Another good news is that Yue Chan my dear friend has started translating this series, and you can find it here “¿Candy encontró su felicidad? (Parte 1)”. As I mentioned in Did Candy find her happiness? (Part 1), according to the table of contents in the older edition of the Old CC novel, there wasn’t any letter to Anthony’s father, Captain Vincent Brown.
Yet, a friend of mine (who prefers to stay anonymous) kindly sent me a screenshot of the letter to Vincent Brown in the latest edition the Old CC novel, published in 2003 after the lawsuit with the illustrator Igarashi. Some of you might know that previously, the old novel contained Igarashi’s illustrations (most can be seen in the manga), but this edition does not.
Hence, this letter to Vincent Brown was a new addition to the latest edition. Do you know that the letter to Captain Brown is a significant clue to Candy’s happiness in Candy Candy Final Story (CCFS)?
If you’re in doubt or have no idea what I’m talking about 🤔, please read two of my earlier posts: Candy and Prince on the Hill and Granduncle William(!).
You can then compare this letter with the one in CCFS. 🙂😘 Again, below is my humble attempt to translate the short letter to English with some paraphrasing:
Mr Brown-Sama
I really thank you for the beautiful Christmas card. Mr Brown, we were last together at Stear’s funeral, right?
I met you for the first time when Anthony had passed away–
Before then, I had always been wondering, what kind of person is Anthony’s father?
I was happy it turned out my imagination had been on the right track…
However, you and I always meet during sad times only–
Next time, I definitely want to get together with you at a happy occasion.
Say, when you return, from a long voyage, please certainly come to Pony’s Home once to visit us. I’d like to inquire about Anthony’s stories in his childhood, etc.
In particular, I would want you to hear my adventures as a stowaway on my way back to America from England. (Also for the sake of preventing stowaways, you ought to listen to this!)
Please let me know when you find out where you’re going to stay in the port of call. I want to send you a long chattering letter.
Wishing you a Bon Voyage!
Candice White Ardlay
Those who are familiar with the manga version should know that Candy didn’t meet Captain Brown until Stear’s funeral. This is somewhat surprising when I first read this letter in the old novel (I’ll refer this as the old letter), but in CCFS Mizuki (Keiko Nagita) changed it back to match the manga timeline.
If you compare the two letters in Japanese, you can tell right at once that Candy was way more respectful to Captain Brown in the old novel. First, she addressed him as “Mister Brown-sama”. Here, this is a real example that “sama” is not always equivalent to “Mister”, or else Candy wouldn’t have used these two together. 🙂
Both “san” (as in Albert-san) and its more formal equivalent, “sama”, imply familiarity. Sama is frequently used in letters (as in this case), and it’s most often used in addressing persons higher in rank than oneself (such as people in the older generation). Sometimes it is used for people considered to have some high ability or be particularly attractive. That’s why Candy called her prince “Prince on the Hill-sama”. 💓 Of course this doesn’t mean Albert was Mr. Prince on the Hill. 😅
In addition, in the old letter, Candy continuously used formal or very polite terms or phrases to describe their first encounters, to invite him to visit, and to explain her intention to ask him about Anthony. In fact, she acted appropriately as someone equal to Anthony when writing this letter to his father (older generation) with high respect. If you have read Candy’s first letter to her Prince on the Hill, you will know she’s quite capable of writing very formal letters. Just imagine she has written something like this to Captain Brown in the old novel. 😉
Btw, this is yet another proof that Albert wasn’t a father figure to Candy because she resumed using casual words and phrases after being reminded by Albert to be her usual self. In short, she had always regarded him as her peer / friend. 👱
Back to the letter in CCFS, Candy addressed the captain simply as Vincent Brown-sama, so she dropped “Mister” and actually included his first name. Also, she sounded polite but not formal; she didn’t use any of those serious phrases as in the old letter, as though she was someone in the same rank. That’s one of the major differences that caught my attention.
Secondly, in the old letter she didn’t mention anything about putting the Christmas card on the mantelpiece as in CCFS. Think about it, if she lived in the orphanage, it’s much less likely she would put anything personal in an area shared by everyone. Unless, the fireplace belonged to her. 😛
Another difference that my friend pointed out is the stowaway experience. My friend laughingly joked that Mr. Brown was too old for Candy 😂. Her remark made me laugh too… 😁 Those who know CCFS might have read that Candy told her darling about this adventure, and he hugged her tight in his arms in response.
