# 関節カスタネットは身体の奥にひっそりと隠れたまま姿さえ見せず....



## vampire5

Hello everyone, this is my first thread. Usually i don't like bothering people with requests but this time i really need some help, please bear with me. I'm translating a novel by Yoko Ogawa called the tears-seller and while things are going slowly yet smoothly i kind of got stuck with some sentences. First let me say i am not an english native so please bear with me; should you find some errors in my english writing please don't hesitate to correct them.
Back in topic, i'll add some background to help you understand some more about the story. The novel is about a girl who works as a "tears-seller". That is exactly what the term's implying: she sells her tears, mainly to musicians. When her tears are rubbed on a musical instrument's surface, its tone color gets better. At some time in her life she joins a human body orchestra (that is a group made up of people who play music by using their human body parts) and falls in love with one of them whom she names "Joints Castanets", after the way he gets his body to play music, that is making all his joints squeak by twisting and turning them in the most weird ways. Now it comes the difficult part and that's what the sentence is about. He tells her that his body joints can produce those weird sounds by means of his lymph fluid (リンパ液). The phrase between brackets is just for reference so you can hopefully grasp the whole meaning of the sentence, it draws a comparison between by what means sounds are generated by other instruments (namely violin and piano,respectively by rubbing a string and hitting a keyboard) and the way he (joints castanet) produces his own.

( バイオリンやピアノが技巧を凝らして弦をこすり、鍵盤をたたき、これでもか、と華麗な音をまき散らしているのに比べ、) 関節カスタネットは身体の奥にひっそりと隠れたまま姿さえ見せず、ほんのわずか、そう、涙が溜まったほどのわずかなリンパ液にさざ波を起こしているだけなのです。

As i said the phrase between brackets is for reference only, the one i am struggling with is the next one.
This would be just a rough splitted translation:

関節カスタネットは身体の奥にひっそりと隠れたまま姿さえ見せず = Could this mean that inside him there is a hidden part which he doesn't want to show to ohers (i can tell you, however that in a previous sentence which i translated the woman says that she has never known a guy so introverted). What i am uncertain about in this case is the expression "隠れたまま姿"; usually "sugata" is used to refer to physical appearance so could it be maybe that he is too shy to show himself (anyway he's a musician and usually performs before an audience).

ほんのわずか  =  this is kind of...."it's a bit of"  what??

そう、涙が溜まったほどのわずかなリンパ液にさざ波を起こしているだけなのです。 =  and that's the hardest part; essentially i think i understood that by means of her tears she can produce a ripple in his lymph fluid (i know the novel is kind of weird that's why translation is so difficult). But i'm not sure about it. For instance is the  "の" of the "涙が溜まったほどのわずかなリンパ液に" part a possessive particle? I think it's not.. because "the small quantity??? of the lymph of the tears i cried (collected)" doesn't make any sense.
Please can you rephrase all the sentence.......i really need help!!!!


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## karlalou

> the expression "隠れたまま姿";


The way you made this quote make me worry. It should be read ひっそりと隠れたまま／姿さえ見せず.

I'm not sure but since the 関節カスタネット is a part of the body and that's why it's naturally can't be seen like the piano or the violin. I'm afraid this is only what I can see from the given context.



> "涙が溜まったほどのわずかなリンパ液に"


Well.., I don't think it's possessive particle. It says "In lymph fluid as small amount as tears gathered up in an eye"


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## hanako52

もっと前後の文を見ないとよくわかりませんが、２つの解釈が想像できます。

①ピアノなどの楽器と比較して、彼の「関節カスタネット」は弱弱しい音を出していた。

②その女の人の力は、わずかしかその「関節カスタネット」さんには影響を与えていなかった。


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## frequency

vampire5 said:


> What i am uncertain about in this case is the expression "隠れたまま姿"


Aw this is 関節カスタネットは身体の奥にひっそりと隠れたまま・姿さえ見せず.
I mean this is made up of two sets of 関節カスタネットは身体の奥にひっそりと隠れたまま+姿さえ見せず.



vampire5 said:


> ; usually "sugata" is used to refer to physical appearance so could it be maybe that he is too shy to show himself.


Yes! He has hidden himself, his appearance. We often say 姿を見せず and 姿さえ見せず.


ほんのわずか、そう、涙が溜まったほどのわずかなリンパ液にさざ波を起こしているだけなのです。

ほんのわずか・・this is like 'really a few', ほんの works for emphasis. See the writer is repeating わずか twice to make emphasis.
In the first one, わずか is emphasised by ほんの, and next, repeating わずかな once again makes emphasis more.



vampire5 said:


> "the small quantity??? of the lymph of the tears i cried (collected)"


I'm not sure who is 起こしている？ Who is the actor making ripples? 関節カスタネット?. If so..

（関節カスタネットは?） is just making ripples in the lymph fluid. Okay, stop it once.
How リンパ液 is？The later clause explains that. 涙が溜まったほどのわずかな.
the lymph fluid as few as (some)tears collected. 

関節カスタネット is just making ripples in the lymph fluid as few as (some) tears collected.

Roughly understandable? Sorry if it's confusing.　Check the actor who is making ripples and post again if you have more questions!


