Translating Diluc’s Message on the Cat’s Tail Message Board
(Finally, after working on it on and off, it’s here.)
I’m reading the sign in front of the Cat’s Tail for the first time, and realized it’s a different message (so far) every time I interact with it. It’s a really nice detail. This message is implied to be left by Diluc. I wasn’t sure if it was him at first, but by the second section, it was clear.
Let’s compare the differences between the original Chinese version, my translation, and the official English translation. Translation notes will be under the cut, as always.
Diluc’s true feelings can be glanced through this small interaction on the message board…
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“Even someone like me will also reminisce about the leisurely life of the past. It was all so wonderful back then, be it the warmth in the Knights, the friendships, or dear father. But it's not possible to return to the past anymore.”
“For the sake of the future, I cannot indulge in dreams. Or rather, so that the people can have the pleasure of indulging in dreams, someone must wake and face the darkness before dawn.”
“Rationally, I know some ties must be severed, yet emotionally I still miss them a little bit. It’s so frustrating.”
“I hope for the prosperity of this tavern. The competition in the wine industry can indeed be fierce.”
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The Cat’s Tail’s Response
Hey, life is like wine: It matures through brewing and aging.
But the doors of the Cat’s Tail will always be open to everyone, even to our competitors. No one can return to the past, but anyone can return to the Cat’s Tail and temporarily let go of their worries and sadness~
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Official English Translation
Message
“Even I sometimes reminisce about the carefree and happy days of the past. The warmth of the Knights, my friends, my father... Everything was perfect. But one can never return to the past.”
“For the sake of the future, I cannot keep on dreaming in memories. Or should I say, someone has to wake up to face the darkness before dawn so that others may continue to dream.”
“Rationally, I know there are some things that one must let go of, yet emotionally this is much harder to do. Sometimes my heart is agonized by this…”
“Hope the business goes well. It's a battlefield out there in the liquor business.”
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Cat's Tail's Reply
Life is like wine. It needs refinement and fermentation to mature.
But the door of Cat's Tail is forever open to anyone, even to our business competitors! People can never return to their former lives, but they can always return to Cat's Tail to set their worries and sadness aside.
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Translation Notes
Message
悠闲 (youxian) means “leisurely”
父亲大人 (fuqin daren) is a highly formal way to address to one’s father
父亲 (father) is already quite formal but 大人 in this sense means “master”, as in “Master Crepus” (something a servant is more likely to say). However, “master father” isn't something people say, so the closest would probably be “dear father”.
沉湎 (chenmian) means “indulge oneself to”. It’s a very literary term
余裕 (yuyu) means “leisure time”
祝贵店生意兴隆 is a formal way of wishing for the success of a store (or tavern in this case), so it’s something along the lines of “I hope for this tavern’s business to boom”, or in other words, “I hope for the prosperity of this tavern”
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The Cat’s Tail’s Response
“人生就像酒，需要经过提炼和变质才会成熟呢。”
提炼 (tilian) means “to refine”
炼 is the same character used in the Chinese term for “alchemy”, 炼金术 (lian jin shu), literally “the art of extracting gold”
变质 (bianzhi) means (for a food or drink) “to go bad”, but seeing that here, the life is compared to wine, it most likely means “ to age” (life can age, just like how wine can age)
成熟 (chengshu) means “to mature” but also “ripen”. In terms of winemaking, it could mean “to ferment”, but then it can’t be compared to life easily, so keeping with the winemaking terminology, I’d say “mature” fits the simile the best
烦恼 (fannao) means “troubling (things)” and 忧愁 (youchou) means “sad” or “troubling”
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Comparison and Analysis
Tone and precision are important things to consider when it comes to word choice in translation. If the original tone is casual, then don’t use overly formal words. If you can use one word to express a term, then don’t split it into two words to complicate it. Likewise, if you can use one sentence to express a thought, don’t split it up into two sentences. It seems HoYoverse’s English translation team doesn’t think about these two things…
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1.
Original Chinese: 「即使是我，也会偶尔想起以前悠闲的生活。」
My Translation: “Even someone like me will also reminisce over the leisurely life of the past.”
Official English Translation: “Even I sometimes reminisce about the carefree and happy days of the past.”
It was unnecessary to split the word 悠闲 (leisurely) into two words “carefree and happy”.
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2.
