Sudden Schedule Change and Viet Nam Books

The original schedule would have made me stay in Johor until tomorrow. But I returned to Singapore last Friday. It seems to me that someone booked me for the entire period during which those (or anybody) from Japan would stay in Johor not really knowing about the nature of work involved this week (no interpretation required). I had no choice but charge the cancellation fee for last Saturday. On Friday (March 1), I will work with two of them in Singapore and Monday next week, I will start working with a medical-equipment engineer from Japan for two weeks also in Singapore (until March 15).

This afternoon, I finished reading Lyndon Johnson’s War and immediately started No Peace, No Honor, both authored by Larry Berman, who is also the author of Perfect Spy. In total, I’ve read more than 50 books related to Viet Nam, including novels, history books and autobiographies. And more are coming.

Burning Out

I’m feeling BURNING OUT. Working as an interpreter means I’m an outsider, but sometimes, I can’t be so. Having worked with a same client and seen much for two years, I am now very pessimistic about the future of this company (my client’s overseas subsidiary). This is all about politics within the company. Who can I believe?

This afternoon , I reached the last page of the Japanese translation of “Paradise of the Blind (Những thiên đường mù).” Then, I’ll continue to read “Perfect Spy” (my second reading).

Back from Senai and Two Different Translations (cont.)

Back from Senai, Johor. I’ll be there again on Monday next week. After working in Singapore on Tuesday, I’ll go there yet again and stay there until February 28.

その時、何が起こったのか、通行人たちが一斉に同じ方向に顔を向けた。交差点際にある土産物屋の方を見ているらしかった。目には羨望と好奇心の入り混じったような色を浮かべている。散歩中のアベックは話をやめ、互いの顔を見合わせた。中にはわざわざ足を止めてそちらの方を伺っている者もいる。私も好奇心にかられて土産物屋の方に目を向けた。すると、白い敷石を敷いた広場で、日本人の一団がおしゃべりに興じていた。彼らはまだ若く、私と同世代のようだ。男三人に女二人のグループだった。一番背の高い男が土産物屋から出てきて大仰に肩をすくめると、仲間に向かって何か言った。察するところ、その小さくて粗末な売店ではお目当ての物が見つからなかったらしい。彼の身長は一メートル七五センチはあり、欧米人の身長とほとんど変わらないくらいだ。鼻筋もすっと通っているが、その目はやはりアジア人の目だった。あとの二人は彼より背が低く、背丈といい、顔立ちといい、双子のようによく似ていた。彼らは一九五〇年代のポスターで見た空手の選手を彷彿とさせた。三人とも揃いの白っぽい服に淡いグレーのネクタイを結び、身なりは実に立派だった。それに比べると、二人の女の子はあまりぱっとしなかった。二人ともオーバーブラウスにミニスカートを見につけ、髪もよく似た形にカットしてあった。ダイヤを嵌め込んだブレスレットをした腕にクリーム色のハンドバッグを提げている。特に男たちの方はいかにも自信満々といった様子が見てとれた。周りに大勢の人間が集まってきても、まるで頓着しないのだ。外国に来て、現地の人間から注目されたり憧れの目で見られたりするのは当たり前と思っているらしい。話し方も笑い方も実に品がよく、その細い眼は冷静で落ち着き払っている。肌の色艶もよく、すべすべしている。それは満ち足りた生活をしている者の顔だ。日本人に生まれたということは、世界じゅうどこでも誇りを持って生きられるパスポートを手にしたと同じことなのだ。日本人だというだけで、地球上のどこへでも悠々と軽やかに出かけることができる。彼らと私たちの間には、どうしてこんなに違いがあるのだろう。

