# In The Pale Moonlight



## Qimaster

How would one say this phrase in Japanese, 'Have you ever danced with The Devil in the pale moonlight?' The quote is with reference to the 1989 Batman movie.  The audience is singular formal.  Please provide the translation with English lettering.  Thank you.


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## almostfreebird

That's the line said by Joker played by Jack Nicholson.

あなた、蒼い月明あかりの下で　悪魔とダンスをしたことがおありかな？
anàta, aòi tsukiàkarinoshitàde àkumato dànsuoshitakotòga oàrikana?


The à,ò means a little stress.


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## Qimaster

Yes that's correct. Your prompt response is greatly appreciated.

Would the aforementioned be an exact translation, is the comma that has been provided necessary, and what is meant by a little stress regarding 'à,ò'? The audience must be singular formal.. as it applies to a young woman with whom it is spoken to before being attacked by an assassin.

Thank you again for your assistance.


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## almostfreebird

Would the aforementioned be an exact translation?
Yes, it's an an exact translation, the way Joker would say in Japanese.

Is the comma that has been provided necessary?
Not really, just for you to avoid confusing when you read the sentence.

what is meant by a little stress regarding 'à,ò'?
It means you accentuate the part when you pronounce the word; I put them just for you to avoid pronouncing strangely

e.g.  attàch, attàck, avòid


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## Wishfull

Qimaster said:


> How would one say this phrase in Japanese, 'Have you ever danced with The Devil in the pale moonlight?' The quote is with reference to the 1989 Batman movie.  The audience is singular formal.  Please provide the translation with English lettering.  Thank you.



Hi.
I know the movie very well, because I watched it over twenty times.
If I remember it correctly, "have you" would be abbreviated.
_*"Ever dance(d) with the Devil in the pale moonlight?"*_

It is said by young Jack Napier to the young boy;Bruce Wayne, just after his parents were murdered by Jack Napier and just before the boy too was almost killed by him.
And the second time, it is said by Joker (Jack Nicholson) to Batman.
To hear the phrase, Batman (Michael Kieton) could realize that Jack(Joker) is the murderer of his parents.

My translation would be;
*tsukiyo no hikaride akumato dansu wo odottakotoga arukai.*


///////////

I would like to ask you where this phrase comes from?
Is the phrase originally created for the Badman movie?
Or is it comes from, for example, from the Bible, or from Shakespeare?


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## almostfreebird

Wishfull said:


> My translation would be;
> *tsukiyo no hikaride akumato dansu wo odottakotoga arukai.*



Not to be rude but, isn't it redundant? I mean "ダンスを踊る" expression.

And not just moonlight but pale moonlight.


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## kuuzoku

Wishfull said:


> I would like to ask you where this phrase comes from? Is the phrase originally created for the Badman movie?
> Or is it comes from, for example, from the Bible, or from Shakespeare?



This phrase comes from the Batman movie only.


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## Wishfull

almostfreebird said:


> Not to be rude but, isn't it redundant? I mean "ダンスを踊る" expression.
> 
> And not just moonlight but pale moonlight.



Hi.
I know your point, *almostfreebird*.

In that movie, when Joker said it to Batman, Batman asked what he was talking about. Batman didn't understand what he was talking. Then Joker said something like "there is no meaning, *I just like the sound of it".*

Joker loved 語呂の良さ　of that phrase.
So I would avoid word to word translation or literal translation, which cannot convey the 語呂の良さ.

ダンスを踊る　might be redundant, though I myself think it is OK.


I can't translate it properly unless I know the background of the phrase.
So I would like to ask what was the original of that phrase......
//////
Anyway,
I think your translation is very good.

My aim is a little different from you. 
I don't have the DVD just now, so I cannot check 戸田奈津子大先生’ｓ　translation, now. But I will check it later.


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## Wishfull

kuuzoku said:


> This phrase comes from the Batman movie only.


Thank you,* kuuzoku,* for the information.

In that case, *almostfirebird*'s translation is better than mine, I think.


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## Wishfull

Hi.
The Japanese subtitle for the expression by Natsuko Toda would be;
*月夜に悪魔と踊った事が？
Tsukiyo ni akuma to odotta koto ga ?*

I realize that her version is much shorter than mine. I respect her though there are many opinions about her.

Besides, the dubbed Japanese version (吹き替え翻訳；トランスグローバル）says;
*月夜に悪魔と踊った事があるか？
Tsukiyo ni akuma to oddota koto ga aruka?*

吹替え　may be longer than 字幕, because hearing is faster than reading. Taking it into consideration, 戸田奈津子's translation and トランスグローバル’ｓ　translation are almost completely match about this expression.



BTW,  English subtitile;
*"You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?"*


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## Qimaster

Wishfull said:


> Hi.
> The Japanese subtitle for the expression by Natsuko Toda would be;
> *月夜に悪魔と踊った事が？*
> *Tsukiyo ni akuma to odotta koto ga ?*
> 
> I realize that her version is much shorter than mine. I respect her though there are many opinions about her.
> 
> And English subtitile;
> *"You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?"*


 
How would that differ from "Anàta, aòi tsukiàkarinoshitàde àkumato dànsuoshitakotòga oàrikana?"


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## Wishfull

tsukiyo=a moon night=a night when there are enough light of moon
=a night with moonlight, which is not entirely dark, but which is less bright than daylight, of course.
ni = in
akuma=devil
to=with
oddotta=danced
koto=incidence, experience

Anata=you
aoi=pale
tsukiakari=moonlight
no=possessive indicating particle
shitade=under
danceshita=danced
oarikana=are you experienced?

There are a lot of translations, because a certain language translation to another is not one-to-one correspondence.

///////
For example, almostfirefox claimed that my translation missed the "pale".
But I think_ tsukiyo ni _and _aoi tsukiakarinoshitade_ are almost identical in meaning. 

aoi (青い）＝blue
aoi(蒼い）＝dark blue

If it is written in Roma-ji(alphabet), aoi usually means blue, which is not correct.
I think "pale" is the opposite of "bright (daylight)".

I think if one tries to translate "pale" more correctly, 
月夜の*薄暗がり*の中で悪魔と踊ったことがあるか？ might be better.

Whether it is redundant or not would be the matter of interpretation.
Every translation, even literal one, always includes the translator's interpretation.


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## almostfreebird

The word "蒼いor青い"(pale) has a poetic effect except when used for complexion and the like; 

for example, there is this worldwide famous song titled "A Whiter Shade of Pale"
by the British band Procol Harum.

The Japanese title of the song is "蒼い影"(aoi kage), which literally means pale shadow.


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## Qimaster

Thank you for your contributions.


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