Dragon Quest, otherwise known as Dragon Warrior in North America in earlier incarnations, is a popular Japanese RPG series. In fact, in Japan, as I understand it, Dragon Quest is more popular and overshadows Final Fantasy as the premier RPG series. You can learn more about Dragon Quest and its creator in Dragon Quest Part 1.

Let’s Play!

In the last post, we had entered my Japanized name (made up by me) あしゃ (for Asher). I would normally use katakana and a small E with an R like so: アシェル but this game doesn’t allow katakana input (nor a small E). I selected おわり（終《お》わり）and the screen went black. In this post, we finally begin our adventure （ぼうけん、冒険《ぼうけん》）!

The Dragon Quest Throne Room

We’re immediately dropped into the Dragon Quest Throne Room, technically the throne room of Ladatorm Castle (castle of the neighboring town Ladatorm). Here the King （おう、王《おう》） immediately tells us (as soon as we push a button):

Our First Dialogue

This marks Kougeki’s first dialogue translation. In the caption of the image above, I have reproduced the kana in text form from the pixel font in the game. Then, below that, I have placed kanji that could have been used in the text had the game allowed it with furigana above.

Directly translated it reads, “Oh Asha! (You) of brave (warrior) Loto’s blood. I have been waiting for you to come.”

Let’s break this down.

「おお　あしゃ　！

The first two kana in the dialogue are おお, which easily translates to the sound, “Oh.” The following kana are the name I entered into the name selection screen to represent me: あしゃ.

ゆうしゃロトの　ちをひくものよ！

勇者《ゆうしゃ》ロトの　血《ち》を引《ひ》く物《もの》よ！

On the second line we encounter our first grammar particle: の. This grammar particle “no” (の) can be used in a number of ways, but it’s most often used to indicate a sense of ownership. I personally read it as “of,” in English, as that word seems to convey the same type of meaning. Instead of “my bowl” then, it would be “bowl of me,” however, in Japanese the ownership is often reversed in comparison. Thus, it would read more like “me of bowl” to indicate that it is my bowl: 私の器.

The first part of this sentence is yuusharoto （ゆうしゃロト、勇者《ゆうしゃ》ロト）, followed by the の particle. Yuusha (ゆうしゃ) here is a jukugo (熟語) word combining two onyomi (音読み) readings. It combines the kanji 勇 for brave, with 者 for person. In essence, it means brave person or just brave.

The following two kana are katakana and are pronounced “roto.” For more information about katakana, and kana in general, refer to Everything About Kana. Roto here many read as Loto, and is referring to a brave person (above) named Loto. The following の particle indicates that something is “of” brave Loto, but what is it?

The next kana is ち which here I read as the kanji 血《ち》 meaning blood. After that we have the を particle, pronounced “o” or “wo”, which is used to indicate the object of the sentence or verb. Here blood is the object of the verb ひく which I read using the kanji 引《ひ》く (引 – pull, refer to) meaning to pull. We’ll return to that in a moment, but for now, we take in the next to kana もの which I read as the kanji 物《もの》 meaning thing.

Now, what could that mean, < blood object pull thing >? I’m reading it as “(You) pull from Loto’s blood” or “(You) are of the blood of Loto.” In the North American version it reads (paraphrased) “You are a descendent of (Erdrick),” so I think I’m on the right track here.

Turns out, one of the definitions of this Godan (五段, short for 五段活用) Verb (With Ku Ending) is “to be descended from, or to inherit.” This verb has up to nineteen (19) different definitions, and the this definition was after about a dozen of them (see all definitions).

The もの at first seems out of place. However, if you look at one of the definitions of もの we find “Used to emphasize emotion, judgment, etc.” and that’s what I believe is being done here. The King is certain you are a descendent and emphasizing it.

The final kana we encounter is よ! The Japanese language has several different sentence-ender particles, as I call them, which round out or give a certain feel to the sentence. ね is one example of these, and reads sort of like how in English we might end a sentence with “Right?” or “You know?” よ here is a particle indicating certainty and emphasis, and also can mean “You.”

そなたのくるのをまっておったぞ。

そなたの来《く》るのを待《ま》っておったぞ。

This part of the dialogue can be directly translated as “I have been waiting for you to come.”

The first kana we encounter is そなた, which I could’ve changed to the kanji 其方《そなた》. (其《そ》 – that and 方《なた》 – person) Literally translated, it would mean “that person.” This is an old-fashioned way of saying “you” (あなた) in Japanese. In English (and in the North American version) this could be considered like the word, “Thou.”

