Long sentence with Kansai dialect


Once again, from a manga. A gangster explains who his gang is up against.

> 手を汚す程やなくても このまま立ち消えるなら それに越したことないゆう 連中もそれを助けとるらしい

He speaks Kansai-ben (I think), so やなくても is じゃなくても, ないゆう is ないという and 助けとる is
助けている, right?

My current translation is something like: "They [the gang we're up against]
also have help from guys who think there's nothing better than this, even when
they don't have to get their hands dirty and things end without a fight."

I think I most struggle with このまま and それに because I don't quite understand
what they're referring to.




It's a little difficult to say what exactly the それを助けとる part refers to without
a little more context. This それ is presumably referring back to something
discussed in a previous sentence - it wouldn't usually be used to refer to the
enemy gang itself, but more likely a specific goal that they are pursuing, or
a more general situation. I'd guess it refers to the overall circumstances
that are endangering the speaker's gang.

The first part of the sentence is contrasting two positions held by the
mentioned 連中, namely "手を汚す程じゃない" and "このまま立ち消えるならそれに越したことはない". So they're not
invested in this cause enough to "get their hands dirty" (presumably referring
to eliminating the speaker's gang themselves), but they do think it would be
the best outcome if the gang were to just disappear (so they're tacitly
supporting the cause of getting rid of them).

So the それに that you're having trouble with is fairly straightforward - the それ
is referring back to the hypothetical situation referred to in the previous
clause (このまま立ち消える, the gang just disappearing), and the に is part of the
standard expression XXに越したことはない, meaning XX is the best possible outcome.

The このまま is a bit more fuzzy. As a general expression, it refers to things
staying or continuing the way they are, so here I'd say it refers to the gang
disappearing _as a continuation of the current situation_. In other words, the
current situation is that the gang are in _danger_ of being eliminated, and
the 連中 would be happy if that situation progresses to its natural conclusion
(the gang being wiped out entirely). It's a bit tricky to fit the exact nuance
into a natural translation, but something like "...if we just disappear _like
this_ " might be close.




It's a little difficult to say what exactly the それを助けとる part refers to without
a little more context. This それ is presumably referring back to something
discussed in a previous sentence - it wouldn't usually be used to refer to the
enemy gang itself, but more likely a specific goal that they are pursuing, or
a more general situation. I'd guess it refers to the overall circumstances
that are endangering the speaker's gang.

The first part of the sentence is contrasting two positions held by the
mentioned 連中, namely "手を汚す程じゃない" and "このまま立ち消えるならそれに越したことはない". So they're not
invested in this cause enough to "get their hands dirty" (presumably referring
to eliminating the speaker's gang themselves), but they do think it would be
the best outcome if the gang were to just disappear (so they're tacitly
supporting the cause of getting rid of them).

So the それに that you're having trouble with is fairly straightforward - the それ
is referring back to the hypothetical situation referred to in the previous
clause (このまま立ち消える, the gang just disappearing), and the に is part of the
standard expression XXに越したことはない, meaning XX is the best possible outcome.

The このまま is a bit more fuzzy. As a general expression, it refers to things
staying or continuing the way they are, so here I'd say it refers to the gang
disappearing _as a continuation of the current situation_. In other words, the
current situation is that the gang are in _danger_ of being eliminated, and
the 連中 would be happy if that situation progresses to its natural conclusion
(the gang being wiped out entirely). It's a bit tricky to fit the exact nuance
into a natural translation, but something like "...if we just disappear _like
this_ " might be close.

