księżycowy wrote:Text:
わたしが五さいのころ、近所の家のおばさんが、小さいエビを見せてくれだ
Translation:
Around the time I was 5 years old I had the pleasure1 of seeing a small lobster2 in the neighborhood of my Aunt's house.
今にしておもえば、あのとき見せてもらったものはまだ子どものアメリカザリガニだったから小さいエビのように見えたのだが、
Only now do I have reason to believe that what I saw at that time was just a young American crayfish,
”アメリカザリガニは小さいエビのようなものなのだ”
"an American crayfish is a small lobster!"
2. I translate エビ as lobster both because of the name given (American crawfish), and at first because there's a picture of a lobster on one of the pages with the story. Regardless, context seems to make it clear that a lobster is being talked about, rather than a shrimp or prawn.
3. I wasn't sure how to work 生き物らしい into this sentence.
4. I believe I have all the pieces [and then/no matter what/there/ga/came to want], but I'm not sure how best to translate it. If I understand correctly ほしくなった means that a person (other than the speaker or listener) wants something, right?
Good to know.Yasna wrote:近所の家のおばさん means a "lady living in the neighborhood". There's no family relationship here.
In this case 見せてくれた means "showed me", so the lady showed the narrator a shrimp.
This part means "Thinking back now, the red swamp crawfish she showed me looked like a small shrimp because it was still a child"
"A red swamp crawfish is like a small shrimp"
You probably understand now, but the crux of this paragraph is that the narrator mistakenly identified the crawfish as a shrimp back then because it was a young, small crawfish.
You could say "According to the lady, that shrimp was a creature called a "red swamp crawfish"".
そしてどうしてもそれがほしくなった means "And then I had to have it". That rule about ほしい not being used for a speaker's wishes only applies when it is tacked on to a verb.
księżycowy wrote:I'm assuming that was a mistake on my part as far as looking up things in my dictionary, as I learned later on when I found 思いこんでしなった in it. I should have taken another pass at some of these terms.
So 見せてもらった means "showed me", similar to 見せてくれた above? If so, is there an difference between the two terms and their usage?
That would definitely work. Though I wonder, would it be necessary to translate it into English? It seems kind of redundant to me. Or at least extra lengthy/specific.
Yasna wrote:The dictionary term would be 見せる. Did you find the whole phrase "思いこんでしまった" in a dictionary? The word I would have expected to find in a dictionary would be 思い込む.
They are actually two very different constructions. I think showing the information that is omitted might clear it up.
おばさん が わたし に 小さい エビ を 見せて くれた
あの とき わたし が おばさん に 見せて もらった もの は まだ 子ども の アメリカザリガニ だった
In both cases the lady showed the narrator the shrimp/crawfish. Don't let the musical chairs of particles throw you off.
księżycowy wrote:Ok, here is the reworked translation:
Around the time I was 5 years old I had the pleasure1 of being shown a small shrimp2 by a lady living in the neighborhood. According to the lady, that shrimp2 was a creature called "an American crawfish." Thinking back now, the American crawfish she showed me looked like a small shrimp because it was still a child, but those days I mistakenly thought, "an American crayfish is like a small shrimp!" And then I had to have it.
Notes:
1. Still not sure if that's a good translation.
2. I wonder if it would it be possible to translate エビ as "lobster" in these positions, because this is her telling us now, when she knows it's not a shrimp?
Fixed.Karavinka wrote:I think "she showed me" is a better translation. Between miseta and misete kureta there is only a difference of slight respect, which turns out awkward in English if the translator tries too hard.
Ok.And in this context, I'd use "shrimp" for ebi throughout. The author thought it was a small shrimp, and calls it as such.
Not sure if pointed out already, but the 思い込んでしまった rather than しなった. "Mistakenly" is a bit too strong a word I think, I'd go with "I haven't doubted that" or "I've been thinking that ... until now," but at this point it's a matter of English, not Japanese, style.
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