How to live with “iki”; “we will not have extra money to use tomorrow”
Recently, I was asked by my friend to translate a short Japanese song into English. Su-zu-shi-ge-ni Mi-zu-no-o-to-su-ru Ya-na-gi-ka-ge Tu-ki-ni-ka-ku-re-te To-bu-ho-ta-ru The innocent meaning of the lyrics is as follows; “hearing the sounds of water I am comfortable, and I looked up to the moon from near the silhouette of a willow. What a lot of fireflies are flying under the bright moon!” It is so beautiful. If it were read innocently, you would be impressed by only the beautiful scene. However, it is a short song which is sung by a geisha, who is a Japanese singer and dancer while serving sake to guests at a room for mature Japanese drinking. Then I translated it to the lyrics below. The Translation “Refreshingly The sound of water resonates the silhouette of a willow Flying fireflies hidden by the bright moon” Do you understand the different nuances between both? The scene I described from the lyrics is as follows. The Scene of The lyrics