Fushigi no Kuni no Bird - Vol. 7 Ch. 32 - Maries and Fanny

[MangaDex]

 

[nancevv]

Hoho theres fire here XD

 

[Simpleton]

Not that I know if it is relevant, but the only other Clematis reference I found was that the evergreen one meant poverty. (Having to be crafty about how to get food on your plate? idk).

 

[ghigitawa]

i reread this chapter, but still dont understand

 

[Nixnaw]

I had to google the meaning of
Artifice:
/ˈɑːtɪfɪs/
noun
clever or cunning devices or expedients, especially as used to trick or deceive others.

---

Interesting, it could be that his story was a way to invoke sympathy maybe?

 

[Nixnaw]

@Simpleton. I found the artifice meaning on another website: "The clematis flowers symbolize the beauty of ingenuity or the trait of artifice. Many experts have suggested that this is most likely related to its wonderful and clever ability to climb around places such as walls as well as trellises. In terms of symbolic representation, it again represents the beauty of mental strength."

 

[Simpleton]

@Nixnaw I'm not the translator, but I'm sure they're reading this thread anyway.

However the second point was - did you find a website at least a hundred years old?
(I.e. any proof that the clematis had that meaning also in that past which is concurrent to the story.)

 

[toriaezu]

When translating or making notes, I always look for primary sources, so my main source for the meaning of clematis was The Language of Flowers by Kate Greenway, a very popular artist at the time, published in 1884, 10 years before Bird's trip. http://gutenberg.org/ebooks/31591

It's well-known and simple enough to assume this was the basic knowledge people of the era had regarding flowers. I'll admit though that it's possible there was a different book which listed artifice for clematis that has fallen into obscurity in the modern era. Most websites don't list their sources for flowe language meanings, so I can't be sure of the age/accuracy of the sites.

The underlying issue is that I can't be sure of what sources Sasa-sensei is using, or if he can even read English well enough to understand primary sources. So there's a very fine line here between faithful to the Japanese and faithful to the source material. When there's enough of a disconnect, I tend to point it out in my notes. (I'm still not sure what the hell was up with that egg wine in chapter 18)

 

[Warshade]

Just binged all of the chapters up to this point. Thank you so much for the great translations! I especially love reading the excerpts from the original letters at the end.

 

[DjAlexDubCheck]

So this is the chapter referenced on volume cover

 

[Nixnaw]

@Simpleton Lol no, it was like the second link on google... some website called gardenofedenflowershop lmao. Who knows how accurate it is haha

 

[Nixnaw]

@toriaezu Thank you for your efforts. The illustrations in Language of Flowers were really lovely, interesting to browse through.

 

[nancevv]

Just recently, fushigi bird manga has been released on Kakaopage kr! XD but its age restricted 15+ maybe becs some explicit contents here and there

 

[DjAlexDubCheck]

Nancevv's image for consultation convenience

 

[DjAlexDubCheck]

The language of flowers