¡Sarah!

I always forget how much I like Sakamoto Maaya (whom some of you might know as the voice of Hitomi in Tenkuu no Escaflowne) unless I am listening to her music, despite the fact that if I were to one day make a list of my favourite songs ever, her "Mameshiba" would definitely have to be on there. :D (And I still think the lyrics she wrote for "Alkaloid" are like the best lyrics I've ever heard in my life.) So when I was thinking about what song I should attempt a terrible translation of next, I was thinking about what CDs I have that have nothing to do with Hello! Project, and I realized it's been a good while since I last listened to a Maaya CD. I think perhaps I will make an attempt at "Mameshiba" or "Alkaloid" at a time in the future when I feel I might do them justice, haha. XD For now we will have to settle for a song I don't hold in such high esteem, although I still do like it quite a bit. ^_^

athena_crikey may remember my terrible attempts to translate this song while in early high school, hahaha. XD I am happy to report that this time I found it a ton easier. Although what sucked was that as I was typing the Japanese lyrics out, I was thinking, "Wow, this'll be easy to translate, I think I still know it pretty well and there aren't any really difficult parts." Then I actually started to think about how to turn it into English, and I thought, "GOSH, I'm going to need a lot of subordinate clauses!" XD XD XD XD;;; Haha, it was a crazy realization, you have no idea. XD

And one last note here - this is like the fastest complete translation I've ever done, ever. Usually they take me DAYS. I do a bunch and then I hit a problem spot and then I let myself get distracted and forget I was working on anything and usually I never even finish them, either. XD; This took me just barely three hours. I TOLD you guys I get crazy productive after midnight!! XD XD XD

(And I even like this translation better than that last one! XD; )


木登りと赤いスカート
    kinobori to akai SUKAATO
        Tree Climbing and a Red Skirt

坂本真綾
    sakamoto maaya

~*~

５年ぶりの大雪の朝 ふたり出会った
小さな君が背のびして開けた２階の窓辺
偶然僕が降り立ったのさ

gonenburi no ooyuki no asa  futari deatta
chiisana kimi ga senobi shite aketa nikai no madobe
guuzen boku ga oritatta no sa

The first morning in five years that had heavy snow, the two of us met.
By chance, I alighted by the second-story window
That you opened while standing on your tiptoes.

~*~

あれからどこへ行くのもいっしょ
笑いじょうごだけど泣き虫の君は
ぼくの羽根でナミダふくから
いつだってぼくはびしょ濡れで困った

are kara doko e iku no mo issho
waraijougo dakedo nakimushi no kimi wa
boku no hane de NAMIDA fuku kara
itsu datte boku wa bishonure de komatta

From then, wherever you went we were
Merry drinkers together, but you were a crybaby;
Because you dried your tears with my wings,
I was always wet to the skin and troubled by it.

~*~

ぼくがむかし天使だった頃に
君にはすべての世界が見えた
すべてと話ができた

boku ga mukashi tenshi datta koro ni
kimi ni wa subete no sekai ga mieta
subete to hanashi ga dekita

In the time long ago when I was an angel,
You could see the whole world.
We could talk about anything.

~*~

学校にあがる初めての日 ちこくしたぼくたち
女の子のくせに君は木登りが得意
いちご摘みに夢中で迷子になったり

gakkou ni agaru hajimete no hi  chikoku shita bokutachi
onna no ko no kuse ni kimi wa kinobori ga tokui
ichigo tsumi ni muchuu de maigo ni nattari

The first day you started school, we were late.
Even though you're a girl, you were good at climbing trees.
Consumed by picking strawberries, you'd get lost.

~*~

そしていくつの冬と春と夏が過ぎたっけ
きゅうに君は無口になった
胸のポケットで元気づけるぼくの声ももう聞こえない

soshite ikutsu no fuyu to haru to natsu ga sugitakke
kyuu ni kimi wa mukuchi ni natta
mune no POKETTO de genkizukeru boku no koe mo mou kikoenai

And then how many winters and springs and summers passed?
You suddenly became silent.
You can't even hear my voice in your chest pocket, cheering you up, anymore.

