Albert Herrera blog translations
At a friend's behest, doing some translations of this blog, which is official post-series canon for the anime Gankutsuou. It's a diary from the POV of main character Albert. I don't know much Gankutsuou, so I apologize if my phrasing/terminology doesn't quite fit with the series in places lol.
This translation starts from the very first entry in Oct 2005. I'll probably add at least a few more later, I'd like to finish out October.
The Diplomatic Journal of Albert Herrera
2005.10.03
I was so nervous I woke up earlier than usual
Today is Miss Haydee's coronation.
The horizon is just faintly starting to turn red.
The rotation of Janina is slower than Earth's, so there's still some time until dawn.
(Janina's calendar is different from on Earth. It's a pain converting everything back and forth, so when we're corresponding with Earth we use the common kingdom calendar.)
But even so, mother's long since woken up and started getting ready.
"But the evening ball at the palace isn't for a while yet..."
Mother just laughed and said:
"I can't calm down unless I'm doing something..."
After this I'm headed over to where Lucien is staying, to make a final confirmation of the schedule.
It's going to be a long day.
2005.10.04
I was so nervous I almost had an out-of-body experience
I'm writing this from a waiting room set up at the palace.
It's a very modest room off in a corner.
Such a glitzy parade.
Our king and the crown prince of the empire were in it too, and beneath all the glamor, one could feel a certain sense of tension floating around.
If Kazantzakis's plot had succeeded under conditions like this...
No, I'd best not think about it.
After all, even now there might truly be another conspiracy moving forward underwater at this very moment.
The evening ball is still going on.
Haydee decided to put off the coronation until tomorrow, but she's already facing off and holding her own against His Majesty and the imperial crown prince, full of a noble and mysterious sort of dignity.
I felt very proud of her when I saw it.
When His Majesty and His Imperial Highness met face to face, everyone was very nervous.
Because one could say that moment was a peak of Lucien's diplomatic relations with the empire that have continued on these last few years.
With Haydee as a mediator, each of them exchanged elegant greetings and toasted the other's health.
His Majesty offered his condolences about the Emperor's illness, and His Imperial Highness congratulated the King on the nation's recent development.
This meeting, which looked so casual but was so carefully planned, ended after about ten minutes.
To me, at least, it looked to be a great success.
The look on Lucien's face also seemed to be a bit relieved.
He managed to cross a very dangerous bridge.
Incidentally, at the moment, my mother is most likely in a certain person's room.
That person is...
Madam Villefort, with her firstborn son Edouard.
After that "incident", the two of them came under the patronage of the Janina royal palace.
Madam Villefort, with her humble smile.
Edouard, who seems to have grown up well.
The two of them have received treatment from the sages of Janina.
The shade of illness that once cast a gloom over their faces has disappeared.
"Albert, it's been so long!"
I could have fallen right over in surprise when that bad-down-to-the-bone (!) Edouard reached out to shake my hand with an energetic smile.
...Though I suppose I can't really talk.
"Well, tomorrow is the main event at last, huh."
So said Mark while smoking one of the provided hookahs.
"We can't relax until all of the rites are over."
When I said that, Mark just cackled in response.
"Hah, they can bring arrows or guns or whatever they like! Right now I could crush a hundred assassins with one hand!"
His voice seemed strangely high-pitched with fatigue.
"You should sleep a bit until it's time to change shifts."
2005.10.05
My friend is becoming a queen.
The moment Haydee was granted the crown of Janina...
I watched it from one corner of the cathedral.
As the solemn court music of Janina played on, she knelt wrapped in the cape passed down between each monarch; and a clergyman placed a simple crown on her head before offering a blessing in the language of the region.
The road that she walked to get this far...
One simply couldn't be indifferent to it...
Thinking that, I found tears spontaneously welling up in my eyes.
There was no way it was all right to be so easily moved.
But even knowing that, I couldn't get the tears to stop.
"From this day forward, I offer up the rest of my life to the people of Janina..."
I could hear Haydee's voice carrying clearly.
With this, she became someone distant from us, someone we can no longer reach.
The realization left a tight feeling in my chest.
The servants who watched her from a far-off spot...
Baptistin and Bertuccio, too, looked somehow lonely.
Or else, perhaps I'm merely overthinking things, and they were only concerned with the new queen's safety.
