All the original English quotations have been taken from British version, Bloomsbury 2000,ISBN 0 7475 4634 7. All the Chinese quotations have been taken from the Chinese People’s Literature Publishing House (hereafter referred to as LPH) version, September 2000, ISBN 7-02-003345-8.
The format of this essay is:
O: quotation of the original with page number;
T:
quotation of the corresponding translation with page number, followed by English re-translation or an explanation;
C:
comment;
FC:
further comment if necessary.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Chapters
Chapter 1
1)
O 13: It had happened when the car the two of them had been flying to Hogwarts had crashed into a tree in the school grounds.
T 6: 那次他们两人一起乘车到霍格沃茨去，车撞到了学校禁林的一棵树上，魔杖就此折断了。The other time they went to Hogwarts together by car, the car hit a tree in the Forest, the wand had been snapped since.
C: [‘by car’: mistranslated，not mentioning the fact that the car was flying; a tree in the Forest: mistranslated]
FC: {Rowling tried to give some background information for those readers who have not read the first two books, which was done very badly by LPH’s translation. Perhaps they had never read Book II, as they did not know how Harry and Ron got to school at the beginning of the book. This was actually one of the most important events, having far-reaching effects on later stories. The Whopping Willow was never in the Forest. The location of the Whopping Willow would be very important for the further story in this book.}
2)
O 14: I hope it’s not too long, it’s two rolls of parchment more than Professor Binns asked for.
T : omitted.
C: [ I hope it’s not too long, it’s two rolls of parchment more than Professor Binns asked for. A full sentence omitted]
FC: {This is a very important sentence for the image and characterisation of Hermione, an omission is a disaster}
3)
O 15: One of Harry’s most prized possessions was his Nimbus Two Thousand racing broom.
T 7: 哈利最心爱的三件宝物之一就是他的光轮 2000 飞天扫帚。One of Harry’s three most prized treasures was his Nimbus Two Thousand racing broom.
C: [We find out later in the book that Harry's prized possessions were The Broom, The Map and The Invisibility Cloak, but the term ‘three treasures’ is not found in the original English, it was invented by LPH themselves, and the Map had not even made an appearance at this point!]
FC: {Perhaps LPH thought they were smart bringing in the three prized possessions before the original. Confusing readers.}
Chapter 2
4)
O 26: Harry was trying to remember page twelve of his book: A Charm to Cure Reluctant Reversers.
T 17 : 哈利努力回忆手册第十二页的内容: 纠正脑子不愿拐弯的魔咒。 Harry was trying hard to remember page twelve of his book: A Charm to Cure Reluctant Quick Thinking of Human Brains.
C: [A ridiculous mistranslation: how could a service kit for brooms help cure problems in the human brain?]
Chapter 3
5)
O 30: For a Split second, Harry wondered if he had been knocked silly by his fall. Then a conductor in a purple uniform leapt out of the bus and began to speak loudly to the night.
T : omitted.
C: [For a Split second, Harry wondered if he had been knocked silly by his fall. Then a conductor in a purple uniform leapt out of the bus and began to speak loudly to the night. A whole paragraph omitted]
FC: {There are 35 English words in this paragraph, while there are 4416 words in whole Chapter 3. That makes, alone, 0.79% of mistranslation rate, or 7.9 out of 1,000, which is nearly 4 times of the upper-bound of the mistranslation rate allowed!} {I’ve heard there is a well-accepted upper-bound of mistranslation rate of 2 out of 1,000}
6)
O 34: the magical community lives in fear of a massacre like that of twelve years ago, when Black murdered thirteen people with a single curse.
T 23: 而魔法界人士时刻担心一年前的大屠杀会再现，当年布莱克用一句魔咒就杀了十三条人命。 The magical community lives in fear of a massacre like that of one year ago, when Black murdered thirteen people with a single curse.
C: [‘twelve’ mistranslated]
FC: {This resulted in confused context, seriously misleading readers}
7)
O 36: Aberdeen.
