《龙猫》常见问题及解答(FAQ)

yielimi

《龙猫》常见问题及解答FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

翻译：icytear

所有翻译均为动画爱好者交流所用，版权归原作者及所属媒体所有

翻译部分未经允许，请勿转载.

转自宫崎骏映画馆

问：龙猫究竟是什么？

答：它的名称很多，有人叫它“巨茸兽”，也有人叫它“兔精灵”。基本上，它就是森林中的精灵。龙猫不是日本的传统形象，主要是出于宫崎骏的想象。然而，它很明显是多种动物的混合：浣熊啦，猫啦（尖尖的耳朵和面部表情），还有猫头鹰（胸口的“V”形标志和夜晚“咕咕”的叫声）。
“TOTORO”这个名字其实是小梅把“TORORU”发错了音（她总是如此，只是在配音中不太明显）——在日语中“TORORU”就是“TROLL”。当小月问“TOTORO？你是说我们故事书里的‘TROLL’”，她说的故事书就是"三只野山羊（三只暴躁的山羊）。在片尾部分你可以看到她们的妈妈给她们读故事书。在影片里可能很难察觉，但在影片的连环画封面就可以看到一只山羊爬过桥，一只很像龙猫的TROLL从桥下望上去。

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问：那些小的也是龙猫吗？

答：是啊。龙猫一家有：  大龙猫（灰色的）——Oh-Totoro

                        中龙猫（蓝色的）——Chuu-Totoro

                        小龙猫（白色的）——Chibi-Totoro

“Oh”在日语中是大的意思，但“Oh-Totoro”在美国被翻译成“King-Totoro”(龙猫王)。“Chuu”和“Chibi”分别是“中”“小”的敬称。但人们说起龙猫的时候，通常指的是大龙猫。

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问：还有其他的龙猫吗？

答：宫崎骏的一些水彩画中有画，在小梅和小月等爸爸的车站出现了一辆猫巴士，上面乘坐了满满一车的龙猫！

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问：猫巴士是什么呢？

答：是长的像猫的巴士（或者象巴士的猫吧）。在日本，人们都相信猫只要长到一定年龄就拥有变形的神奇力量。它们被叫做“Bake Neko”猫巴士本来就是一个“Bake Neko”，后来他被一辆巴士深深的“迷住”，于是把自己也变成了巴士的样子。猫巴士是宫崎骏的原创，但有人觉得他是从《爱丽丝漫游奇境记》中的整天咧嘴傻笑的切舍猫那得到灵感。连小梅跟踪中龙猫掉进大树洞洞里那段情节也和爱丽丝的经历很相似。

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问：猫巴士的站牌上写的什么？

答：小梅和小月在汽车站第一次看到猫巴士那一幕，牌子上写的是“Tsukamori”——就是龙猫生活的大森林。而在小月寻找小梅的那幕，猫巴士来到她身边时牌子上写的是“Tsukamori”，之后闪过“Nagasawa”，“Ushinuma”等多个地名，最后换成了“小梅”。当她们找到小梅，牌子上的字又换成“七国山 Byouin”（七国山医院）。有趣的是，“in”的日本汉字写的上下颠倒了，好象猫巴士对写日本汉字不太在行啊。

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问：灰尘精灵是什么啊？

答：灰尘精灵是些毛茸茸的小黑球，大概和乒乓球那么大小。在日语中它们被叫做"Makkuro Kurosuke"（字面翻译就是“黑漆漆的黑人”）。在初稿中，小月和小梅为了吓跑它们大声喊“Makkuro Kurosuke，快出来！不然我们弄出你的小眼球！”时下听起来在政治方面存在一些问题，所以在英文配音中改成了“快出来啊快出来……”
之后爸爸告诉孩子们，那些是“Susuwatari”（移动的煤灰），它们一点害处也没有，很快就会走了。（“Susuwatari”这个名称听起来更专业一些。）事实上，当天晚上，它们就搬出来到龙猫住的大树里去了。

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问：孩子们的妈妈生的是什么病啊？

答：片中暗示她得的是肺结核。在小说版的《龙猫》（由宫崎骏插画）中，故事的开头就是妈妈患肺结核进了七国山医院——这家医院在肺结核治疗方面特别有名，所以小梅全家才搬到那一带。他们住的那栋房子是很久以前一个有钱人盖的，那个有钱人的妻子也得了肺结核。任凭丈夫百般温柔体贴的照顾，妻子最终还是去世了。所以那栋房子看起来和其他村屋有些不同，尖顶的，带山墙，更有欧式风格。
这一部分带有一点自传性质。宫崎骏的母亲就长期受神经性肺结核的折磨，很长一段时间都不在家中。

