I love English and was once good enough to become an English teacher at a Japanese junior high school. But that was in the past, and since then my English skills have been declining rapidly. So, as part of my language learning, I decided to post some simple questions and comments about the English language that are not easy for me (and that I should ask on HiNative or Quora) on Newgrounds. I am not an expert in English and may make elementary mistakes, but thank you for your patience.

My Least Favorite Scene in "The Catcher in the Rye" | English Is Not So Easy 15

The novel I would like to introduce is "The Catcher in the Rye" by Jerome David Salinger.

The novel is a first-person narrative told by Holden Caulfield, a 17-year-old boy expelled from high school, and clearly depicts society's cold gaze toward a teenage boy. The novel became so popular that many young people who read it visited Mr. Salinger, thinking Holden was themselves, which made him very tired. If I had been born in the United States or any other English-speaking country at that time, I probably would have been one of them.

This work had a great influence on Japan. For example, in "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" by Mamoru Oshii, there is an incident that refers to this work, and in "Weathering with You" by Makoto Shinkai, the main character Hotaka carries around a Japanese translation of this book.

In this article, I have tried to translate into Japanese the scene in this novel that I dislike the most. The reason is that such scenes are also the scenes that moved me the most. Please let me do it.

================================

             He still didn't say one single solitary word about Jane. So finally I said, "You're back pretty goddam late if she only signed out for nine-thirty. Did you make her be late signing in?"

[My translation]

奴はジェーンのことをただの一言も話さなかった。それでついに僕は、「あの子が９時半にサインアウトしたにしては死ぬほど遅かったじゃねぇか。サインインが遅くなるようにでも仕向けたのか？」と言った。

================================

Translation note:

• Since this story is narrated by a teenage delinquent, there is a lot of foul language in the story. Therefore, it is necessary to use as much foul language as possible when translating it into Japanese. For example, I translated "he/him" as "奴 (yatsu; he or she)" because in the following sentences it is clear that "I" really hate "him".

================================

             He was sitting on the edge of his bed, cutting his goddam toenails, when I asked him that. "Couple minutes," he said. "Who the hell signs out for nine-thirty on a Saturday night?" God, how I hated him.

[My translation]

僕がこう尋ねたとき、奴はベッドの端に座って足の爪なんか切っていやがった。「ほんの数分な」奴は言った。「土曜の夜に９時３０分になんかサインアウトする奴がいるのか？」神よ、僕はこの男が大嫌いだ。

================================

By the way, the longer the period between the publication of a book by the author and its translation by the translator, the more the translator will be influenced by the modern language and his social background. Some people may think that the translation must be done at the same time as the publication, but I want to enjoy working in the modern language.

================================

             "Did you go to New York?" I said.

             "Ya crazy? How the hell could we go to New York if she only signed out for nine-thirty?"

             "That's tough."

             He looked up at me. "Listen," he said, "if you're gonna smoke in the room, how 'bout going down to the can and do it? You may be getting the hell out of here,[1] but I have to stick around long enough to graduate."

             I ignored him. I really did. I went right on smoking like a madman. All I did was sort of turn over on my side and watch him cut his damn toenails. What a school. You were always watching somebody cut their damn toenails or squeeze their pimples or something.

[1] As you may know better than me, Holden has just been expelled from Pencey for failing all of his classes except English.

[My translation]

「ニューヨークには行ったのか？」僕は言った。

「お前頭おかしいのか？９時３０分にサインアウトして、それからどうやってニューヨークに行くんだ」

「タフだよな」

奴はこっちを見上げた。「なぁ聞いてくれ」奴は言った。「部屋でタバコ吸うくらいなら、トイレに行きゃぁいいじゃねぇか。お前はここを出ていくのかもしらんが、俺は卒業までずっとここにいなきゃなんないんだ」

僕は奴をシカトした。目いっぱいシカトした。とにかく僕は狂ったようにタバコを吸い続けた。俺がやったことといえば、奴のほうをくるりと向いて、爪を切ってる奴の面を眺めることだけだった。大した学校だ。いつだって誰かが足の爪を切ったり、にきびをつぶしたりなんかしてるのを見てなきゃなんない。

================================

It's pleasant to borrow someone else's words and speak dirty words in my mother tongue, as if I'm being seduced by a bad friend to do evil.

