~But I got lost a time or two. I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you~

[koori_no_kokoro]

...As of this moment, only 2/3 of the last part remain to be translated. Once it's done, I'll honestly have to consider what possible tiny project I might work on after another break

Comments

[equivalent_t]

You're alive! (<---pot, kettle, black, hi randomly checking my flist for the first time since god knows when)

Re : 　海内に知己を存せば、天涯も比隣の若し, it's a poem, in the sense that Japanese poem are like phrases you can quote on and off. The literal translation is actually 'Should you have a true friend in the land, distances as far as the horizon are as close as a hand's breadth [for the heart]'. Shortened to 天涯比隣 (lit. 'heavens apart, yet always so near'). It's really a phrase you use for True Manly Friendships i.e. 19th century victorian lit., and pretty appropriate considering how Kaneko viewed his relationship with Tsuchida back then, especially considering how sentimental/authoristic he was and how he knew Tsuchida HATES kanji class.

My favourite phrase in the entire story. Doesn't survive English well, I'm afraid, there's not really an equivalent term/feeling/tatoe for it in English, English takes parting-of-ways differently. But. You can sort of make it work.

[koori_no_kokoro]

Indeed! And you too! (Ahaha, hi cousin of the noble house of black indeed?)

Ah, I see. I tried googling it and I only got an answer for what 知己 is so it's nice to know. Similar 天涯比隣 had given the translation above. *corrects post* How about this to make it work more under the context...?

Yeah, and Kaneko does sorta kinda expand on what he meant by it in the next part as this and the endings bit are great cases of where it gets difficult to put all of it across. That, and the many times even his monologues make me sit there puzzled on what he was going on about until I'd realize the full context

[equivalent_t]

Well, that's actually the only weird word you need to know, but I guess poetic Japanese has a weird grammar all of its own. You probably know the rest of the words, but the phrasing requires you to think in a Heian/Chinese way for a second. When you do, it makes sense.

Rethinking of it as : 何処かで真の友人がいれば（存在したら）、天涯も比燐も同じ makes it bunches easier. They just use some perfectly ordinary words in really, really old ways.

[koori_no_kokoro]

Ah, I only got some yahoo answer person translating 'a person that's fully aware of their feelings' (because of it consisting of the ķnowledg/self' kanji I guess) so cue feeling dumb when now using the same google search results ina similar more modern example. Gah...

P.S Hmm I've basically gotten to the last part so guess I could try sending them to you when it's done as a 'if I got the stuff to make sense well enough or not'? The story just loves to suddenly switch narration fron Kaneko to 3rd person far too many times so it'd become confusing which is which at times.