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问：孩子们的爸爸靠什么谋生？

答：他是大学的考古学教授。他还要乘车去位于东京的大学工作。

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问：龙猫树上的绳子是什么啊？

答：那个叫“注连绳”，是用麦杆和纸带做成的。它显示着这棵树是神圣的，是神道教自然崇拜和日本传统文化信仰的一部分。（神道教，日本一种本土宗教，崇拜自然和祖先。）当父亲和孩子们向大树鞠躬时，他正是在感谢树中的神灵，感谢森林对小梅的庇佑。
在某种意义上，龙猫是森林中神灵的化身。你还能看在樟脑树下有一个神道教废弃了的神龛，森林入口处有一个牌坊。

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问：小月和小梅避雨的路边神龛是做什用的？

答：日本佛教有在路边建造小神龛的传统。这种神龛通常是用来纪念死去的小孩子，这些孩子在地藏菩萨（即佛教中孩子的保护伸）的庇护之下。所以小月和小梅把手拢在一起鞠躬，请求地藏菩萨让她们在这里避雨。
同样的，小梅失踪时曾躺在一排Ojizou-sama塑像旁——宫崎骏用这种方法告诉观众们小梅很安全，因为神灵在守护着她。

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问：这个故事发生在什么地方？

答：在崎玉県所沢市。宫崎骏就生活在所沢市。那里现在已经是东京的卫星城市，而过去则是狭山环绕的农业区。那里仍存留着部分自然景观，一部分人仍通过赎买努力维护着这仅存之地。这项活动被称为“龙猫之家国民托管运动”，以龙猫作为运动的标志。
宫崎骏贡献了一批龙猫彩画，用在该组织的宣传册、会员卡以及T恤上。他还向所沢市捐献了300万美圆，帮助他们赎买那些即将被开发的土地。

[ Last edited by yielimi on 2005-11-22 at 18:28 ]

yielimi

问：故事发生在什么时候？

答：宽泛的说是19世纪50年代后期。宫崎骏把时间设定为“电视机即将进入百姓家”的时候。

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问：我看到有一幅图是龙猫和一个女孩站在车站旁。那个女孩是谁？

答：既不是小梅也不是小月，而是两人的混合。宫崎骏一开始构思龙猫时，故事中只有一个6岁的女孩。《龙猫的艺术》里许多早期水彩画上都只有这个女孩。然而真正着手创作影片时，宫崎骏决定把这个女孩分裂为姐妹俩，一个比原型大一点，另一个小一点。这点从姐妹俩的名字中也可以看出。“Mei”（小梅）是“MAY”的日语版，而“Satsuki”（小月）是日文中五月的老式说法。
这张画虽然只是最初设想，但经常会被吉卜力使用。它甚至在《龙猫》的宣传海报中也有出现，这一定让看过片子的观众很纳闷。

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问：小月给妈妈的信上画的螃蟹是什么？

答：这取材于日本的民间故事"Saru Kani Gassen (《猴蟹之战》)"。在故事中，小螃蟹种下一颗柿子种，天天在花园里爬来爬去盼着种子发芽。小月说小梅（等待种子发芽的样子）真的很像那个小螃蟹，于是在信中画了一只像小梅的螃蟹，取名为“小梅蟹”。由于这对美国孩子没有任何意义，于是配音时换成了“这是小梅给您画的”。

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问：《龙猫》在美国获准发行了吗？

答：是的。这部影片由流线动画公司卡尔·梅塞克配音。1993年Troma 公司戏剧性的获得了《龙猫》的美国发行权。录象、影碟、DVD则交由福克斯动画发行，应该很容易找到（查找FAMILY部分，还有Anime部分）。那个版的配音非常棒，连梅塞克一贯的反对者都不得不承认他们对此很喜欢。这个版本被收录在Ghibli LD Box Set中，英语配音在右声道。迪斯尼获得了吉卜力影片的全球发行权，包括《龙猫》，但吉卜力与福克斯动画的合约到2004年才期满。

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问：听说在配音的版本中，有一些镜头，比如洗澡的那一幕被删掉了，是真的吗？

答：没有，一点也没删节。

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问：配音版的图象质量没有日本版影碟的图象质量好，是这样的吗？

答：可以说是，也可以说不是。日本版影碟采用了etterbox模式，而美国版影碟和录象则没有。但日本版的画面有一点昏暗，所以如果你买的是美国版，色彩会明亮一些。经过重新灌录，在the Ghibli LD box set中这个问题已经解决，所以这个版本的画质比日本版和美国版都好的多。

