Perhaps Ugetsu Monogatari can be translated to
Tales (told) under the hazy moon after the rain.
The preface of the original book says:
"I edited this by the window of my study at night with a hazy moon after the rain, and handed it to a publisher.
Thus it's titled Ugetsu Monogatari."
This may seem to contradict with kerpan's comment:
Ugetsu refers to the moon being obscured by rain clouds
kerpan is quite right about the meaning of
ugetsu itself.
However in the preface, the writer first used
u-sei-getsu (
u: rain;
sei: clear up;
getsu: moon)
to describe the night, then gave the title
u-getsu.
It sounds like an abbreviation - but this is MY interpretation. Others may prefer
kerpan's.
BTW, we shouldn't get this origin story of the title at face value.
Because the preface is part of the fiction
Akinari created.
The preface is signed by
Senshi Kijin.
Today we know
Ugetsu Monogatari was written by
Ueda Akinari,
but when it's originally published, it was under the pseudonym
Senshi Kijin.
Some scholars argue
Senshi Kijin is not merely a pseudonym, rather a fictional author,
because
Akinari gave him different characteristics and writing style.
(Somewhat like Barnaby Ross created by Ellery Queen.)
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kerpan
13 years ago
Very interesting comments. Thank you!
MEK
Analyze only when necessary.
fortune cookie, 4-24-2010
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