2005.10.07
After the party
I went back to the waiting room afterward, to just sit around in a daze for a while.
It's late at night.
But the palace and the city are still as bright as if it were the middle of the day, continuing to celebrate the coronation.
I too was in the middle of all that hustle and bustle up until a little while ago.
Naturally, it was for work.
There's a mountain of things that need doing.
Still, I can't deny it feels as though we've gotten past a large hurdle.
As staff of the embassy, I can't truly relax until His Majesty returns safely to Paris.
I know that, but the thread of my nerves has simply snapped.
Mark seems to be the same.
He was standing around in front of me looking rather spaced out.
When I said, "That's quite the idiotic look you're wearing," he replied back with, "Try looking in a mirror before you talk."
Around that point, Baptistin came by.
"I brought you something from Her Majesty the Queen."
Saying that, he set out a platter full of Janina's grape pastries.
"Is it really all right for a bodyguard to be away from his post?"
"Bertuccio is still there. And besides, the palace is protected by a royal guard of two thousand men."
...He definitely did seem sad after all.
"Perhaps you came by here to have a cry?"
When I suggested that, Baptistin smirked at me.
"I'm quite sure I don't understand what you mean."
"But..."
"I came here on Her Majesty's request."
Baptistin leaned in to murmur right against my ear.
"She wishes to sneak out and see the circus, you see."
I just stared at him, taken aback.
"We shall be depending on you to make the arrangements."
"Why me?"
"It was Her Majesty's idea. Feel free to invite your mother as well."
Baptistin walked out without turning back.
"Looks like you've got a mess on your hands."
When those words brought me back to myself, I found Mark with a sparkle of curiosity in his eyes.
"Of course, you'll be bringing me along too, right?"
P.S.:
The coronation ceremony ended safely, so I'll be opening up commenting again. If you have a message for me, feel free.
2005.10.12
Recently, His Excellency Debray can finish lunch in ten minutes
It's been a while since I wrote a journal entry.
Once the coronation was over and the various nobles had left Janina behind, we were alloted some time off, but truthfully it hasn't been much of a holiday at all.
I speak, of course, about the matter of the circus.
But before I go into that story, I'd like to write down what I spoke with Lucien about.
The day he left Janina, Lucien invited me to lunch at the spaceport.
He, who says he can't stand Janina mutton, opened up a jar of liver paste he'd specially brought with him and spread it on some Janina-style fried bread to eat.
I too shared in some of this terribly illustrious feast.
"Aren't you impressed?" asked Julien.
"Not really," I replied.
After that, Julien continued with a serious look on his face.
"Things have been very difficult up to now, but from here they're likely to get even worse."
Basically, he meant to say that the roots of Kazantzakis's plot ran very deep indeed.
So similar incidents would most certainly keep repeating themselves in the future.
For just a moment, Julien looked troubled.
"Considering your mother, it would really be best to have your post changed to Paris, but..."
I replied quite frankly.
"If you do anything like that, it's over between us."
"...I suppose that personality of yours will never be fixed 'til the day you die, but..." Gulping down his strong coffee, he left me with just a few words. "Don't be in any hurry to get there."
I understand -- that was what I told my old friend as I gripped his hand.
2005.10.14
Sneaking out
"You don't need to use a title, just call me Haydee."
Hiding inside the carriage, Haydee told me that with a smile.
But I couldn't possibly do that.
I'm just a mere diplomat, and she's a queen.
"At the very least, please just do it for right now?"
"As you wish."
As I said that, Baptistin laughed scornfully at me.
"The reckless boy's learned a bit of discernment, I see."
There's no need to make smart comments.
Haydee (I'm trying my best not to use any title for her. Please forgive me, Minister Padieu!) was being guarded by Baptistin, Bertuccio, and Ali.
That was the way it had been up to now, and perhaps those three will continue to be sufficient going forward.
Myself and Mother were seated on the opposite side from her.
"It's been so long since I've been to a circus," said Haydee happily.
"Lately I haven't even been able to walk around outside with friends like this..."
"Friends..."
That word distracted me.
There isn't much to write about concerning the circus.
We settled down casually into some box seats, and thoroughly enjoyed the various performances.
At the very end, that ringleader appeared onstage.
It might have been my imagination, but I felt like his gaze was constantly directed toward our particular box.
