I continue where I left off last blog unexpectedly went long.
About how to read and understand the picture book “The Giving Tree” in English. The sentence that with interpretation “And tree was happy…. but not really”.
Mr. Kiichiro Honda who translated it before Haruki Murakami.
According to Mr. Honda (Here is my translation Japanese in English again, funny)
“The tree was happy… but is it really?” (something like that, I translated it directly)
And, here is Mr. Murakami’s
“And the tree was happy… no she can’t” (something like that, I translated it directly)
Mr. Murakami denied clearly, she wasn’t happy.
The situation at this point is the man asked to the tree “I wand to go somewhere making a boat”, and the tree answered “Okay, you can make a bout with my blanches”. Then he left cut all of her branches. The sentence is after this situation, when all what she gives is gone.
I noticed something here that the sentence changed. The sentence objectively explains the situation until then, the sentence has opinions and seems says definitively. Seems a bit one-sided point of view. Because the tree didn’t say so, who knows?
The relationship is not born alone, always need both. I guess it is happy to be someone who comes and sees me even the person always asks, also it is happy to be asked by someone. His existence makes her recognizes her existence, so that it doesn’t big matter who gives and who takes. I think both gives and both takes in a way. Having relationship and experience with this is already fun.
Moreover, I think she would not help him throwing herself if she didn’t want to help him really. She just did it to him whatever she could because she loved him, and she was happy.
I like the way of translation of Mr. Honda because he translated asked how to read it to the readers, not decided the tree’s feelings.
I also think there are viewpoints from men and women. The author and the two translators are all men, I think they have different perspectives from me.
Oh it is very interesting that the ways of reading and understanding are different by the translators or reading the original language (I would like to write about lost in translation topics sometime ). Now I totally understand why the picture book has been sell well in the world for over 50 years, it is because the theme is simple, universal and it doesn’t tell many.
I look forward what I will read and understand this book when I get older.
Anyways, it is really fun experience how to read and understand changes as person, or the age and the situation even the same person. I can’t stop this!
The following picture is my MacBook with DIY
The Giving Tree
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