Done Song

[Gottheim]

Alright, I'm gonna need some help on that one. The character who says this is an entertainer, playing the shamisen in front of a store to ask for money. Here's the song.

Spoiler

さらばえよりては
これにまたいづれにおるかはあらねども
もののあわれをたずねるに

Only the last line makes a modicum of sense to me, as the two previous ones remain totally obscure. And the utter lack of Kanji doesn't help one bit. So if someone knows their way around archaic language and/or Japanese folk songs, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Kuri]

speaking of the farewell
I don't know if I'm going to come back here again
to see if anything will appear/show up

If you can, would you mind sharing the song title or provide a link?
I can't tell if あわれ is appearance or pitiful state.
Thank you!

 

[Gottheim]

What you have here is everything I've got. That's more or less what I got when I translated the song myself. I could link you to the page, but I doubt that's gonna make much of a difference. The song and the context are completely unrelated.

Still, if you're interested...

Spoiler

Picture found here.

 

[mikkih]

Thank you for posting the original source.

The ladies who wear amigasa (a type of straw hat) and sing with a shamisen (a guitar like 3-string instrument) for money in Edo Period (1603-1868) are called TORIOI. This song is probably a phrase from one of the torioi-uta (Torioi songs), but I have no idea which song that could be.

If I rephrase the original song in other Japanese words, it will be something like.... 「年(toshi)老(o)いてしまったうえに,　どこにいるかもわからない。ものの　あわれを たずねると...」

A subject is often omitted in Japanese, so it can be I, he, or she.... This song is probably about the sadness of an old pitiful person who travels to place to place.　This is a tough one for me to translate, but if I must, this is how it goes....

"Being old and pitiful, and on top of it, not sure where I am/he or she is. I/he/she sense(s) empathy towards things around me/him/her."

A word by word translation reference:
さらばえ　sarabae (being old, old and pitiful)
よりて は　yorite wa (therefore )
これに また Koreni mata (on top of that)
いづれ に izure ni (where)
おるか は　oruka wa　(being/exist)
あら ねども ara nedomo (it is not)
ものの あわれ を　mono no aware o (sensitivity to things ... not a very cheerful way)
たずねる に　tazuneruni (visit ... but more like experience in this txt, I think.) (tazuneru ="ask" does not fit here.)

I hope someone can polish up or edit my translation.

 

[Gottheim]

Thanks a lot. You're a life saver.

May I ask you what your source is for the archaic vocabulary? I usually like to work things out on my own, but this time around I really didn't have a prayer.

Okay, I was able to come up with something from what you gave me. It goes: "Old and wretched/ignorant of where I stand/the sadness of understanding is visited upon me".

Whether it's "me/you/him/her" is ultimately of little importance, as the contents of this song have absolutely no impact on the plot. I just happen to enjoy a job well done.:P

 

[mikkih]

RE: source for the archaic vocabulary

Sorry, I really don't have a good source to give you. I did however look up mononoaware online to see an English term for it before my previous posting.

Online tools:

You should at least be able to find these words in Japanese goo or yahoo online dictionaries.

sarabae ---> more often used as 老いさらばえ/oisarabae　
yoritewa ---> Kanji/Characters for よりて/yorite are 因りて/依りて/仍りて. Yorite=Yotte

もののあわれ (mono no aware) is one of the important Japanese concepts of old days, so you should be able to look up the meaning in wiki or other online documents. There are many other concepts that are difficult to translate such as Wabi and Sabi. Mononoaware is one of those concepts that is hard to translate in a few English words.

Good luck to your project

 

[Asian Cait Sith]

This song is original.

Most Torioi uta (Bird chasing songs) are not depressing so to speak.

Torioi uta is originally a song sung in the new years in villages as sort of an enchantment to prevent the birds from messing up the crops. These songs are unique to the village. So it may be a song from where the author of the comic is from, but I highly doubt it.

Some villages in northern still practice this tradition today.

Btw,Kanji for　Yorite（よりて）is 因りて