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The Symbol of Apricot
In her unsent letter to Terry in CCFS (Vol. 2, p. 274-277), Candy wrote:
Whenever I face my feelings toward you in my heart, my heart turns into a ripe, bittersweet apricot fruit. Even when the softest winds blow, I feel like I’m going to fall to the ground, and I cannot even breathe.
This sentence is one of the most evocative expression of love in the entire story. Once again, it is clear that Candy’s feelings toward Terry was more powerful than her feelings toward anyone else, so much so that, by her own words, she couldn’t even breathe. The imagery of “ripe” and “fruit” implies physical passion. We can almost see Candy, her heart ripe with passion as she falls into Terry’s arms, breathless as they lie in each others embrace.
This implication of physical passion is highly unusual, almost out of place, for a story originally created for children, and is still meant to be suitable for a general audience. Therefore, we wanted to know, does apricot have any special meaning in the Japanese culture?
We asked Ms. Hanabi Ito, our professional translator for our fan translation of CCFS, this question. Here’s her answer:
Japanese apricots (anzu) have this sweet yet slightly sour flavor, so if it’s saying like “a love story like an apricot” it’s saying that it’s like bittersweet.
If that’s not the context, it’s also possible that they’re talking about what the flower of anzu symbolizes? Japanese people care about the meaning behind each flower a lot and may gift or decorate something with a certain type of flower so that they can communicate the hidden meaning to make their hidden wish come to fruition.
The flower language for anzu are as follows:
– A cowardly/fearful love
– The bashfulness of a maiden
– A love that was too early (like early as in too young I think)
– Doubtfulness
I hope this helps!
From Hanabi’s answer, it certainly seems to us that Nagita had carefully chosen a fruit that is symbolic of the love that Candy and Terry experienced. What do you think?
