On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur, Japanese versions: The "Bones" |
On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur ('It is only with the heart that one can see rightly'), from 'The Little Prince'.
There are currently 16 translations of Le Petit Prince in Japanese, including the original one by Naitō Arō in 1953. That by Shinsan is more an adaptation than a translation and is not covered here, making a total of 15 translations.
A very important feature of Japanese is the existence of pairs transitive verbs (Japanese 他動詞 tadōshi) and intransitive verbs (Japanese 自動詞 jidōshi). Translators who use transitive verbs are following the French closely, but those who use intransitive verbs arguably make a much better fit with the "genius" of Japanese.
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6. The 'flesh' (different words and expressions used) can be found here  . |
First, the basic sentence using a transitive verb.
1. BASIC SENTENCE (TRANSITIVE VERB)
A transitive verb is one that takes an object. In our basic sentence, the object is ものごと monogoto 'things':
BASIC SENTENCE |
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on 'one' |
avec le coeur 'with the heart' |
les choses 'things' |
voit 'sees' |
人が hito ga 'person' (subject) |
心で kokoro de 'with the heart' |
ものごとを monogoto o 'things' (object) |
見る miru 'look at/see' |
Notice that the verb, 見る miru 'to see', comes at the end of the sentence.
Particles indicate the grammatical role of words in the sentence: が ga marks the subject, で de marks the instrument, を o marks the object of the verb.
2. TRANSITIVE TRANSLATION PATTERNS
'Look with the heart': 'Imperative' style
One translator uses this very simple basic construction with very little modification. He doesn't bother with ne ... que ('only') or bien ('well'. He does, however:
- Make the word for 'things' (in this case もの mono) into the topic of the whole sentence. This is achieved by placing it at the start and adding the topic particle は wa.
- Delete the word for 'one' or 'people'.
'IMPERATIVE' STYLE |
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les choses 'things' |
avec le coeur 'with the heart' |
voir 'see' |
ものは mono wa 'things' (topic) |
心で kokoro de 'with the heart' |
見る miru 'see' |
Literally this sentence means 'Things with the heart to see'. In fact it's quite a strong categorical recommendation. 見る miru 'to see' is the ordinary dictionary form of the verb, but it's almost an imperative, meaning 'See things with the heart' or 'One must see things with the heart'. (It's not a true imperative, however. The true or brusque imperative in Japanese uses the form 見ろ miro 'look!')
'Can only see with the heart': Translating 'only' as しか shika
Two other translators who follow the transitive sentence pattern use the word しか shika 'only' to express ne ... que ('only').
First, they convert the verb 見る miru 'to see' to a potential form, i.e., a form meaning 'can see'. This is done by adding 〜ことができる ...koto ga dekiru '... thing is possible'. The two translators don't bother to render bien 'well'.
POTENTIAL FORM |
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on 'one' |
avec le coeur 'with the heart' |
les choses 'things' |
peut voir 'can see' |
|
人が hito ga 'person' (subject) |
心で kokoro de 'with the heart' |
ものごとを monogoto o 'thing' (object) |
見る miru 'look at/see' |
ことができる koto ga dekiru 'be able to' |
The word しか shika is then placed after the word or phrase that is in focus (shown in red lettering):
ADDING しか shika ('ONLY') |
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on 'one' |
avec le coeur 'with the heart' |
ne ... que 'only' |
les choses 'things' |
peut voir 'can see' |
|
人が hito ga 'person' (subject) |
心で kokoro de 'with the heart' |
しか shika 'only' |
ものごとを monogoto o 'thing' (object) |
見る miru 'look at/see' |
ことができない koto ga dekinai 'not be able to' |
Notice that the final expression meaning 'can' is in the negative form. This is a special feature of the word しか shika: the verb must be put in the negative.
