魔女の宅急便 (Kiki’s Delivery Service) Discussion Thread: Chapter 10

Nice, close to what I had but definitely better.

Thanks, I found it on the first line of page 211. I understood that Kiki suggested connecting the trumpets together and hanging them from the broom. But apparently I missed (or forgot) the line 「そこにある荷物のひもを、少しずつもらってさ」. So I guess they got some string from some of the luggage and used that to tie the trumpets together.

I envisaged the ひも as being used to hold the 荷物の山 together on the train. Lucky no-one else was in the luggage compartment to watch this brazen act of Junior Great Train Robbery! :rofl:

Anyway, here are the illustrations from the red book for this chapter.

The cranky musicians

Jiji not at all interested in life as a cat burglar on a fast-moving train

The sound of spring

Although only the word ラッパ (which Jisho defines as trumpet, horn, bugle) is used in the book, I see the illustrator has included other brass instruments. My paper dictionary has ラッパ only meaning (military) bugle, the sort you . So I googled it (as you do) and found the following random fun facts for you.

(From ラッパ - Wikipedia)
俗語・比喩としての「ラッパ」
ラッパ in slang/metaphor

誇張して話すことや、ほら話や大言壮語することを「ラッパを吹く」と表現する。(小さなことを大きくするという意味)

  • “to blow a rappa” indicates exaggerated or boastful stories (making a small thing larger)

空腹時の腹部からの飢餓収縮の音を指して「ラッパが鳴る」と用いることもある。

  • “a rappa sounds” can be used to indicate the sound made by an empty stomach when you are fasting

I know there is another week set aside for this chapter, but I hope to crack on with Ch 11 fairly soon.

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The picture of them flying with the instruments is pretty cool, especially Jiji clutching the violin.

I wish I could start the last chapter early too, but I’m going on vacation in a few days, and there’s no way I could finish the chapter in that time. So I probably won’t be starting the last chapter for about two weeks.

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No worries. I will hold off posting any spoilers!

I hope you have a great vacation. Going anywhere interesting?

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Combination cruise/wedding. Should be fun. :slight_smile:

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Here’s Chapter 11’s discussion thread, last one! ^^

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Repeat Club Discussion (Week 18) Starts Here!

Chapter 10 Part 1

V1: Pages 222 - 231
V2: Pages 201 - 209
BookWalker: ?

Last line:
それにしても、そうとうな量です。

31 October 2020

Please briefly check whether questions have already been answered above before posting them, but otherwise don’t hesitate.

  • I’m reading along
  • I’m still reading but haven’t reached this part yet
  • I’m dropping this book
  • I’m a superhero who’s read it before but is here for chatting :books:

0 voters

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These senteces at the very beginning are going over my head:

要はだね、この町の人の耳がいいか……ってところだが。はなはだ心配だがね。なにしろぬけとるようだから。

“what’s important, is whether or not the people of this town can hear well. It’s quite the concern.”

most unsure about the next one: “in any case someting seems to be left out.”
This has to tie in to the luggage left on the train so, even if it seems far fetched to me, does 耳がいいか refer to the station staff’s mistake?

This part also tripped me up. Tried to break it down and grasp it structurally:

Summary

要はだね = “What’s important / The point of (the concert is to warm people’s hearts)”
この町の人のみみがいいか = “Are the people in this town’s ears good [enough to appreciate our music]?”
ってところだが = This one got a bit wonky for me, and I feel like I’m still futzing with the interpretation

  • って (speaking of)
  • ところ (place)
  • だが (but/however/yet)
  • So trying to slap the above together: This may not be such a place (where people can appreciate our music)

In one sentence: “We had intended to warm people’s hearts (with a concert). Whether or not the people of this town have an ear for that music… We doubt that’s the case.”

I think your reading of はなはだ心配だがね is the right one.

For なにしろぬけとるようだから:

なにしろ = in any case, because, however, you see
ぬけ = omission, fault, slip
とる = to pick up, to take
よう = seems, form, like
だから = because, therefore

“You see, it’s because (the people in this town) seem to make mistakes.” or “The people in in this town seem quite incompetent.”

I suppose it’s appropriate that snooty artists will use this kind of vague, subtextual language? Can’t say I recall such passive-aggressive dialogue in the book before.