The next part is the の particle, here it reads like “of” (see above). The next two (2) kana are くる which I read using the kanji 来る《くる》 meaning to come. In the next two (2) kana, のを, we see a different usage of の, and that is of the nominalizer. A nominalizer is a part of speech that turns another part of speech into a noun. So far we have < you of come >, but with a nominalizer, we can turn it into a noun < your coming >. The を particle here means we are using this noun-phrase as the object of the sentence (verb).

So now we get to the verb: まって which I read using the kanji 待って meaning to wait. After that, we have the verb おる in past tense おった. This is a two verb ending (literally) but the second verb acts to specify the first. You’ll notice the first verb is in て conjunctive form. When おる follows a verb in the て form it indicates a progressive or continuous action. Here it is in the past tense, so it indicates that the speaker has been waiting (待って) continuously in the past (おった). In English, we would say, “have been waiting,” though that’s not always a direct translation.

So far we have, < your coming object waiting continuous-past-tense > which we can read as, < your coming object have been waiting > and eventually, “I have been waiting for your arrival.”

The final kana we see is ぞ, which is another sentence-ender particle that adds force or emphasis to the sentence (or indicates a command). This is often used by males and is considered a male term.

I have reproduced the kana in text form from the pixel font in the game. Then, below that, I have placed kanji that could have been used in the text had the game allowed it with furigana above.

Directly translated it reads, “That long ago (once upon a time), (the) brave (warrior) Loto received a ball(s) of light from (a) god (and) confined the monsters, it is said,” or “It is said that long ago the brave warrior Loto was bestowed a ball of light from god and confined the monsters.”

Let’s break this down.

「その　むかし　ゆうしゃロトが

「その　昔《むかし》　勇者《ゆうしゃ》ロトが

The first two kana are その which simply means “that.” I could’ve used the kanji 其の but this part of speech is usually written in kana alone. This “that” can be linked to the last verb いう（言《い》う） (言 – to say/declare) which is “say/tell,” meaning that “it is said that.” I’ve also seen it more often combined with the next kana むかし（昔） to mean “once upon a time,” “a long time ago,” and “in those days.”

The next part is the reference to Loto we’ve seen before, ゆうしゃロト（勇者ロト）, which is brave warrior Loto. However, the next kana is a particle and the first mention of it in this blog. This is the が particle and serves many purposes. For this sentence, it is indicating the topic of the sentence, which is Loto.

カミから　ひかりのたまをさずかり

カミから　光《ひかり》の玉《たま》を授《さず》かり

The next to kana are actually katakana! These are rare and few in this game (as far as I can see so far). They are the characters カミ. In Japanese, kami （カミ、神《かみ》） can be translated to mean “god.” In Japanese culture, as opposed to the West, the concept of (a) god is more polytheistic you could say, and doesn’t directly line up with what we (in North America) might consider thee God. The Japanese religion Shintō しんとう（神道《しんとう》） can be translated as “way of the gods” or “way of the kami” and is meant in a plural sense.

After that are the kana から, which is another particle. Not all particles are single syllable/kana! This particle is used to indicate an origination (from, by), a cause (because, since), a participle (through), a time (after/since), and at the end of a sentence can express sympathy or warning. So which is it today?

Here it seems that the から is saying that the ball of light (see below) is bestowed by/from god. I’m going to read it as from kami here, or from god.

Next we have ひかり（光《ひかり》） which is the kunyomi (訓読み) reading and means light. Then the particle の (of), and then たま（玉《たま》） which is the kunyomi reading and means ball. Thus, we have < light of ball >, or in English, “ball of light.”

The next kana is を indicating the object, and now the verb of this phrase さずかる（授《さず》かる） of which we use its stem さずかり. This verb means to be given a treasure, or something of great value, by either deities or someone of a higher social class. In this case, we know the balls of light are coming from a god. As I’ve written, my Japanese skills are intermediate, and I’m not entirely sure why we are using the stem here, other than it’s not the main verb. If anybody can help me understand, please comment below!

So now we have, <that long-ago brave-warrior-loto god from light of ball object bestowed > which we can translate into, “Long ago, a god bestowed upon brave warrior Loto balls of light.” But, we’re not quite done yet…

まものたちをふうじこめたという。

魔物達《まものたち》を封《ふう》じ込《こ》めたと言《い》う。

Now we get to our largest jukugo (熟語) yet, consisting of three kanji: まものたち（魔物達《まものたち》） (魔《ま》 – demon, 物《もの》 – thing, 達《たち》 – pluralizing suffix) which simply means… monsters! The first two kanji (まもの) together mean devil, monster, goblin (魔物《まもの》). It’s the last kanji (たち) that makes it explicitly plural. たち here is usually written using kana alone out in the wild. In Japanese, there isn’t really a method for pluralizing like we have in English (end words in -s or -z). However, when talking about people or animals (or pronouns) it can be useful to indicate you mean more than one, so たち comes to the rescue. It works with pronouns too, like わたしたち（私達《わたしたち》）to mean “we/us” (me-plural).

