Evangelion Doujinshi help

Hello! I’m having trouble translating a couple lines from an Evangelion doujinshi. The ones I could translate are already shown, but there are some sentences that are too complicated for me and I can’t figure them out. Also, the online kanji dictionary I usually use didn’t have a number of these compounds (like for ‘hyperventilation,’ I had to guess on that one but I’m not sure). I think there are three lines I don’t have. If anyone is able or wants to offer some suggestions as to what these sentences mean, I would be really grateful!!

This scene is drawn as Kaworu meeting Shinji at the shore for the first time.

Kaworu to Shinji:
唄はいいね
Song is good
唄は心を潤てくれる
Song enriches the heart
歌は人が生きる悲しい旋律の道標
君もそう思わない？
Don’t you think so too?
それでも私は生きたい

I’ll put the words in context, since there is a scene change. Shinji and Kaworu are both asleep at Kaworu’s, and Shinji suddenly wakes up breathing hard.

Kaworu:
また過呼吸か…
He’s hyperventilating again…
最近多いな…
He’s been doing that a lot recently
早く袋持ってこなくちゃ

What dictionary are you using?? Have you tried ALC??

www.alc.co.jp

I was using tangorin.com. Thanks for posting another dictionary. But that's only half the problem! I can find out the words in a sentence but I don't know how to put them together...is there a certain way it's done? The harder sentences above I can't do.

歌は人が生きる悲しい旋律の道標
Songs are guideposts for the sad melody (called life) of people/that people live

それでも私は生きたい
Even so, I still want to live

早く袋持ってこなくちゃ
I have to bring a/the bag quickly.

I don't know what "bag" is referred to here... :)

Thank you so much!!! This is probably a dumb question, but how do you know how to put the words together??

Maybe a native speaker of the Japanese language? :)

There has to be a set way to think about a sentence, right?

Ro,

I don't understand your comment... there are grammar rules in Japanese as well, which happen to be completely different from those of English - you may be calling those "a set way" - which I happen to understand, I am Japanese...

For example, I can explain the last one:
早く 袋 持って こなくちゃ Hayaku fukuro motte konakucha
I can tell it's a colloquial expression, so put back into full textbook style proper Japanese, you get:
早く 袋を 持って こなくては いけない Hayaku fukuro wo motte konakutewa ikenai
You could probably look up from your dictionary:
hayaku = (adverb) soon, quickly
fukuro = bag
wo = (object marker)
motte = "te-form" of a verb "motsu/mochimasu," to hold
motte + kuru = a compound verb meaning to bring
motte konakute wa ikenai = "must do" form of the verb "motte kuru."
(motte konakucha is a colloquial form of motte konakute wa)
etc., etc..

AK,

What I meant was that when I change a sentence into English words I can never combine the words in the correct order to make a coherent sentence.
For example, I’m doing a sentence right now. It breaks down into English like this :

君は無意識に生を求める
You /unconsciousness/ (ni)/ life/ (wo)/to seek to want or to wish for

That’s my big problem. I don’t know how to put the words together because I can’t figure out sentence structure. I know that sentence structure would be a difficult and tedious thing to explain to someone, so I can’t find any info on it.

What I wonder about is if you read the online fan-translated version of a manga and compare it to the ‘official’ translation of that manga they are almost exactly the same. There’s some way of putting the words together in a sentence that I can’t figure out. Thanks for taking the time to help me out with all this. I’m trying not to drag it out so sorry if it seems like I am…

君は　無意識に　生を　求める
You /unconsciousness/ (ni)/ life/ (wo)/to seek to want or to wish for

You need to familiarize yourself with the Japanese grammar a bit; I suppose that's what others are doing.

For example, in the above sentence, I see two small words that are called "particles," small words that don't exist in English, but are essential in Japanese grammar.

君は: 　君 = you, は = topic marker (so you know "you" is the topic - in this case something like subject - of this sentence)
生を: 　生 = life, を = object marker (so you know "life" is the object of the verb in this sentence)

無意識に:　certainly 無意識 is a noun meaning unconsciousness, but 無意識に is an adverb meaning "unconsciously."

Another thing: word order. Japanese grammar goes:
[Subject] [Object], [Verb] 君は　生を　求める
while English goes:
[Subject], [Verb], [Object]. You seek/pursue life.

Okay, thanks for all the help! I'll work hard!!!

Ro,
While there is no way I can explain all essential grammar in one post (or a few posts for that matter), if you would want another sentence taken apart and explained like I did, I'd be glad to help :) At least this way you get a glimpse of the language, and if you are interested you could proceed to getting maybe a grammar book to study for yourself - I hope you enjoy learning a new language :)