Sawako Nakayasu

これは、さっきあった詩、Bright Sun in the Head of the Girls というやつ のとっても適当ないい加減な翻訳です。訴訟をおこしてごらん。あはは。

The preceding line explains the fact that this, what you are reading, or hearing, or witnessing, is a totally irresponsible and mediocre translation of the poem from earlier, called “Bright Sun in the Head of the Girls.” And then at the end of the line I said, “sue me” in Japa- nese, which caused a giggle. Strangely enough, it is only after the mediocre translator gives up on translating does anything of value ever happen.

まあとにかくかくかくしかしそれだけではなく。あっかるーい。からっからに乾 燥した牛の糞。That was the bright dried cow shit, 牛の糞, right. And then the bright hidden stones is the あっかるーい。かくーしきった き れーいな石ころころころ、心の中には貴重な粘土の笛、口笛(がんばって吹い てごらん!) (That was the bright precious clay whistles – did you blow it or did you blow it.)

でもやはり翻訳はここまでとします。10:54糞、もう夜遅いしあなたの野暮ったさに疲れたし実は今日結構ツラかったしWhen Girl F finally gets to sleep with Girl H, the bright wounds hammered into gossamer threads wrapped around the heart of Girl H reach through to the bright lines leaving tracks on the marrow of Girl F.

I am actually just reading the original lines in English now, the mediocre translator having given up already, only halfway into the poem. Worse, she is dropping her shit, that’s the word 糞、which is also synonymous with the counter for minutes, so she stuck that in there after the 10:54, she said 10時54糞、a stupid pun that indicates how she feels about being asked to play the role of the shitty translator at this late hour in the day. See how easy it is to shit in a poem of mediocre translation.

ここで線と糸が転がりかけ落ち会いながらお互いにキラキラと輝きだしてそ もそもその愛情そのものが熱をためてためて小さな可愛い太陽になって、その太陽は鳥の巣のような頭の家にある筈なのが実際問題そんなことをすると危険で見つかってしまうので

The lines and 英語の文章の threads fall into each other and encour- age mutual sparkling until their love, 中に, heat up into a tiny little sun. They are not up in the head, as advertised, but that is how they protect themselves 隠れてみよう from being discovered and potentially harmed.