[JMR201707051658: Moving things around:]
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Snow White, as a Play, scene 10, The Stepmother's Feelings Change
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2017-01-21
Snow White, as a Play, scene 10, The Stepmother's Feelings Change
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[Scene 10, The Stepmother's Feelings Change --
N: Narrator, C: Councilor, M: Mayor,
Q2: the 2nd Queen, who was a vain and confused Woman,
SW: Snow White, MM: Magic Mirror, A: Advisor ]
N: The Mayor and the Councilor teased Snow White and her Stepmother incessantly.
C: I wonder when the King will return?
M: Where is he now? Is the battle going well?
N: The Councilor taught the Queen some finer points of horse riding.
C: You are far too delicate a creature to ride this way.
Why does the King leave a woman such as yourself alone so long?
Q2: Maybe I should not let you teach me to ride horses.
N: The Mayor discussed the course of the war.
M: The women of the camp need more medical supplies.
I wonder who is tending the King's wounds?
SW: Mum, I would like to join the women of the camp.
Q2: I would, too. But it's too dangerous, my dear.
N: The New Queen felt the weight of responsibility keenly.
Q2: Oh, Snow White, they ask me to make decisions that I don't understand.
SW: We should leave those decisions to Father's Advisor.
Q2: The Advisor is always out on the business of the court.
SW: Then we should make the Mayor and Councilor wait.
N: Sometimes, the Stepmother Queen consulted her magic mirror.
Q2: Mirror, mirror, on the wall, ...
MM: You keep asking me questions that you should be asking yourself, or God.
Q2: But I have no confidence.
MM: You are the Queen. You have the King's Advisor. You have Snow White.
You need patience. And to be careful of whom you listen to.
Q2: It is hard to be patient.
N: Little by little, the Mayor and the Councilor poisoned
the Stepmother Queen's heart.
M: If he really loved you, I'm sure he could make time
to take a break and come home to visit.
C: Maybe he has found someone more beautiful than you.
Q2: There is no one alive more beautiful than I to the King.
Snow White explained to me how the King feels.
C: And what about your step-daughter?
M: If the King ever does return, and if he should give you children,
won't she come before your own children?
N: The Stepmother Queen made herself distant from Snow White.
SW: Mum, can we go for a picnic?
Q2: I am so tired. Maybe not today, honey.
N: Then the Mayor made a shocking suggestion.
M: If Snow White should meet an accident in the forest,
there would be no one between you and the King.
Q2: You are evil. Leave, now.
Never say such things to me or anyone else, again.
N: The Stepmother Queen mentioned this to Snow White.
SW: They are not friends of my father.
I once asked him why he allowed them to remain in office.
Q2: What did he say?
SW: He said that the people had chosen them.
Q2: But surely the King could overrule the choice.
SW: The people must be free to make bad decisions.
Q2: He said that?
SW: If the people will not choose good, the King cannot save them.
If he tries, it will only spoil the people and ruin the kingdom.
Q2: Your father's wisdom is greater than I knew.
Are you afraid of me?
SW: I am a little afraid. Not of you. For you.
But I must trust you.
Q2: Is it wise for you to trust me?
SW: If we fight, it will destroy both of us.
And it will destroy the kingdom.
We have no choice but to trust each other
Q2: How did your father train you so well?
N: But the Stepmother Queen could not shake herself loose
of the Councilor and Mayor's influence.
Eventually, she asked the King's advisor a shocking question.
Q2: What would happen if you and Snow White were in the forest hunting,
and she should meet with an accident?
A: The Mayor and the Councilor have been teasing you again.
Q2: They have. But is it safe for her to go hunting with you?
A: I wonder whether it would be safer to leave her here with
only you against the wolves.
Q2: I see what you mean.
A: Sometimes I think I should take you with us, as well.
But the duties of the court demand otherwise.
I really am sorry to ask you to fight these battles alone.
Q2: I think I'm learning, but I'm scared.
[JMR: Written and posted 21 January 2017.]
