Harley

Harley
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Japanese Name:	神典（ハーレイ）
Romanized Name:	Hārei
Official English Name:	Harley
First Appearance:	Chapter 1138
Meaning:	Scripture

For the chapter of the same name, see Chapter 1138.

The Harley is an ancient, religious text of great significance to Elbaph, being the original literary source for many of the country's myths and legends, such as Nika. They appear to describe multiple past wars and apocalyptic events, with possible prophetic ramifications to the present time.

Overview

The ancient mural.

The Harley texts were first mentioned by Jarul and are recorded in book form, being currently kept at the Owl Library. The Treasure Tree Adam also exhibits an ancient mural somewhere in its bark that seems to visually correlate to some of the Harley's contents.

The story presented in the Harley is divided in three chapters, all of which describe a specific "World". The Second World appears to correspond to the Void Century, referencing the death of Joy Boy (as the Sun God Nika) and the global flooding event that resulted from the Great War, and according to Jaguar D. Saul, the Third World supposedly represents the current time and seemingly correspond to future events and predicts the sun god destroying the world and bringing forth a new age. Giant monsters are depicted on the right, left and topmost portion of the Treasure Tree Adam mural depicting the legend, all of them seemingly of a draconic or serpentine nature. In particular, the portion corresponding to the third world has figures resembling Monkey D. Luffy in his Gear 5 form/Nika, Emet, Loki and several others fighting against a large, dragon-like monster with two horns and a pair of wings holding a sun.

As the verses written in the Harley are very cryptic and poetic, multiple interpretations of its contents are possible, with Saul noting that the nature of its elements may heavily differ depending on who tells the story. Robin is one rare person capable of translating the texts.

Script

Japanese	English
「第一世界」 地に炎あり 人は欲望に負け 禁断の太陽に触れた 隷人は願い 〝太陽の神〟は現れた 地の神は怒り 業炎の蛇と共に 世界を死と闇で包んだ 彼らはもう会えないのだ	THE FIRST WORLD Within the earth there was fire. Mankind succumbed to greed and touched the forbidden sun. The enslaved prayed, and the sun god appeared. The earth god raged, and with its serpent of hellfire, shrouded the world in death and darkness. And they will never meet.
「第二世界」 虚無に息吹あり 森の神は魔を遣わせた 太陽は戦火を 広げるばかりだ 半月の人は夢を見た 月の人は夢を見た 人は太陽を殺し神となり 海の神は荒ぶった 彼らはもう会えないのだ	THE SECOND WORLD Within the void there was breath. The forest god tamed demons and the sun spread the fires of war. Those of the half-moon dreamed. Those of the moon dreamed. Man killed the sun and became god, and the sea god stormed. And they will never meet.
「第三世界」 混沌に空白あり 不都合な残影は 約束の日を思い出し 片われ月の声を聞く 〝太陽の神〟は踊り、笑い 世界を終末へと導く 太陽は回帰し 新しい朝が来る 彼らはきっと会えるだろう	THE THIRD WORLD Within the chaos there was emptiness. The inconvenient remnants recall the promised day and hear the voice of the half-moon. The sun god dances and laughs, guiding the world to its end. The sun returns and brings a new morning. And they will surely meet.

Translation and Dub Issues

As noted by official VIZ translator Stephen Paul on the One Piece Podcast, the Harley's poetic language and lack of specific context means there are multiple possible translations from Japanese to English pending more information.

In the Second World text, it is not clear whether "those of the half-moon/moon" refer to a single person or a group of people, as "hito" (人^?) can mean either depending on the context. Additionally, Oda uses two different terms in the Second and Third World, which are both translated as half-moon. The Second World term is Hangetsu (半月^?), which is the more standard term for the real-world semicircular moon (also referred to as the "quarter moon"), whereas the Third World term is Katawarezuki (片われ月^?), a more obscure metaphorical poetic term that moreso refers to part of the moon being hidden; it can also be translated as "Broken Moon" or "One-Sided Moon". This word comes from the Shūi Wakashū, a Waka anthology from classic Japan; namely the poem "Afukoto wa Katawarezuki no Kumogakure" (あふことは片われ月の雲隠れ^?, "To Meet, like the Half-Moon Hidden by Clouds"). This phrase was used as the title of Chapter 292, and "Katawarezuki" was translated as Half-Moon; thus, it was decided to retain that translation.

The term for "void" in the Second World, kyomu (虚無^?), refers to the existential aspect of the word, with synonyms such as nothingness, oblivion, and non-being, evoking a concept like outer space. However, this would run afoul of another word in the Third World that is also commonly translated as void: kūhaku (空白^?), which is the word used in the term Void Century. Typically, kūhaku refers to the idea of a "blank space" like a gap in written history. To differentiate the two words, VIZ translated ''kūhaku as "emptiness".

Trivia

• Following the professional wrestling naming trend of other Elbaph characters and concepts, the Harley is seemingly named after the wrestler Harley Race.
• The cover of the Harley features eight circles surrounding a larger circle, possibly an allusion to the Nine Worlds from Norse cosmology.
• The lower region of Elbaph is secondarily referred to as the First World, referencing the first chapter of the Harley.
• Going by its cover placement, the Harley is unique among literary works in One Piece in that it follows the left-to-right reading direction used primarily by western books, instead of the inverse that is standard in eastern literature conventions and more common in the series (such as the Brag Men book).
• Elements shown so far in the series which are seemingly alluded to in the Harley:
  • The first and second worlds mention gods of the sun, earth, forest, and sea, which is reminiscent of the Shandia's gods of the sun, earth, forest, and rain.
  • The first world mentions a serpent of hellfire, which is reminiscent of Dorry and Brogy referring to a "bloodstained snake" (血に染まるヘビ, chi ni somaru hebi^?) as the only thing they cannot pierce.
  • The second world mentions a void, reminiscent of the Void Century.
  • The third world mentions a Promised Day, something the Neptune Family believes is related to the promise between Joy Boy and Poseidon.
  • The first and third world mention the sun god singing and dancing, reminiscent of the legends of Nika.
  • The three worlds mentions a meeting between some people, with the third world mentioning their meeting will occur, reminiscing of the talk Roger heard of the Sea Kings talk about their sovereigns which convinced him the Roger Pirates arrived too early to Laugh Tale.