User talk:Crisco 1492/TIP

This is very difficult, because the translation is not at all literal. Phrases like "Oooooh" are by nature creative interpretations. (There is no Japanese word that directly translates into "Oooooh".) For a work like this, a literal translation is not possible. So it's best to compare translations when you can.

There is an existing translation here, as you know, and I found a second. Looking through the text of this play, the wording can be pieced together as follows:

And there the Google Books preview ends, so we can't see the end of the translation. But several problems jump out at me. One, the original Japanese text does not say who is saying what to whom. The first translation assume the octopus begins by talking to the woman, while the second assumes one octopus is talking to the other. The first translation assumes the woman says "Until now it was I that men called an octopus", while the second thinks an octopus is saying this. And there are lots of emotive idioms in the Japanese that are variously translated as "Oh dear" or "Oh my god" or "There there", but are not literal translations. Or what the first translation calls "the mouth of my womb", the second calls "my little pot". Because of all this, I think the translation you provide here relies far too heavily on the first translation, and probably includes some copyrighted elements of translation that are not in the original text. I'll see if I can find someone who might be willing to assist in the translation. All the best, – Quadell (talk) 15:46, 12 September 2011 (UTC)
 * Fair enough. I hope the user I asked for help is willing. I'll blank the page. Thanks again for the help. Crisco 1492 (talk) 23:05, 12 September 2011 (UTC)