Translation request

[RPin]

Hello everyone.

I'm playing a computer game and stumbled upon the following text I have trouble translating:

雰囲気の伝播速度ときたら驚異的である。
さきほどまで、ばらばらなことをしていた人々が、一糸 乱れず全く同じタイミングで、大笑いしたり、あるいは 、しんと静まりかえって悲しい顔をしたりする。

The expression that puzzles me the most is ばらばらなことをしていた人々. I don't know what this means.

My most wild guess would be (give or take a liberties that people not familiar with the game may find strange):

"The quickness in which (he) can perceive the atmosphere is astounding.
Ever since some time ago, he's able to place which people will react to the same input with either a joyful laugh or a dead silence."

 

[Ashikaga]

Hello everyone.

I'm playing a computer game and stumbled upon the following text I have trouble translating:

雰囲気の伝播速度ときたら驚異的である。
さきほどまで、ばらばらなことをしていた人々が、一糸 乱れず全く同じタイミングで、大笑いしたり、あるいは 、しんと静まりかえって悲しい顔をしたりする。

The expression that puzzles me the most is ばらばらなことをしていた人々. I don't know what this means.

My most wild guess would be (give or take a liberties that people not familiar with the game may find strange):

"The quickness in which (he) can perceive the atmosphere is astounding.
Ever since some time ago, he's able to place which people will react to the same input with either a joyful laugh or a dead silence."

I would translate it like this....

It is astounding how quickly an atmosphere / mood spreads (and captures people). One moment, everyone is doing his/her own thing, then the next, as if on cue, everyone bursts out laughing, or falls completely silent stricken with sadness.

ばらばらな here is an adjective that is used when some things are all over the place / not neatly organized / not in unison, etc. So, literally, the phrase ばらばらなことをしていた人々 means, "people who were doing different things".

 

[RPin]

That was awesome, thanks a lot... Would you mind helping me on the follow up?

ある日、「雰囲気」に取り残された時に、一冊の本に出 会った。

"ブリキの樵は心臓がなかったので、楽しいこ と、
悲しいこと、正しいこと、間違ったことが
わかりませんでした。
「君たちと違って、僕には、導いてくれる心臓 が
ないから、よく考えて、良いことをしなきゃ いけ
ないんだ」"

I translated it as this:

A certain day, I stumbled upon a book with the following passage:

"Because the Tin Man had no heart, he could not
understand joy, sadness, right or wrong.
'I'm different than you, for I possess no heart to guide me.
For that reason, and after putting a lot of thought, I decided
that I must do good deeds.'"

This is, of course, completely ignoring what 「雰囲気」に取り残された時に means.

 

[grapefruit]

ある日

It means "one day."

よく考えて、良いことをしなきゃいけ
ないんだ」"
, and after putting a lot of thought, I decided
that I must do good deeds.

It would probably be rendered as "I must put lots of thought and do good deeds." (I'm a bit intimidated after Ashikaga-san's eloquent translation.)

 

[Ashikaga]

ある日、「雰囲気」に取り残された時に、一冊の本に出 会った。

What「雰囲気」are we talking about here? S/he found her/himself left behind by the atmosphere/mood... or a collective "air" among the people around her/him, whatever that might be.

...and @grapefruit, thank you for your compliment. I think that was the very first time anyone called my translation attempts "eloquent" sans any sarcasm. Come ON! I'm doing my best here!!!! lol

 

[RPin]

Whatﾂ「窶｢ﾂｵﾋ?坂?ｹCﾂ」are we talking about here? S/he found her/himself left behind by the atmosphere/mood... or a collective "air" among the people around her/him, whatever that might be.
...and grapefruit, thank you for your compliment. I think that was the very first time anyone called my translation attempts "eloquent" sans any sarcasm. Come ON! I'm doing my best here!!!! lol

That's what I'm trying to figure out. It's a passage where the protagonist explains that his friend is good at 'reading the mood' while he himself is more like
the Tin Man from the quotation.

This is the passage that goes right before that one:

それは、この人の社会においては、許されない礼儀破り らしく、それ故に悪意を受けたことは数知れない。

 

[Ashikaga]

Oh, so it is not talking about any particular "mood", then. It is just talking about this character's inability to read and go with "the mood".

 

[RPin]

It still got me troubled. Literally it means "at the time the mood left me behind". Could it be interpreted as "at the time I stopped caring about mood"?

 

[Glenn]

Looks like he's saying that because he did whatever thing it was that's considered a faux pas in this person's world, he's had many occasions where he's gotten dirty looks, and one day, when this had happened again, he found the book. I think ある日、「雰囲気」に取り残された時に... is a rephrasing of the previous sentence, sort of like a more poetic way of stating it. That's just my opinion, though.