I wonder if he'd been told the new queen of Janina was here today?
"In this time when a new star has risen over Janina, our troupe feels truly blessed to be in this land. May fortune smile on Her Majesty the Queen and all her people!"
The ringleader ended the show with those words.
Mother and Haydee, lined up sitting in front of me, sent him off with quiet applause.
The box and the stage... This connection makes me remember so many things...
As I was indulging in such emotions, suddenly, Haydee turned back toward me.
"Thank you. I really had fun tonight... I hope you won't mind indulging my whims again now and then."
It was late at night.
I thought my mother was sleeping, but then she opened her mouth.
"I wonder why Haydee invited us to the circus?"
"Maybe to show she had no hard feelings?"
It was a while before mother opened her mouth again.
"Once I get tickets... I think I'll go back to Marseilles. I don't want to get in the way of your work any more..."
I told her she wasn't getting in the way at all, and she could stay here with me forever if she liked; but thinking of Julien's words, I changed my mind.
"All right, I understand. I'll arrange a ship for you..."
2005.10.15
When I went out into the city, everyone on the streets seemed tired...
With the coronation over, I went back to my regular duties.
We were well into autumn almost before I even noticed.
Janina is beautiful at this time of year, and an easy place to live in.
It almost makes one forget how the summer days are hot as hellfire.
All the townspeople seem to be wearing the same dazed sort of expression.
They've probably exhausted their strength with ten days of celebrating in between the coronation rites.
If I looked in the mirror, I'm sure I'd be wearing the same expression too.
But at any rate, we were able to finish this huge job.
Though my actual part in it was fairly insignificant.
Minister Padieu insisted on taking a month's holiday and vanished.
Perhaps he's started up his "underground activities" again.
As for me, naturally I get no holiday.
Things are quiet these days, but I can't relax even for a moment.
Though lately I've been able to go have lunch with Mark and such.
As usual, we've been hunting around for questionable establishments in the bazaar.
At this rate I might get fat.
2005.10.16
Eating out at a downtown-Paris-style pub
Today, I had dinner with Baptistin.
At a place near the spaceport where sailors gather, I was treated to some strangely nostalgic cooking.
"Has your mother gone home already?" Baptistin asked as he swirled his red wine about his glass.
"She left on last night's ship," I said.
"Did she say anything?"
His phrasing caught my attention somehow.
"About what?"
"What she thought of the circus, or somesuch..."
I just stared quietly over at Baptistin for a moment.
"Did Haydee... did the Queen say something?"
"Well, no, but..."
What was Baptistin worried about?
...Well, no, the truth was I'd noticed too.
A certain possibility that was hard to believe...
"Shall we go to the circus again?"
He accepted my invitation right away.
Even after the end of the meal, we continued to sit there silently for a while.
Neither of us able to speak the words we were thinking.
Could that person really...?
2005.10.21
That person/That very great man
How should I explain what's happened in the last few days?
The adventure surrounding the mysterious person running the circus.
Well, I suppose I can't judge whether it's really worthy of the name 'adventure'.
Let me explain the events in order.
A few days ago, Baptistin came to pick me up.
It was a lighthearted sort of weekend evening.
"You probably won't have any fun going along with me, eh."
Even while joking around like that, Baptistin looked a little bit nervous.
At the box seats, we met up wtih Bertuccio.
He too was glancing around the area with a gaze that missed nothing.
"Did you find out anything?"
"No..."
Bertuccio had investigated the circus using Janina's intelligence bureau.
"Has the embassy's intelligence picked up on anything?"
Next it was his turn to question me.
"Not at all. According to the investigation, it's nothing but a perfectly normal circus troupe. Aside from that single matter of Mr. Kazantzakis."
"Naturally." At this point, Baptistin entered the conversation. "If the sponsor of this circus really is 'that person', surely he wouldn't show any weak spots so easily."
It was definitely true.
After a little while longer, the darkness was illuminated by a beautiful set of lights, and the circus began.
I think I really do have some quality that attracts people to me.
So of course, even though it had been quite a while since the show started, the tent was full of people. For a little while, we silently concentrated our attention on the stage.
Though by this point I knew the act very well.
After the show ended, the ringleader came out to deliver parting words as always.
"He looks just the right age to be 'that person'..."
