Hamlet in Japanese?

[nannasnake]

Hi all,

I'm looking for the standard Japanese translation of the "To be or not to be" soliloquy from Shakespeare's Hamlet.

More importantly, I want to know how "shuffled off this mortal coil" is said in Japanese.

(This is for my R.O.D the TV CD track title research, you can see my thread in the Anime Music forum.)

I have found "To be or not to be, that is the question"
「生ã??ã‚‹ã?¹ã??ã?‹ã€?æ*»ã?¬ã?¹ã??ã?‹ã€?ã??ã‚Œã? Œå•?é¡Œã?*ã€? using Google Japan,
but I can't find the whole speech.

Thanks in advance.

[JohnThacker]

[ QUOTE ]
NannaSnake said:

I'm looking for the standard Japanese translation of the "To be or not to be" soliloquy from Shakespeare's Hamlet.

I have found "To be or not to be, that is the question"
「生ã??ã‚‹ã?¹ã??ã?‹ã€?æ*»ã?¬ã?¹ã??ã?‹ã€?ã??ã‚Œã? Œå•?é¡Œã?*ã€? using Google Japan,
but I can't find the whole speech.

Thanks in advance.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmm, standard. Oddly enough, you'll find several different translations of that even searching on the web. Here's 3 given (http://mentai.peko.2ch.net/english/kako/988/988904970.html) (see 366-368). Including
やるやらã?¬ã€?ã??ã‚Œã?Œå•?é¡Œã?*
「生ã??ã‚‹ã?‹ç”Ÿã?‹ã?–ã‚‹ã?¹ã??ã?‹ã€?ã??ã‚Œã?Œå• ?é¡Œã?*ã€?
「ã?‚ã‚‹ã?‹ã?‚らã?¬ã?‹ã€?ã??ã‚Œã?Œå•?é¡Œã?*ã€?

Scroll down here (http://www009.upp.so-net.ne.jp/egoisticat/2004dairysep.html) and you'll see yet more choices, depending on whose translation you use. Difficult, huh?

[Purple_X]

[ QUOTE ]
JohnThacker said:
やるやらã?¬ã€?ã??ã‚Œã?Œå•?é¡Œã?*
「生ã??ã‚‹ã?‹ç”Ÿã?‹ã?–ã‚‹ã?¹ã??ã?‹ã€?ã??ã‚Œã?Œå• ?é¡Œã?*ã€?
「ã?‚ã‚‹ã?‹ã?‚らã?¬ã?‹ã€?ã??ã‚Œã?Œå•?é¡Œã?*ã€?


[/ QUOTE ]

lets' see if I can ge this right:

1. to do or not to do. this is the question
2. to live or to die, this is the question
3. to exist or not to exist, this is the question

personally I woud have thought it to be

ã?„ã‚‹ã?‹ã?„ã€?ã?„らã?ªã?„ã?‹ã?„ã€?ã??ã‚Œã?Œå•?é¡ Œã?*

Anyones thoughts on why this would be aru instead of iru?　I feel the last one on the list is closest. I added kai instead of just ka to make it a little more questioning.

[JohnThacker]

[ QUOTE ]
Purple_X said:

personally I woud have thought it to be

ã?„ã‚‹ã?‹ã?„ã€?ã?„らã?ªã?„ã?‹ã?„ã€?ã??ã‚Œã?Œå•?é¡ Œã?*

Anyones thoughts on why this would be aru instead of iru?　I feel the last one on the list is closest. I added kai instead of just ka to make it a little more questioning.


[/ QUOTE ]

Well, most of the usage notes I've seen in J-J dictionaries suggest that kai is used either when asking a question while lightly doubting or when strongly opposing someone else. It implies something about your own belief, and tends to be used when conversing with someone else. I think it's a little odd to use when you're evenly considering between the two options, but I could be wrong. I also think it sounds a little less formal and standard.

Usage notes from my J-J dictionary mention that while in modern times it is rare to use "aru" for humans and animals, it can be used instead of "iru" for humans at least at times when you're talking about pure existence itself, rather than existence in a location. Since we want to distinguish between mere being in Denmark and being at all, and to add a little bit of archaic and formal feel to the language, "aru" is used.

[tablesalt]

[ QUOTE ]
Purple_X said:
　I feel the last one on the list is closest.


[/ QUOTE ]

"To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;"

Hamlet's on the surface debating whether or not to act; and metaphorically debating suicide (pr simply by extention, since he think's he'll die if he acts) so either of the first to would be a better translation.

Words are just codes, signifiers for the concept, or signified under them. You can't just translate the signifier, because in another language, it sometimes won't have the same signified, as context change, and, as Derrida said, even ideas are just an ideological system of difference... and nobody's listening anymore.

[nannasnake]

Hmm. From what I can see, the three choices you gave are only found (via google search) on that web page, whereas the one I provided

「生ã??ã‚‹ã?¹ã??ã?‹ã€?æ*»ã?¬ã?¹ã??ã?‹ã€?ã??ã‚Œã? Œå•?é¡Œã?*ã€?

is found on a _lot_ of sites. This seems to imply some kind of standard translation, though there were differences in spacing and punctuation. (Maybe that site with all the different ones were a discussion of variations of ways of looking at the phrase?)

I still haven't been able to find any web pages with the entire speech, so maybe we need someone who has a book of Shakespeare in Japanese to answer the question.

[JohnThacker]

Well, actually searching with those I find more than just that page that give those readings. Only that one for containing all three, though. Depends on how you search with Google; it's not great with Japanese. The comments beside it were discussing how people learned it in school, etc.

And the other link I gave had yet more translations, with some names of translators beside them.

But yeah, I suppose there's at least a most famous translation, but I haven't been able to find it either. I did find some links on Amazon.jp for it; why don't you just buy a translated version and use that?