Translation note:

• The urban dictionary says that "can" is a word for "toilet". Their slang is very difficult to look up in a dictionary, so if I don't have it in my knowledge, the translation will be impossible.
• I also translated "You were watching..." into Japanese as "You have to watch...". This is an expression to show that the protagonist does not want to see such a scene. Am I right?

================================

             "Did you give her my regards?" I asked him.

             "Yeah."

             The hell he did, the bastard.

             “What’d she say?” I said. “Did you ask her if she still keeps all her kings in the back row?”

             “No, I didn’t ask her. What the hell ya think we did all night—play checkers, for Chrissake?”

             I didn’t even answer him. God, how I hated him.

             “If you didn’t go to New York, where’d ya go with her?” I asked him, after a little while. I could hardly keep my voice from shaking all over the place. Boy, was I getting nervous. I just had a feeling something had gone funny.

[My translation]

「俺の伝言は伝えたのか？」僕は奴に尋ねた。

「ああ」

やりやがったな、このクソ野郎。

「あの娘なんて言った？」僕は言った。「訊いたんだろ？今でもキングを後ろの列に置いとくのかって」

「そんなの訊かないさ。何が悲しくて一晩中チェッカーなんかやんなきゃなんないんだ」

僕は答えもしなかった。神よ、俺はこいつが大嫌いだ。

「ニューヨークに行ってないんなら、どこで何してた？」しばらくしてから、僕は奴にそう尋ねた。声が震えまくるのをどうしても抑えることができないでいた。落ち着け自分、ちょっとばかし気分が高まってるんだ。どこかで何か手違いでも起こってるんだ。

================================

My hands tremble as I write the translation. What a fascinating sentence.

Translation note:

• The last two sentences, "Boy, was I getting nervous. I just had a feeling something had gone funny," are very English and very difficult for a non-native speaker to translate. I'm not a professional translator, so I gave up trying to translate this part accurately and used my best, light-hearted, novelistic style of expression (lit. "Calm down, boy, I'm getting a little nervous. Something went wrong somewhere."). What a shame! I would like to ask a native speaker to explain this part.

================================

             He was finished cutting his damn toenails. So he got up from the bed, in just his damn shorts and all, and started getting very damn playful. He came over to my bed and started leaning over me and taking these playful as hell socks at my shoulder. “Cut it out,” I said. “Where’d you go with her if you didn’t go to New York?”

             “Nowhere, We just sat in the goddam car.” He gave me another one of those playuful stupid little socks on the shoulder.

             “Cut it out,” I said. “Whose car?”

             “Ed Banky’s.”

             Ed Banky was the basketball coach at Pencey. Old Stradlater was one of his pets, because he was the center on the team, and Ed Banky always let him borrow his car when he wanted it. It wasn’t allowed for students to borrow faculty guys’ cars, but all the athletic bastards stuck together. In every school I’ve gone to, all the athletic bastards stick together.

[My translation]

奴は足の爪を切り終えた。パンツ一丁でベッドから立ち上がると奴はますます調子に乗りだした。僕のベッドまでやってきて、僕にもたれかかってきたり、冗談で肩にパンチを食らわせてきたりした。

「やめろよ」僕は言った。「ニューヨークに行ってないんなら、どこに行った？」

「どこにも。ずーっと車ん中にいたさ」奴はそう言うとまた僕の肩にくだらないパンチを繰り出した。

「やめろ」僕は言った。「誰の車だ」

「エド・バンキーの」

エド・バンキーはペンシーのバスケットボールのコーチだった。ストラドレーターは奴のペットのうちの一人。奴はチームのセンターだったから。奴が望むなら、エド・バンキーはいつだって車を貸してやる。本来、学生が教員の車を借りることは許されていないはずだったが、体育会系の連中はいつもそういう風につるんでいた。どこの学校に行ったって、体育会系の連中はみんなそうやってつるむんだ。

================================

There are such people everywhere...

