My original plan was to continue to discuss the rest of Albert’s letter to Candy in the epilogue of Candy Candy Final Story (CCFS), but Avon’s recent comments to my previous post, Last Episode of the manga, inspired me to jump ahead and write a post about Candy’s words near the end of her letter to Little Bert (aka her last letter to Albert in the epilogue). If you’re interested, you might want to read Avon’s brilliant questions / comments about the translation of these two sentences, starting with her analysis.
そう、アルバートさん、
今が、わたしの幸せです。
It so happened that a while ago someone else wrote to me in private and asked about the translation of the same sentences too. 🙂 She told me that some fans had translated the sentences to “Yes, Albert, now I am happy”, and some others had suggested, “Yes, Albert, my happiness is now, I am happy.”
Her question to me was, “Which one is the correct translation?”
Guess what I told her back then? I wanted to tell her neither one was entirely correct, 😛 but I wrote back, “Both were slightly off from the original meaning.”
The point is, I can hardly explain why in a few words. First, there’s no equivalent word for 幸せ in English (those readers who can read Chinese would know the Chinese equivalent is 幸福). The word 幸せ may be a noun or an adjective (thus translated to different English words), and “happiness” is only one of its meanings. In some cases, indeed 幸せ can simply mean “being happy” or “happiness”. However, sometimes the word can be translated to “joy, satisfied, contentment, good fortune, fortunate, or lucky”. You might want to click the above link for some possible meanings in English. 🙂
Yet, often times the word 幸せ refers to the long-term state of being happy (the happiness not due to a stimulus) — a feeling that lasts and makes one feel whole and content because of what’s happening in life. For example, one can be both happy and satisfied because of a fulfilling career or a stable, loving relationship, etc.
If the happiness is somewhat spontaneous or not expected to last, one would use the other words like 喜ぶ, 楽しい or 嬉しい. FYI, this link explains their differences. Examples in CCFS when these terms are used include: Candy expressed how happy she was to see Stewart and Mary in Miami after the war, Candy ended her letter to Dr. Martin with high spirits (flying high), Candy gladly accepted Albert’s invitation to go to Chicago on her birthday, Candy was overjoyed in her letter to Albert after her birthday party that she kept calling his name again and again, Candy was exhilarated because Albert had told her about his nickname Little Bert, and so on.
I think you get the idea. 🙂 You might want to read my old post Her Happiness too. However, that’s not it. If Candy wants to tell Albert “I’m happy now” using 幸せ , the more usual way is (as discussed in More than words (Part 2))
今、わたしは幸せです。
Here 幸せ is used as an adjective, describing the first person. The topic is about “me” being happy and content now.
Yet, Candy used 幸せ as a noun in her letter to Albert, but then she could have written like this:
今は、わたしの幸せです。
Note that the English translation is also “I am happy now.” or “Now, I am happy.” However, unlike the example above, the topic is about “now”, not “me”. In other words, one may interpret that the person who said this might not be happy the day before or the day after, but right now, the person expressed s/he was in a state of being happy.
Those who don’t understand Japanese might not even spot any difference between this and the original one, but let me put them together:
今が、わたしの幸せです。(original)
今は、わたしの幸せです。
Yes, the only difference is the particle used right after the word now (今). Candy used が in her letter, and if I change the particle to は, the nuance has changed. FYI, this page provides some common examples of how these two particles could alter the meanings completely.
So let’s go back to the original passage. Since Candy used 今が, she essentially put the emphasis on “now”. Let me give you a couple of examples to help you understand.
今がいちごは出盛りです。(Strawberries are now in season.)
今が彼に近づくよいチャンスだ。(Now is good chance to contact him.)
This blog post is one of the best I’ve read so far that clearly explains why these two particles are used in different situations. The blogger named「が」 the identifier particle, which identifies the unknown. Using the examples above, they were like answering the unspoken questions, “When is the best season for strawberries?” or “When is a good time to contact him?”
One popular example of using 「が」 the identifier particle is saying “I love somebody/something” using すき(好き) in Japanese. Here, in Candy’s mind she said (twice): “I love Anthony…”
アンソニーがすき…
The name “Anthony” is underlined, and you can find the Japanese words on the left hand side of the manga picture. Grammatically, Candy identified Anthony as her love interest (like answering the question ‘Whom do you love?’). It does not make any sense if you use the other particle は.
Back to CCFS, in Albert’s last letter to Candy, he stated he was serious about finding where her happiness was. Perhaps she loved being a nurse at Happy Martin Clinic? Or she wanted to continue to reside at Pony’s Home to help her old foster mothers? Maybe deep down she still missed Terry terribly, secretly hoping that he would come back to her one day?
When they went to Lakewood together, he might have probably asked her, or the return of the diary was his first step. Nonetheless, what Candy wrote to Albert near the end of her letter was her answer to his question about happiness. (At least this is how I interpret her words.) Not “the past” (her days at St. Paul), but “now” (her current relationship with Little Bert) was the time when she experienced the long-lasting happiness.
At any rate, apart from grammar, we should not interpret anything without keeping the context in mind. Those have read CCFS should know what came before these two lines below.
そう、アルバートさん、
今が、わたしの幸せです。
You’re right, Candy was being grateful to her parents for abandoning her at Pony’s Home. Why? Because that was where she had first met young Albert (who had run away from home that day). Then, in response to his deep gratitude to her (that he could not thank her enough), she wrote the same thing back to him, saying she was the one who could never thank him enough.
Then she wrote そう、アルバートさん、(yes, Albert-san,)
そう is a conjunction that can be translated to yes, so, like that, etc. Apparently, Candy’s whole train of thoughts was imbued with her strong feelings for none other than Albert, and as though Nagita was afraid her readers would miss this point, she added his name, just in case. Unfortunately, some people out there still didn’t get it… (sigh 😛 ) because they read with the mindset that Candy and Terry would one day reunite. But really, would they? FYI, read this insightful comment from Interstellar.
Thanks for reading this long (possibly boring) post. I don’t expect many will find this amusing, but I have tried my best. 😍