T 25: 人文社脚注: 阿伯丁，英国一旧郡名。 Footnote from LPH: Aberdeen, the name of a previous county in the UK.
C: [A previous county certainly means the county no more exists]
FC: {misleading readers}
8)
O 39: "Last year, I got an official warning just because a house-elf smashed a pudding in my uncle's house!"
T 27: ‘去年，只不过因为我姨父家里的小精灵弄坏了一块布丁，我就受到了一次正式警告！ "Last year, I got an official warning just because a house-elf belonging to my uncle’s family damaged a pudding!"
C: [house-elf translated differently from previous version ； Smashed not translated fully correctly ； official omitted ； a house-elf…in my uncle's house mistranslated]
FC: {All house-elves belong to wizard families with long history, while Dursleys are one of the most Mugglish families. Misleading readers}
Chapter 4
9)
O 45: it showed a black dog large as a bear,
T 33: 封面上有一条狗，差不多有熊那么大， It showed a dog, almost as big as a bear,
C: [black omitted]
FC: {Disastrous omission, as the dog transfigured by Black was black, and Black’s name was Black. The omission of one single word leads to the loss of very useful information}
10)
O 47: "You're Muggle- born! Your mum and dad are Muggles! You already know all about Muggles!"
T ranslation : omitted.
["You're Muggle- born! Your mum and dad are Muggles! You already know all about Muggles!" All three sentences were omitted]
11)
O 50: "Would we get a reward if we caught him?" asked Ron. "It'd be good to get some more money --"
T 37: ‘ 如果我们抓到了他，会给我们奖赏吗？’ 哈利问道。 ‘能拿到点钱是很好的 ——’ "Would we get a reward if we caught him?" Asked Harry. "It'd be good to get some more money --"
C: [asked Ron. Mistranslated.]
FC: {It is Ron’s characterisation to weigh money a bit, not Harry’s, thus LPH misled readers and damaged both Harry’s and Ron’s characterisation}
12)
O 50: "Don't be ridiculous, Ron," said Mr Weasley,
T 37: ‘ 别胡说，哈利， ’ 韦斯莱先生说，"Don't be ridiculous, Harry," said Mr Weasley,
C: [Ron Mistranslated]
FC: {This mistake came together with the last one. The strangest is how could LPH made the same mistake twice in two successive sentences. This also marred the image and characterisation of Mr Weasley: he would never criticise Harry like that}
13)
O 51: "That's enough, now," said Mrs Weasley.
T 38: ‘够了，喏。’ 韦斯莱先生说。 "That's enough, now," said Mr Weasley.
C: [Mrs Weasley Mistranslated. In Weasley family, this kind of things were normally dealt with by Mrs Weasley; Mr Weasley respected Mrs Weasley’s opinion, and quite often kept quiet. Toward Percy, Mrs Weasley was very proud of, while Mr Weasley might have some reservation.]
FC: {It’s hard to understand how LPH could make this kind of mistake three times within two pages, which should not be made by people who have learnt English for one month. }
14)
O 51: "Second Head Boy in the family!" she said, swelling with pride.
"And last," Fred muttered under his breath.
T 38: ‘这个家里的第二个男生头儿！ ’ 她说，自豪得很。
‘ 好不容易啊。’弗雷德低声说。‘Second Boys Leader in the family!" she said, swelling with pride.
"So very difficult," Fred muttered under his breath.
C: [And last mistranslated]
FC: {Failed to show the characterisation of Fred as in the original: looking down to the traditional value of wizarding community. This was a useful preparation for the twins to go for business}
15)
O 52: "Well, as we haven't got one anymore," said Mr. Weasley,
T 39: ‘唔，因为我们部里就有两部车啊， ’ 韦斯莱先生说，‘ Well, because there are only two cars in the Ministry,’
C: [Whole sentence misunderstood]
FC: {How could LPH make such a learner’s mistake? Let alone a ministry had got only two cars? In addition, there was the problem to connect the plot with Book II, where the car of Weasley family got crushed; therefore they did not have a car any more.}
16)
O 53: and that's supposed to be impossible.