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Snow White, as a Play, scene 9, Insecurity, Accidents, and Intrigue
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[Scene 9, Insecurity, Accidents, and Intrigue Plague the Royal Household --
N: Narrator, VW: the 2nd Queen, who was a Vain Woman,
M: Mayor, C: Councilor, A: Advisor, SW: Snow White ]
N: The New Queen became distraught, waiting for the King.
VW: There must be no one more beautiful in the kingdom than I when he returns!
SW: Mum, Daddy will be okay.
And, to him, no one living is more beautiful than you.
M: Besides yourself, Snow White, of course.
You worry too much, my Queen.
C: I'm sure he has hasn't found anyone new.
M: He would be too busy on the battlefield.
C: Of course, he can't be fighting all the time.
A: Can't you two leave well enough alone?
VW: Snow White, I need to think. Can we go for a picnic?
SW: That sounds like a great idea, Mummy.
A: I'll come with you.
VW: No need. We won't go far.
SW: Let's go pack some yummy food.
N: The New Queen thought she knew a place in the woods where Snow White had never been.
VW: Isn't this a beautiful place?
SW: Yes, it is. I like to come here when it snows.
But don't tell Daddy, he would worry.
N: They finally found a place where Snow White didn't say she had been before.
VW: This looks like a nice spot.
SW: I don't remember having come here before.
It's a little wild, but that makes it all the more fun.
N: They ate their picnic and watched the woods animals and talked for a while.
VW: Do you really think that the King thinks I'm beautiful?
SW: My father sees the real you, just like I do.
VW: That kind of scares me.
SW: I'm not sure you see the real you when you look in the mirror.
You are more beautiful than I think you know.
VW: Thank you for coming with me. I feel much better, now.
SW: I'm glad.
VW: Do you miss your mother?
SW: Sure I miss her. But you're my Mum, too.
I think Momma likes you.
N: When she heard that, the New Queen repented.
And they returned to the castle together, laughing and singing.
C: Back already?
A: They've been gone for four hours.
I was about to organize a search party.
M: You worry too much.
N: One day, while the King's Advisor was out hunting, the Mayor and the Councilor suggested another picnic.
VW: Is it safe?
C: I'll go with you. See, we've packed a picnic already.
We can ride horses, to run fast if there is trouble.
SW: We haven't been outside the castle grounds for a while.
It might be fun.
N: Snow White's horse was not feeling well.
SW: She's off her feed. Poor girl.
M: You can ride mine.
He's well trained.
VW: Maybe we shouldn't go.
C: You both need a bit of diversion.
N: They rode into the woods.
Suddenly, something spooked the Mayor's horse.
The horse ran away, carrying Snow White deep into the wilder part of the woods.
VW: Oh, dear! I knew we shouldn't have come.
C: Don't try to follow her. It's not safe.
We'll have to go back.
I'll send some guards to find her.
VW: I really should learn how to ride a horse better.
I could try to catch up to her.
C: I can teach you.
N: Back at the castle, the Mayor and the Councilor made elaborate search plans.
VW: Can't we hurry?
She must be frightened!
M: We have to ensure everyone's safety, of course.
N: By the time they were ready, the King's advisor was back.
Snow white was with him.
They were carrying the game he had taken on their horses.
A: Well, I'm glad everyone made it safely back.
C: What?
M: Oh, dear ...
VW: Oh, thank you, dear God!
Snow White! You're okay!
A: She knows more about the woods around here than most of the people in our kingdom.
SW: Mum! Councilor! I found the most wonderful spring in the woods.
Is the picnic still packed? Let's go back!
A: I trust there will be no more accidents?
C: I'll make certain of that.
N: And they had a nice little picnic.
That night, the Stepmother Queen talked with the King's Advisor.
VW: I don't think I am to be trusted.
A: I trust you more than I trust certain others.
VW: I am not sure I can defend myself from them.
I know I can't defend Snow White by myself.
A: We'll have to be more careful.
[JMR: Written and posted 21 January 2017.]
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2017-01-17
January PTA English -- Ringing in the New Year Again
Again, we are going with the season.
また、季節に従ってやります。
We'll probably talk about New Year's resolutions and winter holidays.
たぶん、新年決意や冬休みの話をします。
Maybe we'll play some of the parlor games we have been learning.
