Translation help

Japanese
#1

Hi there,

One of my projects for this year is to translate a book into English. I have chosen 魔女の宅急便 as it’s low level but an interesting book.

I would like to use this thread to seek advice on some sentences that I understand the gist of but need someone with more knowledge and experience to help me fully understand the translation and nuance.

The first sentence is: “またちっちゃなキキが足をひっかけたね” In the book they are talking about a bell at the top of a tree which rings even when there is no storm and that Kiki is no normal girl. In that context I translated this as “Little Kiki has hit the bell with her foot again” Would this be correct or is there a better way to explain this?

The second sentence is “ ちっちゃなくせに、高い木の鈴を鳴らすのですから” which I understand to be “The little one (Kiki) rings the bell at the top of the tree” but I am confused by the くせに as this means “and yet” and is considered to have a negative nuance.

I really appreciate anyone’s thoughts and opinions on this :heart_decoration:

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#2

First of all, it’s wonderful that you’re doing a translation project! I did that for a book I loved and it made me more focused with my language learning compared to other methods, and really made me stick with it, which allowed me to learn a lot!

Just be clear about what you want to get out of it though – translation is a completely different skill to language learning itself and if you’re not careful it could cause you to form bad habits when studying Japanese (ie. always translating in your head and not just comprehending what you’re reading as it is.) It can also take a really long time sometimes to find the right words in English even if you 100% comprehend what’s going on, which can waste a lot of time that might be better used for other things, depending on your goals!

I read Kiki a long time ago but if I remember correctly, that part is the town people talking about Kiki’s activities around town, and the narrator using that dialogue to introduce her to the reader.

ちっちゃ is a casual way of empathizing just how small she is, so like “Lil Kiki”.

The villagers are talking to each other like: (Do you hear the sound of the bell?) That Kiki got her foot caught (in the tree again, silly girl). Despite her size, she (somehow) is able to make the bells (on the top of the tree) ring out.

The villagers know how that’s possible, but you as the reader don’t know quite yet. At this point in time you don’t quite understand that Kiki isn’t a normal girl, so the words reflect that.

There are a lot of resources (on Bunpro and elsewhere) about くせに, that might explain better what’s going on in this passage! Good luck!

Edit: The negative nuance in くせに is very light in this case – it’s just emphasizing that a girl that small, under normal circumstances shouldn’t be able to do something like ring bells at the top of tall trees.

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#3

Thank you! I did wonder about the sentence where you mention she gets her foot caught, I interpreted it as her hitting the bell with her foot but your explanation makes more sense.

I am trying to be very mindful with translating. I have a habit of reading or listening and understanding the general idea but not being able to explain what I understand in English, which is why I want to try translating - that and I would like to put my language learning to use and actually translate things as a part time job in the future.

But I really am grateful for your advice and hopefully I can make it through the first chapter without too many issues - although I’m only at N4 level so have a lot more to learn :grin:

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#4

Yeah, you can do it! It’s hard and frustrating sometimes, but if it’s a book you enjoy, it feels really rewarding when you make progress while studying and learning at the same time!

In my opinion, despite being a children’s book, Kiki can be pretty difficult at times because it uses more folksy, childish language that you’re not likely to encounter studying Japanese as a 2nd language resources. I read it early in my Japanese learning and had to quit and come back to it a year later, because of that. But once you get used to it, it’s a very satisfying read, I think. :blush: It’s surprisingly different compared to the movie too.

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#5

I also don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing – there are lots of people who are completely fluent in 2 languages that have difficulties with that, that’s why interpretation/real time translation is a separate skill that usually has to be taught. I think it’s more important to be able to internally comprehend Japanese without having English as a point of reference/output unless that’s a specific goal. But that’s just my opinion!

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