Jan 25, 2017 14:32
7 yrs ago
Japanese term
Italy
死地
Non-PRO
Japanese to English
Art/Literary
Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
Dear ProZ members,
I have some difficulties interpreting the following sentences. Two members of a group who is fighting against another association are talking about what to do with one of their most important members (if he's killed by the opponents, the war is surely lost). One of them wants to keep him under custody to protect him, but the other one replies it would be better to let him act freely (which means: go and attack the enemy). The first one then says:
みすみす死地へ話すというのですか
(Are you saying whe should let him go in a place/situation of death before our own eyes?)
And the second one replies:
死地とは限りますまい。 いや、死地でこそ輝く心の強さがありましょう
(I don't think it will necessarily be a place/situation of death. Instead, it's exactly because you are in place/situation of death that you find a shining force in your heart.)
The last reply puzzles me. First he says that it won't necessarily be a 死地, then changes his mind and says that since it's a 死地 it will bring advantes to him... seems a bit off to me.
Am I getting something wrong in your opinion?
Thank you very much!
I have some difficulties interpreting the following sentences. Two members of a group who is fighting against another association are talking about what to do with one of their most important members (if he's killed by the opponents, the war is surely lost). One of them wants to keep him under custody to protect him, but the other one replies it would be better to let him act freely (which means: go and attack the enemy). The first one then says:
みすみす死地へ話すというのですか
(Are you saying whe should let him go in a place/situation of death before our own eyes?)
And the second one replies:
死地とは限りますまい。 いや、死地でこそ輝く心の強さがありましょう
(I don't think it will necessarily be a place/situation of death. Instead, it's exactly because you are in place/situation of death that you find a shining force in your heart.)
The last reply puzzles me. First he says that it won't necessarily be a 死地, then changes his mind and says that since it's a 死地 it will bring advantes to him... seems a bit off to me.
Am I getting something wrong in your opinion?
Thank you very much!
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 +2 | Death |
Christopher W Gladden
|
| 3 | prone to death/ death/ hard-pressed in the valley of death |
Port City
|
Proposed translations
+2
9 hrs
Selected
Death
I run into such apparent contradictions pretty frequently. I think sometimes the confusion arises from how the phrasing is couched in the different languages, as well as that Japanese is better at incorporating apparent contradictions. If this was from an English show, I guess the dialogue would run something like:
A: So you're saying we should just let him go to his death?
B: It won't necessarily turn out that way. And even if it does, it's exactly when death is near that your heart truly shines.
So I think in these cases you can't translate too literally, but need to adjust the language to eliminate the apparent contradictions that Japanese can handle. I think it's more important to maintain the spirit of what they're saying, rather than the exact phrasing.
That's my 2 cents, anyway! Good luck, sounds like a fun project!
PS. Don't know why slash marks are being added before apostrophes here, but don't have time to figure it out right now. 失礼！
A: So you're saying we should just let him go to his death?
B: It won't necessarily turn out that way. And even if it does, it's exactly when death is near that your heart truly shines.
So I think in these cases you can't translate too literally, but need to adjust the language to eliminate the apparent contradictions that Japanese can handle. I think it's more important to maintain the spirit of what they're saying, rather than the exact phrasing.
That's my 2 cents, anyway! Good luck, sounds like a fun project!
PS. Don't know why slash marks are being added before apostrophes here, but don't have time to figure it out right now. 失礼！
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Yes, I guess that, like you say, it's just the language working in a peculiar way... There's not much to do about it, after all. Thank you!"
1 day 17 hrs
prone to death/ death/ hard-pressed in the valley of death
One idea is to use different expressions for each of 死地.
The part where 死地 first appears is like "putting him prone to death".
The second one would be "It doesn't necessarily mean death".
The third one would be "When a person is hard-pressed in the valley of death, ...".
Although "in the valley of death" is like a Christian expression, it would convey the meaning.
The part where 死地 first appears is like "putting him prone to death".
The second one would be "It doesn't necessarily mean death".
The third one would be "When a person is hard-pressed in the valley of death, ...".
Although "in the valley of death" is like a Christian expression, it would convey the meaning.
Reference comments
11 hrs
Reference:
FYR
http://ejje.weblio.jp/content/死地
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Note added at 11時間 (2017-01-26 02:16:40 GMT)
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死地に陥（おとしい）れて後（のち）生（い）く
〔孫子九地〕
軍を絶体絶命の窮地に陥れ，決死の覚悟をもたせてから戦ってはじめて，活路を見いだすことができるということ。
大辞林
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Note added at 11時間 (2017-01-26 02:16:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
死地に陥（おとしい）れて後（のち）生（い）く
〔孫子九地〕
軍を絶体絶命の窮地に陥れ，決死の覚悟をもたせてから戦ってはじめて，活路を見いだすことができるということ。
大辞林
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