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问：《龙猫》会有续集吗？

答：不会。宫崎骏不喜欢写续集，因为他对继续他已经完成的工作没兴趣。
更何况，宫崎骏说小月和小梅再也不会看到龙猫了。因此，在片尾他故意没有把姐妹俩和龙猫画在一起，而是画了她们和其他孩子一起玩。按他的说法，如果姐妹俩继续呆在龙猫的世界里，就根本无法重新融入人类社会。妈妈回到家后，她们就会变回普通人家的孩子。与龙猫邂逅，知道这个世界还有龙猫的存在，这对她们已经足够了。

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问：我听说还有《小梅和猫咪巴士》，那是什么啊？

答：是宫崎骏的电影短篇，在吉卜力美术馆曾经放映过。

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问：在哪里可以买到龙猫的玩偶？

答：你可以在我们《购物指南》上列出的anime进口商那里买到。龙猫的魅力是永恒的，所以龙猫玩偶和其他有关物品永远都可以的买到。

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问：我听说在日本《龙猫》和《萤火虫之墓》是同时拍摄的，是这样的吗？

答：是的。那时候，没有人认为人们会喜欢看“两个孩子和一个怪物的乡村故事”，所以《龙猫》被当作是一个很大的投资冒险。而且，宫崎骏和《Animage》（译者注：《Animage》，日本第一本商业性的动画杂志，由德间书店推出）的编辑们都很想拍这部片子，这一直是他宠物计划的一部分。所以他们想出分散风险的方法。《萤火虫之幕》是一部很著名的小说，而且鉴于它的教育价值，相当层面的观众都很期待。（事实上，《萤火虫之墓》被许多学校选做学生必看的影片——也包括《龙猫》，因为两者是一起发行的）。
   当时《Animage》的主编铃木敏夫（现任吉卜力总裁）找到新潮社，也就是《萤火虫之墓》的出版商。由于新潮社一直在寻找机会进军电影业，他们很快同意制作《萤火虫之墓》。德间书店和新潮社都知道他们会赔钱，但还是把这项工作继续了下去（事实上由于戏剧化的版权问题，他们的确赔了钱）。所以说如果没有《萤火虫之墓》，就不会有《龙猫》的诞生。

yielimi

英文原文：

What is Totoro?

He has been called many things from "a giant furry thing" to "a rabbit-like spirit". Basically, he is a spirit of the forest. Totoro is not a traditional Japanese character: he came completely from Miyazaki's imagination. However, he is obviously a mixture of several animals: tanukis (the Japanese version of raccoons), cats (the pointed ears and the facial expressions), and owls (the chevron markings on their chests and the "ooo"-ing sound they make with their ocarinas at night).

The name "Totoro" comes from Mei mispronouncing (she has a tendency to do so, though it wasn't clear in the dub) the word "tororu", which is the Japanese word for "troll". When Satsuki asks her "Totoro? You mean, the Troll in our book?" she is referring to their book "Three Mountain Goats" (The Three Billy Goats Gruff). In the closing credits you can see their mother reading the book to them. Although it's hard to see it on the tape, in the picture book for the movie you can see the picture on the cover shows a goat running over a bridge while a Totoro-like troll looks up from underneath the bridge.



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Are the little ones also Totoros?

Yes. They are:


Big Totoro (gray) Oh-Totoro

Medium Totoro (blue) Chuu-Totoro

Little Totoro (white) Chibi-Totoro


"Oh" means "large" in Japanese, but Oh-Totoro has been translated as "King Totoro" in the U.S. "Chuu" and "Chibi" mean "medium" and "small", respectively. However, when people say "Totoro", they are usually referring to Oh-Totoro.

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Are there more Totoros?

Some watercolor pictures that Miyazaki painted show a whole Catbus-load of Totoros showing up at the bus stop where Mei and Satsuki waited for their father to arrive.


  
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What is a Catbus?

Literally, a bus which looks like a cat (or a cat who works as a bus).   ^_^   In Japan, cats are believed to have magical shape-changing powers if they get old enough. They are called "Bake Neko" (which is also Moon's nickname in "Mimi"). The Catbus is a Bake Neko who saw a bus, became intrigued by it, and changed itself into a bus. He's Miyazaki's original design, but some wonder if he was inspired by the Cheshire Cat in "Alice in Wonderland". Mei following chibi-Totoro and falling into a hole in a tree is also reminiscent of "Alice".

