Looking back on the translation of “Jambes de Cheval", Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s collection of short stories

Much like planning for an extended trip, making plans to get your literature translations published can take up a lot of space in a translator’s life. I've chosen 17 works from the short stories of Ryunosuke Akutagawa to be translated into French, and published them as a collection titled “Jambes de Cheval". The longest story is just under 20 pages, while the shortest is less than 5. The stories have been divided into five of the writer's favored themes, the process of which was just another step in the planning stage. In the end, I worked on this collection for over 20 years. During that time, I would often be shut away at home, incessantly inputting and deleting data from the memory of the computer that had become my best work companion. My initial plan, all be it rather a long shot, was to put together a book of Ryunosuke Akutagawa's work for publication in the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade. However, before I knew it, I hit a major roadblock. I continued, with a heavy heart, occasionally opening the files of one or two short stories and making amendments to my translations. On multiple occasions, my peers and acquaintances would interrogate me, asking, "How's it coming along, your Akutagawa?" I was almost ready to give up the whole thing and send it to the trash with one bold click of the mouse. Time passed on and on, but still I could not find my motivation. The pressure began to build. Then, I was offered timely help for my translation (which didn't even have a set publication date) by emeritus professor at Geneva University, Masayuki Ninomiya, and joint head of Japan publication at Le Belles Lettres, Emmanuel Lozerand. Thanks to both of their help, the result of all my years of labor, “Jambes de Cheval", was published through Le Belles Lettres, with a beautiful cover to boot. Professor Ninomiya, a magician with words, has contributed a well worth-reading afterword discussing Akutagawa's work: strongly rooted in Japan's cultural traditions, and yet accessible to so many modern readers. Also, Professor Lozerand read over my translation thoroughly and offered comments. Then, unexpectedly, I received sudden news. I had been awarded the Konishi Foundation for International Exchange award for Japanese-French translation. As a translator, this was an unanticipated joy. I wish to express my deep gratitude to everyone who encouraged me while I was working on this translation. Finally, one word about the book. Indeed a great range of characters make their appearance in “Jambes de Cheval". Men and women of days gone by, Portugese Jesuits who inadvertently summon a demon to Japan, a black magic apprentice who tells stories of strange wonder in the first person, an abandoned child, and Akutagawa's alter-ego Yasukichi, who is utterly decimated by critics. You would think that maybe after spending such a long time with such characters, I might grow to dislike them, or exhaust my interest. But that hasn't happened at all. One doesn't tire of Anderson's "The Emperor's New Clothes" no matter how many times they read it, and as I'm sure all would agree, Gogol's "The Nose" hasn't gone stale with the times. In the same way, "Tobacco and Demons", "Black Magic", and "Jambes de Cheval" retain their appeal, indeed are still fresh, no matter how many tens of times I read them. It's hard to forget about the "time" in "once upon a time".