All right, I finished the last set of stories!
Translation: Page 11, 秋田県
秋田県
Akita Prefecture
なまはげは、こわい？
Namahage, scary?
大みそかの夜です。
It’s new year’s eve.
「なぐごはいねが（なく子はいないか）！」
“Isn’t that a crying child!?”
おにが、木でできたほうちょうをふり回しながら、家に入ってきました。
Demons began entering houses while brandishing wooden carving knives.
家の人は、おさけなどを出して、おにをもてなします。
In the people’s houses, they serve sake and entertain the demons.
そして、おにはつぎの家へとむかいました。
And then, the demons went on towards the next house.
村人がふんしているこのおには、「なまはげ」とよばれます。
The villagers call this disguised demon “Namahage.”
なまけていたり、けんかをしていたりすると。
Idleness, fighting.
「なまばけ」はそれをいましめてくれます。
“Namahage” warns against those things.
「なまばけ」は、こわいかっこうをじていますが、人々にしあわせをもたらしてくれる、山のかみさまのつかいなのです。
“Namahage” has a scary posture, but he brings everyone happiness. He’s a messenger of the god of the mountain.
Notes about Page 11
I don’t think I had much trouble with this one. There was a slip-up in the sentence about the disguised demon–I had trouble deciding whether they meant the demon was wearing the disguise, or the demon was the disguise. I read up about Namahage and had fun looking up pictures of the Namahage costumes, but now I feel weird about how I translated that sentience.
Also, wikipedia translates the なぐごはいねが they say as “Are there any crybabies around?” I like that a lot, but I’m leaving how I translated it myself in for posterity.
Translation: Page 12, 山形県
山形県
Yamagata Prefecture
大すき、さくらんぼ
Beloved Cherries
くだもの王国の山形県。
Yamagata is the fruit kingdom.
なかでも、人気のさくらんぼは、夏のはじめにじゅうかくされます。
In particular, the popular cherries are harvested at the beginning of summer.
さくらんぼは元々、明治時代に、外国からやって来たくだものです。
Cherries originally arrived from foreign countries during the Meiji period.
さいしょは、日本全国でさいばいされていましたが、しもや、台風のひがいが少ない山形県で、よくそだつようになりました。
In the beginning, the cherries were being cultivated all over Japan, but in Yamagata prefecture there was only a little damage from frost and typhoons, so they came to grow well there.
さくらんぼのさいばいには、おどろくほどの手間がかかります。
A remarkable amount of work goes into the cultivation of cherries.
かがやくほうせきのような赤いみの一つぶ一つぶに、農家の人のくろうがつまっているのです。
The farmers’ hardship is packed into each and every red fruit, which shine like gemstones.
Notes on Page 12
The last sentence gave me a lot of trouble. I see others had problems with it as well, and I think I have reached the same conclusion as many of you here. How I arrived there was, when I looked at sample sentences for 詰まる (つまる) there were a few that used に to indicate where something was stuck/packed in. So I thought maybe the trouble of the farmers is being packed into each and every (一つぶ一つぶ) cherry, and now I see others have come to that conclusion as well.
Translation: Page 13, 福島県
福島県
Fukushima Prefecture
五色ぬまのひみつ
Secret of the five-color ponds
しぜんがうつくしい福島県の「うらばんだい」とよばれる地いきには、いくつかのぬまがあります。
In the land called “Urabandai,” with its lovely nature, there are several ponds.
赤みがかっている「あかぬま」、青白く光る「青ぬま」、みる場所によって水の色がかわる「るりぬま」など。
There is the red-tinged “Akanuma,” the pale blue-glowing “Aonuma,” and the “Rurinuma,” whose water color changes based on where you look.
これらのぬまは、まとめて「五色ぬま」とよばれています。
All of these ponds together are called “Goshikinuma.”
五色ぬまは、どうしてできたのでしょうか。
How did the Goshikinuma come to be?
答えは、ばんだい山のふん火です。
The answer is, Mount Bandai’s eruption.
ふん火によって山がくずれ、どろが川をせき止め、くぼ地に水がたまってできたといわれています。
It’s said that because of the eruption, the mountain collapsed, mud clogged the river, and the water collected in the basin.
山のふん火によってきれいなぬまができるなんて、ふしぎですね。
Isn’t it incredible that the mountain’s eruption caused the beautiful ponds to come to exist?
Notes on Page 13
This one felt way easier than the other two I read and translated today! Maybe it’s because I had just done the other two and was in the right mindset. There were two places I ran into trouble.
In the first sentence, I felt like the phrase しぜんがうつくしい福島県の「うらばんだい」とよばれる地いきには was really unwieldy, and still don’t know what しぜん is doing there grammatically speaking. It seems like しぜんがうつくしい is its own little phrase, but it could be that うつくしい福島県 is its own thing and しぜん is part of…something else. In the end, I grouped しぜんがうつくしい together.
The other place I had trouble was in the second sentence, みる場所によって水の色がかわる「るりぬま」など. The によって construction was new to me and I had a lot of trouble wrapping my head around what it was doing (but I’m glad I did because it appeared two more times in this passage!). I was thinking “Because of the…looking place…water color change…what is this???” But eventually it did come together. I hope that my confusion solidifies the construction in my memory so I’ll recognize it next time!
I am glad I got these done! Looking forward to doing week 3 over the next few days and catching up with everyone.
