The man of her dreams
Many thanks to those of you for sending me positive feedback regarding my interpretation of Candy’s poem about Albert. In particular, Antlay pointed out that butterfly had many meanings to Japanese. Since then I have done some research myself, and I must say I was surprised. Initially, by simply reading the aforementioned poem, I just thought that Candy’s hair ribbons were often tied into a butterfly shape, so it sounded cute to me that when Candy tossed her trademark ribbon high into the sky from a garden, it transformed into a butterfly and flew to wherever Albert was.
However, more than one website mention that the Japanese believe butterflies carry peoples’ souls, both living and dead. One Japanese superstition says that if a butterfly enters your guestroom and perches behind a bamboo screen, the person whom you most love is on his/her way to see you. Besides, two beautiful Japanese mythologies, “Filial piety” and “The White Butterfly”, talked about butterflies carrying souls of the dead.
In addition, in Japan, a butterfly is a symbol of the blossoming of young womanhood, especially girls in love and girls transforming into graceful ladies. Butterflies are also symbols of springtime and happy marriages. That explains why butterflies are popular patterns in their kimono, but butterfly is not necessarily a feminine symbol. If you’re interested to read more, The Art of the Japanese Butterfly explains the significance of butterflies in the Japanese culture very well. Antlay also pointed out butterflies symbolizing transformation and rebirth, but I’ll discuss that in a different post. 🙂
Now I wonder if Mizuki meant in her poem that Candy’s soul went with her ribbon, or if Candy wanted Albert to know that she wished to visit him, no matter where he was? 😉 However, I think Candy was somewhat attracted to Albert not out of romance yet in the poem, unlike one of the songs in Candy Candy, “Akogare no Hito” (written by Toshio Oka), which is undeniably a love song. Thanks to Reeka for the link to a video of this song with lyrics in Japanese and translations of English and Spanish. Also, my gratitude to Agnès for the link to a website showing the details of Candy Candy’s songs in Japanese with translations, which is more than a treasure to me. Antlay, Reeka, and Agnès, I truly appreciate your inputs and suggestions ❤ ♡ ❤ ♡ ❤ ♡ , and here let me present my own interpretation of this love song of Candy to her Prince on the Hill.
As you can see, most people would translate the song title to “The one I adore”. It’s correct, but do you know that the word Akogare あこがれ(憧れ) also suggests admiration, your heart’s desire, longing/yearning, your dreams, etc.? So the song title, Akogare no Hito, can mean “the man of your dreams”, which fits the lyrics very well. 🙂 At the very least, I will interpret it as “the person I yearn for”, which suggests a feeling of intense longing for someone or something. ஐ ஐ ஐ
As usual, I’ll try to translate word for word by sticking to the original meanings as much as possible.
| あこがれのひと | The person I yearn for |
|
いつもゆめみるのわたし いつもゆめみるのわたし それはすてきなあのひとおかのうえ きんいろのかみをして バグパイプを ふいていた あこがれの おうじさま あなたは どこにいる いつも ゆめみるのよ わたし あなたのことを いつもあこがれているの いつもあこがれているの それは あかるいあのひと おかのうえ ※あのひから このわたし ひるもよるも むちゅうよ あこがれの おうじさま あなたは どこにいる いつも あこがれなの わたし あなたのことを※ |
Always I dream of Always I dream of That handsome person on the hill He has hair of golden color was playing a bagpipe The prince I yearn for Where are you? Always I dream of (things) about you Always I’m yearning for Always I’m yearning for That cheerful person on the hill ※Since that day, Day and night, my thoughts are fully occupied by The prince I yearn for Where are you? Always yearning for (Things) about you※ |
Yes, the word anohito (meaning “that person”) is used to refer to Prince on the Hill. 😛 But as Agnès mentioned, Mizuki wasn’t the one who wrote the lyrics. Anyway, the adjective suteki すてき has many, many meanings, but I picked “handsome”, which makes sense in this case. In the manga, Candy used the same adjective twice in a row when she inwardly admired Albert as the very young and handsome “Granduncle William”. Also, she remembered her prince having golden-colored hair as shown in the song lyrics, kin-iro no kami きんいろのかみ, and that was one of the traits she matched Albert back to her prince in her memory.