And finally, we’re at the final verb of the phrase (but not sentence) with the kana を. Our verb is two smaller verbs put together: ふうじる（封《ふう》じる） (封 – seal, closing) and こめる（込《こ》める） (込 – included) meaning “to seal/to prevent” and “to hang over/to envelop” respectively. Together they form a verb, ふうじこめる（封じ込める） meaning “to contain/to confine.” Here it is conjugated to the past tense using た. So < monster plural object confine past-tense > turns into “confined the monsters.”

Now we arrive at the final verb of the sentence. Here we use the particle と and then the verb いう（言《い》う） (言《い》 – say, word) which means “to say/tell.” This particle paired with this verb in this context means “they say.” と in a phrase like this indicates that the speaker is quoting someone else. This ties us back into the “long ago” that we started with.

In all < that long-ago brave-warrior-loto topic god from light of ball object bestow monster plural object confine past-tense quote said > is translated into English: “It is said that long ago, the brave warrior Loto was bestowed a ball of light from god and confined all the monsters.”

I have reproduced the kana in text form from the pixel font in the game. Then, below that, I have placed kanji that could have been used in the text had the game allowed it with furigana above.

Let’s break it down!

「しかし　いずこともなくあらわれた

「然《しか》し　何処《いずこ》とも無《な》く現《あらわ》れた

First vocab right off the bat is しかし（然《しか》し） (然《しか》 – so, if so, in that case) which means “However…” or “But…” here at the beginning of the sentence. It is usually written as kana, but I have included the kanji here as well.

The next kana caused me a bit of a mystery. Looking at just the kana, I have to piece together their potential kanji in order to get an idea of what is being said. At first, being somewhat novice, it seemed like it was saying “izu koto mo naku” in that こと (that dreaded beast to all beginners) was being used with いず（出ず） but ultimately that wouldn’t make sense because あらわれ（現れ） would end up meaning the same thing: appear. The sentence would then read, with a weird middle we’re skipping, “appears to appear,” so I’m thinking that isn’t it.

So perhaps it’s “izuko tomo naku…” However, when I type in いずこ into my IME, it suggests the kanji 何処, yet, it seems together those are irregularly pronounced どこ. Finally, I had to pull out my Japanese-English Dictionary (so big it comes with a sleeve). I love it because it arranges the Japanese lexicon in terms of sound by Western alphabetization, which makes it super nice to look up things. It was a delightful inexpensive find from a local used book store called, “The Eclectic Reader.” My husband and I have become friends with the shop owner.

Here’s what I’ve determined. いずこ（何処《いずこ》） (何 – what, 処 – place) means “where”. The phrase いずこともなく（いずことも無く） technically means “aimlessly” and “somehow” as an adverb according to jisho.org and is usually written in kana alone. I ran across another work that translated much of Dragon Quest into English, as I am doing, and the translation listed there has the Dragon King (coming soon) “appearing from nowhere.” In my research, I also found this exact adverb-verb pair (いずこともなくあらわれ) in connection with Zelda: Wind Waker where it was translated as “coming from an unknown place.” I might read it this way too, because the 無く part indicates a negation, like “nowhere.”

However, if I read this with the 2nd Jisho definition, I presume it to mean “somehow appeared” (the “appeared” is the あらわれた（現《あらわ》れた） (現《あらわ》 – existing) verb, “to appear” here in past tense). This makes sense if you consider in the previous page the King (王) just mentioned that brave Loto (勇者ロト) had confined the monsters. But, despite this, the Dragon King somehow appeared.

I can see how “somehow appearing” could be phrasally translated into English like “out of nowhere” or “suddenly,” but here I think I will stress the somehow because it’s in spite of the previous paragraph. I might be wrong! If I am, please say so in the comments below!

So we end up with < however nowhere-somehow appeared past-tense > which we can turn to, “But, (something) somehow appeared).

あくまのけしん　りゅうおうが

悪魔《あくま》の化身《けしん》　龍《りゅう》王《おう》が

The first vocab that comes up is the noun あくま（悪魔《あくま》） (悪《あく》 – bad, 魔《ま》 – demon, as above) which, as many an anime fan knows, can be translated as fiend, demon, the Devil, Māra (Buddhism). You’ll notice the second kanji here is the same one in (魔物《まもの》) for monsters and uses the same onyomi (音読み) pronunciation.

