Wednesday, January 21
A well-known Japanese translator once said that a translator is like a dog, and the text they translate is the dog’s owner. I think this is a very accurate way to explain the relationship between the original text and the translator.
I only remember the metaphor and can’t recall the context, so here’s my take on his quote.
The dog is leashed to the owner and always follows the owner’s direction, walking at the same pace. As a pair, if the owner is angry, the dog is angry as well. If the owner screams, the dog screams too. The dog learns the owner’s rhythm and preferences, and eventually it looks as if they are breathing at the same time. These are the good cases.
However, there are other cases. Sometimes, when the owner doesn’t trust the dog, the owner grabs the dog by the neck and limits its movement. Sometimes, when the dog is eager to show off or doesn’t trust the owner, it runs fast and leaves the owner behind. And sometimes the owner asks the dog to lead because the owner doesn’t know where to go or what to do. In this case, the dog tends to cut the leash at some point.
It may look like a pure master-servant relationship on the surface, but this relationship is deeper and more complex. When I walk with the same authors’ texts for a certain amount of time, I begin to sense whether they were in a good mood or just wanted to finish and go home through their writing.
Thursday, January 22
Around three years ago, I wrote my very first script for a radio drama. I’d always wanted to try writing one, but it felt like such a vague hope that I thought I would never take action. On the morning of New Year’s Day, lying in bed, I decided to do something that year. While I was looking for information on where to start, I found a contest with a deadline in early February. Of course I ignored it, because it was an improbable schedule for a first-timer. But my body remembered it, and I somehow moved toward it. I kept asking myself, “Seriously? Am I gonna do this for real?” until I put “END” on the script. That was one of the most difficult and thrilling months of my life.
Friday, January 23
Imagine a dog who was leashed for twenty years suddenly finding itself in a great plain, unleashed. That’s what I felt when I was writing my first script. It was disconcertingly and dizzyingly free.
This week’s track
Brynn Elise x Lauren Creviston – Like This
