Chapter 21: The Tale of the Three Brothers

 

(For the romanisation of Chinese and Japanese, see Transliteration. To understand the writing systems of CJV, see Writing Systems. For word order notes, see Word Order)

Where a Vietnamese word has been borrowed from Chinese, the original Chinese character is shown in parentheses.

 

Chinese (Mainland)	三兄弟的传说 Sān-xiōngdì de chuánshuō	三 sān = 'three'. 兄弟 xiōngdì = 'brothers'. 的 de = connecting particle 传说 chuánshuō = 'legend'.	Legend of the three brothers
Chinese (Taiwan)	三兄弟的故事 Sān-xiōngdì de gùshì	三 sān = 'three'. 兄弟 xiōngdì = 'brothers'. 的 de = connecting particle 故事 gùshì = 'story'.	Story of the three brothers
Japanese	三人兄弟の物語 Sannin kyōdai no monogatari	三人 sannin = 'three people'. 兄弟 kyōdai = 'brothers'. の no = connecting particle 物語 monogatari = 'story, tale'.	The story of the three brothers
Vietnamese	Chuyện kể về ba anh em	chuyện kể = 'story'. về = 'about'. ba = 'three'. anh em = 'brothers'.	The story of the three brothers

The Mainland Chinese translator translates 'tale' here as 传说 chuánshuō or 'legend'. In other places 'tale' is translated as 故事 gùshì 'story'.

Notice that 'three brothers' is translated as 三兄弟 sān-xiōngdì, without any classifier or measure word. Normally 'three brothers' would be 三个兄弟 sān-ge xiōngdì, using the measure word 个 ge. Omitting the measure word makes the expression into a single noun ('three-brothers'), which is more literary and elegant, and refers not just to any old three brothers (三个兄弟 sān-ge xiōngdì), but to the Three Brothers (三兄弟 sān-xiōngdì).

See also: Hagrid's Tale, Kreacher's Tale, and The Prince's Tale.

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

Chapter 20

Chapter 22