We link to the next noun with a の particle, which you’ll remember is a type of ownership, generally read by me as “of”. And then we have けしん（化身《けしん》） (化《け》 – take the form of, 身《しん》 – person). When we combine this noun with the genitive case particle (の) it can be defined as “personification,” or (in Buddhism) “incarnation/avatar.” That’s what it means here: < the-devil of incarnate > or, when we smooth it out into English, “Evil incarnate.” Wow!

For this line, we have りゅうおう（龍王《りゅうおう》》） (龍《りゅう》 – dragon, 王《おう》 – king). I could have also used the kanji 竜 for dragon here as well. The line ends with が which as you read earlier, is a topic particle. We’re talking about the Dragon King who, somehow appeared and is evil incarnate!

そのたまを　やみにとずしたのじゃ

その玉《たま》を闇《やみ》に閉《と》ざしたのじゃ

The last line’s gonna wrap up this page. So far we have < but somehow-appear past-tense evil of incarnate dragon-king topic >. We start with その（其の） (其《そ》 – that) which is part of the この, その, あの, family. その is usually written out in kana alone, so that’s why I haven’t substituted a kanji for it.

Next is たま（玉）, meaning ball (see above). Following that is the を particle, so < that ball > (presumably the ball of light) is going to be the object of the following verb.

But before we get to the verb, we have a new particle に. Like many particles, it can have many different meanings. The vocab before the particle is やみ（闇《やみ》） (闇《やみ》 – get dark), so in this context に means in (it is often used to denote location) so we have “in darkness.”

And finally the verb とざした（閉《と》ざした） (閉《と》 – closed) which is the past tense form of 閉《と》ざす meaning “to shut” or “to cover.” So far in this line we have < that ball (of light) object darkness in shut-cover past tense >, which, knowing that the evil incarnate Dragon King is the subject of our sentence we can fully translate < but somehow-appearing evil-incarnate dragon-king that ball (of light) object darkness in shut-cover > to “But, somehow the evil Dragon King appeared and shrouded the ball of light in darkness.”

So what is this の and じゃ at the end? These are more particles acting in their sentence-ending roles. As I was able to interpret, the の here is stressing that this is a sort of explanation, or providing more detail. The じゃ is a bit more complicated. I’m taking it here to part of やくわりご（役割語《やくわりご》） (役《やく》 – role, 割《わり》 – separate, 語《ご》 – language), or “role language.” This type of language is mostly used in fiction to evoke certain roles. This particular 役割語 is part of ろうじんご（老人語《ろうじんご》）(老《ろう》 – old, 人《じん》 – person, 語《ご》 – language) which many people posit originated in the Kyoto/Osaka dialect かみがたご（上方語《かみがたご》）(上《かみ》 – above, 方《がた》 – direction, 語《ご》 – language) during the Edo period (1603-1868). From here, in media such as in かぶき（歌舞伎《かぶき》）(歌《か》 – song, 舞《ぶ》 – dance, 伎《き》 – skill) [a form of theatre] it is/was used to portray old or wise characters.

But what does it mean? In this context, it’s sort of like saying, “so they say,” as if passing on some wisdom, or you can opt for, “I tell you.”

I have reproduced the kana in text form from the pixel font in the game. Then, below that, I have placed kanji that could have been used in the text had the game allowed it with furigana above.

「このちに　ふたたびへいわをっ！

「この地に　再び平和をっ！

We have a single earnest line on this page. It starts with その which we read, as before, like “that” and then ち（地《ち》）(地《ち》 – ) which is a noun meaning land or territory. You’ll see here an instance of a common phenomenon in Japanese: the homophone. It’s partially (not the only) why the Japanese use kanji in a practical sense. Before ち was blood (血) but here it is land (地). Next, the particle に (here I read it as “in”) indicating here a location: this land.

Then we have a phrase ending in をっ, which means it’s an object of…? Ending the phrase with a sokuon (促音《そくおん》) indicates a glottal stop and could mean surprised or angry speech, but we also already have an exclamation point. We also end with を as if the sentence is cut off, letting us fill in the blank. This can also be used somewhat like an incentivizer, asking for us to be involved. Involved in what? Let’s go back to the front of this segment.

ふたたび（再《ふたた》び）(再 – 《ふたた》 – again) here is an adverb, and means “again”, or “a second time”. You might also see it as the kanji 二度《にど》 (二《に》 – two, 度《ど》 – occurrence) but there, the pronunciation isn’t as clear. This adverb would be modifying something, but the sentence cuts off with us filling it in as “help us.”　The next vocab is へいわ（平和《へいわ》）(平《へい》 – peace/even, 和《わ》 – peace) which you can probably guess means peace.

