Seems like you’re not the only one, our readers seem to be dropping like flies!
Page 118
So Spitz has put down a big plushie in the garden and he tells Alan to attack it. He gets up, walks over a bit unsteadily and eventually bites it in the leg. Then Spitz says
おれがあるくよりおそい
(I am slower than walking) and concludes that the perpetrator will most likely get away. I don’t really get what Spitz’ walking speed has to do with it? Isn’t the point that Alan is a slow walker?
Page 120
When asked whether the dog is strong, he first responds with そりゃもう ‘oh yes’, but then it seems like he goes back on that, saying 人間をかみころすくらい、わけはありません, ‘there is no way [he is strong] to the extent of biting a human to death’. Am I misinterpreting something? It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.
This is a comparative sentence. The structure here I believe is: X が Y より Z(adjective). Meaning X is more Z than Y.
So I think it is saying that - Alan tottering over and attacking the doll, is slower than Spitz walking.
Page 120
I read the そりゃもう as a non commital phrase - something like “well, let me see”. Not sure if that is right.
わけがない is listed in Jisho as meaning “there is no way that…”, so assuming that わけはありません means the same thing, I think Spitz is saying, “He’s not so strong that he could bite someone to death”.
Also page 120
いまさら、やくたたずとはいえない。
I struggled with this, I think it’s:
いまさら - too late; now (after all this time)
やくたたず - useless
と - quotation particle
は - particle uses in negative phrases
いえない - I can’t say
It’s too late now, I can’t say he’s useless.
Finally 2 grammar points I had to look up that might be useful to others:
Ahhh, so you read it:
[おれがあるく] よりおそい
He is slower than [me walking]
I read it as:
おれが [あるくより] おそい
I am slower [than walking]
Now it makes sense to me
That’s what I ended up with as well, I guess he feels like he’s too deep into the whole situation to back out now, so he might as well go along with it.
I have a mini-question, is なら here meaning “if”, so “He’ll bring Allan along from home. If Allan is fine.”. I recently added that grammar point on bunpro but it seems like the sentence here might be more straightforward and I’m over thinking it.
なら relates to the word(s) that precede(s) it. Sometimes ‘if’ is a good way to translate it, sometimes not so much. Take this example sentence from Bunpro:
[ きみなら ] 、できる。 [ If you ], it can…?
[ As for you / in your case ], you can do it.
So I imagine he means: ‘If I bring Alan / If Alan is there, it’ll be fine’.
Thanks. I only just recently started reviewing that lesson on bunpro and still get caught up on it a bit (and all the different ways you can say “if”, “as for”, “for”).
Is this か actually used to make the previous clause have a questioning tone? My translation attempt “Because the park has two gates, it’s not known which one the criminal will escape towards.”
I gotta say, 奈良さん is looking suspicious. I also really loved the descriptions/training of アラン.
I didn’t find anything on my first search but I think this is the relevant page on bunpro. I guess the は now seems out of place in わんわん but I’m not going to over think it.
I don’t have a bunpro account to read the grammar link, but my understanding was you don’t need a は after the indirect question before you put the verb (e.g. わかりません、知りたい). So I would guess the は after か is there as a contrasting particle, marking the negative sense of the sentence (“we don’t know”).
Just wanted to mention that I found this grammar point for なり. So I think this part means something like “When/As soon as he (Alan) grew older and his movements slowed down, before long, he wasn’t useful anymore and was abandoned.”
おれは庭のすみに大き人形をおくと、指さして命令した。
In the vocab sheet すみ is translated as “to take into one’s care”? Maybe someone filled into the wrong line? I think すみ means “corner” in this context. Just want to check if people agree with me or if I’ve missed something here.
page 120
そりゃもう。
Maybe this could also mean "Well, not anymore."? That other guy asks if Alan is strong and with this answer and the following sentence (well, he is not THAT strong anymore, not to the extent of biting someone to death) maybe Spitz is kind of hinting at his lie here but still being hush hush about the truth…?
