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commenting on Hauptmann's Einsame Menschen by his use of the names of the characters and their relationships in the play. It is not known whether Katai read an English or German version of the drama. An examination of Katai's biography shows that he started to learn German in 1893;[1] however, in Tōson's biography we have no evidence that he could read German. On the other hand there is evidence that Tōson was well qualified to read English. It is known that Tōson taught English at Meiji Girls' School after graduating from Meiji Gakuin, a missionary school in Tokyo.[2] Judging from Tōson's language background, it can be surmised that if Katai knew Tōson could not read German, he would not have lent him a German version of Einsame Menschen. Therefore it is logical to assume that it must have been a copy of the English version of Einsame Menschen that Katai lent Tōson. Additional evidence which further strengthens this assumption is the fact that Johannes Vockerat's wife was referred to as "Kitty" in the above cited Tōson's letter to Katai. It can be further noted that the name "Kitty" was used extensively in Mary Morrison's English translation of Einsame Menschen, while in the German version her name appears as "Käthe."[3]
- ↑ This information was furnished by Senuma Shigeki in Katai's chronological personal history listed in Nihon Gendai Bungaku Zenshū (Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1962), XXI, 469.
- ↑ Shimazaki Tōson, Shimazaki Tōson Zenshū, op. cit., XIX, 6–7.
- ↑ Käthe is pronounced like /Keite/ in Japanese. As to the probability of Katai's reading a Japanese translation of Einsame Menschen, this is out of the question as the first Japanese translation by Mori Ōgai was published from February 16 to April 25, 1911, in the newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun and by this time Futon had been available for nearly four years.