I read the last two particles as the King not being able to finish his sentence because he’s so emotional and that it’s obviously a plead for us to help him. Do what? So far we have < that land in once-again peace object … > so I’m confident that the King is asking us, emphatically, to help restore peace to the land once more. I mean, we ARE the hero!

However, because it’s an incomplete sentence, it could mean something else. It’s also possible that the King is saying that once again, peace in the land… is no longer. He could be saying that the peace is once again gone. It’s hard to know exactly what he means without the verb, as just the を is too ambiguous for me. If you know of a reason that it’s definitely one or the other, please let me know in the comments!

I have reproduced the kana in text form from the pixel font in the game. Then, below that, I have placed kanji that could have been used in the text had the game allowed it with furigana above.

「ゆうしゃ　あしゃ　よ！

「勇者《ゆうしゃ》　あしゃ　よ！

We have a simple appeal here. We already know ゆうしゃ（勇者《ゆうしゃ》）, being brave (warrior). Don’t get mixed up, that’s the name I entered next, あしゃ. The kind ends the sentence with よ, another sentence-ending particle. What does it mean?

The particle よ is often used at the end of sentences and can be thought of as an exclamation point. It causes the sentence to be more emphatic. Here, the King (王) is appealing to us, “(Oh) Asha.” By adding よ it becomes, “(Oh) Asha!”

りゅうおうをおし　そのてから

龍王《りゅうおう》を倒《たお》し　その手《て》から

This new sentence starts out with the Dragon King, as above りゅうおう（龍王《りゅうおう》）and is followed by a を particle, marking it as an object of the following verb. The following verb is a new one and is a conjugation of たおす（倒《たお》す）（倒《たお》 – ) which here means, “to kill or defeat.” So now we have < dragon-king object defeat > I take that as him imploring us to defeat the Dragon King. This verb ends in し and seems to be part of a larger sentence. As I’ve written, I’m only at an intermediate level of Japanese. I’m unfamiliar with this conjugation, or how this is working exactly, so if you care to inform me please comment below!

The next section extends the sentence with その, which we’ve covered as “that,” and uses から which is the particle for “from.” But what is 手? It’s the kanji for “hand” て（手《て》） (手《て》 – hand). So < that hand from>. I think this will make more sense if we continue with the rest of the sentence.

ひかりのたまをとりもどしてくれ！

光《ひかり》の玉《たま》を取《と》り戻《もど》して呉《く》れ！

At the beginning of this part, the King references the important ball of light ひかりのたま（光《ひかり》の玉《たま》）, and makes it the object of a verb. This verb is a compound of two verbs, to take とる（取《と》る） and to return もどす（戻《もど》す）. Together, they form “to take back” とりもどす（取《と》り戻《もど》す）(取《と》 – take, 戻《もど》 – return). I’ve had a little difficulty understanding the very end of this sentence. At first, I thought that it might be くる（来《く》る）(来《く》 – come) as in “to come.” But this didn’t seem to fit. I did find another verb くれる（呉《く》れる）(呉《く》 – do something for) that is related in a way to ください（下《くだ》さい） by virtue of meaning “to do for one.” In this sentence then, 取《と》り戻《もど》す is conjugated into the て form, and attached to くれる（呉《く》れる）(this is often written in kana alone) showing the King imploring us. Imploring us to do what? We have < light of ball object take-back please >, and if we add in the previous sentence fragment(s) <dragon-king object defeat that hand from light of ball object take-back please >. I believe the King is asking us, “Defeat the Dragon King and take back from (his) hand the Ball Of Light!”

I have reproduced the kana in text form from the pixel font in the game. Then, below that, I have placed kanji that could have been used in the text had the game allowed it with furigana above.

「わしからの　おくりものじゃ！

「儂《わし》からの　贈《おく》《おく》り物《もの》じゃ！

We start out this sentence with an odd term/kanji. It is わし. If you think it might have something to do with わたし（私《わたし》） (私 – myself) you’d be right! This, わし（儂《わし》）(儂 – myself) is a term used by elderly males that means “me.” Next is から, “from,” and then the particle の. When these two particles are combined, the meaning is generally a combination of the two. In this context, からの is about a possession that is coming from someone. In this case, it is coming from the King (referring to himself using 儂).

The next kana are おくりもの（贈《おく》り物《もの》） (贈《おく》 – Give to, 物《もの》 – Thing) which is a noun in itself that means “gifts.” You could read the first part as a noun form of “to give” おくる（贈《おく》る） coupled with “thing.” The last part of the sentence is じゃ which I took to be part of the 老人語 we talked about earlier. So, we have < me from-of gifts >, which, with some inference, we can translate as the declaration, “These are gifts from me!”