Translation note:

• I translated "athletic bastards" as "体育会系の連中 (lit. athletic bastards)" and was very surprised to find a perfect equivalent for this word.
• "Socks" does not mean socks, it means punch. This is also slang.
• "Stick together" is a word originally used in a positive sense, but in this novel it is used in a very negative sense, so I chose the Japanese word "つるむ (tsurumu; lit. hang out)" to express Holden's annoyance.

================================

             Stradlater kept taking these shadow punches down at my shoulder. He had his toothbrush in his hand, and he put it in his mouth. “What’d you do?” I said. “Give her the time in Ed Banky’s goddam car?” My voice was shaking something awful.

             “What a thing to say. Want me to eash your mouth out with soap?”

             “Did you?”

             “That’s a professional secret, buddy.”

[My translation]

ストラドレーターは僕の肩にシャドーパンチをし続けた。奴は歯ブラシを片手に持ち、それを口にくわえた。「何してたんだ？」僕は言った。「あの子とヤってたんだろ？エド・バンキーの車なんかで」僕の声は醜く震えていた。

「ひどい言い様だな。石鹸で口を洗ってやろうか？」

「ヤってたのか？」

「そいつは極秘事項だね、相棒」

================================

Translation note:

• The Urban Dictionary says that "give her a time" is a euphemism for sex, and that it is a phrase from "The Catcher in the Rye". Yes, I am now translating Catcher in the Rye. By the way, the Japanese language also uses a euphemism for sex: "彼女とヤる (lit. to do with her)". Therefore, in order to express what the protagonist meant in the following remark, I only have to translate his remark "Did you?" literally into Japanese: "ヤったのか？".

================================

             The next part I don’t remember so hot. All I know is I got up from the bed, like I was going down to the can or something, and then I tried to sock him, with all my might, right smack in the toothbrush, so it would split his goddam throat open. Only, I missed. I didn’t connect. All I did was sort of get him on the side of the head or something. It probably hurt him a little bit, but not as much as I wanted. It probably would’ve hurt him a lot, but I did it with my right hand, and I can’t make a good fist with that hand. On account of that injury I told you about.

[My translation]

そのあとの展開はあまりよく覚えていない。僕はトイレか何かに行くみたいにベッドから立ち上がって、それから気づいたら僕は奴に全力の拳をお見舞いしてた。拳は奴の歯ブラシに当たり、のど元を切り裂いたはずだった。だが僕はしくじった。届かなかった。せいぜい奴の頭をかすめたくらいだった。多少奴に痛みを与えられたのかもしれないけど、期待したほどではなかった。もちろんそうなる予定だったけど、僕は右手を使ってしまったために上手く拳を作れなかったのだ。ところで僕が右手をケガしていた理由はさっき話した通りだ。

================================

Now, we have already reached the point where neither DeepL nor Google Translate are useful. This is a super hot scene.

Translation note:

• What does "so hot" mean in the first sentence? Does it mean that he was so excited that he doesn't remember the next part? Or does it mean something like "very much"? Hmmm, I give up.
• The word "connect" in "I didn't connect" means "to arrive at an intended target," according to Wiktionary.

================================

             Anyway, the next thing I knew, I was on the goddam floor and he was sitting on the goddam floor and he was sitting on my chest, with his face all red. That is, he had his goddam knees on my chest, and he weighed about a ton. He had hold of my wrists, too, so I couldn't take another sock at him. I'd've killed him.