T 40: 这件事常人是做不到的。 This is not what a common person could do.
C : [impossible mistranslated]
FC: { the extent of difficulty to escape from Azkaban was not described fully, this leads to less readers’ involvement, also it was damaging the image of Black.}
17)
O 54: "We've got it," Fred whispered to Harry. "We've been improving it."
T 41: ‘ 我们找到了徽章， ’弗雷德对哈利耳语道， ‘ 我们已经把它改良了。 ’ "We've found it," Fred whispered to Harry. "We've been improving it."
C: [We've got it mistranslated]
FC: {The characterisation of twins was not fully expressed by this translation}
Chapter 5
18)
O 57: Mr. Weasley marched Harry across the short stretch of pavement,
T 43: 韦斯莱先生强迫哈利穿过短短的一段人行道， Mr. Weasley forced Harry across the short stretch of pavement,
C : [marched mistranslated ]
FC: {LPH distorted the characterisation of both Mr Weasley and Harry: Mr Weasley would never force Harry to do anything; Harry would not be forced to do anything, without at least protesting. Even Voldemort and Dumbledore could not force him. In Book VI, Chapter 7, an Auror tried to protect Harry by taking his arm, but Harry got rid of that immediately, saying: I can go myself, thank you. This was really Harry! }
19)
O 57: ……though Harry noticed that they could slide through gaps that Uncle Vernon's new company car certainly couldn't have managed.
T 43: 但哈利注意到这两辆车都可以滑过地面上的裂缝，而弗农姨父公司的新车肯定是做不到的。 ……though Harry noticed that they could slide through gaps on the ground, that the new car from Uncle Vernon's company couldn't have managed.
C : [traffic gaps became gaps on the ground,]
FC: {Misleading and confusing}
20)
O 60: "But they'll catch him, won't they?" said Hermione earnestly. "I Mean, they've got all the Muggles looking out for him too...."
T 46: ‘但是他们会抓住他的，是不是？ ’ 赫敏真诚地说， ‘ 我的意思是，他们已经叫所有的麻瓜去找他了 ……’ "But they'll catch him, won't they?" said Hermione earnestly. "I Mean, they've got all the Muggles trying to find him too...."
C: [they've got all the Muggles looking out for him too mistranslated]
FC : {the original was distorted. Misleading readers: Governments in Western countries pay much attention to protect ordinary citizens. It is not recommended for the public to deal with dangerous prisoners, although they are asked to provide information}
21)
O 65: "There's something moving out there," Ron said. "I think people are coming aboard...."
T 49: ‘ 那儿有什么东西在动， ’ 罗恩说， ‘ 我猜人们在往外走 ……’ "There's something moving there," Ron said. "I think people are going out...."
C: [Coming aboard was translated to the opposite meaning. Guess aboard was misread as abroad ;]
FC: {plot broken}
22)
O 67: "I thought you were having a fit or something," said Ron,
T 51: ‘ 我想你是吓着了或者是别的什么， ’ 罗恩说， ……"I thought you were frightened or something," said Ron,
C: [a fit mistranslated]
FC: {Affecting the characterisation of Harry. In later text Lupin explained the reason Harry was weak with the Dementors, his fit had nothing to do with bravery}
23)
O 73: …… retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs.
T 56: …… 去年年底退休了，以便有更多时间和他剩下的小淘气在一起。 …… retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining naughty little ones.
C: [Apparently the professor had been bullied by Magical Creatures a lot, there might be quite a few of his limbs injured. Hagrid mentioned in later text that ‘he got enough’.]
FC: {LPH managed to find a most unlikely meaning from all the meanings of ‘limbs’ to baffle readers}
24)
O 74: "Coming through, coming through!" Percy called from behind the crowd. "The new password's 'Fortuna Major'!"
