Which one of my possible translations for this sentence best reflects the time construct of the original sentence? [closed]

Solution 1:

Perhaps the real challenge here is to represent the mood of the Japanese writer, and to do this in a form of English that signals the writer’s social position and general attitude to life. There are many “natural” ways to express the thought in English, as of course there are equally in Japanese.

If the writer is expressing condolence, it’s common in English to address the feeling as well as the event, such as:

Jo: I wish I’d never moved here.

Mo: Look on the bright side. If you hadn’t moved to Seattle, you’d have never owned a real raincoat.

Bo: If you’d kept on living the quiet life back east, you wouldn’t be riding on this volcano.

Japanese speakers and English speakers have different ways of addressing another person’s emotions. In the case of a life changing event, a lot depends on whether it was caused by the person or by circumstances. Sometimes the speaker wants to soften the sense of agency and responsibility, especially if a personal decision has gone wrong. Similarly, the “after” that compensates for the loss of the “before” might be given greater emphasis.

So we need more context here. The “if you had...” construction has already been mentioned in the comments. However, in expressing condolence, a more passive construction is often better, and the event itself can be deemphasized. A change from passive to active can be used to signal increased self-awareness, as in this example:

“It was a peaceful life back then. But you know a lot more about yourself now, wouldn’t you say?”