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What does the destination sign on the Catbus say?

In the scene where Satsuki and Mei saw the Catbus at the bus stop for the first time, it said "Tsukamori". Tsukamori is the name of the forest where Totoro lives. In the scene where Satsuki tried to find Mei, Catbus came to her with "Tsukamori" displayed, changed it between several names such as "Nagasawa" or "Ushinuma", then to "Mei". When they found Mei, it changed to "Shichikokuyama Byouin (Shichikokuyama Hospital)". Interestingly, the kanji for "in" was upside down. It seems that the Catbus wasn't good at kanji.  ^_^  

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What are the Dustbunnies?

Dustbunnies are little black fuzzy things, about the size of a ping-pong ball. In Japanese, they were called "Makkuro Kurosuke" (a literal translation would be "Pitch-black Blackie"). In the original, to scare them away, Satsuki and Mei shouted "Makkuro Kurosuke, come out! Or we'll poke your eyeballs out!". This doesn't sound politically correct today, so in the English dub, it was changed to "come out... come out...".

Kanta's Granny then told the girls that they were called "Susuwatari" (Traveling Soot), and that they wouldn't do any harm and would soon go away (Susuwatari sounds more, well, professional). Indeed, they moved out of the house to Totoro's tree that night.

yielimi

What was the girls' mother suffering from?

It was implied that her illness was tuberculosis. In the novelized version of "Totoro" (illustrated by Miyazaki), it was stated that Mom was suffering from TB. Shichikokuyama Hospital, where she was staying, had a good reputation for treating TB, and that's why they moved there. The house they moved into was originally built a long time ago by a rich city man whose wife was suffering from TB. Granny used to work as a domestic for this lady, but the lady died. That's why the house is somewhat different from the other village houses, more Westernized, with gables.

This is a bit autobiographical: Miyazaki's mother suffered for many years from spinal TB, and she was away from home for a long time.

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What does the girls' father do for a living?

He is a university professor in archaeology. He has to commute to the university in Tokyo.

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What is the rope on Totoro's tree?

It is called Shimenawa, made of rice straw and paper ribbons. It signifies that this tree is sacred, part of the nature worship aspect of Shintoism (the native religion of Japan which has elements of nature and ancestor worship) and traditional Japanese cultural beliefs. When the father and the girls bow to the tree, he is literally thanking the spirit of the trees and the forest for protecting Mei.

The Totoros are, in a sense, the physical embodiment of the spirit of the forest and trees. You can also see an old abandoned Shinto shrine under the camphor tree and a Torii (a sort of gate for a Shinto shrine) at the entrance to the hill.

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What is the little road shrine where Satsuki and Mei took refuge from the rain?

In Japanese Buddhism, there is a tradition of building small shrines by the side of the road. These are often erected as a memorial to a child who died, and the figure is that of Ojizou-sama, a sort of patron deity of children in Buddhism. Satsuki and Mei put their hands together, bow, and ask the Ojizou-sama for permission to stay there till the rain stops.

Also, when Mei is lost, she sits down next to a row of Ojizou-sama statues: that is Miyazaki's way of telling the audience that Mei is safe, for she is being watched over by these deities.

yielimi

Where did the story take place?

In Tokorozawa City, Saitama prefecture. Miyazaki lives in Tokorozawa, which is now a bedroom community of Tokyo. Tokorozawa used to be a farming community, surrounded by Sayama Kyuuryou (Sayama Hills). There are still some natural areas left, and there is a group of people who are trying to preserve what's left by buying up the land. It is called "Totoro no Furusato (Totoro's Home) National Trust Movement", and uses Totoro as a symbol character. This book explains the movement.

Miyazaki donated watercolor pictures of Totoro to be used in pamphlets, membership cards for contributors, T-shirts, and so on. Miyazaki also donated about $3 million to Tokorozawa city so that the city could buy up some land which was about to be developed.

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When did the story take place?

It was loosely described as the latter part of the 1950s. Miyazaki set the time as "when televisions were yet to be brought into homes".

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I saw a picture of Totoro and a girl at the bus stop. Who is that girl?

She's not Mei or Satsuki, but a combination of both of them. When Miyazaki first did the concept for Totoro, there was just one girl who was 6 years old. Many of the early watercolors in "The Art of Totoro" have just this one girl. Before they actually started production, however, Miyazaki decided to split her into two sisters, one older and one younger than the original girl he had in mind. This is shown in the two girls' names. "Mei" is a "Japanized" version of the English word for the month of May. "Satsuki" is an old Japanese name for the fifth month of the year (May).

