prologue (1/2)
Lately I’ve beenit a point to translate a s, for the purpose of polishi+ng lish translation abilities I’ve already had soo, but much of that work is more everyday/functionali stuff (business emails, etc) as opposed to creative translations which I enjoy more
Around a o I finished Jun Ikea’s “Don Rocket” (下町ロケット) which I reviewed here, and froue which was especially exciting One thing that is nice about translating the first chapter or beginning part of a novel is that often the author will put in extra time to make that part just perfect; after all, that is ill often determine if people will actually buy their book, whether they were browsing using a physical book or an E-book
While the prologue does contain a few technical terms (like 振動数超過, which you are unlikely to hear in daily conversation), these were actually not as difficult to translate as I originally thought The reason is that it isn’t the technical details thatof the events that transpire For exareat deal of time just on the phrase ”(彼の) 胸は緊張でいまにも張り裂けんばかりだった” which is used to describe a character’s emotional state, because this doesn’t have a direct parallel in English that doesn’t sound cheesy (literal but aard: “His chest felt as if it was about to burst from nervousness”)
This relatively short chapter only took me a few hours to do an initial draft translation, but I ended up iterating again and again to round off the rough edges andh the entire text at least 8 ti breaks between soave s
Just to make it clear, this is a completely unofficial fan translation, in no way endorsed by the author Jun Ikedo or Shogakukan If you like this and know japanese (or are studying it), please consider buying the novel here I don’t know of any plans for an official English translation, but it seeiven how popular the book and drama has been, and the fact a sequel has recently been released
While I seriously doubt I would ever translate this whole book (unless by soakukan askeda littlethis post, and I will consider translating another chapter or two
I won’t be putting any of the original japanese text here, but if you want to get a feel for the japanese you can see this link where soe online
(Note: as I may come back and revise portions of this in the future, please do not excerpt any of the translated text)
“Don Rocket” (Jun Ikeido): Prologue
“It’s al to beat like crazy”
Takashi+ Mikami’s strained voice stood out in the tense air of the launch control tower
Mikalanced at the live feed of the launch pad on the e The strong winds hadn’t let up,a speed of 15 meters a second
“Eightto automatic countdown sequence”
Shortly after this announceashi+an: “T-minus 480 seconds, 479, 478…” Kensuke Motoki, head of japan’s space Science Exploration Agency, took up position in the control tower’s last row of seats Motoki, serving as both rocket scientist and professor for The University of Tokyo’s Institute of Aeronautics and space, was the er for this experimental satellite launch
They all stared at theon the launch pad looked almost too perfect, as if it was a prop froazed at the rocket, a tightness in his chestit difficult to breathe
The countdown continued
“408, 407…Launch systei’s voice overlapped the autoen systeen systems ready”
“It’s finally tis to the test, Tsukuda,” said Mikalued to the view of the launch pad on the reat launch”
“Siren” was the codenaine for this experi its nae-scale hydrogen engine with a new control systeeration to say Siren was the embodiment of all Tsukuda’s hard work in the research lab
Developine had taken hie, plus an additional two years after he becaency Siren, the result oftested at this launch that would hopefully pave the way towards realization of a commercial rocket
However, the politics involved in getting this engine onto the rocket was no trivial e rocket into space costed upwards of a hundred million dollars Because this entire aet, a hypothetical failed launch would likely incur the wrath of the tax-paying public
There had been soh frequency was observed during two of the eight engine combustion experiments conducted One could make the point that this was after all an experimental device, and this type of behavior wasn’t unheard of for a rocket engine Nevertheless, for whatever the reason, if the engine failed on launch day Kazuyoshi+ Oba, the one who made the decision to use it despite these abnormal test results, could very well be held responsible
But Oba strongly believed in Tsukuda’s passion for this hydrogen engine and–y behind it
Wanting to meet Oba’s expectations was only one of the reasons Tsukuda couldn’t afford to fail He needed to make this experimental launch succeed at all costs
Tsukuda pushed aside the h his head and becaain
45, 44……
Less than a minute remained before launch On one of the les, evaporated liquid oxygen began to flow around the base of the rocket like a white cloth
T-minus 32 seconds, 31……
The countdown announcement felt as if it permeated deep into Tsukuda’s skull
“Commence water curtain spray”
After the announcee was visible on the monitor
The countdown had already passed the 10-second point by the tihtly shut, heard the announcer’s voice say “Flight mode on”
9, 8……
“Drive battery power on”