What a huge difference! Don’t you think? 🤔🤔🤔 What’s intrigued me most is why did Mizuki make such a significant change in CCFS? 🙂
I’ve already explained why inviting Vincent Brown to the Ardlays’ residences is such a big deal in my aforementioned posts. Not only that, this new discovery of the old letter actually supports my hypotheses. 😉😘
Candy’s obvious change of tone is one thing, and her mentioning of Albert (even as Granduncle William) is another. Come to think of it, if I was right, that Candy wrote the letter to Captain Brown when she was back to the orphanage; according to the manga timeline, Candy already knew Albert was Prince on the Hill. 💕 However, it was perhaps still a secret between them. She could write to Anthony about Albert mainly because Anthony knew about Prince on the Hill and there was no way Anthony would let slip the secret. After all, nobody else was aware of her peculiar relationship with WAA. She signed this letter as Candice White Ardlay merely due to the fact that it was her full name as the adopted daughter.
Therefore, it’s understandable why Candy chose to mention only Anthony in this old letter (not even Rosemary, possibly because Candy didn’t know about her much yet). However, in CCFS, since Candy could bring up Albert and openly relate to Mr. Brown about Granduncle reminiscing to her with nostalgia, it only makes sense Candy’s relationship with Albert was either publicly known or at least not a secret anymore.
You might argue that even as her adoptive father, he could tell her his stories. However, using this same argument, why didn’t Candy talk about WAA in the old letter, not even a single word? Perhaps she was afraid she might spill the truth? 😅 That she wanted to avoid rousing any curiosity? That’s my interpretation. How about you?
In addition, remember Candy’s letter to Anthony in Part 4 and Part 5? Candy said Albert could only visit her at Pony’s Home very occasionally. Yet in CCFS Candy wrote to Vincent Brown that Albert “always mentions Anthony’s father as big brother with high regard”. Since Candy used present tense, I believe this implies it happened often enough. ☺️ Not to mention that Candy spent her time talking to Rosemary’s portraits, not just once! Thus, Candy must have learned a lot about this beautiful lady from Albert such that she had endless topics, talking to some portraits again and again.
That’s likely why Candy also had lots to talk to Vincent Brown, even inviting him to “visit us in Chicago or Lakewood, anytime!” Think about it, how could she invite someone when she herself didn’t even live there? 😅 Especially Captain Brown was almost always overseas, and she had no idea when he would be able to drop by. More likely than not the Chicago mansion was officially her residence (she was no longer a guest), and when Mr. Brown happened to visit, they could go to Lakewood together.
Another difference in the old novel is that Candy said she wanted to send a long chattering letter to Captain Brown when he arrived at the port of call. In CCFS, Candy said when he did get to Lakewood she had lots to say to him. She used the same adjective, which means ‘chattering’, in both letters. I suppose in the old novel she didn’t really expect Captain Brown would visit her and the orphans at Pony’s Home? Whereas in CCFS things were different. Can’t you see Candy had spoken on Albert’s behalf? 😉 Not only Candy was in the mansion but Albert, Rosemary’s beloved little brother, also lived there as well. Not to mention that Anthony was his exact replica. Therefore, the chance that Mr. Brown would pay them both a visit was much higher, and in that case Candy could wait till he actually came. 😊
At any rate, since Candy mentioned Rosemary and Albert using familiar terms in her letter to Vincent Brown in CCFS, most probably, at this point in her life, she associated herself with her Prince on the Hill. As a result, Captain Brown was shifted from being Anthony’s father to Albert’s brother-in-law. Though Albert respected him, they were in the same generation. That explains why Candy could write without being overly formal, and the lady of the house signed her letter as Mrs. Ardlay. 💕🥀🌹 Please feel free to write to me. I’d like to hear from you too. Stay tuned for Part 8 please.
This is the Spanish translation by my friend, Yue Chan, ¿Candy encontró su felicidad? (Parte 7).
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After reading this post last night, my dear friend Yue Chan reacted with excitement. I was thrilled that she felt the same. The letter in CCFS speaks volumes when compared to the equivalent letter in the Old CC novel indeed. 💓 💓