Chapter 8: Flight of the Fat Lady

Simplified Chinese (Mandarin: China)
胖夫人逃走 Pàng fūrén táozǒu	胖 pàng = 'fat'. 夫人 fūrén = 'lady'. 逃走 táozǒu = 'flee, escape'.	The Fat Lady Flees
Traditional Chinese (Mandarin: Taiwan)
胖女士的逃亡 Pàng nǚshì de táowáng	胖 pàng = 'fat'. 女士 nǚshì = 'lady'. 的 de = connecting particle 逃亡 táowáng = 'flight, desertion (from home or into exile)'.	The Fleeing of the Fat Lady
Japanese
「太った婦人（レディー）」の逃走 'Futotta fujin' no tōsō / 'Futotta redii' no tōsō	太った futotta = 'fat' (past tense of the verb 太る futoru 'to be fat, to get fat'). 婦人 fujin = 'lady'. レディー redii = 'lady' (from English). の no = connecting particle 逃走 tōsō = 'flight, escape'.	The Fleeing of the Fat Lady
Korean
달아난 뚱보 여인 Dalanan ttungbo yeoin	달아나다 dalanada = 'to escape, flee, run away, get away' (달아난 dalana-n = past attributive). 뚱보 ttungbo = 'fat person, fatty'. 여인 (女人) yeoin = 'woman, lady'.	The Fat Lady Who Escaped
Vietnamese (Chinese characters show etymology)
Chuyến bay của Bà Béo	chuyến bay = 'flight (through the air)' (chuyến = 'trip, voyage', bay = 'fly'). Bà Béo = 'Fat Lady' (bà = 'lady', béo = 'fat').	The Flight of the Fat Lady
Mongolian (new)
Тарган хатагтай зугтсан нь Targan khatagtai zugtsan n'	тарган targan = 'fat' хатагтай khatagtai = 'lady'. зугтах зугтах = 'escape, flee' (Past). нь n' = 'about' (makes the preceding sentence into a noun).	The Escaping of the Fat Lady

The 'Fat Lady' refers to a large lady in the portrait that guards the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. She fled after her portrait was slashed by Sirius Black.

How is 'fat' translated?

It is considered impolite in English to call people 'fat', although this is unlikely to stop people using the word.

• Both Chinese translations use the adjective 胖 pàng to translate 'fat'. There is less opprobrium attached to 胖 pàng than to the English word 'fat'. People want their babies to be fat and healthy, and telling people they've gained a bit of weight (胖了點 (Trad.) 胖了点 (Simpl.) pàng le diǎn) isn't necessarily as unpleasant an observation as it is in English.
  
  
• The Vietnamese translation uses the adjective béo, the word for 'fat' in the north of Vietnam, and thus often given as standard. In the south, mập is more commonly used.
  
  
• The Mongolian term for 'fat' is also an adjective, тарган targan.
  
  
• As the most neutral word for 'fat', Japanese uses 太っている futotte iru (indicating result) or 太った futotta (past tense, used in relative clauses), based on the verb 太る futoru 'to grow fat'. The literal meaning of the adjective is '(which) has got fat'.
  
  
• The Korean translation uses 뚱보 ttungbo, a term for a fat person or 'fatso'. It is related to the verb 뚱뚱하다 ttungttung-hada 'to be fat'.

How is 'lady' translated?

In English, a 'lady' is a woman of a certain social status and breeding. Traditionally it referred to women of the upper classes (as in 'lords and ladies'), but has come to be used as a polite way of referring to an adult female, in preference to the plain word 'woman'. Each translation uses a slightly different word to translate this culturally subtle term.

• 夫人 fūrén (Mainland version) is a word traditionally referring to a lady of high rank, usually married to a lord or high official. (The word also exists in Japanese, pronounced fujin, with a similar meaning.)
  
  
• 女士 nǚshì (Taiwanese version) is a title of respect for a woman. It is a conventional translation for the English terms 'Mrs' or 'Madam'.
  
  
• 婦人 fujin (Japanese version) refers to an adult woman. Traditionally it referred to a married woman but this is no longer necesssarily the case. (In Chinese it's pronounced fùrén and does refer to a married woman.)
  
  
• Bà (Vietnamese) means 'old woman' or 'grandmother'. It is, however, a respectful term that is used in the same way as English 'Mrs'.
  
  
• Хатагтай (Mongolian) means 'madam, lady, mistress (of the house)'. It is a respectful term indicating a woman with status.
  
  
• The Korean term 여인 yeoin, written 女人 in Chinese characters, refers to an adult woman. Korean does have a number of respectful terms for an adult woman but the translator has chosen one of the plainer terms available.

In addition, the Japanese uses furigana (see Chapter 3 above) to indicate that 婦人 should be pronounced レディー redii ('lady'). Japanese speakers are familiar with redii, which is now part of the Japanese vocabulary, although it still has a foreign feel to it.

How is 'flight' translated?

'Flight' is the noun corresponding to 'fly' in both its senses, 'fly (through the air)' and the old-fashioned meaning of 'escape' or 'flee'. In this case the meaning is 'escape'.

• 逃走 táozǒu (Mainland) or tōsō (Japanese) refers to the act of fleeing or escaping. It can be used either as a verb or a noun. In the Chinese version it is used as a noun; in the Japanese as a verb.
  
  
• The Taiwanese version uses the similar term 逃亡 táowáng, which refers to running away, escape (into exile), desertion, etc. Here the word is used as a noun.
  
  
• Mongolian uses зугтах zugtakh 'to flee, escape'. The Mongolian uses the interesting construction 'Verb-past tense + нь' (зугтсан нь zugtsan n'), which is used in headings and titles in the meaning 'concerning, about', or 'the story of'.
  
  
• The Korean translation uses the verb 달아나다 dalanada 'to escape, flee', in the past tense. The title uses a relative clause, which literally means 'the fat lady who escaped' or 'the escaping fat lady'.
  
  
• The Vietnamese version erroneously refers to the Fat Lady's action as a 'flight' — as in a 'plane flight'!

(Korean appears thanks to "Hiro".)

(Detailed notes on the chapter can be found at Harry Potter Lexicon)

⇚ Chapter 7

Chapter 9 ⇛