~*~

ぼくがむかし天使だった頃に
君は毎日 夢見てすごした
すべてがかなうと信じた

boku ga mukashi tenshi datta koro ni
kimi wa mainichi  yume mite sugoshita
subete ga kanau to shinjita

In the time long ago when I was an angel,
You spent every day dreaming.
You believed all your dreams would come true.

~*~

大人になった君の目にぼくの姿は見えない
天使の僕もナミダを流すってこと初めて知ったよ そのとき

otona ni natta kimi no me ni boku no sugata wa mienai
tenshi no boku mo NAMIDA wo nagasu tte koto hajimete shitta yo  sono toki

You've become an adult; your eyes can't see my form.
That was the first time I knew that even I, an angel, could shed tears.

~*~

つばさ棄てたぼくが君に出会ったのは
２年前のやはり雪の日で
見間違うくらい美しくなった君が目の前に立っていた

tsubasa suteta boku ga kimi ni deatta no wa
ninenmae no yahari yuki no hi de
mimachigau kurai utsukushiku natta kimi ga me no mae ni tatte ita

I had thrown away my wings when I ran into you
Two years ago - of course it was a snowy day when
You, who had become so beautiful it was as though my vision was mistaken, were standing in front of my eyes.

~*~

ぼくはいまは天使じゃないけれど
二度と天使に戻れないけれど
君がしあわせにくらせるように
ずっとそばにいてあげる
君を悲しませるもの
すべてからまもってあげる

boku wa ima wa tenshi ja nai keredo
nido to tenshi ni modorenai keredo
kimi ga shiawase ni kuraseru you ni
zutto soba ni ite ageru
kimi wo kanashimaseru mono
subete kara mamotte ageru

I'm not an angel now, but ...
I can never return to being an angel, but ...
So that you may live in happiness,
I'll always be by your side.
I'll protect you from
The things that make you sad.

~*~*~

Vocab I had to look up ^^;

1
大雪 (ooyuki): (n) heavy snow
年ぶり or 年振り (nenburi): (exp) after an interval of # years, for the first time in # years
背伸び (senobi): (vs) standing on tiptoe, stretching oneself, overreaching oneself
窓辺 (madobe): (n) by the window
降り立つ (oritatsu): (vi) to go down and stand, to alight, to get down

2
笑い上戸 (waraijougo): (n) merry drinker
泣き虫 (nakimushi): (n) crybaby, blubberer
拭く (fuku): (vt) to wipe, to dry
びしょ濡れ (bishonure): (n) wet to the skin

4
摘む (tsumu): (vt) to pluck, to pick, to trim
迷子 (maigo): (n) lost child

5
け (ke) or っけ (kke): particle indicating that the speaker is trying to recall some information
無口 (mukuchi): (adj-na, n) reticence, taciturnity
元気付ける or 元気づける (genkizukeru): (vt) to pep up, to cheer up

7
流す (nagasu): (vt) to shed (blood, tears)

8
捨てる or 棄てる (suteru): (vt) to throw away, to cast aside, to abandon
見間違う (mimachigau): (v) to misjudge, to make a mistake in vision

~*~*~

Ridiculous Notes

1
Haha, I didn't stick numbers above the verses this time so you are just going to have to GUESS what I am talking about!! XD XD XD XD;;; Anyway, this note is just to say I neglected to convey the 小さな君 chiisana kimi in the second line, because I had no idea how to fit it in and still have it sound like English. ^^; So I feel the need to point out in the footnotes that in the first verse, "you" is "little." And that's why she has to stand on her tiptoes to open the window. Eh? Eh?? XD XD XD;;

3
This note might be less ridiculous and more stupid. Whenever I hear the line すべてと話ができた subete to hanashi ga dekita I think, "You could talk with everything? Like, you could talk with animals???" And I still don't know, maybe that's what that line means. But I decided to fudge it and make it a more common line. I still don't know what that と to is doing there, ahahaha. ^^;;;