Magical Draughts and Potions
| Simplified Chinese (Mandarin: China) | ||
| 魔法药剂与药水 Mófǎ yàojì yǔ yàoshuǐ |
魔法 mófǎ = 'magic'. 药剂 yàojì = 'medicament, drug'. 与 yǔ = 'and'. 药水 yàoshuǐ = 'medicine water' = '(liquid) medicine'. |
Magical Medicaments and Medicines |
| Traditional Chinese (Mandarin: Taiwan) | ||
| 魔法藥劑與藥水 Mófǎ yàojì yǔ yàoshuǐ |
魔法 mófǎ = 'magic'. 藥劑 yàojì = 'medicament, drug'. 與 yǔ = 'and'. 藥水 yàoshuǐ = 'medicine water' = '(liquid) medicine'. |
Magical Medicaments and Medicines |
| Japanese | ||
| 魔法薬調合法 Mahō-yaku chōgō-hō |
魔法 mahō = 'magic'. 薬 -yaku = 'medicine, drug'. 調合 chōgō = 'compounding, preparation'. 法 -hō = 'method'. |
Methods of Preparation of Magical Drugs |
| Vietnamese (Chinese characters show etymology) | ||
| Đề cương phép lạ và độc dược | đề cương (提綱)
= 'summary, thesis, draft'. phép lạ = 'magical'. và = 'and'. độc dược (毒藥) = 'poison medicine'. |
Magical Theses and Poison Medicines |
| Mongolian (previous) | ||
| Шидэт түүхий эд болон шидэт үрэл Shidet tüükhii ed bolon shidet üdel |
шидэт shidet = 'having magic'. түүхий эд tüükhii ed = 'raw materials'. болон bolon = 'and'. үрэл ürel = 'pill'. |
Magic Raw Material and Pills |
| Mongolian (new) | ||
| Шидэт ханд ба уусмал Shidet hand ba uusmal |
шидэт shidet = 'having magic'. ханд khand = 'decoction, extract, infusion'. ба ba = 'and'. уусмал uusmal = 'solution'. |
Magic Decoctions and Solutions |
'Draughts and Potions':
In English, draughts and potions are liquid preparations. 'Potions' has an old-fashioned, unscientific sound. For some reason this simple book title seems prone to reinterpretation and misinterpretation:
- The two Chinese translations use the same terms, with the Mainland copying the Taiwanese. The term 藥劑 (药剂) yàojì refers to tinctures, serums, inoculations, and other medications made up according
to a prescription. 藥水 (药水) yàoshuǐ refers to liquid medicines. The overall meaning follows the English original.
The Japanese translator openly departs from the English by omitting mention of 'draughts' or 'potions'. Instead she encapsulates the purpose of the textbook as providing instruction in 'preparing medicines'.
The Vietnamese translator mistakes the word 'draught' for 'draft (of a document), summary', which she translates as đề cương ('summary, thesis, draft'). Converted back into English, the Vietnamese name means 'Magical Theses and Poison Medicines' (see mistranslations). The word độc dược refers to medicines that contain poisonous ingredients but doesn't imply the medicines themselves are poisonous.
The previous Mongolian translation also goes rather badly wrong, interpreting 'draughts' as 'raw material' (түүхий эд tüükhii ed) and 'potions' as 'pills' (үрэл ürel). The translation seems to have suffered from bad editing since 'potion' is later correctly translated as уусмал uusmal 'solution' in the title of Book One Chapter 8.
The newer Mongolian translation rectifies this by translating 'draught' as ханд khand 'decoction, tincture, extract, infusion' and 'potion' as уусмал uusmal 'solution'.
Category: Potions
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