もしかして、やってきている居間遊びもするかも知れません。
Maybe we'll sing "Auld Lang Syne".
もしかして、「蛍の光」の元の曲になっている「オールド・ラング・サイン」を歌ってみるかも知れません。
Maybe. I never know for sure.
どうなるでしょう？
At long last, here are notes from last years lesson.
やっと、去年のこの頃のレッスンのノートが（ここに）出来上がりました。
[JMR201702101227:
And, at long last, here are the notes from this years lesson.
Also, here is a sample New Year's greeting conversation.
]
また、季節に従ってやります。
We'll probably talk about New Year's resolutions and winter holidays.
たぶん、新年決意や冬休みの話をします。
Maybe we'll play some of the parlor games we have been learning.
もしかして、やってきている居間遊びもするかも知れません。
Maybe we'll sing "Auld Lang Syne".
もしかして、「蛍の光」の元の曲になっている「オールド・ラング・サイン」を歌ってみるかも知れません。
Maybe. I never know for sure.
どうなるでしょう？
At long last, here are notes from last years lesson.
やっと、去年のこの頃のレッスンのノートが（ここに）出来上がりました。
[JMR201702101227:
And, at long last, here are the notes from this years lesson.
Also, here is a sample New Year's greeting conversation.
]
2017-01-13
Practice Conversation -- New Years and Winter Holiday
[JMR Posted February 6th. Should have been posted early in January.]
At the airport, Nanami is heading home for winter vacation:
At the airport, Nanami is heading home for winter vacation:
Alice: Do you
have everything, love?
Nanami: Just
my backpack and my carry-on bag.
It really is okay if I leave everything else?
Alice: It's no problem, love.
It won't be in our way.
Alice: It's no problem, love.
It won't be in our way.
Art: Don't worry 'bout it, mate.
It'll all be waiting here for you when you get back.
It'll all be waiting here for you when you get back.
Christopher: I
promise I’ll stay out of your stuff!
Julie: If he so
much as peeks into your room,
I’ll take his head off!
Christopher:
Mom! She’s threatening me again!
Alice: Oh,
behave yourselves.
There’s your flight, Nana.
Take care of yourself.
Take care of yourself.
Nanami: Thanks
for everything.
Goodbye. I’ll see you in two weeks.
Art: Have a
merry!
Nanami:
Everybody have happy holidays!
Julie: See you
next year!
Christopher:
Take care!
At the airport, two weeks later, Nanami is returning to her home stay family after winter
vacation:
Christopher:
There she is!
Nanami: Alice!
Alice: Nana,
love! Over here!
Nanami: Art,
Julie, Christopher, Happy New Year!
Christopher:
Oh. Yeah. Happy new year.
You missed the fireworks.
You missed the fireworks.
Julie: Ignore my brother. Happy
New Year, Nana!
How were your holidays?
Nanami: I had a wonderful time at home.
But I'm glad to be back.
Alice: Tell us about it on the way.
We must have your family come visit sometime.
Art: Indeed. Got your stuff? Let's go.
How were your holidays?
Nanami: I had a wonderful time at home.
But I'm glad to be back.
Alice: Tell us about it on the way.
We must have your family come visit sometime.
Art: Indeed. Got your stuff? Let's go.
2017-01-06
Landmark: Kōmyōji in Takino-chō (Katō-shi)
Landmarks (a sample)
Kōmyō-ji
in Takino-chō (now Katō-shi)
 |
| Kōmyō-ji Temple Photo by Corpse Reviver, edited by Joel Rees Courtesy Wikipedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Komyoji%28Kato%29_42.jpg Licensed under GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0 |
(Version with Japanese 日本語入りのバージョン)
Example Presentation (minimum level):
Komyoji is a Buddhist temple.It is located in Katō City, Hyōgo, Japan.
You can throw plates off of the mountain for good luck.
It has a nice view.
The autumn leaves at Komyoji are beautiful.
The nearest train station is the JR Takino Station.
You should visit Komyoji Temple.
Example presentation (high level):
Kōmyōji
is a Japanese Buddhist temple
in Katō City, Hyōgo, Japan.
