Talk:Suzumiya Haruhi:Volume1 Prologue

Not literal enough?

I read the prolouge and discovered that there are a lot of discrepancies between it and the Japanese version of the novel. Here are some that want to point out:

First paragraph

サンタクロースをいつまで信じていたかなんてことはたわいもない世間話にもならないくらいのどうでもいいような話だが、 それでも[...]

should be translated as, I think, "The fact about until when a person believes in Santa Claus is such an insignificant topic that it can't even become the subject of any useless gossips, but if you were to [...]."

Second paragraph

The novel doesn't say "every on of my classmates," but "周囲にいた園児たち" or "classmates around me." Also, the "teacher" is in fact "サンタのコスプレをした園長先生," which is "the principal cosplaying as Santa."

Third paragraph

[...]宇宙人や未来人や幽霊や妖怪や超能力や悪の組織やそれらと戦うアニメ的特撮的マンガ的ヒーローたち[...]

should rather be "[...] alines, people from the future, ghosts, demons, espers, evil organizations, and heroes in effect-filled anime and manga who fight them [...]"

Fourth paragraph

This paragraph is actually three paragraphs in the Japanese novel. The first paragraph is from "No, [...]" to "[...] to appear." The second paragraph is from "Compared to [...]" to "[...] desirable." And the last paragraph just contains a single sentence, "I want to live in that world too!"

About the discrepancy, you translated the second paragraph as "Compared to this boring, normal life of mine, [...]." However, the Japanese version is:

俺が朝目覚めて夜眠るまでのこのフツーな世界に比べて、アニメ的特撮的マンガ的物語の中に描かれる世界の、なんと魅力的なことだろう。

which is roughly "Comparing to this ordinary world that I live in from the moment I wake up in the morning to the moment I fall asleep at night, the world portrayed as in those effect-filled anime and manga is somewhat more charming, right?"

Also, the novel says "俺もこんな世界に生まれたかった!," which is "I wanted to be born in such a world!"

Fifth paragraph

The "bowl-like prison" is actually "透明なエンドウ豆のサヤ" or "transparent bean-shaped pod." Also, the Japanese novel does not mention any "mutants" or "evil organizations." It just says "秘密組織の超能力者とサイキックパトルを繰り広げたり,[...]" or "I want to engaged in psychic battles against espers from clandestine organizations."