Bertuccio let out a sigh.
Was that mysterious figure hiding secrets, or just putting on a show for the stage...?
Mirrored from Dreamwidth
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This translation starts from the very first entry in Oct 2005. I'll probably add at least a few more later, I'd like to finish out October.
The Diplomatic Journal of Albert Herrera
2005.10.03
I was so nervous I woke up earlier than usual
Today is Miss Haydee's coronation.
The horizon is just faintly starting to turn red.
The rotation of Janina is slower than Earth's, so there's still some time until dawn.
(Janina's calendar is different from on Earth. It's a pain converting everything back and forth, so when we're corresponding with Earth we use the common kingdom calendar.)
But even so, mother's long since woken up and started getting ready.
"But the evening ball at the palace isn't for a while yet..."
Mother just laughed and said:
"I can't calm down unless I'm doing something..."
After this I'm headed over to where Lucien is staying, to make a final confirmation of the schedule.
It's going to be a long day.
2005.10.04
I was so nervous I almost had an out-of-body experience
I'm writing this from a waiting room set up at the palace.
It's a very modest room off in a corner.
Such a glitzy parade.
Our king and the crown prince of the empire were in it too, and beneath all the glamor, one could feel a certain sense of tension floating around.
If Kazantzakis's plot had succeeded under conditions like this...
No, I'd best not think about it.
After all, even now there might truly be another conspiracy moving forward underwater at this very moment.
The evening ball is still going on.
Haydee decided to put off the coronation until tomorrow, but she's already facing off and holding her own against His Majesty and the imperial crown prince, full of a noble and mysterious sort of dignity.
I felt very proud of her when I saw it.
When His Majesty and His Imperial Highness met face to face, everyone was very nervous.
Because one could say that moment was a peak of Lucien's diplomatic relations with the empire that have continued on these last few years.
With Haydee as a mediator, each of them exchanged elegant greetings and toasted the other's health.
His Majesty offered his condolences about the Emperor's illness, and His Imperial Highness congratulated the King on the nation's recent development.
This meeting, which looked so casual but was so carefully planned, ended after about ten minutes.
To me, at least, it looked to be a great success.
The look on Lucien's face also seemed to be a bit relieved.
He managed to cross a very dangerous bridge.
Incidentally, at the moment, my mother is most likely in a certain person's room.
That person is...
Madam Villefort, with her firstborn son Edouard.
After that "incident", the two of them came under the patronage of the Janina royal palace.
Madam Villefort, with her humble smile.
Edouard, who seems to have grown up well.
The two of them have received treatment from the sages of Janina.
The shade of illness that once cast a gloom over their faces has disappeared.
"Albert, it's been so long!"
I could have fallen right over in surprise when that bad-down-to-the-bone (!) Edouard reached out to shake my hand with an energetic smile.
...Though I suppose I can't really talk.
"Well, tomorrow is the main event at last, huh."
So said Mark while smoking one of the provided hookahs.
"We can't relax until all of the rites are over."
When I said that, Mark just cackled in response.
"Hah, they can bring arrows or guns or whatever they like! Right now I could crush a hundred assassins with one hand!"
His voice seemed strangely high-pitched with fatigue.
"You should sleep a bit until it's time to change shifts."
2005.10.05
My friend is becoming a queen.
The moment Haydee was granted the crown of Janina...
I watched it from one corner of the cathedral.
As the solemn court music of Janina played on, she knelt wrapped in the cape passed down between each monarch; and a clergyman placed a simple crown on her head before offering a blessing in the language of the region.
The road that she walked to get this far...
One simply couldn't be indifferent to it...
Thinking that, I found tears spontaneously welling up in my eyes.
There was no way it was all right to be so easily moved.
But even knowing that, I couldn't get the tears to stop.
"From this day forward, I offer up the rest of my life to the people of Janina..."
I could hear Haydee's voice carrying clearly.
With this, she became someone distant from us, someone we can no longer reach.
The realization left a tight feeling in my chest.
The servants who watched her from a far-off spot...
Baptistin and Bertuccio, too, looked somehow lonely.
Or else, perhaps I'm merely overthinking things, and they were only concerned with the new queen's safety.
2005.10.07
After the party
I went back to the waiting room afterward, to just sit around in a daze for a while.
It's late at night.
