Meaning of 簡易平明

nonezumi · 13 Oct 2010

Hello,

If possible, please, kindly, help me to translate 簡易平明 in the sentence below:

民話は昔ばなしとも呼ばれ、長い間に磨きぬかれた, 簡易平明な語りのおもしろさのなかに。。。

Here is my, more likely, wrong translation:

Folklore is also called as "Japanese Folk Tales", being polished during long period,
simply interesting talks are inside...

But, I am not sure how to translate 簡易 + 平明. Both seems to be Na-Adjectives with meaning of "being simple", and unfortunately, I have no idea how to put it into the translation.

I am sorry for asking very basic questions.

Thank you very much. :sorry:

Toritoribe · 13 Oct 2010

Yeah, 簡易 and 平明 are similar in the meaning. You can think it as 簡易で平明な or "simple and plain".

Both 長い間に磨きぬかれた and 簡易平明な modifies 語り, and 語り modifies おもしろさ.

(literally) "Minwa(People's Tales)" is also called "Mukashibanashi(Old Tales)", in the interestingness of their simple and plain narrative style which has been polished during long period...

nonezumi · 14 Oct 2010

Toritoribeさん、

Thank you so much for your perfect, as always, explanation.
I have learned a lot from your, so kind, correct translation.

Actually it is beginning of the little bit lengthy sentence and, I think, for me,
it will be impossible without help to understand it.

I am sorry for asking so simple questions.

Thank you very much! :sorry:

Elizabeth · 14 Oct 2010

nonezumi said:
Toritoribeさん、
Thank you so much for your perfect, as always, explanation.
I have learned a lot from your, so kind, correct translation.
Actually it is beginning of the little bit lengthy sentence and, I think, for me,
it will be impossible without help to understand it.
I am sorry for asking so simple questions.
Thank you very much! :sorry:

Do you understand ? :sorry:

I don't get おもしろさのなかに. Perhaps it is essentially untranslatable. おもしろさ in English sounds as if it is a judgment on the quality or degree of interest of a work. :?:

undrentide · 14 Oct 2010

Elizabeth said:
Do you understand ? :sorry:

I don't get おもしろさのなかに. Perhaps it is essentially untranslatable. おもしろさ in English sounds as if it is a judgment on the quality or degree of interest of a work.

民話は昔ばなしとも呼ばれ、長い間に磨きぬかれた, 簡易平明な語りのおもしろさのなかに。。。
Since the sentence quoted is complete, I guess there must be something else in 民話 folk tales - something like truth, morale, history, etc.
I'd say "while they are interesting, they have xxxxx in them."
I could be totally wrong, though, as this is based on my assumption that おもしろさのなかに is followed by ～がある or something like that.

nonezumi · 16 Oct 2010

Elizabethさん、

Sorry for late reply.
I never could translate as well as Toritoribeさん did. My Japanese is very weak, unfortunately i can not see and understand all nuances.
Most of time, I am just trying to learn from the way how translation was done.

This is just the beginning of the very long sentence, so I was thinking, when it will be translated completely, maybe the overall meaning became little bit clear for me.

Thank you very much for your kind question. :sorry:

undrentideさん、

Thank you very much for your perfect and kind help! :sorry:

nonezumi · 17 Oct 2010

Hello,

If possible, please, kindly take a look at my translation for the rest of lengthy sentence.
Although, I have translated it, but more likely the translation is wrong.

民話は昔ばなしとも呼ばれ、長い間に磨きぬかれた、
簡易平明な語りのおもしろさのなかに、
ふるさとの風の匂い、遠い祖先の知恵、
夢や希望、涙と笑い、恐怖と慈愛など、
いっぱいのことがらを、つめこんだ「お話の宝箱」なのです。

Minwa(People's Tales)" is also called "Mukashibanashi(Old Tales)", in the interestingness of their simple and plain narrative style which has been polished during long period, [they have] breeze in scent of our home country, wisdom of the distant ancestors, dreams and hopes, tears and laugh, fear and love [in them]
[it is a] treasure box of the stories, which are full of many matters.

Thank you very much for your kind help.

Glenn · 17 Oct 2010

"Minwa, also called mukashibanashi, are "treasure chests of stories" that have put lots of things like the smell of the wind of one's home land, the wisdom of the ancestors of long ago, dreams and hopes, tears and laughter, fear and love into plain and simple stories that have been polished over long periods of time."

I think a natural English translation would ignore 面白さの中に to be honest with you, as "interestingness" isn't a word that gets used that often as far as I'm aware. The above is probably how I would translate it. Your translation isn't really wrong, though. I just find it to be a bit of translationese, but that's an issue for translation more so than understanding the grammar involved in that sentence. You're understanding of it is pretty much dead on.

nonezumi · 17 Oct 2010

Glennさん

Thank you very much for showing me perfectly polished English translation. Usually, I trying to be close to literal Japanese translation. It just a way for me to gain better understanding. In fact, I using English language for trying to understand Japanese language and, surprisingly, Japanese language requires from me better English skills. Even if I would try to give a natural English translation for that sentence, it never could be as perfect as yours. It is a great chance to learn English as well.

Thank you very much your kind help. :sorry:

Meaning of 簡易平明

nonezumi

先輩

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

nonezumi

先輩

Elizabeth

先輩

undrentide

Japa'n vagyok

nonezumi

先輩

nonezumi

先輩

Glenn

一切皆苦

nonezumi

先輩

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