と / 考えてあげた / 早くあしたにならない / こういう考え方 / あげられる

[eeky]

Hello,


1. 遠くからだと富士山が朝霧の中にそびえているのが見え ます。

Translation given: "In the distance, faraway, you can see Mt. Fuji through the morning mist."

I'm assuming 遠くからだと = 遠くから ("from a distance") + だ (copula) + と, but I don't understand the function of と.


2. The writer is talking about a certain adult's approach to answering a question from a child:

どうしてそんな疑問を持つのかを一緒に考えてあげたほ うがいいと考えたのだろう。

My translation: "Probably he thought it would be good （for him and the child) to think together about why (the child) had such a question."

However, I don't exactly understand the compound 考えてあげた.


3. The text continues:

この子供はもしかしたら「早くあしたにならないかな」 とか「あしたにならないでほしい」と考えているのかも しれないからだ。

My part translation: "Perhaps this child was thinking something like '???' or 'I don't want tomorow to come'."

What does 早くあしたにならないかな mean? I assume it's something about tomorrow coming early/quickly, but I can't exactly get the overall sense. (The child's original question was 「あしたはどこにあるのですか」, which I assume means "Where is tomorrow?")


4. Next:

こういう考え方もあるのかと感心した。

I cannot make any sense of this sentence. To me it looks like "I admired whether there was also this way of thinking", which is nonsensical.


5. 自分の息子が「なぜ生きなければいけないの？」などと 聞いてきたら上手に答えてあげられるだろうか。答える からにはこちらも考えることが必要だ。

My translation: "When my son comes and asks something like 'Why do we have to live?', I wonder if I will be able to give him a good answer. As long as I'm answering him, it's important that I think (about the question) too."

Is this OK?

a) Does きたら mean "come" in a fairly literal sense (i.e. the son approaches the father to ask a question)?

b) あげられる is potential form, right?

c) In this case, where does だろうか lie on the scale of doubt or confidence?


6. 普段、仕事のことで願がいっぱいのお父さんたちもたま には素朴な疑問について考えるゆとりがほしいものであ る。

My translation: "Fathers normally preoccupied with work also want occasional time to think about simple questions."

I don't understand 願いっぱい and I can't find it in the dictionary. I just made up the "preoccupied" translation because it seemed to fit.

 

[undrentide]

1. 遠くからだと富士山が朝霧の中にそびえているのが見えます。

Translation given: "In the distance, faraway, you can see Mt. Fuji through the morning mist."

I'm assuming 遠くからだと = 遠くから ("from a distance") + だ (copula) + と, but I don't understand the function of と.

遠くからだ＋と
と here indicates supposition.
If it is (viewed) from the distance,

2. The writer is talking about a certain adult's approach to answering a question from a child:

どうしてそんな疑問を持つのかを一緒に考えてあげたほうがいいと考えたのだろう。

My translation: "Probably he thought it would be good （for him and the child) to think together about why (the child) had such a question."

However, I don't exactly understand the compound 考えてあげた.

～てあげる means giving a favour.
In this case, not just to think why from the stand point of view of a grown-up but instead to think about why with the child from the child's perspective - sounds like the person is trying to be closer to the child (not physically).

3. The text continues:

この子供はもしかしたら「早くあしたにならないかな」とか「あしたにならないでほしい」と考えているのかもしれないからだ。

My part translation: "Perhaps this child was thinking something like '???' or 'I don't want tomorow to come'."

What does 早くあしたにならないかな mean? I assume it's something about tomorrow coming early/quickly, but I can't exactly get the overall sense. (The child's original question was 「あしたはどこにあるのですか」, which I assume means "Where is tomorrow?")

Normally, tomorrow is something you cannot see with your eyes and one does not ask where it is.
When asked by a child "where is tomorrow?" one is likely to answer "it is not anywhere, you just cannot see it" or something of the line, but in this case the speaker is suggesting it is worthwhile to try and see where this questions comes from, assuming maybe because the child is longing tomorrow comes or does not want it come soon, which leads to the question "where is tomorrow? (if it is something to come, from where?")