But the palace and the city are still as bright as if it were the middle of the day, continuing to celebrate the coronation.
I too was in the middle of all that hustle and bustle up until a little while ago.
Naturally, it was for work.
There's a mountain of things that need doing.
Still, I can't deny it feels as though we've gotten past a large hurdle.
As staff of the embassy, I can't truly relax until His Majesty returns safely to Paris.
I know that, but the thread of my nerves has simply snapped.
Mark seems to be the same.
He was standing around in front of me looking rather spaced out.
When I said, "That's quite the idiotic look you're wearing," he replied back with, "Try looking in a mirror before you talk."
Around that point, Baptistin came by.
"I brought you something from Her Majesty the Queen."
Saying that, he set out a platter full of Janina's grape pastries.
"Is it really all right for a bodyguard to be away from his post?"
"Bertuccio is still there. And besides, the palace is protected by a royal guard of two thousand men."
...He definitely did seem sad after all.
"Perhaps you came by here to have a cry?"
When I suggested that, Baptistin smirked at me.
"I'm quite sure I don't understand what you mean."
"But..."
"I came here on Her Majesty's request."
Baptistin leaned in to murmur right against my ear.
"She wishes to sneak out and see the circus, you see."
I just stared at him, taken aback.
"We shall be depending on you to make the arrangements."
"Why me?"
"It was Her Majesty's idea. Feel free to invite your mother as well."
Baptistin walked out without turning back.
"Looks like you've got a mess on your hands."
When those words brought me back to myself, I found Mark with a sparkle of curiosity in his eyes.
"Of course, you'll be bringing me along too, right?"
P.S.:
The coronation ceremony ended safely, so I'll be opening up commenting again. If you have a message for me, feel free.
2005.10.12
Recently, His Excellency Debray can finish lunch in ten minutes
It's been a while since I wrote a journal entry.
Once the coronation was over and the various nobles had left Janina behind, we were alloted some time off, but truthfully it hasn't been much of a holiday at all.
I speak, of course, about the matter of the circus.
But before I go into that story, I'd like to write down what I spoke with Lucien about.
The day he left Janina, Lucien invited me to lunch at the spaceport.
He, who says he can't stand Janina mutton, opened up a jar of liver paste he'd specially brought with him and spread it on some Janina-style fried bread to eat.
I too shared in some of this terribly illustrious feast.
"Aren't you impressed?" asked Julien.
"Not really," I replied.
After that, Julien continued with a serious look on his face.
"Things have been very difficult up to now, but from here they're likely to get even worse."
Basically, he meant to say that the roots of Kazantzakis's plot ran very deep indeed.
So similar incidents would most certainly keep repeating themselves in the future.
For just a moment, Julien looked troubled.
"Considering your mother, it would really be best to have your post changed to Paris, but..."
I replied quite frankly.
"If you do anything like that, it's over between us."
"...I suppose that personality of yours will never be fixed 'til the day you die, but..." Gulping down his strong coffee, he left me with just a few words. "Don't be in any hurry to get there."
I understand -- that was what I told my old friend as I gripped his hand.
2005.10.14
Sneaking out
"You don't need to use a title, just call me Haydee."
Hiding inside the carriage, Haydee told me that with a smile.
But I couldn't possibly do that.
I'm just a mere diplomat, and she's a queen.
"At the very least, please just do it for right now?"
"As you wish."
As I said that, Baptistin laughed scornfully at me.
"The reckless boy's learned a bit of discernment, I see."
There's no need to make smart comments.
Haydee (I'm trying my best not to use any title for her. Please forgive me, Minister Padieu!) was being guarded by Baptistin, Bertuccio, and Ali.
That was the way it had been up to now, and perhaps those three will continue to be sufficient going forward.
Myself and Mother were seated on the opposite side from her.
"It's been so long since I've been to a circus," said Haydee happily.
"Lately I haven't even been able to walk around outside with friends like this..."
"Friends..."
That word distracted me.
There isn't much to write about concerning the circus.
We settled down casually into some box seats, and thoroughly enjoyed the various performances.
At the very end, that ringleader appeared onstage.
It might have been my imagination, but I felt like his gaze was constantly directed toward our particular box.
I wonder if he'd been told the new queen of Janina was here today?