Ghibli has used the picture you're talking about repeatedly, even though it has the "old" concept. They even used it on some of the movie posters. This must have really confused people when they saw the film.


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What is the drawing of a crab in Satsuki's letter to her Mom?

It's based on the Japanese folk story, "Saru Kani Gassen (Monkey-Crab Battle)". In this story, a crab plants a persimmon seed, and hovers over the garden every day, waiting for the persimmon to sprout. Satsuki says that Mei is acting exactly like the crab, drew a picture of a crab who looks like Mei, and named it "Mei Gani" (Mei Crab). Since this would make no sense to American children, the dub changed it to "Mei drew this picture for you".

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Is "Totoro" available in English?

Yes. It was dubbed by Carl Macek (Streamline Pictures) and theatrically released in the US by Troma Pictures in 1993; the video, LD, and DVD were released by Fox. It should be fairly easy to find (check the Family section, in addition to the Anime section). It is a very good dub, and even Macek-haters concede that they enjoyed it. The English dub is included in the Ghibli LD Box Set, with English on the right analog track. Disney has acquired the global distribution rights for Ghibli movies, including Totoro, but Fox's rights don't expire until 2004.

Availability page
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Is it true that some scenes, such as the bathing scene, were cut in the dub?

No. Nothing was cut.

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Is it true the image quality of the dub isn't as good as that found on the Japanese LD?

Yes and No. The Japanese LD is letterboxed, while the American LD and videocassette aren't. However, the Japanese LD is a bit darker, so you get a brighter image if you buy the American LD. This problem has been corrected by remastering in the Ghibli LD box set, so the LD in that set has sharper and better images than both the American and the old Japanese LDs.

yielimi

Will there be a Totoro sequel?

No. Miyazaki doesn't like to make sequels, since he isn't interested in continuing what he has already done.

Furthermore, Miyazaki said that Satsuki and Mei would never see Totoro again. He intentionally put no picture of them and Totoro together in the ending title. Instead, he put pictures of Satsuki and Mei playing with other children. According to Miyazaki, if the two children had stayed there (Totoro's world), they wouldn't be able to return to the human world. Once their mother came home, they became ordinary children. Meeting Totoros once, and knowing that they are there is enough.


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Then what is this "Mei and the Kittenbus" I've heard about?

Mei to Konekobasu (Mei and the Kittenbus) is a short film by Miyazaki that is shown at the Studio Ghibli Museum. See the Museum page for more details.

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Where can I get Totoro toys?

You can buy them at anime importers such as those listed in our Shopping Guide. The enduring popularity "Totoro" means toys and related items will probably never go out of stock.

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I heard that it was double-featured with "Grave of the Fireflies" in Japan. Is this true?

Yes. At that time, no one thought that people would want to see "a movie about a two little kids and a monster in rural Japan", and "Totoro" was considered a big investment risk. Still, Miyazaki and the editors of "Animage" wanted to make this movie, which was Miyazaki's pet project for a long time. So they thought up the idea of risk-sharing. "Grave" was a well-known novel, and because of its "educational" value, a certain level of audience could be expected. (Indeed, "Grave" was chosen by many school boards as a movie to show their students - and "Totoro" along with it, since it was in the package.)

Suzuki, then the chief editor of "Animage" (now the president of Ghibli) went to Shinchosha, the publishing company which published the novel "Grave". Since Shinchosha was looking for an opportunity to enter the movie business, they agreed to produce the movie "Grave". Both Tokuma and Shinchosha knew they were going to lose money, but they still went ahead with the project (they did lose money from the theatrical release). So, if it were not for "Grave", there would have been no "Totoro".

tooya

很详细,可惜我看不懂...~不过,,,还是加精~

yielimi

Originally posted by tooya at 2005-11-22 07:53 PM:
很详细,可惜我看不懂...~不过,,,还是加精~

嘿嘿!!!!谢谢TY

枇杷琵琶

喜欢喜欢喜欢

didibabau

好き好き好き好き
だいすき

一休如是说

tooya

Originally posted by yielimi at 2005-11-22 11:06 PM:

嘿嘿!!!!谢谢TY

不客气~~`你发帖子都很

枇杷琵琶

Originally posted by didibabau at 2005-11-23 09:23 AM:
好き好き好き好き
だいすき

一休如是说

だいすき？

DRZHANG

Originally posted by 枇杷琵琶 at 2005-11-23 10:28:

だいすき？

译成中文就是“喜欢”二字。

飘雪的海

好详细啊~~
喜欢~~