The object of the verb, ものごと monogoto 'things', is then elevated to become topic of the sentence. The subject, 人が hito ga 'person/people', is left out, a very common phenomenon in Japanese. This yields the final form:
TOPICALISING 'THINGS', LEAVING OUT THE SUBJECT 'PEOPLE'
|
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les choses (topic) 'things' (topic) |
avec le coeur 'with the heart' |
ne ... que 'only' |
peut voir 'can see' |
|
ものごとは monogoto wa 'thing' (topic) |
心で kokoro de 'with the heart' |
しか shika 'only |
見る miru 'look at/see' |
ことができない koto ga dekinai '(not) be able to' |
3. BASIC SENTENCE : INTRANSITIVE VERB
The majority of translations, however, prefer to use the intransitive verb 見える mieru 'to be able to see, to be visible'. This is more natural in rendering a sentence like this.
The difference, simply stated, is that a transitive verb takes an object; an intransitive verb doesn't. The grammatical difference is as follows:
SWITCHING FROM TRANSITIVE TO INTRANSITIVE |
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| Transitive verb: 見る miru 'to see' | |||
on (subject) 'one' (subject) |
avec le coeur 'with the heart' |
les choses (object) 'things' (object) |
voit 'sees' |
人が hito ga 'person' (subject) |
心で kokoro de 'with the heart' |
ものごとを monogoto o 'things' (object) |
見る miru 'look at/see' |
↵ |
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| Intransitive verb: 見える mieru 'to be able to see, visible' | |||
les choses (subject) 'things' (subject) |
avec le coeur 'with the heart' |
x x |
peut voir / peut être vues 'can see / can be seen' |
ものごとが monogoto ga 'things' (subject) |
心で kokoro de 'with the heart' |
x |
見える mieru 'can see, can be seen' |
- The transitive verb 見る miru has a subject ('person') and an object ('things').
- The intransitive verb 見える mieru has a subject ('things') and no object. (If it's necessary to give the intransitive verb an agent or 'viewer', this takes the particle に ni, i.e., 人に見える hito ni mieru 'visible to a person').
There is a difference in meaning to match. The difference is similar to that between the English sentences:
1. We sold the houses quickly. (Transitive. Subject is 'we', object is 'the houses'.)
2. The houses sold quickly. (Intransitive. Subject is 'the houses'.)In the second sentence, the verb 'to sell' is in an active form but the meaning is passive -- the houses were sold. There is also a sense that the selling occurred naturally, and that we were able to sell the houses quite naturally.
All of these senses are found in the intransitive verb 見える mieru, which simultaneously carries the meanings 'to be seen, to be able to see, to be visible'. (For more on transitive vs intransitive, see Transitive, not Transvestite!, Transitive and Intransitive Verbs, and Notes on Japanese Verbs.)
While we're at it, let's add a word for bien ('well'):
'things'
'with the heart'
'well'
'can be seen, be visible'
monogoto ga
'things' (subject)
kokoro de
'with the heart'
yoku
'well'
mieru
'can see, can be seen'
4. INTRANSITIVE TRANSLATION PATTERNS
'Can only be seen with the heart': Adding 'only'
Of the translators using the transitive verb 見える mieru, one uses the しか shika 'only' form we saw above. This involves adding しか shika 'only' after the focus ('with the heart', in red), and converting the verb to a negative:
ADDING しか shika |
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les choses 'things' |
avec le coeur 'with the heart' |
ne ... que 'only' |
bien 'well' |
peut être vu / est visible 'can be seen, be visible' |
ものが mono ga 'things' (subject) |
心で kokoro de 'with the heart' |
しか
shika 'only' |
よく yoku 'well' |
見えない mienai 'can see, can be seen' (negative) |
The subject should also be made into the topic, especially given that the verb is negative:
MAKING THE SUBJECT INTO THE TOPIC (ADDING は wa) |
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les choses 'things' |
avec le coeur 'with the heart' |
ne ... que 'only' |
bien 'well' |
peut être vu / est visible 'can be seen, be visible' |
ものは mono wa 'things' (topic) |
心で kokoro de 'with the heart' |
しか
shika 'only' |
よく yoku 'well' |
見えない mienai 'can see, can be seen' (negative) |
Finally, the translator places the expression in focus -- 'with the heart', again shown in red -- at the start of the sentence. (In fact, this is equivalent to moving the topic ものは mono wa 'things' closer to the verb 見える mieru, which it is semantically closely linked to. ものが見える mono ga mieru 'things are visible, things can be seen' is a natural unit in Japanese.)