"In this time when a new star has risen over Janina, our troupe feels truly blessed to be in this land. May fortune smile on Her Majesty the Queen and all her people!"
The ringleader ended the show with those words.
Mother and Haydee, lined up sitting in front of me, sent him off with quiet applause.
The box and the stage... This connection makes me remember so many things...
As I was indulging in such emotions, suddenly, Haydee turned back toward me.
"Thank you. I really had fun tonight... I hope you won't mind indulging my whims again now and then."
It was late at night.
I thought my mother was sleeping, but then she opened her mouth.
"I wonder why Haydee invited us to the circus?"
"Maybe to show she had no hard feelings?"
It was a while before mother opened her mouth again.
"Once I get tickets... I think I'll go back to Marseilles. I don't want to get in the way of your work any more..."
I told her she wasn't getting in the way at all, and she could stay here with me forever if she liked; but thinking of Julien's words, I changed my mind.
"All right, I understand. I'll arrange a ship for you..."
2005.10.15
When I went out into the city, everyone on the streets seemed tired...
With the coronation over, I went back to my regular duties.
We were well into autumn almost before I even noticed.
Janina is beautiful at this time of year, and an easy place to live in.
It almost makes one forget how the summer days are hot as hellfire.
All the townspeople seem to be wearing the same dazed sort of expression.
They've probably exhausted their strength with ten days of celebrating in between the coronation rites.
If I looked in the mirror, I'm sure I'd be wearing the same expression too.
But at any rate, we were able to finish this huge job.
Though my actual part in it was fairly insignificant.
Minister Padieu insisted on taking a month's holiday and vanished.
Perhaps he's started up his "underground activities" again.
As for me, naturally I get no holiday.
Things are quiet these days, but I can't relax even for a moment.
Though lately I've been able to go have lunch with Mark and such.
As usual, we've been hunting around for questionable establishments in the bazaar.
At this rate I might get fat.
2005.10.16
Eating out at a downtown-Paris-style pub
Today, I had dinner with Baptistin.
At a place near the spaceport where sailors gather, I was treated to some strangely nostalgic cooking.
"Has your mother gone home already?" Baptistin asked as he swirled his red wine about his glass.
"She left on last night's ship," I said.
"Did she say anything?"
His phrasing caught my attention somehow.
"About what?"
"What she thought of the circus, or somesuch..."
I just stared quietly over at Baptistin for a moment.
"Did Haydee... did the Queen say something?"
"Well, no, but..."
What was Baptistin worried about?
...Well, no, the truth was I'd noticed too.
A certain possibility that was hard to believe...
"Shall we go to the circus again?"
He accepted my invitation right away.
Even after the end of the meal, we continued to sit there silently for a while.
Neither of us able to speak the words we were thinking.
Could that person really...?
2005.10.21
That person/That very great man
How should I explain what's happened in the last few days?
The adventure surrounding the mysterious person running the circus.
Well, I suppose I can't judge whether it's really worthy of the name 'adventure'.
Let me explain the events in order.
A few days ago, Baptistin came to pick me up.
It was a lighthearted sort of weekend evening.
"You probably won't have any fun going along with me, eh."
Even while joking around like that, Baptistin looked a little bit nervous.
At the box seats, we met up wtih Bertuccio.
He too was glancing around the area with a gaze that missed nothing.
"Did you find out anything?"
"No..."
Bertuccio had investigated the circus using Janina's intelligence bureau.
"Has the embassy's intelligence picked up on anything?"
Next it was his turn to question me.
"Not at all. According to the investigation, it's nothing but a perfectly normal circus troupe. Aside from that single matter of Mr. Kazantzakis."
"Naturally." At this point, Baptistin entered the conversation. "If the sponsor of this circus really is 'that person', surely he wouldn't show any weak spots so easily."
It was definitely true.
After a little while longer, the darkness was illuminated by a beautiful set of lights, and the circus began.
I think I really do have some quality that attracts people to me.
So of course, even though it had been quite a while since the show started, the tent was full of people. For a little while, we silently concentrated our attention on the stage.
Though by this point I knew the act very well.
After the show ended, the ringleader came out to deliver parting words as always.
"He looks just the right age to be 'that person'..."
Bertuccio let out a sigh.
Was that mysterious figure hiding secrets, or just putting on a show for the stage...?
Mirrored from Dreamwidth
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