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Context: in a manga a girl kisses a boy. He is so scared that he pushes her away. Then the girl says (I divided the sentences as they are divided in the balloons):

あぁ…　ファーストキス？ゴメンゴメン。/　でも傷つくなぁー　そんなに怯えられるなんて… /　性で何かあった？

I know that 傷つく is an intransitive verb, but I don't understand who is the subject here. Which of the following translations is the correct one?

  1. If you get so scared, it means you are wounded (inside)... Did you have a bad experience with sex?

  2. I feel hurt that you got so scared... Did you have a bad experience with sex?

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  • I feel like your own translation of そんなに怯えられる to "you get so scared" might be preventing you from understanding the subject for 傷つく.
    – user4032
    Commented Jul 5, 2017 at 0:51
  • BTW did you copy "性で何かあった" correctly? It doesn't look very natural to me.
    – naruto
    Commented Jul 5, 2017 at 3:26
  • @l'électeur You mean it should be translated as "you were so scared (by me)" instead?
    – Marco
    Commented Jul 5, 2017 at 4:22
  • @naruto Yes, I checked again and I copied it correctly.
    – Marco
    Commented Jul 5, 2017 at 4:22

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The subject of 傷つく ("to get hurt") is the girl herself, and your second interpretation is correct. 怯えられる here is so-called 迷惑の受け身, which is another hint that the girl feels hurt.

To say "you are wounded", at least ～ている is needed because 傷つく is a punctual (instant state-change) verb. "そんなに怯えて(い)るなんて、(心が)傷ついて(い)るんだね。" or something similar would mean the first one.

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  • Thank you for your answer and for the 迷惑の受け身 link, I had never heard about it.
    – Marco
    Commented Jul 5, 2017 at 4:29

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