T 57: ‘获得成功，获得成功！ ’ 帕西从人群后面叫道， ‘ 新口令是吉星高照！ ’ ‘Successful, successful!’ Percy called from behind the crowd. "The new password's 'Fortuna Major'!"
C : [‘coming through’ simply means ‘here, here, I’m coming.’ I really can’t find any reason how it could be translated as in LPH’s version]
Chapter 6
25)
O 75: TALONS AND TEA LEAVES
T 58: 猎鹰和茶叶 Falcons And Tea Leaves
C : [Another disastrous translation from LPH. There’re two major events in this chapter: Buckbeak’s talons hurt Malfoy; and Prof Trelawney found Grim from tea leaves to predict Harry’s death. Both events closely linked to further development of the book. LPH mistranslated the title of a chapter, misleading readers.]
FC: {Now I understand, LPH misread ‘TALONS’ as ‘FALCONS’}
26)
O 80: "Now, I want you all to divide into pairs.…… "
T 62: ‘现在，我要你们大家分成两组。 …… "Now, I want you all to divide into two groups.…… "
C: [into pairs mistranslated]
FC: {Unthinkable mistake. Damaging plot}
27)
O 84: It was harder to feel scared of a lump of tea leaves away from the dim red light and befuddling perfume of Professor Trelawney's classroom.
T 66: 现在，要被特里劳妮教授的教室里那种令人迷惑的香气、模糊的红色光线，再加上一团茶叶吓着，似乎困难一点了。 It was harder to feel scared by a lump of tea leaves, by the dim red light, and by befuddling perfume of Professor Trelawney's classroom.
C: [LPH didn’t understand this long sentence]
28)
O 85: "You didn't seem quite so confident when you were telling Harry it was a sheep," said Hermione coolly.
T: omitted
C: ["You didn't seem quite so confident when you were telling Harry it was a sheep," said Hermione coolly. A whole paragraph omitted]
29)
O 88: "Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."
T 68: ‘ 永远不要得罪鹰头马身有翼兽，因为这可能是你最不愿意做的事情。 ’ "Don't never offend a Hippogriff, 'cause it might be a thing yeh do not like to do the most ."
C: [LPH didn't understand the meaning of Hagrid’s sentence: a Hippogriff can kill]
FC: {Disappointed to LPH’s ability of understanding}
30)
O 88: " Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. "
T 68: ‘ 你向它走去，你鞠躬，然后你等着。 ’ " Yeh walk toward it, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. "
C: [Hagrid loved big-sized Magical Creatures. Calling one ‘him’ is something to show his characterisation. This, unfortunately, was understood by LPH as late as in Book VI, even then they also often forgot]
FC: {Damaging Hagrid’s characterisation}
31)
O 88: "Good man, Harry!" roared Hagrid. "Right then -- let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak."
T 69: ‘ 好样的，哈利！ ’ 海格叫道， ‘ 好，让我们看看你和那头叫巴克比克的怪兽相处得怎么样。 ’ "Good man, Harry!" roared Hagrid. "Right then -- let's see how yeh get on with the beast called Buckbeak."
C: [Hagrid would never called any Magical Creature as ‘the beast called such and such’. ‘The beast called…’ was added by LPH]
FC: {LPH added words, tampered the original, and damaged the characterisation of Hagrid}
Chapter 7
32)
O 95: "who knows if my arm'll ever be the same again?"
T 74: 如果我的胳臂再也不能恢复原状，谁知道会怎么样啊？’ “Who knows what may happen, if my arm can never be the same again?”
C: [LPH didn’t understand how ‘if’ works in the original]
33)
O 103: His first thought was Lord Voldemort -- a Voldemort returned to full strength.
T 80: 他首先想到的是伏地魔 —— 眼前出现了和真人一般大小的伏地魔。 His first thought was Lord Voldemort -- a Voldemort the same size of his real self appeared in his sight.