[My translation]

とにかく、その次に僕が覚えているのは、僕は床に倒れていて、奴は顔を真っ赤にして、床にいる俺の胸の上にのしかかってきたってこと。つまるところ奴は俺の胸に膝を乗せやがって、それで一トンはある体重をかけやがったわけだ。それから奴は俺の腕をつかんでやがったから、俺はもう奴にパンチをお見舞いできなくなった。殺してやりたかった。

================================

Translation note:

• The phrase "he weighed about a ton" is a metaphor. As I just noticed, since a metaphor is more emotional (childish), it is a bit difficult to translate because I have to "obviously" imply that it is a joke.
• In this part of the text, the word "goddam" appears a lot, and we can read that he is describing this situation in an even more foul-mouthed way. In order to capture his anger, I should translate it as emotionally as possible. Specifically, the Japanese translation makes heavy use of the verb "やがる (yagaru; goddam)," which is only used to express emotion. Like the word "goddam," this word does not mean much.

================================

             "What the hell's the matter with you?" he kept saying, and his stupid face kept getting redder and redder.

             "Get your lousy knees off my chest," I told him. I was almost bawling. I really was. "Go on, get offa me, ya crumby bastard."

             He wouldn't do it, though. He kept holding onto my wrists and I kept calling him a sonuvabitch and all, for around ten hours. I can hardly even remember what all I said to him. I told him he thought he could give the time to anybody he felt like. I told him he didn't even care if a girl kept all her kings in the back row or not, and the reason he didn't care was because he was a goddam stupid moron. He hated it when you called him a moron. All morons hate it when you call them a moron.

[My translation]

「何だってんだ？」奴はこう繰り返し、そのたびにあの間抜け面は赤くなってった。

「その汚ねぇ膝を下ろせよ」僕は言った。僕はほとんど泣いていた。本当に泣いていた。「ほら、どけよ、このくそ馬鹿野郎」

だが奴はどかなかった。かれこれ十時間ほど奴は僕の腕をつかみ、僕はクソ野郎を連呼し続けた。僕が奴に言ったこと全部は思い出せない。好きな時に誰とでもヤれると思ってんだろ、とは言った。女の子がキングを後ろの列に残しておくのかどうかなんてどうでもいいんだろ、てめぇみたいなクソまぬけのとんまにゃどうでもいいことだもんな、とは言った。奴はとんまと呼ばれるのが嫌いだった。とんまはみんなとんまって呼ばれるのが嫌いなんだ。

================================

Translation note:

• moron: (informal, derogatory) A stupid person; an idiot; a fool (from Wiktionary). He seems to get extremely angry when he is called "moron", so I have to choose a Japanese word that will make him angry as well. Hmm, the Japanese slang "単細胞 (tan saibou; lit. one-celled)" is a bit of an old Japanese word. It gives away my age.

================================

             "Shut up, now, Holden," he said with his big stupid red face. "Just shut up, now."

             "You don't even know if her first name is Jane or Jean, ya goddam moron!"

             "Now, shut up, Holden, God damn it―I'm warning ya," he said. I really had him going. "If you don't shut up, I'm gonna slam ya one."

             "Get your dirty stinking moron knees off my chest."

             "If I letcha up, will you keep your mouth shut?"

             I didn't even answer him.

             He said it over again. "Holden, if I letcha up, willya keep your mouth shut?"

             "Yes."

[My translation]

「黙れ、ホールデン」奴は間抜け面を真っ赤にして言った。「いいから黙れ」

「どうせお前はあの子の名前がジェーンだかジーンだかもよくわかんねぇんだろ、このとんま！」

「黙れ、ホールデン、このクソ野郎。俺は言ったぞ」奴はそう言った。俺は本当に奴を怒らせた。「黙らなかったらもう一発お見舞いしてやるからな」

「その臭ぇ、とんまな膝を俺の胸から降ろせ」

「もし俺がそうしたらお前は黙るのか？」

俺は答えなかった。

奴はもう一度言った。「ホールデン。俺がここをどけばお前は黙るのか」

「ああ」

================================

Translation note:

• "I really had him going" means that "I" made "him" angry. Even a series of words like this that you are familiar with can have unexpected meanings.

