The Sorting Hat's Song (Book 1)
The Sorting Hat makes its first appearance at Chapter Seven (The Sorting Hat), where it sings the following song.
| English |  |
| Oh, you may not think I'm pretty, But don't judge on what you see, I'll eat myself if you can find A smarter hat than me. You can keep your bowlers black, Your top hats sleek and tall, For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat And I can cap them all There's nothing hidden in your head The Sorting Hat can't see, So try me on and I will tell you Where you ought to be. You might belong in Gryffindor, Where dwell the brave at heart, Their daring, nerve and chivalry Set Gryffindor's apart; You might belong in Hufflepuff, Where they are just and loyal, Those patient Hufflepuffs are true And unafraid of toil; Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw If you've a ready mind, Where those of wit and learning, Will always find their kind; Or perhaps in Slytherin You'll make your real friends, Those cunning folk use any means To achieve their ends. So put me on! Don't be afraid! And don't get in a flap! You're in safe hands (though I have none) For I'm a Thinking Cap! |
Word play includes:
I'll eat myself (=I'll eat my hat)
I can cap them all
You're in safe hands
For I'm a Thinking Cap (from common expression used by teachers to young
children: 'Put your thinking caps on!')
| Simplified Chinese (China) | |
| 你们也许觉得我不算漂亮， 但千万不要以貌取人， 如果你们能找到比我更漂亮的帽子， 我可以把自己吃掉。 你们可以让你们的圆顶礼帽乌黑油亮， 让你们的高顶丝帽光滑挺括， 我可是霍格沃茨测试用的魔帽， 自然比你们的帽子高超出众。 你们头脑里隐藏的任何念头， 都躲不过魔帽的金睛火眼， 戴上它试一下吧，我会告诉你们， 你们应该分到哪一所学院。 你也许属于格兰芬多， 那里有埋藏在心底的勇敢， 他们的胆识、气魄和豪爽， 使格兰芬多出类拔萃； 你也许属于赫奇帕奇， 那里的人正直忠诚， 赫奇帕奇的学子们坚忍诚实， 不畏惧艰辛的劳动； 如果你头脑精明， 或许会进智慧的老拉文克劳， 那些睿智博学的人， 总会在那里遇见他们的同道； 也许你回进斯莱特林， 也许在这里交上真诚的朋友， 但那些狡诈阴险之辈却会不惜一切手段， 去达到他们的目的。 来戴上我吧！不必害怕！ 千万不要惊慌失措！ 在我的手里（尽管我连一只手也没有）你绝对安全 因为我是一顶会思想的魔帽！ |
| Nǐmen
yě xǔ juéde wǒ bú suàn piàoliang, Dàn qiānwàn bú yào yǐ mào qǔ rén, Rúgǔonǐmen néng zhǎo dào bǐ wǒ gèng piàoliang de màozi, Wǒ kěyǐ bǎ zìjǐ chīdiào. Nǐmen kěyǐ ràng nǐmen de yuándǐng lǐmào wūhēi yóuliàng, Ràng nǐmen de gāodǐng sīmào guānghuá tǐngkuò, Wǒ kě shì Huògéwōcì cèshì-yòng de mómào, Zìrán bǐ nǐmen de màozi gāo chāo chū zhòng. Nǐmen tóunǎolǐ yǐncáng de rènhé niàntou, Dōu duǒbuguò mómào de jīn jīng huǒ yǎn, Dàishang tā shì yí xià ba, wǒ huì gàosu nǐmen, Nǐmen yīnggāi fēn dào nǎ yīsuǒ xuéyuàn. Nǐ yě xǔ shǔ yú Gélánfēnduō, Nàli yǒu máicáng zài xīndǐ de yǒnggǎn, Tāmen de dǎnshí, qìpò hé háoshuǎng, Shǐ Gélánfēnduō chū lèi bá cuì; Nǐ yě xǔ shǔ yú Hèqípàqí, Nàlǐ de rén zhèngzhí zhōngchéng, Hèqípàqí de xuézǐmen jiānrěn chéngshí, Bú wèijù jiānxīn de láodòng; Rúguǒ nǐ tóunǎo jīngmíng, Huò xǔ huì jìn zhìhuì de lǎo Lāwénkèláo, Nà xiē ruìzhì bóxué de rén, Zǒng huì zài nàlǐ yùjiàn tāmen de tóngdào; Yě xǔ nǐ huì jìn Sīláitèlín, Yě xǔ nǐ zài zhèli jiāoshang zhēnchéng de péngyǒu, Dàn nà xiē jiǎozhà yīnxiǎn zhī bèi què huì bù xī yíqiè shǒuduàn, Qù dádào tāmen de mùdì. Lái dàishang wǒ ba! Bú bì hàipà! Qiānwàn bú yào jīnghuāng shīcuò! Zài wǒ de shǒulǐ (jinguǎn wǒ lián yìzhī shǒu yě méi yǒu) nǐ juéduì ānquán Yīnwèi wǒ shì yīdǐng huì sīxiǎng de mómào! |
The translation is highly literal.