What I like the most is that Candy described herself using the word muchū むちゅう (夢中), which means that she was in a daze/trance, dreamlike, absorbed, preoccupied, etc. This had happened day and night since her encounter with the boy playing a bagpipe. Talking about a girl being head over heels in love! 😆 No wonder Candy fell for Anthony at first sight due to his shocking resemblance to the man in her dreams.
Here is a very nice video of this song with various scenes from the anime, which perfectly reflects Candy’s intense longing to see her prince. Please enjoy:
Finally! Here I am! lol…
It’s really interesting what you wrote about butterfflies. Also, here, we compare a gilr with a butterfly, when she become a woman.
I always have read those lyrics in english and they always made me dream but now, I like better your version, it’s more accurate. It is true that Candy had a crushed with POTH and that’s maybe why they use the word ADORE to translate the lyrics but I guess she yearned him more instead adore him, (even he was her first love)
Have you read their first meeting in CCFS? I see there yearning…
“Feeling how the hope was born inside her, Candy sensed like her heart was lit up by a bright ray of light and also was stroke by a light breeze. The Prince of the Hill really is a wonderful young man. If she meets him again next day, she will tell him a lot of things.
Candy, however, didn’t see the young man next day, nor the subsequent. She went every single day to the top of the hill, full of expectations, but she never was able to meet her mysterious Prince of the Hill.
The day Annie had left. The day she had met the Prince. All she has left was the silver brooch, like if it was a fragment of a (past) memory.”
So, again, I see there yearning… lol
Hola QuevivaCandy!! Nice to see you again! Thanks for dropping by! 😉
More than one culture compare girls to butterflies too as they grow into young ladies! So same as yours too?
That’s what I think too. Clearly Candy yearned for the young man to come back to Pony’s hill one day. In fact, Albert used the same word when he described he longed to go to Africa.
Thank you so much for the spoilers, dear QuevivaCandy!! It’s pretty much the same as written in Japanese. I didn’t compare word for word of course. May I share this, my friend? 🙂
Oh, yes, please, be my guest… 😀 The only thing is that you might need to ‘fix’ the text a little bit, lol… I’m not sure if it is quiet right translated to english. I know I have done a great job, hehehe… from italian to spanish (My friend checked it) but not quiet sure from spanish to english, hehehe, All the time I know I miss a word 😉
Don’t worry!! I believe you’re mostly right, from what I remember from reading it earlier last week. Thank you so much for your input, my dear friend!! 🙂
Sorry c’était pas le bon emoticône lol 🙁
Bonjour Ms Puddle et bonjour les filles.
Tout d’abord merci Ms Puddle d’avoir fait référence à mon analyse et merci à vous Agnès et Reeka pour vos aimables paroles. Mais ce n’était que mon interprétation, Ms Puddle a raison, qu’avait Miziki en tête en écrivant ceci ? Elle seule pourrait nous le dire…
Concernant la traduction de la chanson, comme Agnès, je préfère le mot “j’aspire, je me languis” car effectivement tout au long du manga ou du dessin animé elle n’a jamais cessé de penser à son prince et elle espérait tellement le rencontrer à nouveau un jour. Ces mots m’ont alors rappelés que la jonquille exprime une attente, la langeur d’amour et de désir et cette fleur symbolise aussi la renaissance. Dommage que Mizuki n’est pas écrit les paroles de la chanson, car dans CCFS, Candy parle des jonquilles qui fleurissent dans son jardin et beaucoup font référence à Terry à propos des jonquilles… 🙂
Bonjour chère Antlay! Thanks again for your ideas and inputs about butterflies. It’s a very interesting topic, and I believe Mizuki was aware of those myths when she wrote the poem, but did she imply anything, we don’t know. 😉
Glad you prefer my interpretation of the lyrics as well, and indeed Candy had never forgotten her prince though her passion for him had changed. I’ll talk more in a different post.
Thanks Antlay for your explanation of daffodils, so that’s what it was and why Terry fans claim that represent Terry!! It’s been a mystery to me. Since it’s about rebirth as well, I’ll include this in the post about transformation and rebirth!! Merci beaucoup, mon amie!! 😀
Oh my goodness, Ms Puddle, and you too Lovely Antlay, this is wonderful analysis. Now that you guys have mentioned those meanings, I admire Mizuki even more! Yeah, we’re not sure if she indeed intended that the butterfly on the poem had such deep meaning for Candy and Albert’s relationship. However, I choose to let my wild imagination take that chance 🙂
Ms Puddle, in my country, we also believe that if a butterfly come in to our house, we’ll have an unexpected guest in the near future ( usually it means good thing). And sometimes, like what you wrote, it could be soul of a dead person, usually someone we’re very close to, visiting us. And do you remember chinese legend about the butterfly lovers Sam Pek and Eng Tay? though it was a tragic love story like Romeo and Juliet, but their love was considered everlasting and not even death could separate them. Of course I’m not implying that Mizuki thinking about this story when writing the poem, I’m just saying that butterfly is believed by many cultures to be closely related to love/beautiful things.