PUTTING 'WITH THE HEART' AT THE START |
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avec le coeur 'with the heart' |
ne ... que 'only' |
les choses 'things' |
bien 'well' |
peut être vu / est visible 'can be seen, be visible' |
心で kokoro de 'with the heart' |
しか shika 'only' |
ものは mono wa 'things (topic)' |
よく yoku 'well' |
見えない mienai 'can't see/be seen' (negative) |
'Unless look with the heart things can't be seen': The dominant sentence pattern
But the great majority, 11 of our 15 translations, prefer a different sentence pattern. This pattern takes the form 'if not look with the heart things can't be seen well' (or in more idiomatic English, 'unless you look with the heart things can't be seen well'). This involves using two negative clauses:
〜なくちゃ ... 〜ない
-nakucha ... -nai
('if not' ... 'not')
which together express an affirmative. (Japanese negatives are attached after the verb as part of the verb's inflection).
'ONLY' EXPRESSED WITH DOUBLE NEGATIVES |
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A |
B |
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si ne voit pas avec le coeur 'if not look with the heart' |
ne peut pas voir bien 'cannot see well' |
||
心で見- kokoro de mi- 'look with the heart' |
-なくちゃ -nakucha '-if not' |
よく見え- yoku mie- 'can see well' |
-ない -nai '-not' |
A) The verb in the A clause is the transitive verb 見る miru 'to look'. Although 見る miru 'to look' is a transitive verb, only the instrumental 'with the heart' is expressed. Neither the subject 'one' nor the object 'things' are expressed in this clause.
The verb is in the form 見なくちゃ minakucha, 'if not look', a colloquial form of conditional 見なくては -minakute wa. See here for alternatives to みなくちゃ minakucha.
B) The B clause means 'cannot see well' or 'cannot be seen well'. It features the plain negative form (using ない -nai) of the intransitive verb 見える mieru 'to be visible'.
With its two negatives, this sentence is quite strongly affirmative. In fact, Japanese uses a virtually identical construction to express the meaning 'must':
V + なくちゃならない
V + nakucha naranai
or
V + なくちゃいけない
V + nakucha ikenai
-- for more information, see the site Things that must be done (or not).
For comparison, here's the above sentence recast as a 'must' sentence:
SIMILARITY WITH 'MUST' CONSTRUCTION |
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A |
B |
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si ne voit pas avec le coeur 'if do not look with the heart' |
ça ne va pas 'won't do' |
||
心で見- kokoro de mi- 'look with the heart' |
-なくちゃ -nakucha '-if not' |
なら-
nara- 'be ok' いけ- ike- 'be ok' |
-ない -nai '-not' |
This sentence means: "Must look with the heart".
With the use of an intransitive verb the landscape of the sentence changes.
- First, there's no need to worry about translating the word on 'one'; the sentence doesn't need to mention a human agent.
- Secondly, there's pressure to spell out what is seen, because it's now the subject of the sentence.
OBJECT SEEN IS SPELT OUT BUT NOT THE VIEWER |
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A |
B |
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心で kokoro de 'with the heart' |
見なくちゃ minakucha 'if not look' |
ものごとは monogoto wa 'thing' (topic) |
よく yoku 'well' |
見えない mienai 'not be seen' |
'What is seen' is expressed as ものごと (物事) monogoto 'things', a very convenient word meaning 'things in general'. Here it's the subject of the B clause: ものごとはよく見える monogoto wa yoku mieru 'things can be seen well'. The particle は wa indicates that ものごと monogoto has been made the topic of the verb 見える mieru. (For more on the topic particle, see Practical Particular Particles.) For the two different words for 'things', see here
5. OTHER
Where does the topic of the sentence go?