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## vampire5

karlalou-さん, hanako52-さん, frequency-さん  お手伝いをいただき、ありがとございます。
As for what karlalou-san says, that's quite a hint you gave me about the invisible body part that generates the sounds he makes. Of course the ひっそりと隠れたまま part must be treated as a single one but since 隠れた is a verb it modifies what is following doesn't it ?
And that would be 姿 which can be summed up like this: "without showing that quiet hidden body parts inside him".
Edit: Sorry, or maybe i was wrong about 隠れた because of the presence of まま. If it is so which word is 隠れた referred to ??
In the last past there is something that still puzzles me and that's わずか[な]リンパ液. Isn't the な in this expression the same as  静か[な]部屋 which means: "quiet room", so shouldn't it be  "just a little lymph fluid" ??
As for some more context that hanako52-さん was asking for i leave here the 2 sentences that precedes and follows the main one.

Previous:  一体、関節カスタネットほど引っ込み思案な楽器が他にあるでしょうか。 (She wonders if there are some instruments more introverted than him [joint castanets])
Next:    このいとおしい楽器にこそ、私の涙は相応しいのです。  (She thinks he's a suitable instruments for her tears)

Anyway i think i made up my mind and will render the そう、涙が溜まったほどのわずかなリンパ液にさざ波を起こしているだけなのです part by: "it only took me some teardrops to produce a rippling vibration in his lymph fluid"
As for the first part ( 関節カスタネットは身体の奥にひっそりと隠れたまま姿さえ見せず ) i'm still uncertain whether she's talking about his being unwilling to show himself or about his body joints which of course cannot be visible from outside.



皆にありがとうございす。


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## karlalou

If this can be of help.. 関節カスタネットは身体の奥にひっそりと隠れたまま姿さえ見せず can be simplify into 関節カスタネットは隠れたまま、姿を見せず〜. The subject of both 隠れた and 見せず is 関節カスタネット. 姿 is 目的語 of 見せず.


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## vampire5

Thank you karlalou-san, i must absolutely come to the solution of this riddle. Did you read the context phrases i wrote ? Could it be then: "he was so introverted even to the point of not showing himself..."
Can you confirm that 姿さえ見せず cannot mean anything but "not showing his appearance" ??

Thanks


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## Flaminius

関節カスタネット here vaguely refers to the instrument itself as well as its method of making sound.  This is well-understood if you apply the same interpretation to the piano and the violin.


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## vampire5

Thanks, Flaminius-san for your hint. However there is also the previous phrase which goes : 一体、関節カスタネットほど引っ込み思案な楽器が他にあるでしょうか。 that refers ambiguously to his shyness as a person (and of course as an instrument).
If the author is referring to his joints why she didn't say 関節さえ見せず ??  Do you think she's using the word 姿 to mean "joints" ?? I'm at a loss...


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## SoLaTiDoberman

『関節カスタネット』というのは指をポキポキ折って音を出すことを意味していると思います。

特別に音を立てるような構造が体の中の解剖学的にあるわけではなく、普通の指に見えている。
例えば、声帯や歯ぎしりするときの上下の歯であれば音を出すことができるような解剖学的構造をしているが、
指にはそのような構造は認められない。それにもかかわらず立派な音を立てることができる。
そしてその音が出る機序は未だ明確にされてはいないが、関節内のわずかなリンパ液の移動により、あれだけ大きな音が出ると言われている。
この特徴に筆者は感動を覚えて、それについて述べているのだと思います。

>>関節カスタネットは身体の奥にひっそりと隠れたまま姿さえ見せず、ほんのわずか、そう、涙が溜まったほどのわずかなリンパ液にさざ波を起こしているだけなのです。

'Joint castanet' is an awesome instrument. 'Joint castanet' is a modest instrument.
It's invisible, hiding deep inside of our body.
It makes such a big sound, by vibrating  a small amount of the lymph flood, which is as little as a tear drop.

姿が見える or 姿が見えない is a set phrase to mean "visible" or "not visible."


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## vampire5

That was quite impressive SoLaTiDoberman-san, thank you very much.
Your post is definitely an eye-opener. I finally understood the function of ほど in 涙が溜まったほど and that is a quantification of the small amount of the わずかなリンパ液.
And that means: "a little drop of his lymph fluid", that was simple as that.

皆のお蔭様でこの翻訳がうまくできたな。
感謝の気持ちいっぱいありますよ。
本当に本当にありがとうございます。

I'll see you in a next thread....(because i will need your help again)


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## Flaminius

vampire5 said:


> However there is also the previous phrase which goes : 一体、関節カスタネットほど引っ込み思案な楽器が他にあるでしょうか。 that refers ambiguously to his shyness as a person (and of course as an instrument).


It primarily refers to the shyness of the instrument; much of the  structure hidden from view relies on a modicum of fluid for resonance.  As an expression in a literary work, it also is a metaphorical reference made to the person as well.  It's not, however, something that applies to all imaginable contexts.


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## vampire5

Thank you very much Flaminius.
As i said in the previous post you've all been an invaluable help.
The issue has been taken care of.
Bye!


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