"Grab it, cried the child, pointing up at the full moon"
Translation is a bit lame.... Following the Japanese order, it says something like "The full moon, get it for me, said the crying child". Of course you can't reproduce the effect directly in English, but the order seems somehow important.... And the crying, too.
And I did think the moon look rather bright last night!
I rendered it as '"I want that moon!", demanded the crying child...' because:
取ってくれろ is a demand, not a request or even a command
取ってくれろ means that the child wants it, not that he/she wants you to grab it. ("Give me that moon" might work.)
"I want xxx!" is something a crying child might say.
I'm not particularly proud of or confident in my effort, but it seems to me that you have to depart from the literal meaning of the words ("grab it") to capture what the child is crying about.
I agree that the child is crying because he or she wants the moon. I imagine a girl. Why? But I think it is ambiguous and that children use that firm when they want mom or dad to get it fit them.
Tara the Green Goddess? My thoughts are so discombobulated these days, I cannot properly respond. However, this all touches me very deeply, especially the celebration of The Thirteenth Moon. Thank you so much for writing, Leanne!
Thank you so much for reading and commenting!!! I prepared all these posts before leaving town... and was so surprised --and sad-- to come home to clouds! In LA???? At least I have mooncakes :)
Reading LaFleur and I swear I recall his reference of a poem in which the diffusion of clouds can also represent clarity of thought. I will look for the reference for you, but give me awhile! lol! Going in circles here. Enjoy the mooncakes!
"Get me that full moon!" whimpered the child.
(しくしく泣く)
Ok, we've left the Japanese far behind but that's how I picture it.
"Grab it, cried the child, pointing up at the full moon"
Translation is a bit lame.... Following the Japanese order, it says something like "The full moon, get it for me, said the crying child". Of course you can't reproduce the effect directly in English, but the order seems somehow important.... And the crying, too.
And I did think the moon look rather bright last night!
We are under clouds here!! I like my translation better --but it is never really perfectly satisfying, is it?
"The Moon, grab it," said the crying child..."
"I want that moon!", demanded the crying child...
That is better I don’t know why so I like pointing at the moon because it somehow makes it more clear what’s happening but I know it’s not there.
That moon … How about, grab it, that full moon but why would a child be crying and somehow it’s really hard to evoke that in English.
名月を取ってくれろと泣く子かな
I rendered it as '"I want that moon!", demanded the crying child...' because:
取ってくれろ is a demand, not a request or even a command
取ってくれろ means that the child wants it, not that he/she wants you to grab it. ("Give me that moon" might work.)
"I want xxx!" is something a crying child might say.
I'm not particularly proud of or confident in my effort, but it seems to me that you have to depart from the literal meaning of the words ("grab it") to capture what the child is crying about.
I agree that the child is crying because he or she wants the moon. I imagine a girl. Why? But I think it is ambiguous and that children use that firm when they want mom or dad to get it fit them.
Tara the Green Goddess? My thoughts are so discombobulated these days, I cannot properly respond. However, this all touches me very deeply, especially the celebration of The Thirteenth Moon. Thank you so much for writing, Leanne!
Thank you so much for reading and commenting!!! I prepared all these posts before leaving town... and was so surprised --and sad-- to come home to clouds! In LA???? At least I have mooncakes :)
Reading LaFleur and I swear I recall his reference of a poem in which the diffusion of clouds can also represent clarity of thought. I will look for the reference for you, but give me awhile! lol! Going in circles here. Enjoy the mooncakes!
You too!! Enjoy the moon! I have LeFleur sitting out --you know, I think I own three copies of that book. I loved it. I was looking at this essay as I wrote: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/full-moon-zen_b_9801342#:~:text=In%20Buddhism%2C%20the%20moon%20is,natural%2C%20versatile%2C%20and%20evocative.&text=The%20scene%20may%20be%20hard,reflected%20in%20the%20water%20below.
Wonderful paintings and poems! Thanks for posting the link.