「小説 名娼明月」を英訳してみようと思い立った。
　わたしごとき浅学が一人で取り組むには、誠に手に余る仕事なのだが、どうやら DeepLという翻訳サービスを活用することで、何やら、わたしでも出来そうな感触がある。
　DeepL、ようするに機械翻訳サービスなのだが、ここの翻訳精度は、使ってみると、むむっ！　これはあなどれない！
　もちろん、訳された文章を、さすがにそのまんまは使えない。やっぱり手直しを要する箇所はたくさん出てくる。ツールは使い方次第、さっそく、DeepLを使っての「小説 名娼明月」の英訳、やってみることにした！

　しかし、最初のタイトルのところで悩んだ。さて「名娼」をどう英語に訳すか？
　DeepLで機械的に訳すと、"prostitute（売春婦）"となる。しかし、明月は果たして「売春婦」だったのか？　
　お秋（明月）は三味線も歌もうまかった。博多・薩摩屋の主人夫婦には、自分の娘以上に大事にされていたと語られている。

　これらのことから、明月のことを prostitute と訳するのは、正しくないように感じる。
　ただ、それでも、"Geisha"と訳すのは、あまりにも安直なような感じではある。しかし、どうも、他にいい訳語を思いつかない。何か他にいい言葉が思いついたら、あとで置き換えればよかろう。

"Meigetsu The Geisha in Hakata"
Episode 2: The Victim of Love

　   More than three hundred and fifty years ago, the Shogun Ashikaga's power was declining and he had no power over the feudal lords of other countries.
     It was around the time of the Eiroku Tensho reign of Emperor Ogi-machi. Oda Nobunaga of Owari, Takeda Shingen of Kai, Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo, Mori Motonari of Chugoku, Chosokabe of Shikoku, Ryuzoji Takanobu of Hizen, Otomo Sorin of Bungo, and dozens of hundreds of other great warriors of all sizes rose up all over the country and fought each other for control of their territories. At that time, Japan was in an uproar like a boiling tripod, and the world was filled with the sound of shouting arrows.
　   At that time, on the coast of Nishikawachi, in the south of Kuboya County　in Bitchu Province (Okayama Prefecture nowadays), there was a well-known local warrior named Kuboya Yojiro Kazuaki.  Kazuaki, who was forty-one years old at the time, was a very talented warrior, but he had a private desire to stay out of the world.  He enjoyed poems and songs with flowers, birds, winds and the moon as his friends, and served the Buddha with modesty.
　  His wife was the thirty-six-year-old Azuma, a virtuous woman with a gentle heart.
　  In the family of these two, there was a sixteen-year-old girl named O-aki. Her jet-black hair, skin that deceives the snow, and eyes that captivate people have long been the subject of rumors among the villagers, and her reputation for beauty has never been hidden.
　  One of Kazuaki's closest friends was a man named Fuseoka Zaemon.
     The son of Zaemon was Kingo Fuseoka, a young man of twenty-one years, who was almost like a nephew to Kazuaki.
　　When Zaemon saw that Kingo was finally grown up, he decided to look for a bride for Kingo, and after much searching, he found out that he had known O-aki for a long time very well, and he knew that Kingo had a good heart, a noble spirit, and a beautiful nature. The Fuseoka family asked for her to be Kingo's bride. Kazuaki knew that Kingo was well-trained in martial arts and literature, and that he was a resolute and strong man who feared no less than ten million enemies.
　However, about two miles to the east of Nishikawachi, where Kazuaki lived, there was a warrior of about twenty-three and named Yagura Kenmotsu in a place called Obie in the Uzu district. He was originally a vassal of Imagawa Yoshimoto, but when Oda Nobunaga defeated him in the battle of Okehazama in the third year of Eiroku, he and his father fled and lived in hiding in the place where he now lives.Shortly thereafter, his father died, and now, with his retainer, Yanagishima Sainoshin, and two other servants, he passed his days in idleness, searching in vain for a lord whom he could serve.
　　One autumn, Kenmotsu went to Mt. Miwa in the upper reaches of the Kambegawa River to view the autumn leaves. At that time, O-aki was also visiting Mt. Miwa. Among the many beautiful women, it was no wonder that O-aki's beauty stood out from the rest. When Kenmotsu caught a glimpse of O-aki's charming figure, he was immediately taken by her beauty.
　  Now whenever he slept or woke up, his mind was filled with the beautiful figure of O-aki.   A man the size of a jailer was so caught up in love that his heart was about to burst. At last, he could not bear to keep this matter to himself and worry about it. He told his retainer, Sainoshin, and asked him to look for the girl's whereabouts. Sainoshin, not surprisingly, readily agreed and boldly set about searching for the girl, saying that this was the time to make his mark.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)