# 噛み締めて



## JapanForever

Hi there, 
I would like to know: what does 噛み締めて mean in this sentence? For the context, (X is the name of the sister) the man became crazy for seeing his sister under monsters's appareance. 

ただ妹てあるXが存在する幸せを、 彼は心の底から噛み締めていく. 
Thanks for your answers


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## quantum zero

I am not certain but かみ締める in this context probably means from the bottom of his heart he is happy.

I checked the meaning from the link below
http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/44834/m0u/
かみ締める　－　 物事の味わい、深い意味などを十分に感じ取る。「平和の尊さを―・める」


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## JapanForever

So the sentence is something like "he was happy to see his sister alive from the bottom of his heart"?


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## quantum zero

he appreciates the simple happiness for the presence of his sister from the bottom of his heart. or if you don't like to use "the bottom of his heart" you could switch with sincerely. what I am guessing from the sentence is that his sister turned into a monster, but he is sincerely happy to see his sister despite of her appearance.


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## JapanForever

Should I mention that the character is also crazy and said this sentence. By the way I would like to know 存在する can also mean alive too?


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## quantum zero

Well if you translate 存在する into English, it means exist. So I don't think it means alive, but of course it depends on the context too. You might be able to interpret it to be alive. In the literature there are all sorts of ways to interpret the meaning and I wouldn't cut off the possibility of your thinking too. good luck and let me know if you have more questions.  

I looked up the word in Japanese English dictionary and couldn't find it. If you are curious check the link below 
http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/je2/44438/m0u/%E5%AD%98%E5%9C%A8%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B/


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## JapanForever

Thanks. I wonder if it could mean alive as in the story the girl is killed by the hero himself before to be changed into a monster


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## JapanForever

Okay thanks. I've often some troubles with the word 存在するor just 存在 ^^


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## quantum zero

Well I don't know I need to know more about the story. I thought she was turned into a monster. So are you saying that she was killed before she turned into a monster? Or maybe the hero is still happy despite the fact that his sister is a monster and she lost herself but she is still alive. That's the most important thing for the hero.


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## quantum zero

Sorry it was a glitch I didn't mean to post the same thing twice.


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## JapanForever

Actually the hero was forced to kill his sister in a very harsh manner and had a mental breakdown after wathcing her as a monster afterward  and thought it was really his sister


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## JapanForever

That's okay


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## Ryukishin

Hi,

I think 噛み締めていく means "to keep digesting" in this context, but It sounds quite poetic to me. 

So, I believe "ただ妹てあるXが存在する幸せを、 彼は心の底から噛み締めていく" basically means that "from the bottom of his heart, He will keep deriving happiness just from the sole existence/presence of his sister ". Note that the happiness here means the happiness about having his sister by his side.
I hope this helps


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## JapanForever

Thanks...Although...deriving happiness? Didn't much understand^^


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## Ryukishin

Well, It's just the same as saying "obtaining happiness/gaining happiness/achieving happiness" and so on.


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## JapanForever

So it's right if I say "He was happy from the bottom of his heart just because his sister is there"?


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## Ryukishin

yeah, It's perfectly fine.
but remember that the word "ていく" at the end of the sentence means "to keep doing" and since It's followed by "噛み締めて" It can imply the achievement of the happiness.
So, you can put it in the sense of the guy being constantly happy about it, or rather, he keeps deriving/gaining happiness from it.


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## JapanForever

So "he kept deriving happiness from the bottom of this heart because his sister was there"? That's a bit confusing


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## Ryukishin

that's not what I mean ^^
Let's put it in a different way
"He (will) truly keep deriving happiness, from just having his sister by his side"
Shortly, He feels happy enough just by having his sister around him/ just because his sister is with him.
As I said before, the sentence you gave sounds quite poetic to me, so It sure is hard to explain it thoroughly unless I am a poet.
I'm sorry for my unclear explanation ^^


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## JapanForever

Even if the character is crazy?


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## Ryukishin

crazy-looking-character is no reason for that sort of sentence to sound awkward,  crazy-characters can sometimes be wise too, you know ?
and I think there is nothing wrong with crazy-characters saying that sort of words, and then again, All depends on the context.
If you still have a nagging feeling about being barely able to understand the sentence, Could you please give more details about the context ?
Your quotation is way too short that I cannot tell what's happening in the conversation.^^


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## JapanForever

By the way there is before this sentence "his sister, still existed in this world" as I translated
Does it change anything to the context?


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## Ryukishin

I see ^^
but are you sure you translated it correctly ?
because It wouldn't make any sense If the sentence after  "his sister, still existed in this world" were something that ends with "噛み締めていく"!
"噛み締めていく" is a present tense, and in addition, the ending "-ていく" means that something will keep on going/being done in the future,  whereas "his sister, still existed in this world" is a past-tense. 
I don't think It would make sense even in English ^^


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