I must say it’s a relief to hear from you, knowing that you are safe and sound. Hang in there, my friends! As Queen Elizabeth II said, “… better days will return”!
Before I start, I just want to mention why I think Anohito あの人（ひと） in CCFS, meaning that person, should be a character we readers are familiar with, as explained in my old post, Kono, Sono and Ano. Typically, “hito” is gender neutral and we don’t capitalize the first letters of prefixes like “ano” or “sono”, but in the case of Anohito, it’s different and you know why. 😉 In short, Candy was happily living with someone she loved, but it’s highly unlikely he was a random guy never mentioned in the story.
For example, in the manga, Susanna liked using anohito (please check Susanna and Candy) when she talked to Terry about Candy without mentioning her name. She was certain he understood whom she meant because they both knew Candy.
Another example is in Candy’s mental letter to Anthony. She brought up her past about a certain guy from London who had taught her a different kind of love. Since Anthony had never met him, Candy used sonohito to refer to him without mentioning his name at all.
Therefore, Anohito was more plausible to be either Albert or Terry. Albert had always been gentle throughout the story, and yet Terry was no longer the rebellious teenager, who had slapped Candy’s face after forcing a kiss on her. Near the end of CCFS we readers learned that Terry had been Susanna’s caregiver (possibly the only one) for years until she passed away. Can you imagine that!? How many men can exhibit such patience and care?
That’s why I always have doubts his ambiguous letter to Candy was written some time after Susanna’s death. 🤔 On the other hand, I figure more clues in CCFS are pointing to Albert, especially Candy’s letter to Vincent Brown. For your interest, please read my post Did Candy find her happiness? in which I compared the equivalent letter in the old novel to the one in CCFS. 🙂
Without further ado, here come the marvelous montages from my friend Antlay! I think it’s best to put two together because they are too beautiful to be separated. 💕💟 Since the French passage is already long, for those who want to read my translations to the equivalent passage in Candy Candy Final Story (CCFS, Japanese), please read Lost in translation (Part 4) and Lost in translation (Part 5). Merci beaucoup, Antlay! ❤️
“puis vous m’avez regardée droit dans les yeux, comme si vous aviez pris une grande résolution, et vous m’avez dit avec un sourire
emprunté :
– Candy…Le moment est peut-être venu que tu me rendes ma broche…
D’un seul coup, le temps s’est comme rembobiné.
Je me voyais, petite encore, au sommet de la colline…
J’ai éclaté en sanglots. Alors entre deux hoquets, j’ai dit :
-Je… Je sais… Je suis plus mignonne quand je souris, n’est-ce pas ?
Le prince de la colline aussi avait les yeux humides.
– Aujourd’hui, tu as le droit de pleurer, tu es mignonne aussi comme ça, petite fille…
Votre voix aussi avait comme un léger voile…
C’était bien celle du prince de la colline ! Oui, c’était bien son intonation !
Dire que je ne m’en étais pas aperçue ! Toujours à vos côtés, toujours vous écoutant, et je ne m’en suis pas rendu compte…
Maintenant, au moins, je sais pourquoi j’avais toujours aimé votre voix.
Et je comprends pourquoi grand-oncle William m’était apparu légèrement différent de d’habitude… Ce n’était pas grand-oncle William qui était apparu soudain à la Maison Pony, c’était le prince de la colline.
Mes larmes ont coulé longtemps, mais c’étaient des larmes de joie.
Tout de même… vous êtes méchant, mon prince !
Combien de fois avons-nous parlé du prince de la colline quand nous vivions à la résidence des Magnolias ! Combien de fois vous ai-je montré la broche ! Et M. Albert qui m’écoutait sans rien dire… Il n’avait toujours pas recouvré la mémoire, à ce moment-là ? Comptez sur moi pour le cuisiner à ce sujet, la prochaine fois !
Oui… le prince de la colline a gentiment daigné attendre que les larmes cessent de couler.
I’ll continue on Part 4 next week. Please stay tuned. Bye now, my friends. Take good care of yourself and stay home as much as possible! 🏠