その時、自分の友人や同世代の若者たちの顔が私の脳裏をよぎった。日々の暮らしに疲れ切った顔は、年よりずっと老けて見える。やつれ、埃にまみれ、眉間に皺の寄った不機嫌そうな顔……。その顔は不安のためにひきつっている。彼らは胸のうちにさまざまな不安を抱えているのだ。買いたい物も買えない、満足に故国への仕送りもできない。自分からのささやかな仕送りを待つ間にも、故国の老いた両親が働きに出て病気になってはしまいか、大使館の職員にマークされるようなことをしでかしたりはしなかったか……。考えることが多すぎて、自然と顔つきは曇り、生気を失っていく。自分自身の暮らしを維持し、故国への仕送りに頭を悩ませ、りんごもぎや列車の車内掃除の仕事をして報酬がいくらもらえるかを計算し、この先どうやって生活していくかを考える。だが将来だって、大海原に浮かぶ小舟のように確かな保証は何もないのだ。そんな不安を抱えた者たちが街に出て、安楽で平和な、そして幸せで自由な生活を送っている者たちの間に入っていけば、完全に浮き上がってしまう。まだ二十歳の若さで額には深い皺が刻まれ、青い隈のできた目元には前髪がかかっている。いつもは暗く沈んだ目をしているくせに、安物を買いあさる時だけは野蛮ではしたない本性をむき出しにする……。そんなところを外国人に見られた時は、たまらなく惨めな気持ちになる。そうしていったん傷ついた心は、簡単に癒えるものではない。

もう一度、私は日本の若者たちに目をやった。彼らのどこが私たちと違うというのだろう。もし人間が何度か生まれ変わるものだとするならば、彼らの前世はあれほどずば抜けてはいなかったはずだ。聡明さや忍耐力にかけては、アジアの民族はほかのどの民族にもひけをとるものではない。だが運命の女神が微笑んだのは、日本人に対してだけだった。きっと彼らは平穏な星の下に生まれ、運命の嵐に翻弄されずに済んだのだろう。（pp.282-284; Chapter 8）

A group of young people strolled by. I noticed them turn their attention to a kiosk, under a tree, that sold gifts and souvenirs. Everyone watched them with an odd mixture of curiosity and respect. A young Russian couple stopped talking and to stare in their direction. Some of the men, less discreet, gaped at then ide-eyed. Suddenly, I too was curious, and stopped to watch.

This group of young Japanese – three boys and two girls – stood chatting on the cobblestone courtyard in front of the kiosk. They must have been about my age. The tallest of the boys had just come out of the kiosk. He shrugged his shoulders; apparently, there wasn’t much of interest to them in that old kiosk. The young man must have been almost six feet tall, an above-average height, even for a Westerner. He had an aquiline nose, but his eyes were Asian. The other two boys weren’t as tall, but they looked almost identical both in size and facial features. All three wore white jackets and silky gray ties.

They reminded me of 1950s film posters advertising karate masters. They were handsome in a funny sort of way. The two girls weren’t as pretty. They wore the same short skirts and jackets, the same bobbed haircut, the same rhinestone bracelets, the same café-au-lait-colored handbags. They exuded confidence and ignored the other people milling around them. They seemed almost accustomed to being stared at, watched with envy. They spoke in hushed tones, their almond-shaped eyes sparkling as they laughed. They had smooth, healthy skin, the glow of well-nourished people.

Japanese: The name alone was like a certificate of respectability, a passport that opened all the doors in the world to them. Just like that.

What did these people have that we didn’t have? Hundreds of faces rose in my memory: those of my friends, people of my generation, faces gnawed with worry, shattered faces; twisted, ravaged, sooty, frantic faces.

Our faces were always taut, lean with fear. The fear that we might not be able to pay for food, or not send it in time, the fear of learning that an aging father or mother had passed away while waiting for our miserable subsidies; the fear that some embassy official just might not…

We had darting, calculating faces: you had to think of everything, weigh everything. All the time.

You had to think to survive, to feed your loved ones, to hustle for a day’s wages sharecropping or sweeping on a train. You had to think too of the life that stretched out ahead, the pain that still waited for you, of a future as obscure and unfathomable as sea fog.

