The Japanese "hiragana" syllable that the 17th proverb of the Iroha Karuta playing card deck illustrates is "re," and my two karuta decks offer different kotowaza (proverbs). I blogged about the proverb offered by my more "elegant" deck here:
@hirohurl/iroha-karuta-17-a-sir-i-love-you-more-than-words-can-wield-the-matter
Today, let's have a gander at the proverb on our cheap and cheerful "Daiso" Iroha Karuta deck. I do enjoy these Daiso pictures; compared to the elegant restraint of the other deck, these pictures are full of life and action. There's no doubt that the boy in the picture has just swallowed some bitter potion or other!
効く
Above the boy there is the word "kiku" - 効く - which means "effective" and "effective medicine" is a common collocation, as in,
よく効く薬
yoku kiku kusuri = very effective medicine
or
この薬はよく効く。
Kono kusuri wa yoku kiku. = This medicine works well
親父の小言
The notice by the boy's side says,
親父の小言
Oyaji no ko iu = a father's "small words," referring to scolding, nagging, or admonitions.
In short, the unseen father has just given his son a flea in the year, and possibly a clip around it to boot.
Translating the Proverb
良薬は口に苦し
reuyaku wa kuchi ni nigashi
良薬 = reuyaku (old style) = ryouyaku (modern style) = good (良) medicine (薬) - i.e. "effective medicine."
は = wa = topic marker ("with regard to")
口 = kuchi = mouth
に = ni = in
苦し = nigashi = bitter
So a literal translation might go like this:
As for medicine, [it is] bitter in the mouth.
My Translation
When I hear this Japanese proverb it always reminds me of that line from Cowper's hymn, "God Moves in a Mysterious Way":
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
It seems to me therefore fitting to borrow the phrase "a bitter taste" for some dynamic equivalence:
Good medicine has a bitter taste.
The ChatGPT versus Google Translate Challenge!
So far, ChatGPT has got the better of Google Translate in this "competition," but since this is a fairly straightforward translation question, I expect Google Translate to do better...
Let's see...
ChatGPT
ChatGPT offered two translations:
Good medicine tastes bitter.
or
Bitter medicine is best for you.
Okay, the first translation is very good as it reproduces the concise tripartite pattern of the original:
reuyaku wa / kuchi ni / nigashi
Good medicine / tastes / bitter
I don't like the second translation so much as it seems to be more of an interpolation than a translation.
Google Translate
Yup, no big surprises here:
Good medicine tastes bitter.
So tonight it's a "score draw:" Chat GPT 1, Google Translate 1 (read in the voice of the late James Alexander Gordon).
Cheers!
David Hurley
#InspiredFocus