That was a surprising minefield of grammar and syntax I attempted to wade through, so please correct any mistakes I made.

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Thanks for your perspective. ところ is such a nuanced word with probably a million uses, not sure if I will ever completely understand it.

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Hoo boy. I’ve really made a habit out of being late for the weekly thread. Lots of stress and pressures from real life. In fact, there’s one particularly stressful event going on right now that’s pushing me to try to focus on this book instead of it. We’ll see how well that goes.

Read the first 3 pages of chapter 10 last night, since I got a late start. Time for a reread.

  • ルルルルー ルルルルー - I know this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this onomatopoeia, but I just need to point out that this is a weird way to onomatopoeificate a telephone ringing.

  • 男の人のひとりが目をきっと光らせて言いました。「いや、楽士ではない。音楽家だ」- This is one that I feel is some sort of cultural difference. It seems to mean that he said it suddenly with shining eyes, but the statement sounds snippy (Not to mention the illustration makes the whole group seem rather dour).

  • It’s nice to read some keigo. Despite it being ostensibly the most useful sort of language for me to be able to speak, it’s far easier to end up reading a whole lot of casual language.

  • 男の人はうほんと咳払いをする。- Having trouble parsing the 「はうほんと」. うほんと doesn’t seem to be anything, so I can only guess it’s はう+ほんと?

  • Sure hope none of these folks play the tuba.

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うほん・と・咳払いをする

The man cleared his throat “uhon”, is how I understand it.

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Keeping this train rolling. Probably shouldn’t talk about trains. Monster Train has become my latest time sink. It seems like anything fun ultimately ends up taking time away from studying. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As a note, we really are in the final stretch, huh? There’s only around 40 or so pages left, from my current reading. Wonder what I’ll do afterwards. Guess I’ll need to read something else, right? These readings the the primary tether between me and Japanese at the moment. Maybe I’ll join another book club. The anki, readings, re-readings, and discussions have been kind of exhausting, but they’ve also kept me engaged. For right now, though. I’ve got to focus on rereading pages 4-5 of chapter 10.

  • 楽器を乗せて列車は行っちゃったというわけなんです。- So, I know that というわけです means “this is why”; “it is the case that”, but what is the なん adding here?

  • 「むりよう、そんなこと」- I think I understand this one. I translated it as, Jesus christ dude, I’m like, 13. And you’re asking me to jump into a moving train? Fuck you, man.

  • こんな北風みたいなつめたい目をして……春を呼ぶコンサートだってさ。- This one took me some effort to parse, though I think I’ve got it. Looking with eyes as chilly as the north wind… But playing a concert to call springtime.

Ah, that would make some more sense.

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I walk an endless expanse.

Am I alone?

Was there… ever anyone else?

I’ve trudged forward for an eternity now, in silence.

All I know, is that I must read.

  • Not a lot to say about pages 6-7, other than… Hoo boy, Kiki. You had to go and let yourself get peer pressured again. Still, this is a fantastic callback to chapter 3, when Kiki was taught a magic spell that removes all musical instruments from a moving train at the cost of the caster’s own life.
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I think chapters 9 and 10 are my favorite with ridiculous demands from adults and Kiki trying to somehow manage the mess.

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Repeat Club Discussion (Week 19) Starts Here!

Chapter 10 Part 2

V1: Pages 231 - 240
V2: Pages 210 - 218
BookWalker: ?

We’re reading to the end of Chapter 10 this week.

7 November 2020

Please briefly check whether questions have already been answered above before posting them, but otherwise don’t hesitate.

  • I’m reading along
  • I’m still reading but haven’t reached this part yet
  • I’m dropping this book
  • I’m a superhero who’s read it before but is here for chatting :books:

0 voters

It’s so ridiculous hahahaha

My entire thought process near the end of Ch. 10 Part 1 was “young lady, this is quite unsafe”. I felt so bad for Jiji :<

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Yeah, that poor cat. Kiki says they’ll just go check it out to see if it’s reasonably possible, and when they get there she gives him no chance of backing out.

Just one note of uncertainty from the end of last week’s reading before moving on to the latter half of the chapter:

  • でも、やるよりしょうがないわ - Not 100% on this line. Is she saying it’s better to do it than to write it off as something that can’t be helped?
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