C: [a Voldemort returned to full strength totally misunderstood]
FC: {Very interesting that LPH could make a mistake in such a reasonable way }
34)
O 106: "What would it have been for you?" said Ron, sniggering. "A piece of homework that only got nine out of ten?"
T 83: ‘ 你怕的是什么呢？ ’ 罗恩窃笑着说， ‘ 太过简单的家庭作业吗？ "What would it have been for you?" said Ron, sniggering. "A piece of homework that is too simple?"
C: [nine out of ten mistranslated]
FC: {How could ever?}
Chapter 8
35)
O 108: Oliver Wood, Captain of the Gryffindor team, called a meeting on Thursday evening to discuss tactics for the new season.
T 85: 一个星期二晚上，格兰芬多队的队长奥利弗 · 伍德召集了一次会议，讨论新赛季的战术。 Oliver Wood, Captain of the Gryffindor team, called a meeting on Tuesday evening to discuss tactics for the new season.
C: [Thursday mistranslated]
FC: {What interests me very much is, in Books V (Chapter 38) and VI (Chapter 11) LPH also translated Thursday as Tuesday. Either their English is so poor thy don't know the meaning of Thursday, or they deliberately translated it wrongly for some unknown reason(s) }
36)
O 109: Wood rumbled, glaring at Harry with a kind of furious pride.
T 86: 伍德低沉地说，以一种狂怒而骄傲的神气瞪眼看着哈利。 Wood rumbled, glaring at Harry with fury and pride.
C: [How come Wood be ‘furious’ to Harry?]
FC: {Damaging the image and characterisation of Wood}
37)
O 111: He barely talked to her all through Herbology, even though he, Harry, and Hermione were working together on the same puffapod.
T 88: 在整个草药课上，他几乎没有和赫敏说话，尽管他、哈利和赫敏是三个人一组进行实验的。He barely talked to her all through Herbology, even though he, Harry, and Hermione were working together as a group.
C: [on the same puffapod omitted]
FC: {As puffapod is a word created by Rowling, LPH chose not to translate it, and smuggled something of their own instead}
38)
O 111: "How's Scabbers?" Hermione asked timidly as they stripped fat pink pods from the plants……
T 88: ‘ 斑斑怎么样了？ ’ 赫敏胆怯地问道，此时他们正在剥豆荚， ……"How's Scabbers?" Hermione asked timidly as they were peeling pods.
C: [This sentence directly follows (37). LPH insisted their mistake in (37), didn’t translate ‘fat pink’ and ‘from the plants’]
FC: {To me, combining (37) and (38), omitting ‘puffapod’ was done deliberately }
39)
O 112: "- and she can't have been dreading it, because it's come as a real shock --"
T 89: ‘—— 而且她不可能一直在担心这件事，因为这件事让她真正震惊 ——’ "- and she can't have been dreading it, because it makes her feel really shocked--"
C: [In LPH’s Chinese version they didn’t translate the logic of Hermione fully to make readers understand. I don’t know if they understood it themselves]
40)
O 113: She turned to look at him, with an odd expression on her face. Was it pity?
T 89: 她回身看着他，脸上有一种古怪的表情。 She turned to look at him, with an odd expression on her face.
C: [Was it pity? Whole sentence omitted]
FC: {A miserable omission, a lot of information lost by this}
41)
O 115: ……he climbed a staircase, thinking vaguely of visiting the Owlery to see Hedwig,
T 91: 他登上一道楼梯，迷迷糊糊地想着是不是到猫头鹰栖息出没的地方去看看海德薇， ……he climbed a staircase, thinking dreamily of visiting where owls lived and lingered to see Hedwig ,
C: [the Owlery mistranslated]
FC: {LPH should give Owlery a proper name}
42)
O 116: "Sit down," said Lupin, taking the lid off a dusty tin. "I've only got teabags, I'm afraid -- but I daresay you've had enough of tea leaves?"