Who could fail to notice these faces in the street among the others so certain of their happiness, their freedom?

Or faces like mine: to be twenty years old and see wrinkles forming on your forehead, dark circles of misery welling under your eyes. Desperate, soulful eyes. To have the eyes of a wild animal, darting about, razor sharp, ready to quarrel over goods at a shop counter or scuffle in a line for food. And there was the shame, the self-loathing, in the mirror of another’s gaze. Life as one endless humiliation.

I watched the Japanese furtively. What was it? What did they have that we didn’t? if it is true that we are born again, passing from one life to the next, then in a previous existence, surely, they were like us. Their intelligence, their perseverance – these are qualities we Asians have in no short supply. All this generation had was a bit of luck. Luck to have been born in peacetime, in a real house, in the right place, under a real roof… (pp. 228-230, Chapter 11)

Aside from the description of these young Japanese or Japanese people in general, these two texts differ. I really wish I could read the original.  

Two Diffrent Translations (cont.)

Another example:

“Toward the end of winter, a tavern opened up on the main road. The young toughs adopted it as their hangout, spent their time shuttling between the beer hall and the state brewery. Food vendors flocked to the street to hawk their snacks, their grilled or boiled peanuts, green papaya salads, and calves’ feet. And little by little, the shop filled up with a new breed of wealthier clients, the cyclo drivers from the provinces, the used-motorcycle-and-bicycle salesmen. Food stalls sprung up selling dog-meat dishes, grilled sausages, dried squid and fish, beef marinated in vinegar and red-hot chilies. The street reeled with these tantalizing aromas. Drunks lurched and staggered, relieving themselves against the walls. The buildings were streaked with streams of rancid urine. On hot days, the stench was overpowering.

Day by day, the street became more and more bustling, breathing life into the nearby market, where food vendors could now reap huge profits. My mother and her friends had visions of getting rich overnight. My mother started to rake in the money. She had already used all the profits to buy metal rods and several thousand bricks. After Tet, she planned to raise the house on stone slabs and build a roof over the terrace. All she had to do was buy the cement and hire the workers.

‘Give me until Tet,’ she promised, beaming at me. She had her confidence back now and no longer felt inferior to her sister-in-law. Still, I couldn’t understand her stubbornness, and I used to plead with her not to worry so much.

‘After Tet, we’ll have a new roof. No more leaks, no more heat. And all without Aunt Tam’s earrings,’ she said.

She grinned just thinking about it. But she never did have much luck. One evening, when I came home from high school, I found her packing her wares.”  (Translated by Phan Huy Duong and Nina McPherson)

「冬が終わる頃、私の家のある通りの中ほどに小さなビアホールが店開きした。開店と同時に、噂を聞きつけた失業者たちが群れをなして集まってきた。彼らは国営店で手に入れたビール、落花生や牛の蹄やパパイヤの酢の物などのつまみをベアホールの客に売りつけようとやって来たのだ。ビアホールは、よその省から仕事できた運転手、自転車やオートバイの売人たちなど、金回りのいい飲み客で大繁盛した。飲み客が増えるにつれ、つまみを売りにくる者たちの数も一挙に膨れ上がり、売られるつまみの種類も急増した。酢の物や落花生のほか、犬の肉や腸詰めの炭火焼き、焼きイカ、干魚、牛肉の辛子味噌漬けまで売られるようになり、周辺にはいつもうまそうな匂いがしていた。しかし時々、酔漢たちがよろよろした足取りで塀際に小便をするので、匂いが地面にしみつき、陽気の変わる頃にはものすごい臭気があたりに充満した。

街は急に騒々しくにぎやかになった。それにつられて近在の市場もにわかに活気を帯び、母も商売仲間も目に見えて懐ろが潤うようになった。母は時々売り上げ金を集計しては、家の修理の見積もりに余念がなかった。鉄材と煉瓦はもう買ってあったので、テトが終わったら塀をもっと高くして、屋根にコンクリートを打つ心積もりだった。あとはセメントを入手して大工の手配をすれば、すぐに着工できる手はずとなった。

