Kazuo Ishiguro’s 1989 masterpiece, ‘The Remains of the Day’, paints a sophisticated picture of a rigid and frustrated butler’s unspoken feelings of compassion and love. It’s not a tale full of thrills and spills, but rather like a comforting home-cooked meal from mom, it tells a story simply and sincerely, keeping you hooked till the very end. Can you believe it’s been five years since he nabbed that Nobel Prize?
My favorite moment in this novel is the reunion scene between the prim and proper butler and Miss Kenton, the woman he’s long cherished. A close second is when he chats with an elderly man he meets after a bittersweet parting with her, during a lively dockside party. This old man, much like our protagonist, had also retired from a long career as a butler. James shares stories about his work—managing grand events, maintaining secrets, and all the little tricks of the trade… (Honestly, sounds like a snooze-fest). He even shares his regrets, feeling empty for always following his master’s choices. He ends up shedding tears. 😢 The old man listening to him says,
“Look here. This attitude is all wrong. You get me? You can’t keep looking back, it’ll just bring you down. Look at me. Ever since I retired, I’ve been as cheerful as a lark. Sure, we’re not spring chickens anymore, but we have to keep looking forward and moving ahead.”
After the old man leaves, James reflects deeply while watching people gather joyfully for the evening dockside event. He then shares with the readers,
What is the point of worrying oneself too much about what one could or could not have done to control the course one’s life took? Surely it is enough that the likes of you and I at least try to make our small contribution count for something true and worthy
This is my favorite line. My initial translation went like this:
What’s the use in stressing over things we could or couldn’t have done to steer our lives? I believe it’s enough for folks like you and me to try our best to contribute to something honest and valuable
A bit stiff, but that’s how the original felt. I remember having a deep chat with a native friend about the profound life philosophy hidden in those simple lines. But then, my friend wasn’t impressed with my translation and told me to wait.
‘Ok. I’ll wait.’ (But really, could they do better? My Korean’s pretty spot-on!)
The next evening, as I was lounging around, I suddenly got a message.
What’s the point in worrying too much about what one could or couldn’t have done in choosing life’s path? Isn’t it enough if folks like us strive to let our little contributions count towards something true and valuable?
In an instant, I realized my translation was, well, lacking. Suddenly curious, I checked the official published translation by Song Eun-kyung, and here’s how she translated the same part in ‘The Remains of the Day’:
Why stress over whether we could have done things differently in life? Isn’t it enough if people like us make small but sincere contributions to what’s true and valuable?
Why did ‘stress’ become ‘burn’? Anyway, both are miles better than mine. My translation issue was focusing more on preserving every element of the sentence rather than understanding the essence the author wanted to convey. But if the goal was to port application language for an operating system to comprehend rather than for humans to read,
Mine would work the best! 😎
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