================================

             He got off me, and I got up, too. My chest hurt like hell from his dirty knees. "You're a dirty stupid sonuvabitch of a moron," I told him;.

             That got him really mad. He shook his big stupid finger in my face. "Hoilden, God damn it, I'm warning you, now. For the last time. If you don't keep your yap shut, I'm gonna―"

             "Why should I?" I said―I was practically yelling. "That's just the trouble with all you morons. You never want to discuss anything. That's the way you can always tell a moron. They never want to discuss anything intelling―"

[My translation]

奴は膝をどけ、僕も立ち上がった。奴の汚い膝のせいで胸が地獄のように痛んだ。「お前は汚ねぇ薄らバカのとんま野郎さ」僕は言った。

これは本当に奴を怒らせた。奴は太い間抜けな指で俺の顔を指した。「ホールデン、この野郎、言ったからな。これが最後だ。お前が黙んねぇなら俺は―」

「黙るだと？」僕は言った。実を言うと叫んでいた。「どれもこれもお前のせいだろうが、このとんま。お前は何の議論もできやしねぇもんな。それがとんまを見分けるやり方さ。お前もちっとは学のある――」

================================

Translation note:

• The "he shook his big stupid finger in my face" part shows him pointing at his face and getting angry. The use of the word "shake" is very English.
• Maybe he was about to say "intelligent" and got hit.

================================

             Then he really let one go at me, and the next thing I knew I was on the goddam floor again. I don't remember if he knocked me out or not, but I don't think so. It's pretty hard to knock a guy out, except in the goddam movies. But my nose was bleeding all over the place. When I looked up, old Stradlater was standing practically right on top of me. He had his goddam toilet kit under his arm. "Why the hell don'tcha shut up when I tellya to?" he said. He sounded pretty nervous. He probably was scared he'd fractured my skull or something when I hit the floor. It's too bad I didn't. "You asked for it, God damn it," he said. Boy, did he look worried.

[My translation]

それから奴は俺を一発殴り、覚えている限り、僕はまたしても床に倒れてこんでいた。ノックアウトされたのかどうかは覚えていない。が、されてはいなかったんだろう。一人の男をノックアウトするのは、映画でもなきゃとても大変なのだ。ただ僕の鼻血がそこら中にまき散らされていた。見上げるとストラドレーターの野郎は俺の真上に立っていやがった。腕に洗面道具なんか抱えて。「なぜ言って黙らない？」奴は言った。奴は少々神経質になっているように見えた。おそらくは僕が床に叩きつけられた時、頭蓋骨を割ったとでも思ったんだろう。そうなってなかったことが残念だ。「お前の招いたことだぞ、くそったれ」奴は言った。マジでビビってやがった。

================================

Translation note:

• The exact meaning of "let one go at me" is not clear, as there are no other examples of its use, but I assume from the context that it means "to give a blow".

================================

             I didn't even bother to get up. I just lay there on the floor for a while, and kept calling him a moron sonuvabitch. I was so mad, I was practically bawling.

             "Listen. Go wash your face," Stradlater said. "Ya hear me?"

             I told him to go wash his own moron face―which was a pretty childish thing to say, but I was mad as hell. I told him to stop off on the way to the can and give Mrs. Schmidt the time. Mrs. Schmidt was the janitor's wife. She was around sixty-five.

[My translation]

僕は立ち上がろうともしなかった。しばらく床に寝ころんだまま、とんまだのクソ野郎だの言い続けていた。僕は本当に頭に来ていた。僕はただ泣き叫んでいた。

「聞け。顔を洗うんだ」ストラドレーターは言った。「聞こえるか？」

僕はお前こそそのとんま面を洗ってこいと言った――本当に子供じみていたけど、その暗い僕は頭に来ていた。僕は奴に、お前なんかトイレに行く途中でシュミット夫人んとこに立ち寄ってヤってればいいのさ、と言った。シュミット夫人は用務員の奥方だった。もう65になる。

================================

One of the peculiarities of the novel is that he sometimes explains situations in a joking way, but sometimes the content is so serious that the audience, including me, does not know whether to laugh or not. Either way, it is heartbreaking to translate this part of the story.