T 92: ‘ 坐下， ’ 卢平说，揭开垃圾桶的盖子， ‘ 我只有袋泡茶，恐怕 —— 不过我敢说你对茶叶已经觉得够烦的了吧？ ’ "Sit down," said Lupin, taking the lid off a dust bin. "I've only got teabags, I'm afraid -- but I daresay you've had enough of tea leaves?"
C: [the lid off a dusty tin mistranslated]
FC: {Disastrous mistake. Damaging characterisation of both Lupin and Harry: Although Lupin was poor, I don’t believe he would offer Harry tea made from tea bags from a dust bin; although Harry respected Lupin a lot, I don’t believe he would take any tea made from tea bags from a dust bin. }
43)
O 120: Dumbledore took one quick look at the ruined
painting and turned, his eyes sombre, to see Professors McGonagall, Lupin, and
Snape hurrying toward him.
"We need to find her,"
said Dumbledore. "Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr. Filch at once and
tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."
T 95: 邓不利多对被损坏的画迅速地看了一眼。 ‘ 麦格教授，请马上到费尔奇那里去，告诉他在城堡里每幅画上寻找那位胖夫人。 ’Dumbledore took one quick look at the ruined painting. "Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr. Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."
C: [and turned, his eyes sombre, to see Professors McGonagall, Lupin, and Snape hurrying toward him. "We need to find her," said Dumbledore. All omitted]
FC: {Two successive paragraphs were omitted a half each. The calmness and sombreness of Dumbledore are gone. Plot broken}
44)
O 121: "Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen.
T 95: ‘ 不好意思，校长先生。不想被人看见。 ……’; ‘Me ashamed, Mr Headmaster, sir. Don’t like to be seen.— ’
C: [Peeves was talking about Fat Lady, while LPH translated as about himself. ‘Your Headship’ was not translated properly]
FC: {LPH failed to show Peeves’ oily manner}
Chapter 9
45)
O 129: "Very poorly explained... That is incorrect, the kappa is more commonly found in Mongolia.... Professor Lupin gave this eight out of ten? I wouldn't have given it three...."
T 103: ‘ 解释得很差劲 ……这说得不对，卡巴在蒙古更多 ……卢平教授说是十分之八？我说十分之三都不到 ……’ "The explanation is poor... That is incorrect, there are more kappas in Mongolia.... Professor Lupin said eight tenths? I would say less than three tenths...."
C: [gave this eight out of ten? I wouldn't have given it three.... totally mistranslated as the fractions of Kappas somewhere, instead of marks given to a certain student]
46)
O 129 - 130: Harry and Hermione left the room with the rest of the class, who waited until they were well out of earshot, then burst into a furious tirade about Snape.
T 103: 哈利和赫敏与班上其他同学一起离开了教室，赫敏等到大家走得都听不见了，才大声怒骂起斯内普来。Harry and Hermione left the room with the rest of the class. Hermione waited until they were well out of earshot, then burst into a furious tirade about Snape.
C: [Who were swearing Snape? It shouldn’t be Hermione, but the others in the class. It should be noted that Hermione didn’t swear at all]
FC: {Distorting Hermione’s characterisation}
47)
O 130: "I don't know," said Hermione pensively.
T 103: ‘ 我不知道， ’ 赫敏忧郁地说，"I don't know," said Hermione melancholily.
C: [pensively mistranslated]
FC: {Disastrous mistake. In later text (O253 ）Hermione mentioned that she had known Lupin was a werewolf since she did the essay for Snape. Apparently at this time she was considering this question, but she needed more evidence to be sure. The hint and reader’s involvement were kicked back to Edinburgh by LPH’s translation}
48)
O 133: An eerie silence was falling across the stadium.
T 106: 跑道周围台阶式看台上出现了一片因胆怯而产生的寂静；A silence caused by cowardliness appeared on the stands around the tracks.
C: [Ridiculous mistranslation. Can’t understand how it was made]
49)
O 134: Someone was screaming, screaming inside his head... a woman...
