Ok, i have not looked at any other attempts, but in the spirit of participation i was talking about yesterday, I am going to attempt it myself. But i had to look up every word, so I’m not confident.
Even oni get tired of living alone.
Now to see if other people agree!
Edit: I’ve looked at the other attempts, and I agree with those more. My translation ignored the 来い
Yep, i noticed that after I read the other attempts. But that’s what I was saying before, you really need to pay attention to everything, so that’s why I think it’s fun
I also think this is a good learning exercise because, like @Rrwrex said, Senryu are short but they highlight nuances that you have to work to pick up on. And you have other people participating to act as sounding boards.
I think it’s meant to invoke the feeling of relating to 単独 or even 独身 rather than just a neutral “living alone”
That makes sense — thanks!
I only knew 独身.
Kinda apropos, actually (in a temporary sense). I can’t wait for her to get back from Japan. Hopefully only a few more weeks — it will even be nice to see a vegetable or two in my diet again! <laugh>
I changed Nicole’s wording slightly, dropping the “please” since 来い is an imperative command (I think that’s the technical term) and ogre seems a better fit for 鬼 here.
The wikipedia article on 鬼 gives a pretty good overview. Devil or demon are definitely correct, but somehow don’t seem to cover as much ground.
Current senryu challenge
Volume: Corona
会社へは 来るなと上司 行けと妻
This one shouldn’t be too difficult. Have fun!
Remember to please use the spoiler tag with your translation attempts! Also, please include the reading in kana with your submission.
Everyone is encouraged to participate, no matter your level!
These are both complete sentences. The と that follows just quotes these sentences.
These negative and positive conjugations of the base verbs are rough, very direct commands that you’d normally only give to an inferior (like a child or pet that you’re disciplining). They can sound very rude, so be careful using them in conversation! It’s safest to use these forms when you’re discussion what someone else said to you (as in this example).
This reminds me: I remember diagramming sentences in elementary school. I’ve forgotten how to do it, but it occurs to me that doing something similar with these might be fun and useful.
Something like this:
会社へは 来るなと上司 行けと妻
会社へ to the office
は as for / regarding
来るな don't come! [imperative command]
と quotation -> "Don't come!"
上司 my boss [speaker of prior quote]
行け go! [imperative command]
と quotation -> "Go!"
妻 wife [speaker of prior quote]
Regarding going to the office: / “Don’t come!” commands my boss / “Go!” commands my wife
会社へは 来るなと上司 行けと妻
かいしゃへはくるなとじょうしいけとつま
Regarding going to the office: / “Don’t come!” commands my boss / “Go!” commands my wife
Notes:
Thanks to @Gorbit99 for being the only one besides myself to submit a translation!
I’m going with my more literal translation, though. Far less poetic, but I think it’s worthwhile to remain as faithful to the original as possible (which means I may need to tweek the weighting).
Current senryu challenge
Volume: Global truths
雑草の名前わかると抜きにくい
No hints today. The first word may require a dictionary lookup, but otherwise this one should be pretty straightforward.
Remember to please use the spoiler tag with your translation attempts! Also, please include the reading in kana with your submission.
Everyone is encouraged to participate, no matter your level!
I think it means that you end up learning the names of weeds you spend a lot of time trying to remove (researching various strategies, asking friends and neighbors, etc.). If they are easy to pull out and go away, you don’t even bother.
Oh! I have to admit that I love the fact that the Japanese word for “weed” is “random grass”!