そなたのよこにある

そなたの横《よこ》に有《あ》る

Here we start out with そなた（其方《そなた》） meaning “you” (see above). Then the の particle, followed by the よこ（横《よこ》） (横 – side) which, particularly when coupled with the に particle here (here denoting location), means “to the side” or “beside.” We can also deduce that this is about location because in Japanese you often denote a preposition or location by using the genitive particle の as if the preposition is a part of the object. The final part is the very common verb ある（有《あ》る） (有 – exist). This verb is used for inanimate objects and can be read as “there is” most of the time. So here we have < you of beside at exists >.

たからのはこを　とるがよい！

宝《たから》の箱《はこ》を　取《と》るが良《よ》い！

We get two new vocab right off in this line, first being たから（宝《たから》） (宝《たから》 – treasure), and はこ（箱《はこ》） (箱《はこ》 – box). They are put together with the の particle. This is another function of the の particle, to apply adjectives and nouns-acting-as-adjectives to other nouns. Here “treasure” applied to “box” can be translated as the ultimate gamer reward, “treasure chest.” You could also read this as “treasure of box” or in English order “box of treasure.”

The next part is the verb “to take” which we covered above as part of 取《と》り戻《もど》す. Here it is written とる（取《と》る） (取《と》 – take). However, here you’ll notice a topic particle が right after it, and another word よい（良《よ》い） (良《よ》 – no problem) after that. When が is used like this, as I understand it we are taking the phrase 宝《たから》の箱《はこ》を取《と》る as the subject, so “taking treasure chests.” 良《よ》い here indicates good, as in “it’s good,” or really for this phrase, “no problem.” I take that from the context of the rest of the sentence, which in total is < you of next in exist treasure of chest object take subject good/no problem >. The King (王) is graciously telling us that it’s perfectly great if we pillage his throne room and take all the treasure chests. I mean, they are gifts (贈《おく》り物《もの》) from him (儂《わし》からの)!

I have reproduced the kana in text form from the pixel font in the game. Then, below that, I have placed kanji that could have been used in the text had the game allowed it with furigana above.

「そして　このへやにいる

「然《そ》して　この部屋《へや》に居《い》る

Here そして（然《そ》して）(然《そ》 – in that case) (this is usually written in kana alone) means, “and finally,” or “and now…” After that is この (which, as a side note, can be written 此の but is generally written with kana alone, so much so I didn’t put it into kanji) which means “this.” The next vocab is へや（部屋《へや》） (部《へ》 – section, 屋《や》 – house) which means, “room.” Then the に particle indicates place. The last verb in this phrase is いる（居《い》る） (居《い》 – to exist) and is used with animate things (like people). So far we have < finally this room at exists >.

へいしにきけば　たびのちしきを

兵士《へいし》に聞《き》けば　旅《たび》の知識《ちしき》を

Our next vocab is へいし（兵士《へいし》）(兵《へい》 – soldier, 士《し》 – gentleman) which, straightforward enough, means “soldier.” Then we have the に particle, here used in a slightly different capacity than necessarily location. It has to do with the next word, which is きけば（聞《き》けば） (聞《き》 – ask). This is the verb 聞《き》く in what is known as provisional conditional eba form, or hypothetical form. I call it conditional form. Conditional means something that may or may not happen. In Japanese, this form is used to describe hypothetical situations or to express general truths. So we can interpret this form to mean “if you ask.”

The に particle here could be interpreted as “per” or “toward.” What it’s expressing in this sentence is that the verb “if you ask” is in regards to “soldiers.” So, “if you ask the soldiers.”

The next section after the space has a few new vocabs. The first is たび（旅《たび》） (旅《たび》 – journey) which is simply enough “journey,” and ちしき（知識《ちしき》） (知《ち》 – know, 識《しき》 – know) which is the noun jukugo (熟語) for “knowledge.” Here the genitive particle の indicates that this knowledge is of your journey. Japanese has a way of attributing qualities to nouns, and in this way, you could read this as, “journey-knowledge” or “knowledge-for-your-journey”. At the end of it is the object particle を so we’re about to see the verb.

おしえてくれよう

教《おし》えて呉《く》れよう

Finally, (or そして), the verb! Here we have the verb おしえる（教《おし》える） (教《おし》 – inform) in て form: 教《おし》えて. It is followed up with, as I understand it, the verb 呉《く》れる (see above) in the -よう form, what I call the propositional form. It’s a suffix you can attach to a verb to indicate a sort of, “let us,” or “shall we.”

I feel with this translation I’m missing something, perhaps I have the wrong verb, or I’m interpreting the くれよう incorrectly. As I’ve written, my Japanese is intermediate and I’m still learning. If anyone can help me understand the end of this sentence please comment below!

