BOTCHAN (MASTER DARLING)

By The Late Mr. Kin-nosuke Natsume

TRANSLATED By Yasotaro Morri

Revised by J. R. KENNEDY

1919



A NOTE BY THE TRANSLATOR

No translation can expect to equal, much less to excel, the original.
The excellence of a translation can only be judged by noting how far it
has succeeded in reproducing the original tone, colors, style, the
delicacy of sentiment, the force of inert strength, the peculiar
expressions native to the language with which the original is written,
or whatever is its marked characteristic. The ablest can do no more, and
to want more than this will be demanding something impossible. Strictly
speaking, the only way one can derive full benefit or enjoyment from a
foreign work is to read the original, for any intelligence at
second-hand never gives the kind of satisfaction which is possible only
through the direct touch with the original. Even in the best translated
work is probably wanted the subtle vitality natural to the original
language, for it defies an attempt, however elaborate, to transmit all
there is in the original. Correctness of diction may be there, but
spontaneity is gone; it cannot be helped.