(1) The fox says that he is about to 'tell his secret' or 'give his secret'
(1) The fox says that he is about to 'tell his secret' or 'give his secret'
This involves two verbs meaning 'tell' or 'say' (教える oshieru 'tell' and 言う yū 'say'), as well as one use of the verb プレゼントする purezento suru 'to present, give as a present'.
ANNOUNCING THE INTENTION TO TELL THE SECRET |
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| I'll tell you the secret | 10 |
|
| を教えるよ | o oshieru yo | 1 |
| を教えてあげるよ | o oshiete ageru yo | 2 |
| を教えようか | o oshieyō ka | 1 |
| を教えよう | o oshieyō | 2 |
| を教えてあげよう | o oshiete ageyō | 2 |
| を言うよ | o yū yo | 1 |
| をいおうかね | o iō ka ne | 1 |
| I'll give you the secret | 1 |
|
| をプレゼントするよ | o purezento suru yo | 1 |
What is more interesting are the verbal endings and sentence-final particles, what I call the 'modal' content.
1. Plain form (declaration of intent) ~よ ~ yo ~てあげるよ ~ te ageru yo 2. Making an offer (using ~よう ~ yō) ~よう ~ yō ~てあげよう ~ te ageyō ~ようか ~ yō ka ~おうかね ~ ō ka ne Total 1) First, there are four translators who use a form with 〜てあげる -te ageru. The verb あげる ageru literally means 'to give (respectfully)'. 〜てあげる -te ageru is used when an action is being performed for the benefit of someone else. In this case, the fox is telling the secret for the little prince's benefit, thus its use in this sentence. The use of 〜てあげる -te ageru is more polite than not using it.
2) Looking at the verb ending and sentence-final particles, five translators use the plain form of the verb (教える oshieru, 言う yū, あげる ageru), which indicates future intent. This is followed by よ yo, a particle used in making an assertion. What this means is, 'I'm going to tell you!'
3) Another six translators use 教えよう oshieyō or いおう iō (or 教えてあげよう oshiete ageyō, etc.) representing an offer to the little prince, i.e., 'Let me tell you' or 'Shall I tell you?' In most of these there is no sentence-final particle because none is really needed. However, one translator uses か ka, which asks a question and strengthens the sense of 'Shall I tell you?' Similarly, another translator uses かね ka ne. The final particle ね ne adds a light sense of seeking confirmation to the question, as though the fox is saying 'Shall I tell you, eh?'.
This use of verb forms and sentence-final particles is par for the course in Japanese conversation. What is interesting is the variety of endings and the subtle differences in tone that each translator tries to convey.
Note that the fox doesn't use the polite 〜ます -masu form. If you look at the original French you will notice that the little prince speaks very politely to the fox while the fox speaks in normal tones. To have the fox speak in polite tones would be unfaithful to the original French and also out of character for the fox.