4. Next:

こういう考え方もあるのかと感心した。

I cannot make any sense of this sentence. To me it looks like "I admired whether there was also this way of thinking", which is nonsensical.

感心する here means "impressed".
He was impressed because it never occurred to him that there can be such a way of thinking.

5. 自分の息子が「なぜ生きなければいけないの？」などと聞いてきたら上手に答えてあげられるだろうか。答えるからにはこちらも考えることが必要だ。

My translation: "When my son comes and asks something like 'Why do we have to live?', I wonder if I will be able to give him a good answer. As long as I'm answering him, it's important that I think (about the question) too."

Is this OK?

a) Does きたら mean "come" in a fairly literal sense (i.e. the son approaches the father to ask a question)?

b) あげられる is potential form, right?

c) In this case, where does だろうか lie on the scale of doubt or confidence?

a) 来る（＜来たら） here refers not your son but his question. So it is not to be taken as a literal sense.
The question is approaching towards me, i.e. it is directed at me.
English translation would be simply "when my son asked me a question such as ..."

b) yes.

c) yes. Your translation "I wonder if..." is right.

6. 普段、仕事のことで願がいっぱいのお父さんたちもたまには素朴な疑問について考えるゆとりがほしいものである。

My translation: "Fathers normally preoccupied with work also want occasional time to think about simple questions."

I don't understand 願いっぱい and I can't find it in the dictionary. I just made up the "preoccupied" translation because it seemed to fit.

I assume that it is either misprinting or a typo of 頭がいっぱい

 

[Toritoribe]

3)
Your interpretation is correct.

I wish tomorrow will come quickly.

6)
That sentence doesn't show a fact "Fathers want to think~" but expresses the writer's opinion "I think fathers should have time to think~".

 

[eeky]

Thank you both very much.

感心する here means "impressed".
He was impressed because it never occurred to him that there can be such a way of thinking.

Right, I think I get the "impressed" part, but what confuses me in this sentence is the word か. What is its purpose? Why not just こういう考え方もあると感心した?

I assume that it is either misprinting or a typo of 頭がいっぱい

Sorry, my mistake, it's 頭. I really must get those stronger glasses!

I wish tomorrow will come quickly.

I always have great difficulty with these negative and questioning/wondering/wishing expressions. To me, 早くあしたにならないかな looks like "I wonder whether tomorrow won't come quickly". Is that its literal meaning, and we just have to know that the speaker means "I wish" by it?

That sentence doesn't show a fact "Fathers want to think~" but expresses the writer's opinion "I think fathers should have time to think~".

I find this one quite difficult. How do we know that the "subject" of ほしい is the speaker and not お父さんたち?

 

[Toritoribe]

I think I get the "impressed" part, but what confuses me in this sentence is the word か. What is its purpose? Why not just こういう考え方もあると感心した?

こういう考え方もあるのか has a nuance of surprise.

I always have great difficulty with these negative and questioning/wondering/wishing expressions. To me, 早くあしたにならないかな looks like "I wonder whether tomorrow won't come quickly". Is that its literal meaning, and we just have to know that the speaker means "I wish" by it?

Generally, yes. ～ないかな（あ） is a structure to express the speaker's impossible or contrary-to-fact hope, just like the subjunctive mood in English.
e.g.
空が飛べないかなあ。
I wish I could fly.

Of course, it can just mean the speaker's woder depending on the context.
e.g.
あの荷物重くない（の）かな。
I wonder whether the baggage isn't heavy.

I find this one quite difficult. How do we know that the "subject" of ほしい is the speaker and not お父さんたち?

If the sentence just expresses a fact, it says "it's common/natural for fathers to want time" because of ものである. This doesn't fit the context, does this?

 

[eeky]

If the sentence just expresses a fact, it says "it's common/natural for fathers to want time" because of ものである. This doesn't fit the context, does this?

Yes, I think it could ... unless I'm missing something ...