紙芝居屋 / 明るい色の着物を着る

[eeky]

Hi,


1. 紙芝居屋は、話を聞きに来る子供達に駄菓子を売って生計を立てていたの。だから、小銭を持った子供達が集まるところで盛んだったのよ。

My translation: "The 紙芝居屋 made a living by selling cheap sweets to the children who came to listen to the stories. Therefore, he was popular in places where children with small change gathered."

Is this correct?


2. This is part of a conversation between ベン, who is visiting a kabuki theatre, and a kabuki actor.

Actor： 歌舞伎座の中はとても暗いから、明るい色の着物を着るけど、いいかな？

a) I understand "It's very dark in the theatre, so ...", then obviously something about wearing brightly coloured clothes/kimonos, but I am not very clear about the subject of 着る or the purpose of ～けど、いいかな. Is the speaker asking if ベン is happy to dress up in a 明るい色の着物?

b) I am never very sure how to tell whether 着物 means "kimono" (i.e. traditional Japanese dress: what we in the West would call a kimono) or just "clothes". Are there any guidelines?

ベン： はい、出来ます。自分でメイクも出来ます。

c) Is Ben saying that he knows how to wear a kimono and do his own makeup? I am not very clear about the sense in which 出来ます is used.

Actor： 目と口を上手に動かす事が出来るかな？

I am assuming this means "Can you make up your eyes and mouth properly?"

d) How would you translate 動かす here? I can't seem to find a meaning in the dictionary that exactly fits.

e) What would be the difference here between かな and plain か?

 

[Toritoribe]

1)
Yes.

2) a)
Ben is visiting the kabuki theater to perform in a play, not to watch it, right? Jugding from Ben's answer はい、出来ます。自分でメイクも出来ます。, the actor seems to be asking if Ben can wear a kimono by himself or he(= Ben) has a brightly colored kimono by いいかな?

b)
Usually 着物 refers to "traditional Japanese dress". 服 is used for "clothes".

c)
Your interpretation is correct if いいかな means "Can you wear a kimono by yourself?" As for my latter interpretation, はい、出来ます。 would mean something like "Yes, I can prepare it(= a brightly coloured kimono)."

d)
to move

e)
かな sounds more soft/gentle.

 

[eeky]

Thanks!

2a) I'm not sure if he is going to perform. It is not very clear. It seems he is being treated to a special tour of the theatre, so perhaps he is just trying on the costumes and makeup to see what it would be like.

2c) Does your suggestion "Can you wear a kimono by yourself?" refer to his understanding of how to correctly put on a kimono (in terms of folding/tying/wrapping it correctly, etc.)?

2d) Would this be in case the makeup was so thick as to impede facial movement then?

 

[Toritoribe]

2) c)
That was my interpretation. If Ben is just going to try to perfome kabuki in a tour or something, the actor might be just asking if it's OK for Ben to wear/change into kimono by いいかな？ In that case, はい、出来ます。 means "Yes, that's OK".

d)
上手に doesn't seem to fit that meaning. I would use ちゃんと or うまく for the case. (Generally, ちゃんと has a nuance of "(can do it) in usual/common/normal level", whereas 上手に is for "in better than usual/common/normal level". うまく can be used for the both cases.)

目と口を上手に動かす seems to mean "to perform (kabuki) well" to me.

 

[eeky]

I see, thanks...