Hello! Could anyone please translate the following text from English into Japanese, but using Roman characters (so I can read it): Patience, cephalopod! It is not time for you to go to bed! (or: have patience, cephalopod! It is not bedtime! or some variation) This is for a music piece that is constantly in the works. I'v posted this request to the forum for my music program thrice, and once to my Dog forum-- I thought I might try here. I'm at the end of my rope! You can also e-mail me at peaseblossom@strangeleyhall.org.uk Thanks! I hope to provide translator credit for the piece, so if you can include details of how you would like to be credited, that would be nice.

OK, this is probably off the mark but I'll try it since you haven't had any other takers. Gaman, sefulopodo. Anata no beddo e ikimasen. Literally: Patience, cephalopod. To your bed not going. Most of it works but I couldn't find a direct reference to 'cephalopod'. I tried to figure out how it might sound as a loan word, so there you go. =)

Aren't cephalopods octopi and such? A sushi menu might have the name for it as foodstuff (but then we might be seeing the same distinction as "beef" versus "cow").

If you simply want "Octopus", it's very simple - "Tako"

I would recommend to translate it like this: Gaman shite, cephalopod. Neru jikan janai. IMHO Japanese people would not say "beddo e iku" for "go to bed", although that would indeed be the word-by-word-translation. I presonally like the expressions of the verb "kureru", which literally means "give", but implies that someone is doing something for you. In this case the sentence would be: Gaman shite kure, cephalopod. Neru jikan janai. But this should only be said by a guy... most Japanese girls would probably not use this "kure"...

Yes, 'neru jikan janai' certainly is much closer translation 'it isn't bedtime'. Thanks! A little knowledge is a dangerous thing; it gets me in trouble all the time. =)

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I do prefer the 'Neru jikan jenai', as it is far more melodic. Totoro3d and Bushi, I may end up sending the completed piece to Myriad-Online.com, which developed my muic softwre program, and for which I served as a beta-tester until my Ph.D thesis got in the way. Don't worry, it;s completely uncommercial-- it's merely a piece to highlight their Virtual Singer software. I would like to credit all translators. Do you wish to be credited as Totoro3d and Bushi, or would you prefer some other nomenclature? You can post here or tell me at peaseblossom@strangeleyhall.org.uk. Thank you again!