I also agree with Antlay about butterfly is a symbol of rebirth and transformation. From a cocoon to a larvae, then to a butterfly. Mmmm the stages seems very familiar in the story 🙂
For the love of God, Mizuki! What were you trying to say?
It’s amazing, isn’t it Ms Puddle? It seems that you and us the readers, we always get something new and fascinating to talk about. Btw, … “a butterfly in someone’s stomach” is always referring to a state of falling in love. LOL
I wrote butterfly metamorphosis wrongly 🙂 . Larvae – cocoon – butterfly it is.
Hello there, Reeka! Like you, I’m not really sure what Mizuki had in mind when writing about Candy’s ribbon turning into a butterfly in this poem. Could be simply a butterfly just because her ribbon was tied in a butterfly shape, or it could mean something more. 😉 Who knows? Poets have great imagination in general. 🙂
I actually heard of a butterfly coming into your house means you will have a visitor soon. However, I didn’t remember it until after I began doing research of butterflies and their meanings in different cultures. Like you said, the Japanese believe butterflies carried the souls of their loved ones (but deceased). Of course I know that tragic Chinese folklore about the two lovers who were forbidden to be married due to wide social gap, and yet they died one after another, turning into a pair of beautiful butterflies.
About “butterflies in your stomach”, it generally means anxiety or nervousness, but like you said, when one is falling in love, this phrase is often used to describe one’s feelings!
In any case, there are a lot to talk about butterflies, and like you, I’m surprised there are a lot in CC to be discussed. Simply fascinating, isn’t it? 🙂
Chère Ms Puddle,
C’est toujours un honneur d’être citée dans vos articles ! Merci ! On apprend vraiment beaucoup des uns et des autres et c’est vraiment génial. 🙂
Le symbole du papillon qu’Antlay nous a révélé est vraiment superbe et donne un sens plus profond aux paroles du poème. Comme vous, j’ai toujours pensé que les rubans de Candy étaient noués en forme de papillon. Personnellement j’y vois plusieurs choses, la première, elle envoie ce papillon comme son esprit pour trouver et rejoindre Albert (elle dit « flying for me »).
La deuxième, le papillon représente une fille qui se transforme en femme or si ce poème a été écrit alors qu’Albert était en Afrique, Candy était une adolescente, c’est-à-dire dans un état intermédiaire entre la fille et la femme.
Et enfin parmi les liens que vous avez cités, Ms Puddle, j’ai trouvé ce passage intéressant “The butterfly can betoken the emergence of new parts of the personality especially feminine aspects, and it may signify the constellation of a deep, self-healing process.” Soit en français « Le papillon peut présager l’émergence de nouvelles parties de la personnalité, aspects particulièrement féminins et elle peut signifier la constellation d’un profond processus d’auto-guérison ». Or elle était en train de guérir de la perte d’Anthony et n’oublions pas que c’était justement le but d’Albert lorsqu’il l’a envoyée à Londres ! Une renaissance en quelque sorte, peut-être veut-elle lui envoyer un message comme quoi cela fonctionne ! Lol! 😉
Pour aller plus loin, Albert a toujours été là dans ses processus d’auto-guérison : à l’adoption d’Annie, il lui est apparu en tant que Prince de la colline et l’a fait sourire ; après la mort d’Anthony lorsqu’il la rencontre près de son arbre « père » il décide alors de l’envoyer à Londres. Enfin, c’est encore lui qui l’aide à se remettre après sa rupture avec Terry. A chacun des différents stages de la vie, depuis l’enfance jusqu’à l’âge adulte, il a toujours été là pour elle, il l’a aidée à grandir comme dans le cycle de l’insecte :
– lorsqu’elle était chenille, il était son Prince ;
– quand elle était chrysalide, il était Albert
– enfin elle devint papillon et il était William Albert Ardlay ! 😉
Quant à votre traduction je préfère largement votre interprétation du titre en utilisant l’expression «I yearn for» plutôt que « I adore » car ça me semble plus fidèle à ses sentiments.
