What's new

Textbook Chapter 1 速読 Translation Check

ledojaeger

後輩
19 Jul 2015
98
2
23
Hello,
I'd love verification if my translations/understanding are correct.

---

単語表はありません。知らない単語もあっても、だいたい意味が分かるはずですから、読んでみてください。(There's no vocabulary list. Even if there's words you don't know, generally you should understand the meanings, so try reading it.)

これは、日本から来たばかりの留学生山下君が、初めてアメリカ人の家へ行った時の話です。
This is a story of the time where Yamashita, an exchange student who just came from Japan, went to an American's house for the first time.

ケラーというそのアメリカ人は、山下君のお父さんの友達で、山下君はお父さんから頼まれた手紙と小さなプレゼントをお届けに行ったのです。That American named Keller was Yamashita's dad's friend, and Yamashita went to deliver a letter of request and a small present from his dad.

その日は、8月の末で、ずいぶん暑い日でした。大学から10分ぐらい歩いて、ケラーさんのアパートに着きました。ケラーさんに「どうぞお入りなさい」と言われて、山下君は部屋に入りました。That day was in the end of August and was very hot. Walking about 10 minutes from the university, [Yamashita] arrived at Keller's apartment. Keller said 'Please come in', and Yamashita entered the room.

自己紹介を終わって、手紙とプレゼントを渡すと、ケラーさんは「コカコーラかなんかどうですか」と聞きました。After finishing self-introductions and giving the letter and present, Keller asked 'How about coca cola or something?'.

山下君はのどがかわいていて、何か冷たいもののを飲みたかったけれど、「はい、飲みたいです」と答えるのは失礼だろうと思ったので、"No, thank you." と答えました。Yamashita was thirsty, and he wanted something cold to drink, but since he thought that answering 'Yes, I want to drink' was probably rude, he answered 'No, thank you.'

もちろん、ケラーさんがもう一度聞いてくれるだろうと思ったからです。ところが、ケラーさん「オーケー」と言っただけで、すぐ山下君のお父さんのことをいろいろと聞き始めました。He thought that, of course, Keller would probably ask one more time. But, all Keller said was 'ok', and soon started asking lots of questions about his dad.

家族のことや、自分の勉強のことを一時間ぐらい話してから、山下君はケラーさんのアパートを出ました。のどは、まだかわいたままでした。山下君はその日、アメリカでは「ノー」は「ノー」なのだ、ということを知ったのです。After talking about things like his family and studies for about an hour, Yamashita left Keller's apartment. He was still thirsty. Yamashita learned that day that in America 'no' means 'no'.

どうぞよろしく。
 
Very good, but you misinterpreted 頼まれた手紙.

Note that the verb is passive.
 
Would 'a letter that was written and a small present' be good?
Perhaps not... I'm definitely no expert when it comes to passive and other verb forms yet.
 
Hmm...
I have ideas, but I'm embarrassed to say them and be wrong. :dead:
Could you kindly enlighten me as to how my brain should go about thinking about this?
Thank you.
 
active
(山下君の)お父さんがケラーさんに手紙を渡すよう山下君に頼んだ。
Yamashita's father asked Yamashita to pass a letter to Keller.

passive
山下君はお父さんからケラーさんに手紙を渡すよう頼まれた。
Yamashita was asked by his father to pass a letter to Keller.

So, what is the translation of お父さんからケラーさんに渡すよう頼まれた手紙?
 
Yes, that's right. The passive form お父さんから頼まれた手紙 has the same meaning as the active form お父さんが頼んだ手紙, as in your translation, but the reason the passive form is used there is because the sentence is written from Yamashita's viewpoint, similar to 自己紹介をされて in your previous post.
 
Thanks Toritoribe.
I'm beginning to gain a little more insight and understanding on the passive verb subject. I feel like I'll need to dig into it a lot more though, because what I have right now is a shade of what I feel like I could be understanding.

If I may ask, because it struck me as new...
渡すよう頼む
I know that 'you' has many definitions depending on context.
What is its function here?

Thank you so much.
 
よう(に) indicates indirect quotation of thought or conversation, often request, order or wish. It has a similar function to と for quotation or か for embedded question.
e.g.
お父さんがケラーさんに手紙を渡すよう山下君に頼んだ。
お父さんがケラーさんに手紙を渡してくれと山下君に頼んだ。
お父さんが「ケラーさんにこの手紙を渡してくれないか」と山下君に頼んだ/言った。
(The last one is direct quotation.)

ケラーさんに入るよう言われた。
ケラーさんに「どうぞお入りなさい」と言われた。

ケラーさんは山下君にいつアメリカに来たか聞いた。
ケラーさんは山下君に「いつアメリカに来たんですか」と聞いた。
 
Hmm...in that case, is this accurately getting the idea across?

"He asked her to bring the decorations."
彼が彼女に飾りを持ってくるよう頼んだ。
彼が「飾りを持ってきてください」と彼女に頼んだ。
I wrote it in two different ways to see if I could come at it from multiple angles.
 
Yes, the polite forms(~です/ます) can't be used before よう, as same as か for embedded question or と for indirect quotation.

The former one also can be interpreted as "He asked someone to bring her the decorations". The order of words 彼は飾りを持ってくるよう彼女に頼んだ。 can avoid the ambiguity.
 
I'll have to write down that word order.
If I write it that way, I can express myself clearly.
Expressing myself clearly, and being understood clearly, even if I'm not 100% fluent, are goals I strive for daily.
 
Back
Top Bottom