Symphony No. 6 Japanese: Dairoku-koukyoukyoku (第六交響曲)
Here, it is likely Kenji had in mind Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 – the Pastoral Symphony. Kenji was a passionate collector of records and Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 was one of the first records that he purchased, and although he gave away many records after listening to them only once or twice, he held onto this one until his death. Interestingly, after first hearing Beethoven's Symphony No.5 (in Japanese commonly referred to as 'Destiny') at his cousin's house, Kenji is reported to have referred to it as, "...a magnificent expression of the destinies that visit us time and time again." According to his brother, this was a watershed moment for Kenji where he decided that from then on he would write as if he were a composer writing music, using words in place of notes.
A farrier
Blacksmith Here the original text refers to a farrier, which is a blacksmith who makes horseshoes. Japanese: kanazutsu-kaji (金沓鍛冶) but in modern Japanese farrier would be: teitetsu-kou (蹄鉄工)
Shop boys from the sweetshop Here the original text refers to a sugar store (satouya) – Japanese: satouya no decchi (砂糖屋の丁稚), in modern Japanese decchi is now deshi (弟子)
Here decchi can mean shop boy or apprentice. In Kenji's day an apprenticeship in a merchant store would involve a young boy living in the same house as their employer and helping out with all of the work around the store.
|
|