It
is located near the top of Mt. Gobu.
It
is also called “Gobu-san”,
after the mountain.
I used to live at the foot of Mt. Gobu.
There
was a war between the Ashikaga brothers near the temple
around the year 1352.
There
is a memorial for the war behind the temple.
The
image of the founder rests in the henjōin commemorative
hall.
Throwing
plates off of the mountain is a tradition for bringing good luck.
There
is a deck that you can throw the plates off of.
The
deck has a nice view.
The
autumn leaves at Komyoji are beautiful.
The
nearest train station is the JR Takino Station.
It takes about an hour to hike to the temple from the station.
It takes about an hour to hike to the temple from the station.
The
view from the parking lot is spectacular!
You
should visit this temple.
 |
| JR Takino Station by 沙羅星人, edited by Joel Rees Courtesy of Wikipedia: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AB:%E6%BB%9D%E9%87%8E%E9%A7%85.JPG Assigned to the Public Domain |
This is an example of projects I sometimes use in teaching English.
英語の授業に使う一つのプロジェクトの例です。
The students choose a landmark (in this case) outside of Japan and find information about it.
学生は外国の（この場合は）名所を選んでその名所の情報を調べます。
Then they make a poster and present some of their research during class.
ポスターを作って、研究の一部を授業の間に発表します。
We use it to help the students gain confidence in composition and in making presentations in English.
このプロジェクトによって、学生は英語の作文や発表を経験し、若干の自信が着きます。
Translating -- the Song "Sayonara", by Off Course
Today's English programs on NHK included a segment on an English language version of a popular Japanese song called "Sayonara", by the band Off Course. I have a copy of it in my record collection back in the States, but not here. I think my wife has a copy in her smaller record collection stored at her parents' house. Anyway, I looked it up on the 'net.
Off Course was a Japanese folk rock band, active from the late 1960s to the 1980s. When I returned to the US after my two years as a missionary in Japan, some of their songs were among the music I took back with me.
(Their name was something of a pun in Japan, since -- especially at the time -- "of course" tended to be pronounced the same as "off course": "ofu kōsu".
Oh, here they are on Wikipedia, and here in Japanese.)
"Sayonara" was one of their bigger hits. People here who have never heard of the band will likely know the song.
It's tempting to post the Japanese lyrics, but I'll refrain. You can find them by searching the web, and I don't have permission to post them.
Translations are also supposed to trip over the current international copyright regime, but I do not feel all that bound by all of the vain imaginations of the so-called artists' associations that want to use copyright to establish their minor tyrannies and monopolies. Translation is creative work, and work that has entered the public milieu by way of copyright claims must have boundaries.
So here's my rough translation of the Japanese lyrics:
Now, the end has come, and you look so small to me.
I have this unthinking urge to take you in my arms again.
Go! Leave me alone, I am not going to cry.
I look at your cheeks, wet by the tears that fall.
We are free, is what we used to say,
As if today was a day we would never think of.
Goodbye, farewell, sayonara!
Outside white winter comes.
I am sure it was only you I loved,
Only you the way you are.
Love is such a pitiful thing. Instead of mine
Tonight you may lie in someone else's arms.
I blush easily, so we'd find a hidden path
To walk along on those cold days you liked so much.
Goodbye, farewell, sayonara!
Outside white winter comes.
I am sure it was only you I loved,
Only you the way you are.
Today again outside, it's rain, and it will shortly turn to snow
That will, in our hearts fall and pile deep --
Fall, and pile deep.
I could work harder to fit it to the rhythm and rhyme, but I won't. I could also try harder to connect the stanzas through cultural interpolation, but I'll refrain from that as well.
There are limits to my time, and there is an English version which is pretty fully interpolated and carefully fit to the tune, anyway. Kantner, Balin, and Casady covered it in 1986 as the KBC Band, if you want to find it and listen to it.
After some search, I haven't been able to find out for sure who wrote the original English lyrics. They are definitely interpolated and much more detailed than my translation, probably trying to fill in cultural details [JMR201701131157:with the extra verse ].