Bon weekend! 🙂
Bonjour, chère Agnès! The honor is mine indeed that I constantly get wonderful ideas from you ladies! I have a few suggestions lined up for future posts already, and I wish I could update faster. Is it possible that we have more than 24 hours a day? 😛
Yeah, about Candy’s poem, it seems to me that she tossed her ribbon up to the sky to send a message for her. Perhaps you have read the articles that butterflies are seen as messengers? I didn’t know that before. Interesting, isn’t it?
However, back in London, Candy had no idea Albert was the one who had sent her to London to recover from the loss of her love. Yet, she was so happy to run into him again in London. Somewhere in CCFS, Candy thought she would never see Albert again once she had crossed the Atlantic. Who would have thought a penniless vagabond could travel this far? To her, he was always on the go, wasn’t he? 🙂
About self-healing, transformation and rebirth, great minds think alike!! I have similar thoughts but your ideas were well put together, and I appreciate that very much! As I said, I would discuss something along this line in a new post, and thanks again for giving me insights about the three stages. Please keep them coming, my friend! 😀
Regarding the translation, thank you for your encouraging words! Like you, I think “I adore” didn’t quite capture the essence of the lyrics. In fact, the word Akogare means different things in different contexts. People often use this word when they mean they “adore, admire, worship” movie stars or favorite singers, so somewhat detached. However, the same word can be used when they refer to someone they have crush on, so feelings are involved, and yearning/longing is more appropriate.
I read somewhere that Terry fans didn’t like this song very much, and one of their comments was something like “forget about the prince, Candy has moved on. Her love is Terry now…” I don’t remember the exact wording, but I almost wanted to say something similar “forget about Terry, Candy has moved on. She’s back to her first love now, her Prince on the Hill” 😀
Bon weekend to you too❣
Comme je vous comprends, my dear friend, moi aussi j’aimerais parfois avoir plus de 24h dans une journée et plus de sept jours par semaine ! Lol !
Au sujet de Candy envoyée à Londres par Albert, vous avez tout à fait raison, bien sûr qu’elle l’ignorait à l’époque, c’était juste un clin d’œil ! 😉
Pour la chanson, pas étonnant que les fans de Terry ne l’aiment pas ! 😉 Mais parfois j’avoue que cette guerre entre les deux clans « Albert VS Terry » m’exaspère un peu ! Après tout chacun a le droit d’avoir son intime conviction. Comme je l’ai déjà dit, j’ai un grand respect pour l’histoire qu’il y a eu entre Candy et Terry et j’ai été bouleversée (étant alors une adolescente) quand ils ont rompu mais c’est du passé. Il a fait partie de son chemin initiatique de l’amour, tout comme Anthony. Candy l’a bien écrit dans sa lettre non envoyée, adressée à Terry « I loved you » et mon intime conviction et que son avenir est avec Albert. Quand on prend du recul sur l’ensemble de son histoire son âme sœur c’est Albert ! Tout ce que je souhaite est que Terry trouve aussi l’amour, il le mérite aussi mais ça c’est une autre histoire ! 🙂 😀 D’ailleurs quand certains disent que si Suzanna est décédée dans CCFS c’est pour permettre à Terry de retrouver Candy et bien moi je pense que le but était probablement d’apaiser les fans de Terry. Lol ! Pauvre Suzanna ! Mais j’aime à penser que c’est pour qu’il puisse aimer à nouveau, c’est une nouvelle porte qui s’ouvre devant lui, il est ainsi libéré car ce n’était pas juste de le laisser emprisonné dans cette relation contrainte. Bon je m’arrête là car je m’égare dans du hors-sujet ! Ah ! Ah ! Ah !
Very well said, Agnès! I can’t agree with you more that sometimes I wish Terry fans would open their eyes and accept the truth. Or at least leave us alone to express our opinions. Like you, I also think Mizuki killed poor Susanna in CCFS not because Terry would reunite with Candy, but because he would find true love again. However, I think Terry had indeed kept his promise to stay with Susanna till the end (her death), and neither of them had expected that she would die young. I still don’t know for sure why they didn’t marry, but I’m inclined to believe that it wasn’t because of Candy. Like Candy, I have a strong feeling that Terry had also moved on. I’ll actually talk about that in a post why I think so. 😀