Once we’ve put all the pieces together we have < finally this room in exists soldiers if-ask journey-knowledge object tell go-to-the-trouble-they-shall >, which I translate as the following: “Finally, the soldiers in this room will impart knowledge for your journey if you (go to the trouble of?) asking them.”

I have reproduced the kana in text form from the pixel font in the game. Then, below that, I have placed kanji that could have been used in the text had the game allowed it with furigana above.

「では　また　あおう！

「では　又《また》　会《あ》おう

We’re now on our last page for the King’s welcoming speech. Here, the King is simply saying “Until we meet again.” I’ll break it down:

では is read as “dewa” (でわ) here, because the は is acting more like a particle (the subject particle は). This can be translated, “Well…”

The next part is usually written in kana, but I’ve included the kanji また（又《また》） (又《また》 – again) which is an easy translation, “again.”

And finally, we have あう（会《あ》う）(会《あ》 – meet) which is in what I call the propositional form (see above for another example). In this way, the King is inviting, and is saying, “Let us meet.”

We have < well again let-us-meet > which I can safely say is, “Let us meet again.”

ゆうしゃ　あしゃ　よ！

勇者《ゆうしゃ》　あしゃ　よ！

This is actually a duplicate of the sentence we say in dialogue box 5.

Closing

And there you have it, the King’s welcoming speech for the original Japanese Dragon Quest. Here is the full dialogue, with kana, kanji, and translations side by side:

「おお　あしゃ　！ ゆうしゃロトの　ちをひくものよ！ そなたのくるのをまっておったぞ。	「おお　あしゃ　！ 勇者《ゆうしゃ》ロトの　血《ち》を引《ひ》く物《もの》よ！ そなたの来《く》るのを待《ま》っておったぞ。	Oh, Asha! You are a descendent of brave Loto! I have been waiting for your arrival.
「その　むかし　ゆうしゃロトが カミから　ひかりのたまをさずかり まものたちをふうじこめたという。	「その　昔《むかし》　勇者《ゆうしゃ》ロトが カミから　光《ひかり》の玉《たま》を授《さず》かり 魔物達《まものたち》を封《ふう》じ込《こ》めたと言《い》う。	It is said that long ago, brave Loto received a Ball Of Light from God, and confined all the monsters.
「しかし　いずこともなくあらわれた あくまのけしん　りゅうおうが そのたまを　やみにとずしたのじゃ	「然《しか》し　何処《いずこ》とも無《な》く現《あらわ》れた 悪魔《あくま》の化身《けしん》　龍《りゅう》王《おう》が その玉《たま》を闇《やみ》に閉《と》ざしたのじゃ	But, the Dragon King, evil incarnate, somehow appeared (appeared out of nowhere) and shrouded that ball in darkness.
「このちに　ふたたびへいわをっ！	「この地《ち》に　再《ふたた》び平和《へいわ》をっ！	Once again, the land’s peace has.. (been shattered?) (or please help restore peace to the land again?)
「ゆうしゃ　あしゃ　よ！ りゅうおうをおし　そのてから ひかりのたまをとりもどしてくれ！	「勇者《ゆうしゃ》　あしゃ　よ！ 龍王《りゅうおう》を倒《たお》し　その手《て》から 光《ひかり》の玉《たま》を取《と》り戻《もど》して呉《く》れ！	Brave Asha! Please defeat the Dragon King, and from his hand take back the Ball Of Light!
「わしからの　おくりものじゃ！ そなたのよこにある たからのはこを　とるがよい！	「儂《わし》からの　贈《おく》《おく》り物《もの》じゃ！ そなたの横《よこ》に有《あ》る 宝《たから》の箱《はこ》を　取《と》るが良《よ》い！	These are gifts from me! It is alright to take these treasure chests beside you.
「そして　このへやにいる へいしにきけば　たびのちしきを おしえてくれよう	「然《そ》して　この部屋《へや》に居《い》る 兵士《へいし》に聞《き》けば　旅《たび》の知識《ちしき》を 教《おし》えて呉《く》れよう	Finally, the soldiers in this room, if asked, can impart knowledge for your journey.
「では　また　あおう！ ゆうしゃ　あしゃ　よ！	「では　又《また》　会《あ》おう！ 勇者《ゆうしゃ》　あしゃ　よ！	Let us meet again! Brave Asha!