The English language Wikipedia page on the KBC Band Album only references Oda, with no details. (I think it odd that they don't reference the band, since the Japanese page credits the band along with Oda on the music.)
The Japanese Wikipedia page on the song simply indicates that the KBC Band used the lyrics from a promotional video that Off Course put together in 1983 with the intent to try to break into the English language markets. [JMR201701131157: So I can't say who did that translation. I have the impression it might have been Oda himself, with the help with a native English speaking friend. ]
My father was not the only one who ever told me that you can't fully enjoy foreign language literary works unless you can enjoy them in the original language. I think it's true. [JMR201701131157: I also think someone raised outside the culture will still miss much of the symbolism and many of the references. ]
But I think we can try to appreciate them to a limited extent in translation, especially if we can find translations by different people. [JMR201701131157: So, having taken time I didn't really have to take a stab at it, I thought I'd share the results. ]
Off Course was a Japanese folk rock band, active from the late 1960s to the 1980s. When I returned to the US after my two years as a missionary in Japan, some of their songs were among the music I took back with me.
(Their name was something of a pun in Japan, since -- especially at the time -- "of course" tended to be pronounced the same as "off course": "ofu kōsu".
Oh, here they are on Wikipedia, and here in Japanese.)
"Sayonara" was one of their bigger hits. People here who have never heard of the band will likely know the song.
It's tempting to post the Japanese lyrics, but I'll refrain. You can find them by searching the web, and I don't have permission to post them.
Translations are also supposed to trip over the current international copyright regime, but I do not feel all that bound by all of the vain imaginations of the so-called artists' associations that want to use copyright to establish their minor tyrannies and monopolies. Translation is creative work, and work that has entered the public milieu by way of copyright claims must have boundaries.
So here's my rough translation of the Japanese lyrics:
Sayonara
original lyrics by Kazumasa Oda,
new translation from Japanese by Joel Rees
Now, the end has come, and you look so small to me.
I have this unthinking urge to take you in my arms again.
Go! Leave me alone, I am not going to cry.
I look at your cheeks, wet by the tears that fall.
We are free, is what we used to say,
As if today was a day we would never think of.
Goodbye, farewell, sayonara!
Outside white winter comes.
I am sure it was only you I loved,
Only you the way you are.
Love is such a pitiful thing. Instead of mine
Tonight you may lie in someone else's arms.
I blush easily, so we'd find a hidden path
To walk along on those cold days you liked so much.
Goodbye, farewell, sayonara!
Outside white winter comes.
I am sure it was only you I loved,
Only you the way you are.
Today again outside, it's rain, and it will shortly turn to snow
That will, in our hearts fall and pile deep --
Fall, and pile deep.
I could work harder to fit it to the rhythm and rhyme, but I won't. I could also try harder to connect the stanzas through cultural interpolation, but I'll refrain from that as well.
There are limits to my time, and there is an English version which is pretty fully interpolated and carefully fit to the tune, anyway. Kantner, Balin, and Casady covered it in 1986 as the KBC Band, if you want to find it and listen to it.
After some search, I haven't been able to find out for sure who wrote the original English lyrics. They are definitely interpolated and much more detailed than my translation, probably trying to fill in cultural details [JMR201701131157:
The English language Wikipedia page on the KBC Band Album only references Oda, with no details. (I think it odd that they don't reference the band, since the Japanese page credits the band along with Oda on the music.)
The Japanese Wikipedia page on the song simply indicates that the KBC Band used the lyrics from a promotional video that Off Course put together in 1983 with the intent to try to break into the English language markets. [JMR201701131157: So I can't say who did that translation. I have the impression it might have been Oda himself, with the help with a native English speaking friend. ]
My father was not the only one who ever told me that you can't fully enjoy foreign language literary works unless you can enjoy them in the original language. I think it's true. [JMR201701131157: I also think someone raised outside the culture will still miss much of the symbolism and many of the references. ]
But I think we can try to appreciate them to a limited extent in translation, especially if we can find translations by different people. [JMR201701131157: So, having taken time I didn't really have to take a stab at it, I thought I'd share the results. ]
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