Word play is missed or ignored (except for the obvious 'You're in safe hands'). 'I'll eat myself' is translated quite literally, and so is 'I'm a thinking cap'.
The translator mistranslates 'if you can find / A smarter hat than me' as 'A prettier hat than me'.
'You can keep your bowlers black' is misinterpreted. In English this has two peculiar rhetorical devices:
'You can keep your bowlers' = 'I don't need any bowlers'.
'Bowlers black' = 'black bowlers'.
The meaning is thus 'I don't need any fancy black bowlers, thank you very much!'. The translator translates it as 'you can put your bowlers in a black and shiny condition'.
When the Sorting Hat talks about 'your bowlers' or 'your top hats' in English, it doesn't mean that the bowlers and top hats literally belong to the audience. The Sorting Hat is simply saying that he doesn't need those bowlers and top hats that people think are so fancy. Nevertheless, the Chinese translator faithfully and tediously translates every 'your' and 'yours' in the song. (This device exists in Chinese, but in this case the rendition smacks of translationese.)
Conjunctions:
In the following lines, the Mainland translator inserts a 'but' (indicated in italics), as though the last two lines are a caution about seeking friends in Slytherin:
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
But those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
This adds a nuance missing from the English.
In the final line 'For I'm a Thinking Cap!', the 'for' serves no real purpose. It is simply a conventional means of expression. The translator faithfully translates 'You're in safe hands because I'm a Thinking Cap!' In reality, there is no logical causative connection at all.
As a final point, the Mainland translator appears to have cribbed heavily from the Taiwanese translation.
| Traditional Chinese (Taiwan) | |
| 喔，你們大概覺得我不夠漂亮， 千万別用外表來評斷一切， 要是你們能找到一頂比我更聰明的帽子， 我就自己把自己給吞得精光。 你們大可讓你的圓頂禮帽漆黑如墨， 讓你的高頂絲帽高挺又閃亮， 我可是霍格華茲的分類帽， 自然比它們更炫更棒。 你們腦袋裡藏了些什麼念頭， 全部逃不過分類帽的銳利法眼， 所以戴上我吧，我將會告訟你們， 你們應該分到哪一個學院。 你也許是屬於葛來分多， 那裡有著蘊藏在內心深處的勇氣， 他們的勇敢、活力和騎士精神， 是葛來分多特有的最大利器； 你或許是屬於赫夫帕夫， 那裡的人既正直又忠貞， 耐力十足的赫夫帕夫學生誠實無欺， 且不畏任何勞苦艱辛； 若是你心思敏捷， 就可以進入智慧的老雷文克勞， 那些機智而博學的好學之士， 將會在這裡找到自己的同好； 或者你也可能會來到史萊哲林， 你可以在這兒遇到氣味相投的兄弟， 那些狡猾多謀的人將會不擇任何手段， 只求達到他們的目的。 所以戴上我吧！不要害怕！ 千萬不要心裡發毛！ 在我的手裡（雖然我連一隻手也沒有）你絕對安全， 因為我可是一頂會思想的帽帽！ |
