese text.
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So, I decided to make "things that are aimless and whimsical" the subject to show what kind of qualities they possess.
In other words, I used an SVC structure instead of an SVO structure.
With this, "I" does not appear. The perspective does not become one of looking at oneself from the outside.
That is the English sentence below.
Why is something whimsical and unbound so fascinating?
whimsical = quirky, playful, and somewhat magical
unbound = not tied down
fascinating = attractive
(Continued below)
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At "Kotosakiku | Yukio Naruse's English-Japanese Writing and Translation Classroom," many other pieces of content regarding Japan and the Japanese people, English, Japanese, translation, and more have been uploaded. The total number exceeds 1,500.
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