Original Chinese: 「骑士团的温暖也好，友谊也好，父亲大人也好，当时的一切都是那么美好。」
My Translation: “It was all so wonderful back then, be it the warmth in the Knights, the friendships, or dear father.”
Official English Translation: “The warmth of the Knights, my friends, my father... Everything was perfect.”
美好 means “wonderful” rather than “perfect”. To say it was all so “wonderful” back then is more warm than it was all so “perfect”. There’s already a slightly colder tome in the English translation.
To use 也好 after each thing mentioned sounds like “this was wonderful, that was also wonderful, and that was also wonderful. It was all so wonderful”, or in other words, “be it this, this, or this, it was all so wonderful”. It links them all together, leading to the end of the sentence.
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3.
Original Chinese: 「有些事情，理智上虽然明白，是必须割舍的，但感情上还是会有些怀念。真是让人烦恼。」
My Translation: “Rationally, I know some ties must be severed, yet emotionally I still miss them a little bit. It’s so frustrating.”
Official English Translation: “Rationally, I know there are some things that one must let go of, yet emotionally this is much harder to do. Sometimes my heart is agonized by this…”
割舍 means “to sever ties”, and the character themselves literally mean “cut [with a blade and] give up”. “Sever ties” retains that cutting imagery.
To say “let go” doesn’t sound as harsh as it does in Chinese. When Diluc severs ties, he really (makes an effort to publically) severs ties with the Knights.
Once again there’s no need to overcomplicate things in translation.
怀念 is refers “yearning (for the past)”, or “miss (someone/something)” or “cherish (someone/something)” so it’s fine to say “I still miss it a little” rather than oversimplify it to “this is much harder to do”.
烦恼 simply means “frustrating”, so “It’s so frustrating” is straightforward and precise like Diluc. “Sometimes my heart is agonized by this…” is much more intense and dramatic, which honestly sounds more like what Kaeya would say.
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4.
Original Chinese: 「祝贵店生意兴隆。酒业的竞争可是很激烈的。」
My English Translation: “I hope for the prosperity of this tavern. The competition in the wine industry can indeed be fierce.”
Official English Translation: “Hope the business goes well. It's a battlefield out there in the liquor business.”
It would seem the English translation team has forgotten or didn’t know the message was left by Diluc.
Once again, please note the formality in the Chinese version. Diluc is a businessman and a gentleman so he wishes even his competitor good luck in their business. The English translation meanwhile makes it sound too casual.
“The competition in the wine industry can indeed be fierce” mentions no explicit metaphors for war, yet the official English translation’s “It's a battlefield out there in the liquor business” took the word 竞争 (business competition) and ran too far with it.
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5.
Original Chinese: “人生就像酒，需要经过提炼和变质才会成熟呢。”
My English Translation: “Hey, life is like wine: It matures through brewing and aging.”
Official English Translation: “Life is like wine. It needs refinement and fermentation to mature.”
The addition of the particle 呢 makes the sentence sound much more casual. Theoretically, if this line was a voiceline, then the voice actor might deliver it in a lighthearted way, but it’s not a voiceline. It’s a small detail, but that end particle effectively brings across the tone of the sentence, hence my addition of “Hey” at the beginning of my translation.
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6.
Original Chinese: “谁都无法回到过去，但谁都能回到猫尾，暂时放下烦恼和忧愁喔。”
My English Translation: “No one can return to the past, but anyone can return to the Cat’s Tail and temporarily let go of their worries and sadness~”
Official English Translation: “People can never return to their former lives, but they can always return to Cat's Tail to set their worries and sadness aside.”
Another very small detail that makes a difference in tone. Ending the sentence with 喔 gives a sense of playfulness or teasing. Likewise a simple ~ gives off the same tone.
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Conclusion
Even though it’s such a short passage, Diluc’s part was pretty difficult to translate. There’s a lot packed into these seemingly short lines of Chinese, which is excellent storytelling since all the information is there without it being too long, that ends up being longer in English. Nonetheless it was interesting to look at. Diluc’s true feelings can be glanced through this small interaction on the message board… Thank you for reading this.
Tbh I can't imagine a more disgusting atmosphere than sitting down for a drink in a room filled with cats. Like all that roaming cat hair all over everything and in the air 🤢. Like it's such a bad idea to have that many animals in a bar! And I despise cats irl but omg the Cats Tail is super cute. The furniture and the set up I mean.
When it comes to actual decor Angel's share is lacking hard.
