Hey, welcome back! I agree with your translations
(For sentence 1, I would rather go with “It looked like that she was showing off to Kiki”… But your version definitely captures the gist.)
For the last sentence, it is broken down like this, I think:
あたしからの贈りものだ - it is my present
って - quotation (と言う)
こと、- nominalizer
いわないでほしいの - I want you not to say
It’s maybe only a nuance, but the nominalizer does not carry no information at all It’s like the difference between “to do” and “the doing”, so to speak, so it emphasizes the concept of the action instad of the action itself. It sometimes helps me to rephrase it with “the fact that…”.
I’ve gotten a larger 3d printer. I’m terribly tempted to make a much larger Jiji statue. Wouldn’t be able to make this one so solid and good for bludgeoning, though. Besides costing like, $50+, it probably wouldn’t print correctly. I could maybe make a giant mould out of it, though…
Thoughts for later. For now, I’ve got 3 pages to reread. Pages 5-7, to be specific.
こういうの、肌身はなさず、っていう持ちかたなの。- Right out the gate with something that confuses me. I break it down as (This sort of thing/way), (Close to the skin), (-called way of holding), but I’m not sure how this comes together. “This is my way of keeping it close to me”?
And, actually, I ran through the rest of it without issue or comment. Just that first line. A bit of a slow chapter. Hopefully it picks up soon.
Hello, read a few pages at work today but have to duck for errands before I finish the chapter. Here’s my two 困って文
同じぐらいの女の子はみんな、そういうことして遊ぶものだっておもってるの？
Here she’s saying something like Don’t you think all girls like to play like us?
That’s my stab at translation anyway, I don’t know if I’m confused but…that’s my reading.
それどころか女の子はどこかを見つめてうっとりとしているではありませんか？
This sentence I’m far more confused about. On the contrary, girls like us can look anywhere and get lost in thought? I don’t know I’m more grasping at straws…let me know what you think はありませんか is kind of just another way of saying ね amirite?
What’s the point of bigger 3D printer, then, if it can’t manage larger Jijis?
(I’m joking, but I’m also know nearly nothing about 3D printing, so I’m genuinely interested. If bigger things aren’t as solid and, in Jiji’s case, wouldn’t print correctly, what’s the intended usage?)
Okay, so, you should totally wait for someone smarter than me to confirm what I’m saying, but I think you’re mostly right with your translation. Maybe it should be more I’m carrying it in a way called “next to the skin”/This way of carrying it is called “next to the skin”.
(as a literal translation of course)
She just emphasises that she is keeping it close to her body.
I think it is more a criticism and she’s mocking Kiki. That Kiki is supposedly childish for thinking that the gift would be a prank. Do you really think that girls like us are playing in such way? would be my take.
But I’m not sure about the previous sentence, though.
魔女ってきいていたけど、何も知らないのね。
I heard that you are a witch, but: - you don’t know anything - I don’t know anything about witches
Which one is it?
About your second question…
Kiki is angry and emotional in the phrase before (キキのせいいっぱいとげのあることばなんて、あっさりす通りです). And the girl on the contrary is just looking absent-mindedly somewhere…
…that would be my translation, but はありませんか is also messing with this interpretation.
She is using the very direct form 知らない so she must be talking about herself, would be my reasoning.
If she were to say “you don’t know” that should involve a fair share of ように、みたい、そう and the like.
I’m really pleased with how much easier reading has gotten in just half a book! Are y’all experiencing that?
Questions;
P. 138 V2
女の子は、彼のたんじょう日を自分でつくったみたいにじまんしていいました。
What the heck could it mean to “make a birthday?”
Page 139-140
I’m not really getting the meaning of おそろい。does it mean something like “matched set”?
On page 140:
キキのせいいっぱいとげのあることばなんて、あっさりす通りです。
I feel like the ~通りmight be the 通りthat means “just like ~” but what is the あっさりす part?
なにが[いい]
(さ is an assertive sentence ender)
Kiki doesn’t understand what the girl finds so great about a 14th birthday, I think.
I think this is another case of 見える meaning 'to seem."-- “it even seemed like…”
[quote=“Peterbond, post:83, topic:29976”]
This author seems to use this question format often for comments that would not be questions in English. I’m getting used to it. I’m starting to think of it as adding an exclamation mark.
On the contrary, the girl was just staring off into the distance!
Well, that’s enough reading for the day. So.many. reviews! (じゃこれで読むのが充分だとおもう。だって、復習が多すぎるではありませんか。
I had the same experience when I read the book. The first half was very painful and I felt much more comfortable reading the second half.
