xxxHOLiC Rou 194 translation

[starlady]

Wow, I totally forgot it was Thursday there for a while.

You know, there's no way I'm going to accomplish this anywhere but a proper desk. *gets up and moves*

!!! page 01
FX: Ting

Ti-ting

Ting

Dying of love,
More than the crying cicada,

FX: Ting

tTing

Ting

The uncrying firefly
Burns with love

FX: Rumble-slide
---------------
!!! page 02-03
---------------
!!! page 04
Tsuki-usagi: You've become quite good,
Store owner.

Cart: Moon Rabbit Pipes
---------------
!!! page 05
Watanuki: Because I had a good master.

FX: Soft thunk

Tsuki-usagi: You said that that lady appeared in your dream,
And taught you attentively.

Watanuki: Yes.

FX: Slowly

Watanuki: In thanks for this.

But, I can't use the plectrum.
---------------
!!! page 06
Tsuki-usagi: So then kouta.

Watanuki: I can still only play the one song you just heard.

Tsuki-usagi: That's enough for the girls to hit on you.

Watanuki: Where are there girls to hit on me?

Tsuki-usagi: There might be one among your customers,

A person to become a companion.

Watanuki: A partner, huh.

Tsuki-usagi: Well then.
To work, to work.

FX: Pat

How's the mood of that beautiful lady over there?
---------------
!!! page 07
Tsuki-usagi: She might be in a bit of a mood.

FX: Slowly

No matter how many times I see it, it's a thoroughly charming pipe.

That's good luck for a bamboo pipestem seller.

Watanuki: I'm glad.

You'll help me, too.
Since it seems there are almost no pipestem sellers in the outside world.

Tsuki-usagi: It seems that humans don't smoke pipes anymore.
Well, they're still in active service in the world over there.
---------------
!!! page 08
Tsuki-usagi: Here.

FX: Smoking

The pipestem is full of little splits.

Watanuki: Before this,
I dropped it.

Tsuki-usagi: You have to treat this lady gently.
Even if she gets away, she won't let you know.

Watanuki: It won't come to that. I treasure it.

It toppled over in broad daylight.

Tsuki-usagi: Oh, oh, you didn't overdo the noontime drinking, did you?

Watanuki: I wasn't drinking.

Tsuki-usagi: Was it the Shirakawa Night Ferry again?

Watanuki: Sort of, yes.
---------------
!!! page 09
Tsuki-usagi: Seeing dreams is part of your business, store owner, but

If you over do it, you won't be able to disembark from that night ferry.

Watanuki: ...I know.
---------------
!!! page 10
Tsuki-usagi: Now then,
I can swap out the pipestem.

FX: Thock

Watanuki: Right.

FX: Smooth

Tsuki-usagi: And...

I can brush
The bowl and the mouthpiece.

Watanuki: Please do.

FX: Kyuup
---------------
!!! page 11
FX: Slowly

FX: Smooth

FX: Rattle rattle

Whistle

Cough

Cough
---------------
!!! page 12
Cough

Cough

Cough
---------------
!!! page 13
Watanuki: It's fascinating every time I watch,
Those fishy things.

Tsuki-usagi: These guys love tar.
They get filled up being in the pipestem cart,
And I can ply my trade.

FX: Whistle

Watanuki: It's interdependence, huh.

FX: Popping up

Tsuki-usagi: What color would you like?
---------------
!!! page 14
Watanuki: ...Red.

Tsuki-usagi: Right.

FX: Twist twist
---------------
!!! page 15
FX: Smooth

Plunk

Squeezing

Squeezing
---------------
!!! page 16
FX: Quick and smooth

Watanuki: ...Beautiful.

FX: Exhaling

I've cleaned it myself,
But it doesn't compare to this.

Tsuki-usagi: If an amateur could do it, the professional's business would dry up.
---------------
!!! page 17
Watanuki: ...Indeed.
Thank you.

Tsuki-usagi: I'm glad that you say that.

Watanuki: Now then,
What about the price?

I've made the usual zunda mochi...

Tsuki-usagi: Oo.

Watanuki: But, you changed the pipestem too; this won't be enough.

Tsuki-usagi: In that case, store owner, let me be a little selfish.

Watanuki: What is it?
---------------
!!! page 18
Tsuki-usagi: Say "welcome."

Watanuki: Aren't you already here?

Tsuki-usagi: Well,
Think of it as a payment.

Watanuki: ...That's fine, then.
---------------
!!! page 19
Watanuki: Welcome.

FX: With a bang
---------------
!!! page 20
Spider-lady: Thank you

For the invitation.

---

T/N: The Shirakawa Night Ferry is a literal translation of an expression meaning "to be sound asleep". (The original title of Yoshimoto Banana's novel Asleep is this exact expression.) Normally I'd translate it metaphorically, but the pipeseller's next line plays on the literal meaning.

(Apparently according to Wikipedia the expression is related to the Shirakawa river in Kyoto, the boat in question crossing the river [which is quite small nowadays] many times at night, but I'm too tired to puzzle out the exact meaning. I note the Kyoto connection with happiness, however.)

---

I guess even in Japan you have to invite the demons across your threshold yourself.

Comments

[nokiirat.livejournal.com]

for some reason, it read like a smutty conversation. ^_^

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

Some of the terms have suggestive synonyms, yes indeed.

[jlarinda.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the translation!

[ariadnechan.livejournal.com]

the partner is right there and is totally in love with the new owner!!! *Cough Doumeki Cough*

Lady Spider??? i hope this will be not bad news!

[lodelco.livejournal.com]

What's with all the innuendos and stuff lately?

[cutesherry.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the translation ^^
And you aren't the only one who forgot it was thursday for a moment aha~
From what I can see, Clamp are pretty far from being in any rush of finishing XXXHolic and are peacefully adding up new stories one after another, I'm not complaining though :D
I wonder if we will ever get an artbook for Holic *random thought*

[kefrayba.livejournal.com]

Clamps are cruel ladies... It will have to be next year before we get the next chapter aren't we T^T

[scottishrefugee.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your excellent translation ;-)

By the way, I did a bit of research about the "Shirakawa yofune" expression referring either to Yoshimoto's novel or to the actual ferry, and I think CLAMP actually played on both.

Moreover, the Wikipedia page about the novel is available only in English and Italian, but interestingly enough, the Italian one offers a quote from the author herself, which the English version does not contain. Here it is:

"These three stories narrate the night of some characters who find themselves in a stalemate situation, a phase in which the regular flow of time has come to a halt".

I find this comment fantastically spot-on, especially if we compare it with Watanuki's situation.

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow. That is so ridiculously apt.

[outou.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the translation! I wonder what made CLAMP connect the moon rabbit to pipe-selling?

Hopefully the spider matron will shake the plot out of its lethargy for a while.

[nekocat17.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for the translation!! ♥

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

I don't know, but it's pretty cool. Despite the fact that it took me forever to translate. ^^

I think the fact that she showed up at the end of the first chapter of the new volume bodes well, action-wise.