In all sentences the words ものごと monogoto or もの mono, both meaning 'things', are made topic of the sentence. It is a tribute to the power of the Topic / Comment structure as a way of organising sentences in Japanese (see Wikipedia on Topic-prominent languages) that transitive and intransitive sentence patterns should both exhibit the topic-comment pattern. That is, the object of a transitive verb is thrown up to the front end of the sentence in the same way as the subject of an intransitive verb. On a superficial level, that very much narrows the difference between sentences with transitive verbs and those with intransitive verbs.
In all cases the object seen -- ものごと monogoto or もの mono -- is followed by the topicaliser は wa. But the placing of the topic varies.
1) In sentences using the 'if not look ... can't see' construction, only two translators place ものごと monogoto at the start of the sentence, ahead of the A clause. Six put it at the start of the B clause. As noted above, three omit it altogether.
PLACING OF THE TOPIC IN なくちゃ... ない nakucha ... nai SENTENCES |
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A |
B |
Occurrences |
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ものごとは monogoto wa 'thing' (topic) |
心で kokoro de 'with the heart' |
見なくちゃ minakucha 'if not look' |
-- |
見えない mienai 'not be seen' |
2 |
-- |
心で kokoro de 'with the heart' |
見なくちゃ minakucha 'if not look' |
ものごとは monogoto wa 'thing' (topic) |
見えない mienai 'not be seen' |
6 |
-- |
心で kokoro de 'with the heart' |
見なくちゃ minakucha 'if not look' |
-- |
見えない mienai 'not be seen' |
3 |
| Total | 11 |
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The effect of this different placement is fairly clear.
Placing ものごと monogoto at the start indicates that it is the grand topic of the sentence. Indeed, one translator uses ものごとはね monogoto wa ne, followed by a comma to indicate pause. The effect is that the fox is proclaiming he is about to make a pronouncement on the nature of things. Both translators who place the topic at the start use the grander term ものごと monogoto rather than the more specific and concrete もの mono.
Placed at the start of the B Clause, immediately before the verb, ものごと monogoto or もの mono is tied much more closely to the verb. That is, 'see things' becomes a tightly knit unity. It is probably no accident that the more concrete form もの mono is found only at this position.
2) Turning to the patterns using しか shika, we also find variation in the placing of the topic.
PLACING OF THE TOPIC IN しか shika SENTENCES |
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Occurrences |
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ものごとは monogoto wa 'things' |
心で kokoro de 'with the heart' |
しか shika 'only' |
-- |
見ることができない miru koto ga dekinai 'can see' |
2 |
-- |
心で kokoro de 'with the heart' |
しか shika 'only' |
ものは mono wa 'things' |
見えない mienai 'can see' |
1 |
| Total | 3 |
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The translation which places ものは mono wa between しか shika and the verb yields the short, coherent expression ものは見えない mono wa mienai 'things can't be seen'. Notice that this translation uses the intransitive verb 見える mieru. ものは見えない mono wa mienai 'things cannot be seen' is a more cohesive, concise, and concrete unit than the strung-out ものごとは見ることができない monogoto wa miru koto ga dekinai 'it is not possible to see things', which is used in the two translations with the transitive verb 見る miru.
3) Finally, in the sentence pattern ものは心で見る mono wa kokoro de miru, the topic ものは mono wa is placed at the start of the sentence.
Providing a 'frame' for the fox's statement
A further factor that must be considered in the Japanese translation is the way that the fox's statement is 'embedded' in the discourse. By this I refer to the way that some translators add words like ってことさ -tte koto sa ('is the fact that'). This must be considered against the entire context, as such wording is sometimes placed after this sentence, sometimes after the second sentence L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.
In this sentence, the frame expressions used are:
'FRAMES' |
|
| No frame | 8 |
| ってこと -tte koto 'the fact is that...' |
4 |
| それは ... ってこと sore wa ... -tte koto 'that is the fact that...' |
1 |
| Frame occurs after second sentence | 2 |
| Total | 15 |
'It is the fact that' indicates that the secret is the fact that.... This is made very clear by the translation which prefaces the statement with それは ... 'that is'.
The 'framing expressions' are followed by sentence-final particles (さ sa, よ yo) that make a 'declaration'. For more on modal endings, see here