I have no context, but generally it can mean that, yes. For example, if you bought two of something and gave one to your friend (like an accessory for example) the two of you would be おそろい. It’s from the verb 揃う. Here’s a fairly straightforward Japanese definition for おそろい.:
It’s not a matter of larger things not being as solid, but rather a matter of suction force. Resin 3d printers work by selectively curing photopolymer resin through the masking of UV light. A rough, flat surface is pressed down into a vat of resin until there is only a very thin layer underneath. Below that is a completely clear and very smooth sheet of plastic, then the masking layer from a cell phone screen, then a UV lamp. The screen masks the UV light so that a specific shape cures in the resin, which then, ideally, sticks to the rough surface. It then pulls it up and comes back down to repeat the process, building an object layer by layer.
The sheet of plastic though, is still stuck to the cured resin. In situations where a large cavity without holes to release suction or just a very broad flat layer forms, the sheet is pulled as the surface raises up. If the suction forces are too great, this can cause the unfinished to stick to the plastic sheet, or even result in damage to the sheet. With particularly large prints, you also have risks of them being too heavy and falling into the vat if you don’t hollow them out first.
Anyway, where were we? Oh, right, Kiki. Pages 8-10.
Just a quick reminder to everyone that 詩 is poem. Don’t get it confused with 時，持、待、or anything else with 寺 on the side. Obviously, I would never have a brain fart like that, and this advice is wholly unprompted.
「あたし、もしよかったら、このあとどうなるかしりたいの。おしえてよ」- This seems like an awfully sudden turnaround. Maybe I’m missing something, but it seems strange that she’d want this after being so annoyed previously. Or, maybe this is just the irresistible power of girltalk and gossip to a 13-year-old girl.
Finished this week, and I’ve finally caught up. Feels good. Will start next up on the rest of Chapter 7 soon, although I look forward to taking a slower pace. Reading about 30 minutes a day has been going pretty good. My reading pace has increased so much in this first book. Looking forward to reading more
My best guess:
First of all, we are talking about 誕生日, not 誕生日会, right?
So… she seems so proud as if it’s her achievement that he turned 14? That she made him turn 14?
Well, making a birthday would ultimately mean having a baby, I guess But that’s probably not what the author had in mind anyways…
Despite the danger of repeating what is already obvious to you: I think the metaphor is only about the pride of having made [something] herself so it’s probably not as unnatural as it may sound in translation.
I thought I understood it during the discussion about the following sentence, but now I began to have doubts.
And when I tried to google that bolded phrase…
Small grammar question:
V2 page141
はずかしいだなんて、へんね
I didn’t think you needed an informal copula after an i-adjective, so why is it there?
V2 page 146:
あとにもさきにも、詩というものと縁があったのはこれきりです。
The bolded part is connected by fate, but I can’t figure out what this means. Maybe it’s another case of my brain being overly literal, but what does it mean to be connected by fate to a poem?
2)v2 pg147
Juju says
寒いから、はやく秋とやら、すませてよ.
とやら comes up as meaning ‘to indicate doubt,’ but I’m not really familiar with it. Any insight into how it’s used is welcome.
I’m guessing this sentence means something like “it’s cold, so whatever you meant by “it’s Fall”, get it over with fast.” (On account of Kiki using “it’s Fall” as her weak excuse for taking a break.)
I think this meaning of やら is more like “such things as A and B”. Kotobank defines it also as とか. They have more examples with translations here
Since Kiki’s explanation for stopping was “because it’s autumn”, Jiji’s saying since it’s cold, finish this “autumn [thing] or whatever” quickly.
I think this is 素通り, “passing through without stopping; passing by” and あっさり “easily; readily; quickly; flatly (refuse)”. I’m still not sure what the sentence means, I initially thought it was along the lines of Kiki tried her best to say harsh words, but it easily passed through without stopping (ie, it didn’t register as mean to the other girl) . But there’s nothing in that sentence that would imply “but/however”, なんて is more like “things like”. So maybe it actually means Things like Kiki trying her best to say harsh words easily passed by If that makes any sense? I can’t tell if saying harsh things comes easily to Kiki (but then why “tried her best”) or if it’s the harsh things that are “passing by” the girl
It’s like the difference between “to do” and “the doing”, so to speak, so it emphasizes the concept of the action instad of the action itself. It sometimes helps me to rephrase it with “the fact that…”.
But that’s probably not what the author had in mind anyways…
