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Talk:Perfect Cherry Blossom/Translation

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Regarding the line that appears for Yuyuko's rebirth

身のうさを思ひしらでややみなまし
そむくならひのなき世なりせば

This is a line by the poet Saigyou. I found a page that has the following take on it:

身のうさ:自分の境遇に対する思い。
思ひしらでや:思うとか、悟るとかそう言う意味。
やみなまし:終っていただろう。
 「まし」は「こうなっていただろう」という、仮定の元での予想を表す。
そむくならひの:出家の習わし
なき世なりせば:無い世の中なら

Mi no usa: feelings about one's own situation
Omohi shirade ya: will you feel? will you attain enlightenment? that sort of thing
Yaminamasi: - will probably end.
-"masi" is basically equivalent to "kou natte ita darou" (probably turned out like sth.), and expresses the expectation that a prediction will come true.
Somuku narahi no: the establishment/tradition of the priesthood
Naki yo nariseba: If the world is without sth.

「もし、出家という習わしの無い世の中なら、自分の境遇を悟らずに終ってしまっていただろう」
と言う意味らしい。終ってしまったというのは人生の事…なのカナ?なのカナ?
 出家した事で、自分の憂鬱な境遇を悟る事が出来て、満足したと言う事だと考えられている。

"Perhaps, if this were a world without the priesthood, it all probably would have ended without having obtained enlightment about one's own circumstances"
... is what it seems to mean. Does "ending" refer to life ... I wonder? I wonder?
You can think of it meaning that by entering the priesthood, you can become enlightened about the pain of your own circumstances [n.b. the first two noble truths?] and become satisfied.

Incidentally, there's also this page, which has a different take:

mi no usa wo

My sorrow:

omoi shirade ya

Unknowing of its depth,

yami namashi

Would I meet my end?

somuku narai no

If, to leave it

naki yo nariseba

There were no way in this world ...

Our current translation is "Remembering the melancholy of human existence / Even ghosts stray from the path of righteousness".

I haven't thought about it too hard, but option two kind of makes sense. (Though, agreeing with a random English translation over a random Japanese person seems wrong, but ... hey, just deserts. Actually, having read over that site a bit more, I feel better about trusting it, so for now I'm thinking we should use some adaptation of it.) --T. Solamarle 04:04, 14 July 2007 (PDT)

Knowing that this is indeed a poem by the actual Saigyo Hoshi, some change should happen as of now - since the translation by Thomas McAuley linked to on this page was the only one that I could find - now adopting that translation.--Tosiaki 09:20, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

ZUN's verse in the credits

咎重き 桜の花の 黄泉の国

生きては見えず 死しても見れず

The translation is fairly straightforward. (Hooray for modern Japanese.)

The same site as before had the following notes. (It boils down to speculation that, since Izanagi placed a boulder to the entrance to the world of the dead, you can't see its cherry blossoms when you're alive, but since your body is destroyed upon your death, it's not possible to see them in death, either.)

 妖々夢の製作者、ZUNさん自らの句。
管理人は詩とかの風流には程遠い人なので、
詩に込められた裏の意味とかはさっぱりです。
なので、以下の解釈は文面からそのまま取ったものです。
 ZUNさんなら、かなり深い意味を持たせてる気がします。

黄泉の国(よみのくに):日本神話の死の国。伊邪那美(イザナミ)が支配している。
正しくは黄泉国(よもつくに)。人が死んだ後に向かう国である。
 入り口と言われる黄泉比良坂(よもつひらさか)の名を聞いたことある人も多いだろう。
ここに来る人の多くはデスマスクとか思い浮かべてそうだけど

 黄泉の国は、イザナミとその夫イザナギの決別の際に、
イザナギが黄泉比良坂を大きな岩で塞いだ事で、現世と隔離された。

 即ち、黄泉の国の桜の花は生きている内は見えない。
だが、死んでしまうと肉体は滅び、桜の花を見ることは出来ない。
…まあ、歌の表面的な意味はこんな感じじゃないかなとか…(弱)。

--T. Solamarle 05:19, 14 July 2007 (PDT)