[translation project] "If All the Cats Disappeared from the World" by Kawamura Genki

Discussion in 'Make It So' started by a tiny mushroom, May 14, 2016.

  1. a tiny mushroom

    a tiny mushroom the tiniest

    Prologue

    If all the cats disappeared from the world...

    How would the world change? How would my life change?

    If I disappeared from the world...

    I don't think that world would be any different. Even if I disappeared, the world would keep on turning.

    You probably think that this is a stupid think to think about. But I want to believe that it's true.

    This all relates to the events that happened in the span of 7 days.

    It's was a very strange 7 days.

    And now, before long, I'm going to die.

    --

    How did it get like this?

    I think I'll write about it here.

    This is definitely going to be a long letter.

    But I want write down everything that happens, right until the end.

    So, this is my letter from me to you, about everything that happened from the beginning, until my death.

    Yeah, I guess you could say that this is my will.

    --

    [This is a Japanese novel that I have started reading. I want to translate it I guess as a study exercise, and also as an exercise in translating Japanese into English. I hope people are interested in it? nwn; Please let me know!

    The Japanese title of this book is 「世界から猫が消えたなら」(Sekai kara neko ga kieta nara). Uh yes. I hope people like it? nwn;;;]
     
    Last edited: May 14, 2016
    • Like x 8
  2. a tiny mushroom

    a tiny mushroom the tiniest

    Monday: A Demon Came Along
    (Part One of ???)
    (Posting in parts because WOW I AM BUSY RN so uh yes)

    I never had a bucket list. But I saw it in a movie, ages ago. The heroine, on the brink of death, made a list of 10 things she wanted to do before she died. But I think that was bullshit.

    No, I guess, I wouldn't say it's bullshit, but surely she didn't write that kind of list, right?

    What? Why do I think that?

    I mean, it's just so. It's so....

    Okay, look, I do want to try writing that kind of list. But it's embarrassing, to write out "10 things I want to do before I die", right?


    --


    This was before the events of those 7 days.

    I'd gotten an extremely bad cold that had lasted for ages, which I'd aggravated by continuing to do my job as a postman. I'd had a constant light fever, and the right side of my head was gradually hurting more and more. I'd bought some over the counter medicine, but it didn't do anything.

    (What? You know that I really hated going to the doctor.)

    But after two weeks, it wasn't getting any better, so I finally went to see a doctor.

    I wasn't a cold.

    It was a brain tumour. Grade 4.
     
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  3. a tiny mushroom

    a tiny mushroom the tiniest

    (Part Two of ???)

    The doctor gave me the diagnosis. He told me I could live for as long as half a year, or as little as one week. He presented me with lots of options, like radiation therapy, anti-cancer drugs, end of life care, stuff like that. But I couldn’t hear a word of it.

    When I was a kid, my summer holidays were awash with blue. As the doctor spoke, I dove into that cold, deep blue.


    A stamp.


    Bubbling.


    My body sinking.


    I remember hearing my mother saying, as I dove into the water, "Do your warm up exercises properly!"
    But under the water, her voice was muffled, and I couldn't hear her. I'd completely forgotten that memory, but now, it came back.

    The doctor's long explanation of my diagnosis was over. The moment he stopped talking, I grabbed my bag, unsteadily got to my feet, and staggered out of his office. I heard him call after me, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. I was screaming as I fled the hospital.
     
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