Thread: Tattoo help!
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masaegu (Offline)
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Posts: 2,573
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Central Tokyo
12-01-2011, 02:44 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by ryuurui View Post
Your quote goes as follows: 私は夢を見る。時々私は何にのみ正しいことだと思う。
lol That is NOT how Murakami writes at all. The part in red does not even make sense in Japanese, either.

The original reads:

「ぼくは夢を見る。ときどきぼくにはそれがただひとつ の正しい行為であるように思える。」

Google it for verification.

Quote:
Originally Posted by RKitagawa View Post
Could someone help me to:
A) find out how it was originally written
B) tell me the differences in the translation. I don't know how accurate the english version of this quote is. And I realize that it could be completely different.
C) A general idea of what a Japanese person might think if they saw this quote tattooed on me. I don't want to get a tattoo that I love, but to a native speaker seems silly/stupid/offensive/etc...
A) As above.

B) Very close. Probably could not get any closer in English, in which language 「思える」 is simply not said. Its nuance is "It appears that I think ~~" rather than the plain "I think".

C) Though I do not represent the rest of the country, I would think it was a pretty sissy line for a tattoo if I saw it.


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