A list of kanji used in this post:

• 終 – End
• 冒 – Dare
• 険 – Precipitous
• 王 – King
• 私 – Myself
• 器 – Receptacle
• 熟 – Mature
• 語 – Language, word
• 音 – Sound
• 読 – Read
• 勇 – Courage
• 者 – Person
• 血 – Blood
• 引 – Pull
• 物 – Thing
• 五 – Five
• 段 – Grade
• 活 – Lively
• 用 – Employ
• 其 – That
• 方 – Person, direction
• 来 – Come
• 待 – Wait
• 言 – Say
• 昔 – Old Times
• 神 – God
• 道 – Way
• 光 – Light
• 訓 – Japanese character reading
• 玉 – Ball
• 授 – Impart
• 魔 – Evil Spirit
• 達 – Attain
• 封 – Seal
• 込 – Included
• 出 – Exit
• 現 – Existing
• 何 – What
• 処 – Place
• 無 – Nothing
• 化 – Take the form of
• 身 – Person
• 龍 – Dragon
• 竜 – Dragon
• 闇 – Get Dark
• 閉 – Closed
• 役 – Role
• 割 – Divide
• 老 – Old Age
• 人 – Person
• 上 – Above
• 歌 – Song
• 舞 – Dance
• 伎 – Skill
• 地 – Land
• 促 – Press
• 再 – Again, second time
• 二 – Two
• 度 – Times
• 平 – Peace
• 和 – Peace
• 倒 – Overthrow
• 手 – Hand
• 取 – Take
• 戻 – Return
• 呉 – Do something for
• 儂 – Myself
• 贈 – Award to
• 横 – Side
• 有 – Exist
• 宝 – Treasure
• 箱 – Box
• 良 – Good
• 部 – Section
• 屋 – House
• 居 – To be
• 兵 – Soldier
• 士 – Gentlemen, samurai
• 聞 – Ask
• 旅 – Trip
• 知 – Know
• 識 – Know
• 教 – Teach
• 又 – Again
• 会 – Meet

And a list of vocab featured in this post:

• 終《お》わり – (The) End
• 冒険《ぼうけん》 – Adventure
• 王《おう》 – King
• 勇者《ゆうしゃ》 – Brave (Person)
• 私《わたし》 – Myself
• 熟語《じゅくご》 – Jukugo
• 音読《おんよ》み – Onyomi
• 血《ち》 – Blood
• 引《ひ》く – To pull
• 物《もの》 – Thing
• 五段活用《ごだんかつよう》 – Godan verb conjugation
• 其方《そなた》 – You (That Person)
• 来《く》る – To come
• 待《ま》つ – To wait
• 有《あ》る – To exist
• 言《い》う – To say
• 昔《むかし》 – Long ago
• 神《かみ》、カミ – God
• 神道《しんとう》 – Shintō
• から – From (Particle)
• 光《ひかり》 – Light
• 玉《たま》 – Ball
• 授《さず》かる – To Be Bestowed
• 魔物《まもの》 – Monster
• 達《たち》 – Pluralizer
• 封《ふう》じる – To seal
• 込《こ》める – To put in
• 封《ふう》じ込《こ》める – To confine
• 然《しか》し – However, but
• 出《い》ず – To leave
• 現《あらわ》れる – To appear
• 何処《いずこ》 – Where
• 何処《いずこ》とも無《な》く – Nowhere (?), Somewhat
• 悪魔《あくま》 – Demon
• 化身《けしん》 – Incarnate
• 龍王《りゅうおう》 – Dragon King
• 其《そ》の – That
• に – In (Particle)
• 闇《やみ》 – Darkness
• 閉《と》ざす – To close
• 役割語《やくわりご》 – Role language
• 老人語《ろうじんご》 – Old person language
• 上方語《かみがたご》 – Edo-period Kansai dialect
• 歌舞伎《かぶき》 – Kabuki
• 地《ち》 – Territory
• 促音《そくおん》 – Sokuon
• 再《ふたた》び – Once more
• 二度《にど》 – Two times
• 平和《へいわ》 – Peace
• 倒《たお》す – To defeat
• 手《て》 – Hand
• 取《と》る – To Take
• 戻《もど》す – To Return
• 取《と》り戻《もど》す – To recover, take back
• 呉《く》れる – To do for one
• 儂《わし》 – Myself (usually by elderly male)
• 贈《おく》り物《もの》 – Presents
• 横《よこ》 – Side
• 宝《たから》の箱《はこ》 – Treasure chest
• 良《よ》い – No problem
• そして – Thus, and now, finally
• 部屋《へや》 – Room
• 居《い》る – To be
• 兵士《へいし》 – Soldier
• 聞《き》く – To listen, ask
• 旅《たび》 – Journey (trip)
• 知識《ちしき》 – Knowledge
• 教《おし》える – To teach, tell
• 又《また》 – Again
• 会《あ》う – To meet