T 106: ……有人在呻吟，在他头部里面呻吟 …… 一个妇女 ……Someone was moaning, moaning inside his head... a woman...
C: [screaming mistranslated]
FC: {This is a scene going through the whole series, of vital importance. Two different versions would almost certainly confuse readers. It was also damaging the image of Lily. It’s damaging the whole skeleton of the books} {Ironically all other ‘screamings’ were correctly translated by LPH, including those on the following page}
50)
O 134 - 135: The lightning – the Grim -- the Snitch -- and the dementors...
T 107: 那闪电 …… 那阴郁无情 …… 那金色飞贼 …… 还有那摄魂怪 …… The lightning – the gloom and mercilessness-- the Snitch -- and the dementors...
C: [the Grim mistranslated from its original meaning]
FC: {Confusing readers}
51)
O 135: Harry put his face to his knees, his hands gripping his hair. Fred grabbed his shoulder and shook it roughly.
T 108:哈利把脸埋在两膝之间，两手抓住头发。弗雷德抓住哈利的肩膀，粗暴地摇着。 Harry put his face to his knees, his hands gripping his hair. Fred grabbed his shoulder and shook it violently.
C: [Treating a patient violently when visiting him?]
FC: {Distorting the image of Fred}
Chapter 10
52)
O 139: "Did you hear about the dementors too?" said Harry with difficulty.
T 112: ‘你也听说了那些摄魂怪？’ "Did you hear about the dementors too?"
C: [said Harry with difficulty. The whole sentence was omitted]
FC: {Damaging Harry ’s characterisation. He didn’t want to show his weak side to anybody; therefore it was hard for him to confess it to Lupin. }
53)
O 140: Dumbledore won’t let them into the school, so their supply of human prey has dried up……
T 113: ‘邓不利多不让它们进入学校，所以供给它们的人类牺牲品就用完了 ……’ Dumbledore won’t let them into the school, so their human sacrifice provided to them has dried up……
C: [supply of human prey mistranslated]
FC: {Disastrous: in the translation it sounds there were human beings eaten by dementors, but actually they didn’t eat people’s physical bodies, they just sucked spiritual ‘materials’ }
54)
O 140: ……but they don't need walls and water to keep the prisoners in, not when they're all trapped inside their own heads, incapable of a single cheery thought. Most of them go mad within weeks."
T 113: ‘……但是那里不需要用围墙和水来关犯人，因为犯人都在它们的掌握之中，犯人不会有最简单的思想。多数犯人几周之内就疯了。’ ……but they don't need walls and water to keep the prisoners in, as the prisoners are all in their grips, the prisoners won’t have the simplest thought. Most of them go mad within weeks."
C: [they're all trapped inside their own heads mistranslated ； a single cheery thought mistranslated]
FC: {This is the first precise description about Azkaban in this series. A mistranslation will influence the readers badly}
55)
O 143: Harry snorted. He doubted whether Fred and George had ever been innocent.
T 115: 哈利鼻子里哼了一声。他怀疑弗雷德和乔治是否天真过。 Harry snorted. He doubted whether Fred and George had ever been simple and unaffected.
C: [innocent mistranslated]
FC: {Fred and George were good in nature, and from their behaviours they have a simple and unaffected side. They were good friends of Harry, Harry understood them well. Distorting all three’s characterisation}
56)
O 145: The tiniest speech bubble had appeared next to his figure. The word inside said, "Dissendium."
T 117: 地图上的哈利旁边出现了最小的泡沫组成的咒语: ‘ 左右为难 ’ 。 Next to his figure on the map a charm formed by the tiniest foams appeared: ‘can’t decide which way’.
C: [speech bubble mistranslated ； Dissendium mistranslated]
57)
O 148: "But what about Sirius Black?" Hermione hissed. "He could be using one of the passages on that map to get into the castle! The teachers have got to know!"