| Wō, nǐmen
dàgài juéde wǒ bú gòu piàoliang, Qiānwán bié yòng wàibiǎo lái píngduàn yíqiè, Yàoshì nǐmen néng zhǎodǎo yīdǐng bǐ wǒ gèng cōngmíng de màozi, Wǒ jiù zìjǐ bǎ zìjǐ gěi tūn de jīngguāng. Nǐmen dà kě ràng nǐ de yuándǐng lǐmào qíhēi rǔ mò, Ràng nǐ de gāodǐng sīmào gāotǐng yòu shǎnliàng, Wǒ kě shì Huògéhuázì de fēnlèimào, Zìrán bǐ tāmen gèng xuan gèng bàng. Nǐmen nǎodài lǐ cáng le xiē shémo niàntóu, Quánbù tàobuguò fēnlèimào de ruìlì fǎyǎn, Suǒyǐ dàishang wǒ ba, wǒ jiāng huì gàosu nǐmen, Nǐmen yīnggāi fēndào něi yīge xuéyuàn. Nǐ yěxǔ shì shǔyú Gěláifēnduō, Nàlǐ yǒuzhe yùncáng zài nèixīn shēnchù de yǒngqì, Tāmen de yǒnggǎn, huólì hé qíshì jīngshén, Shì Gěláifēnduō tèyǒu de zuì dà lìqì; Nǐ huò xǔ shi 4 shǔyú Hèfūpāfū, Nàlǐ de rén jì zhèngzhí yòu zhōngzhēn, Nàilì shízú de Hèfūpāfū xuéshēng chéngshí wúqī, Qiě bú wèi rènhé láokǔ jiānxīn; Rě shì nǐ xīnsī mǐnjié, Jiù kěyǐ jìnrù zhìhuì de lǎo Léiwénkèláo, Nà xiē jīzhì ér bóxuw2 de hǎo xué zhī shì, Jiāng huì zài zhèlǐ zhǎodào zìjǐ de tónghǎo; Huòzhě nǐ yě kěnèng huì lái dào Shǐláizhélín, Nǐ kěyǐ zài zhèr yùdào qìwèi xiāngtóu de xiōngdì, Nà xiē jiǎohuá duōmóu de rén jiāng huì bù zé rènhé shǒuduàn, Zhǐ qiú dádào tāmen de mùdì! Suǒyǐ dàishàng wǒ ba! Bú yào hàipà! Qiānwàn búyào xīnlǐ fāmáo! Zài wǒ de shǒulǐ (suīrán wǒ lián yīzhī shǒu yě méi yǒu) nǐ juéduì ānquán, Yīnwèi wǒ kě shì yīdǐng sīxiǎng de màomào! |
Most of the points that apply to the Mainland translation also apply to the Taiwanese.
However, there are several changes made by the Mainland translator to the Taiwanese translation that are not necessarily improvements:
'I'll eat myself': the Taiwanese translator misses the hidden meaning ('I'll eat my hat'), but does jazz the Chinese up a little in compensation ('I'll eat myself right up!').
The Taiwanese translator does not mistake the meaning of 'if you can find / A smarter hat than me'.