================================

             I kept sitting there on the floor till I heard old Stradler close the door and go down the corridor to that can. Then I got up. I couldn't find my goddam hunting hat anywhere. Finally I found it. It was under the bed. I put it on, and turned the old peak around to the back, the way I liked it, and then I went over and took a look at my stupid face in the mirror. You never saw such gore in your life. I had blood all over my mouth and chin and even on my pajamas and bathrobe. It partly scared me and it partly fascinated me. All that sort of made me look tough. I'd only been in about two fights in my life, and I lost both of them. I'm not too tough. I'm a pacifist, if you want to know the truth.

             I had a feeling old Ackley'd probably heard all the racket and was awake. So I went through the shower curtains into his room, just to see what the hell he was doing. I hardly ever went to his room. It awlays had a funny stink in it, because he was so crumby in his personal habits.

[My translation]

僕はストラドレーターの野郎がトイレに行こうと廊下に出て行ってドアを閉めるまでずっと床に座り込んでいた。それから僕は立ち上がった。僕は自分の忌々しいハンチング帽を見つけられないでいた。が、それは見つかった。ベッドの下だった。僕はそれをかぶり、古びたつばを後にやった。僕はそうするのが好きだった。それから鏡の方へと歩いて行き、そこで僕の間抜け面を眺めた。人生でこんなグロ画像を見た人間もいないだろう。口や顎が血まみれになっていて、パジャマやバスローブにも飛び散っていた。それはある意味で僕を怖がらせたが、ある意味で僕を喜ばせた。おかげさまで僕はすっかりタフに見えた。僕の人生で初めてと二回目の殴り合いをして、そしてそのどちらにも負けたんだ。僕はあまり強くない。ホントのところを言えば、僕は平和主義者なんだ。

僕はふと、この騒ぎを聞いてアクリーが目を覚ましたかもしれないと思った。それで僕はシャワーカーテンをくぐり抜けて奴の部屋に行き、今何やってんのか見に行ってみた。僕がヤツの部屋に行くことは滅多になかった。ヤツは私生活がルーズなヤツだから、部屋からはいつも変な匂いがしていた。

================================

This is the end of this article, or chapter 6 of this novel. At first I wanted to make it shorter, but the novel was so interesting that I couldn't stop writing the translation, so I ended up at the end of chapter 6. Thank you for reading this article to the end.

Finally, according to a review of the novel published in Japan, his hunting cap plays an important role in the novel.

(This is a Japanese article, please excuse me).

https://www2.dokkyo.ac.jp/esemi006/rpt01/komagata.htm

In a scene earlier in the story, he turned the old brim of his hunting cap forward because he did not want to see the world around him, but in this scene he turned it back and changed his appearance to that of a baseball catcher. To him, his purpose in life is to be "The Catcher in the Rye," which specifically means to protect "pure" children like Jane and Phoebe from adult "phonies. The review also argues that by following the fate of his hat, his change of heart becomes clear in the novel.

[for Japanese Learners]

There are many novels that describe the struggles of the people of that era. People, including me, feel that they are the protagonists of these novels. By the way, in Japan there is an Internet slang term "おま俺 (omaore; short for お前は俺か？ (omae wa ore ka?, lit. You're me?)," and I think it is the perfect word for these works. So please let me call this the "Omaore Phenomenon."

There are many works that triggered the Omaore phenomenon: "The Sorrows of Young Werther" by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, "The True Story of Ah Q" (Chinese: 阿Q正傳) by Lu Xun, and "No Longer Human" (Japanese: 人間失格) by Osamu Dasai. If there are other works from your country that I have forgotten to mention, please let me know!