English translation: I miss the old song "kid-grabbing" of the Showa, on a fine plum-blooming day.
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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Japanese term or phrase:
子を盗ろのうたも昭和や梅日和
English translation:
I miss the old song "kid-grabbing" of the Showa, on a fine plum-blooming day.
The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2009-11-14 22:54:07 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)
Japanese to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
Japanese term or phrase:子を盗ろのうたも昭和や梅日和
Hi,
In the process of translating a short poetry collection and I've never studied classical Japanese before so first of all, I'm a bit confused about the 盗ろのうた... also not sure about the meaning of the rest of the sentence either!
Explanation: Probably there is a pun in the latter part. There should be a verb for the objective "唄も" and I suspect it is hidden in the しょうわ like しよう（かな）but this is just my wild guess.
こをとろの
うたもしょうわや
うめびより
The nursery song "Grab the kid"
also has *disappeared/I feel like singing now in the Showa era
on such a fine day for watching plum blossoms
Showa era was a rapid growth period for Japan, in many ways. So
*The nursery song may have disappeared gradually, or
the author may feel like singing the song.
I don't know, but since it is a fine spring day, I would go for the latter version where the author feels like singing it.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 13 hrs (2009-11-11 21:52:50 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Lingualaboさんの解釈がいいと思います。昭和も遠くなりにけり、ということですね。
ただこの唄は昭和時代でもあまり聞かなかったので、初期かなりの速度でうすれていったのではないかと思いました。思い出そうとしてもメロディがうかんでこないということもあったりするんじゃないですかね。だから
I remember the old song "kid-grabbing" in the Showa era, under plum blossoms on a fine day.
といったところが無難でしょうね。
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 16 hrs (2009-11-12 01:47:28 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
The faint melody of "Kotori" that I would sing long ago in Showa era, just pops up in my mind on a fine day under plum blossoms...
これもありえるかなと。I don't think it is necessary to translate KOTORI into kid-grabbing.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 17 hrs (2009-11-12 01:52:32 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Regarding 子盗ろ、as shown in Cinefil-san's reference link, it was not known as KO-Wo-Toro but as "Kotoro". The author added Wo (を） in order to make it 5 vowels. It was necessary to do so to make more melogious in the haiku poem. So I don't think it is necessary to leave as is. This may be debatable.
I feel like singing the old song "kid-grabbing" now in the Showa, under plum blossoms on a fine day.
Explanation: Probably there is a pun in the latter part. There should be a verb for the objective "唄も" and I suspect it is hidden in the しょうわ like しよう（かな）but this is just my wild guess.
こをとろの
うたもしょうわや
うめびより
The nursery song "Grab the kid"
also has *disappeared/I feel like singing now in the Showa era
on such a fine day for watching plum blossoms
Showa era was a rapid growth period for Japan, in many ways. So
*The nursery song may have disappeared gradually, or
the author may feel like singing the song.
I don't know, but since it is a fine spring day, I would go for the latter version where the author feels like singing it.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 13 hrs (2009-11-11 21:52:50 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Lingualaboさんの解釈がいいと思います。昭和も遠くなりにけり、ということですね。
ただこの唄は昭和時代でもあまり聞かなかったので、初期かなりの速度でうすれていったのではないかと思いました。思い出そうとしてもメロディがうかんでこないということもあったりするんじゃないですかね。だから
I remember the old song "kid-grabbing" in the Showa era, under plum blossoms on a fine day.
といったところが無難でしょうね。
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 16 hrs (2009-11-12 01:47:28 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
The faint melody of "Kotori" that I would sing long ago in Showa era, just pops up in my mind on a fine day under plum blossoms...
これもありえるかなと。I don't think it is necessary to translate KOTORI into kid-grabbing.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 17 hrs (2009-11-12 01:52:32 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Regarding 子盗ろ、as shown in Cinefil-san's reference link, it was not known as KO-Wo-Toro but as "Kotoro". The author added Wo (を） in order to make it 5 vowels. It was necessary to do so to make more melogious in the haiku poem. So I don't think it is necessary to leave as is. This may be debatable.
Yumico Tanaka Local time: 15:02 Works in field Native speaker of: Japanese PRO pts in category: 16
Grading comment
thanks for your comments :D it's definitely given me an insight into the poem and a lot to think about ^_^
cinefil Japan Native speaker of: Japanese PRO pts in category: 15
20 hrs
Reference: bygone era, and maybe kotoro= 'which kid am I gonna steal?'
Reference information: bygone era - this expression can be used?
子盗ろ - this can be translated like " Which kid am I gonna steal?" (maybe as a translator's note or as a caption/additional info)
I'm not native in English but I tried - below.
[I feel that]
that song of children's play
"Which kid am I gonna steal?" is also now
a thing of Showa, a bygone era
on this plum blossom day
I feel that
that childhood song for
the "Which kid am I gonna steal?" play
also now
belongs to Showa,
a bygone era,
on this plum blossoming day,
etc.
Akio United States Works in field Native speaker of: Japanese
The translation workplace 