| Japanese | |
| 私はきれいじゃないけれど 人は見かけによらぬもの 私をしのぐ賢い帽子 あるなら私は身を引こう 山高帽子は真っ黒だ シルクハットはすらりと高い 私はホグワーツの組分け帽子 私は彼らの上をいく 君の頭に隠れたものを 組分け帽子はお見通し かぶれば君に教えよう 君が行くべき寮の名を グリフィンドールに行くならば 勇気あるものが住う寮 勇猛果敢な騎士道で 他とは違うグリフィンドール ハッフルパフに行くならば 君は正しく忠実で 忍耐強く真実で 苦労を苦労と思わない 古き賢きレイブンクロー 君に意欲があるならば 機智と学びの友人を ここで必ず得るだろう スリザリンではもしかして 君はまことの友を得る どんな手段を使っても 目的遂げる狡猾さ かぶってごらん！恐れずに！ 興奮せずに、お任せを！ 君を私の手にゆだね（私は手なんかないけれど） だって私は考える帽子！ |
| Watashi
wa kirei ja nai keredo Hito wa mikake ni yoranu mono Watashi o shinogu kashikoi bōshi Aru nara watashi wa mi o hikō Yamataka-bōshi wa makkuro da Shiruku hatto wa surari to takai Watashi wa Hoguwātsu no kumi-wake bōshi Watashi wa karera no ue o iku Kimi no atama ni kakureta mono o Kumi-wake bōshi wa o-mitōshi Kabureba kimi ni oshieyō Kimi ga iku-beki ryō no na o Gurifindōru ni iku naraba Yuki aru mono ga sumau ryō Yūmō kakan na kishidō de Hoka to wa chigau Gurifindōru Haffurupafu ni iku naraba Kimi wa tadashiku chūjitsu de Nintai-zuyoku shinjitsu de Kurō o kurō to omowanai Furuki kashikoki Reibunkurō Kimi ni iyoku ga aru naraba Kichi to manabi no yūjin o Koko de kanarazu eru darō Surizarin de wa moshikashite Kimi wa makoto no tomo o eru Donna shudan o tsukatte mo Mokuteki togeru kōkatsu-sa Kabutte goran! Osorezu ni! Kōfun sezu ni, o-makase o! Kimi o watashi no te ni yudane (watashi wa te nanka nai keredo) Datte watashi wa kangaeru bōshi! |
The Japanese translator is not as guilty of overly literal translation as the Chinese.
'I'll eat myself' is translated as the rather lame 'I'll withdraw'.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
is translated simply and effectively as
Bowler hats are pitch black,
Top hats are long and tall.
It is very difficult to translate the rhythms and devices of English verse into Japanese, and vice versa. The Japanese translation is very prosaic and tends to fall flat. One wonders whether this flatness could have been avoided in some places by, for instance, writing Watashi wa karera no ue o iku / Hoguwātsu no kumi-wake bōshi sa!, instead of the lame Watashi wa Hoguwātsu no kumi-wake bōshi / Watashi wa karera no ue o iku.
| Vietnamese | |
| Ờ này, ta dẫu không xinh Nhưng mà chớ xét ngoại hình. Xét về thông minh, sắc xảo Đố nón nào qua mặt ta. Các ngươi cứ đội nón hoa. Mũ cối, mũ nồi tùy thích Không sao, ta đây chấp hết Nón ta: phân loại Hogwarts Những điều giấu chẳng nói ra Ta đọc được từ trong óc Hãy chải đầu và vuốt tóc Đặt lên, ta nói cho nghe Người nào vô Gryffindor Cái lò luyện trang dũng cảm Người nào vô Hufflepuff Nơi đào tạo kẻ kiên trung Khó khăn chẳng khiến ngại ngùng Đáng tin, đúng người chính trực Ai vào Ravenclaw được Nơi đào luyện trí tinh nhanh? Vừa ham học lại chân thành Hoặc Slytherin cũng thế Dạy cho đa mưu túc trí Làm sao miễn đạt mục tiêu Hãy đội lên! Hãy đội nào! Đừng sợ sệt, nghe ta nói Nghe ta nói, ta phân loại Ngươi là ai, ở nhà nào Hãy bình tĩnh, đội lên nào Trong vành nón như tay ấm. |
The Vietnamese translator reworks the song rather liberally, avoiding the worst excesses of the Chinese translators. Instead of 'bowler hats' and 'top hats', we get 'mũ cối' and 'mũ nồi' (PLA hats and green berets!).
This method of translation neatly sidesteps 'I'll eat myself', which does not need to be translated at all. The pun 'You're in safe hands' is translated as 'inside the brim of my hat it's like warm hands'.
Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve and chivalry
Set Gryffindor's apart
is translated simply as 'Gryffindor where bravery is forged'.
Arguably, this is a better translation than the others because it is natural, concise, and is good enough to stand on its own as a ditty in Vietnamese.
| Mongolian (1) | |
|
"Буй дүр минь базаахгүй ч гэлээ |
| Bui dür minii bazaakhgüi ch gelee Baalj öölööd khereggüi shüü. Nadaas öödtei malgai olood irvel Navtarkhai biyee taschaad khayan. Khar toortsog chinii khadgalj khyamgadlaa ch Khairtai degjiŋ shovoodoigoo gangalj chi degjilseŋ bailaa ch Bi bol Khogvardiiŋ khuvaar'lagch malgai Bügdiig bi tergüülekh bolon Yalgadag malgai bi kharj chadakhgüi Yaakhav tolgoi chin khoosoŋ bailaa ch Khelüülekh züilgüi tolgoidoo tav' namaig Khaan baikh yostoig chinii kheleed ögiye bi Zorigtoŋ zürkhteŋ tsuglakh Grifindort chi orj bolon Gagtskhüü tednii zorig zürkh uujim setgel Busdaas chamaig ontsgoiruulan Baskhüü chi ünench shudrag Khafflyepaft ch orj bolon Ted itgeltei tevcheertei khödölmörch zaŋtai Tegekhdee chi ukhaalag mergeŋ Ravyenklougiiŋkh ch baij bolokh Tednees butakhgüi ukhaaŋtai bol ch Tolgoi sergeleŋ surakh durtai kheŋ bükheŋ Tednii dundaas naizaa olon Esvel chi Slizyerind orokh bolov uu Ednii dundaas jinkhen naizaa olj bolon shüü Ee dee en ovjin nökhdüüd üü Sanasandaa khürekhiiŋ tuld ted ch Sanaand oromgüi bükhniig khereglen. Za tegeed namaig ömsötsgöö Zovoltgüi shüü büü ai büü sandar Nadad gar baikhgüi gelee Naidvartai gart baina shüü Ta Bi chinii boddog Bi chinii setgedeg Malgai bain. |
| Mongolian (2) | |
|
Хархад би царай муухай ч |
| Kharkhad bi tsarai muukhai ch Kharsaŋ züileeree dügnekh khereggüi Khariŋ nadaas ukhaaŋtai malgai baival Khar'uud n bi ööriigöö idekhees butsakhgüi. Bürkh khar malgai, degjiŋ öndör bortog Bügt nadaas goyomsog baij bolokh ch Bi Khogvartsiiŋ khuvaar'lagch malgai Bügdees n khol ilüü. Khünii bodol sanaanuudaas Kharj chadakhgüi züil ch nadad negeekheŋ ch ügüi, Kherev namaig ömsööd üzvel Khaan orokhiig chin kheleed ögiye. Er zorigtnuud surdgaaraa aldartai Erelkheg Griffindort orj bolon, Zorig zürkh n Griffindoriig Zailshgüi bükhnees ontsgoi bologdog. Ajil khödölmöröös aidaggüi khüŋ Ashid mönkh Khafflpaftai kholbogdon, Tiim khümüüs ünekheer tevcheertei Tegeed ch ünench shudargaaraa zartai. Ukhaaŋ bodol chin khorts bol Uujim aldartai Reivyenklod oron, Unshikh medekhiig khüsseŋ kheniig ch Ugtaj avan, tend. Magadgüi zarim n Slizyerind ochvol Margashgüi ünench nökhörteigöö uulzan, Ovjin zal'tai ukhaalag kheŋ ch mend Olj, medekh geseŋ bükhnee khürtdeg yum. Aij emeelgüi namaig ömsööd üz! Almairch sandarsnii khereggüi! Itgeltei gart orsoŋ shüü! Iim ukhaalag malgai nadad büü ergelz! |
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