『テトが終わったら、お母さんの腕前を見てよ』

母はすっかり自信をつけたらしく、嬉しさを隠しきれない様子でそう言った。たぶんこれまで、母はタム伯母の圧倒的な経済力にひけめを感じていたのだろう。義姉のやりくりが巧みであればあるほど、自分の存在感が薄くなると思い込んでいたのだ。

『お母さんは少し考え過ぎなのよ』

『だってテトが終わったら屋根を直せるのよ。これで暑い日も心配ないし、雨漏りだったしなくなるわ。タム伯母さんの耳飾りのお世話にならなくて済んだわね』

母は勝ち誇ったような目をして言った。しかしそんな幸運も長くは続かなかった。

ある日の午後、私が学校から帰ると、母はすでに帰宅して、商売の品を部屋の隅に片づけていた。」（訳者　加藤栄）

Comparing the two translations, I would have to say that the Japanese one is more elaborate and probably more accurate. There is a big difference between “green papaya salads” and 「パパイヤの酢の物」.  There is no text in English:「飲み客が増えるにつれ、つまみを売りにくる者たちの数も一挙に膨れ上がり、売られるつまみの種類も急増した。酢の物や落花生のほか」.

Not a cent returned from the Filipina fraudster.部屋の隅に片づけていた。」（訳者　加藤栄）

Comparing the two translations, I would have to say that the Japanese one is more elaborate and probably more accurate. There is a big difference between “green papaya salads” and 「パパイヤの酢の物」.  There is no such text in English:「飲み客が増えるにつれ、つまみを売りにくる者たちの数も一挙に膨れ上がり、売られるつまみの種類も急増した。酢の物や落花生のほか」.

Not a cent returned from the Filipina fraudster.

Two Different Translations: I wish I could read the original

Only some time ago, I learned that Paradise of the Blind (Những thiên đường mù) by Duong Thu Huong had been translated into Japanese. The translated book arrived yesterday, and I began reading it today.

I do wish I could understand Vietnamese as I find differences between the two translations. Maybe minor differences, but I would like to find what the original says and how and why these differences occurred.

One example: this is the opening scene in English, translated by Phan Huy Duong and Nina McPherson

“She looked at me and said:

‘Poor little one. You really don’t have much luck.’ She shook her enormous old head and turned to go. As she shuffled off, the smell of her cheap perfume hung in the room, sticking like glue to the yellowed, peeling walls. I just stood there shivering in my pajamas, staring at the housekeeper’s buxom figure, my head spinning.

I was sick myself; for the last few days I had been racked with fever. I walked with my shoulders hunched over like an old drug addict, my tiny breasts floating under a baggy shirt. The only men in our residence were real relics; they didn’t even bother to stare.”

And the Japanese translation by Kato Sakae (加藤栄): 

「ベラ夫人は、私の顔に浮かんだ表情をすばやく読みとって言った。
『可哀想に…。あんたもよくよく運の悪い人だね』
彼女はこてこてに結い上げた頭を絶望的に横に振ると、安物の香水の匂いを残して立ち去った。その匂いはあたりに漂い、漆喰の剥げかかった壁にじっとりとからみついているようだった。私はパジャマの下の身を縮こめて、でっぷり太った女管理人の後ろ姿を見送った。妙に頭が重かった。人の病気を心配する前に、私自身が体調を崩していたのだ。気管支炎をこじらせて肩の肉が落ち、おまけに胸まで小さくなって手持ちの下着はどれもぶかぶかだ。ここの寮には男性も何人か住んでいる。みんな年をとってくたびれた連中ばかりだが、そんな男たちですら廊下ですれ違っても私の方など見向きもしない。」