T 119: ‘ 但是布莱克呢？ ’ 赫敏咬着牙齿说， ‘ 他可以利用这张地图上的一条通道进入城堡！老师们一定会知道！ ’ "But what about Sirius Black?" Hermione hissed. "He could be using one of the passages on that map to get into the castle! The teachers must have known already!"
C: [The teachers have got to know! Mistranslated]
FC: {Misleading readers, making further talk hard to understand}
58)
O 153: "I met him!" growled Hagrid. "I musta bin the last ter see him before he killed all them people! It was me what rescued Harry from Lily an' James's house after they was killed! ……"
T 123: '我遇到过他！' 海格吼道，’在他杀死许多人以前，我一定是最后见到他的人！在那些人都被杀死以后，是我从詹姆和莉莉的家里把哈利救出来的！ ……‘ "I met him!" growled Hagrid. "I musta bin the last ter see him before he killed all them people! It was me what rescued Harry from Lily an' James's house after those people were killed! ……"
C: [Serious mistranslation. Wrong time line]
FC: {Confusing readers}
59)
O 154: "But he didn't manage to disappear, did he?…… "
T 129: ‘ 但是他没有想办法躲起来啊，是不是？ ’ "But he didn't try to disappear, did he?…… "
评论: ['manage' mistranslated, making the whole sentence different and the whole story here has a different flavour too]
Chapter 11
60)
O 160: Further discussion of Sirius Black plainly wasn't what Ron had had in mind.
T 129: 进一步讨论布莱克显然不是罗恩和赫敏心里愿意的事。Further discussion of Sirius Black plainly wasn't what Ron and Hermione had had in mind.
C: [‘and Hermione’ was added by LPH deliberately]
FC: {Apparently LPH thought Hermione should had the same idea as Ron, however in the context it was Ron who led this conversation, therefore Hermione should not be included, consequently it distorts the original. In addition, even if the original author was wrong, translators should never add words just plainly as it was, they should by someway declare it, otherwise there is a lack of respect to the original author}
61)
O 162: They had never seen eye to eye with Hagrid about what he called "interesting creatures" and other people called "terrifying monsters."
T 130: 他们还从来没有和海格一起面对面地看过这个被海格称为 ‘有趣的动物 ’ 而被其他人称之为 ‘可怕的怪物 ’ 的东西。 They had never, with Hagrid together, looked face to face at what he called "interesting creatures" and other people called "terrifying monsters."
C: [The meaning of this whole sentence gone totally by the translation]
FC: {Miserable disaster. Totally misunderstood the original, lost the important difference in opinion between Harry, Ron, Hermione and Hagrid. Actually this difference in opinion going through the whole series, is an important reason for many events}
62)
O 163: crossing his fingers under the table.
T 131: 一面在桌子下面交叉手指告诉上帝自己是在说谎。 At the same time crossing his fingers under the table to tell God he was lying.
C: [crossing his fingers mistranslated]
FC: {I don’t know where LPH found such a translation. They were too lazy to check and find a good interpretation}
63)
O 164: "Long as they've got a couple o' hundred humans stuck there with 'em, so they can leech all the happiness out of 'em, they don' give a damn who's guilty an' who's not."
T 132: ‘ 它们早就弄了二百来个人和它们在一起，它们能把这些人的快乐完全吸干，它们才不在乎谁有罪谁没罪呢。 ’ "They've got several hundred humans stuck there with 'em for a long time, so they can leech all the happiness out of 'em, they don' give a damn who's guilty an' who's not."
C: [‘Long as’ is the Hagrid version of ‘as long as’, which LPH failed to realise, therefore the translation of the whole sentence is troublesome]
FC: {Confusing readers}
64)
O 168: and a sullen-faced Slytherin fifth year.
T 135: 和一个脸色阴沉的斯莱特林六年级学生。 and a sullen-faced Slytherin sixth year.
C: [ fifth mistranslated]
FC: {Perhaps they used the rules of British English in counting floors. Funny} {the way in China in counting floors is the same as that in America}
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