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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix |
Chapter 25: The Beetle at Bay
(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) | 无奈的甲虫 Wúnài de jiǎchóng |
无奈
wúnài
= 'helpless, with no choice'. 的 de = connecting particle 甲虫 jiǎchóng = 'beetle'. |
The helpless beetle (the beetle with no choice) |
| Chinese (Taiwan) | 請『蟲』入彀 Qǐng 'chóng' rù gòu |
請
qǐng
= 'ask'. 蟲 chóng = 'insect'. 入 rù = 'enter' 彀 gòu = 'bow shooting range, trap'. |
Asking the 'insect' to enter a trap |
| Japanese | 追い詰められたコガネムシ Oi-tsumerareta kogane-mushi |
追い詰められた oi-tsumerareta =
'hunted into a corner' (past tense of 追い詰められる oi-tsumerareru,
passive of 追い詰める oi-tsumeru 'to corner'. Oi-tsumeru
is a compound verb, 追う ou 'chase' +
詰める tsumeru 'to cram, pack, put into a close space'). コガネムシ ko-gane-mushi = 'gold insect' = 'beetle'. |
The beetle chased into a corner |
| Vietnamese | Con bọ kẹt cánh | con
= classifier/measure word for living things bọ = 'insect, worm, flea'. kẹt = 'caught, stuck'. cánh = 'wing, door'. |
Insect with wings caught |
The 'Beetle' is the unscrupulous reporter Rita Skeeter, who turns herself into a beetle to eavesdrop on unsuspecting victims. Caught and trapped in a jar by Hermione in Book 4, Rita is now forced to do her bidding, or else be reported to the authorities for illegally changing shape. Hence, 'The Beetle at Bay'. 'At bay' refers to animals that have been hunted into a corner.
The Chinese translator represents Rita as a beetle who has no choice but to do what she is told.
The Taiwanese translator uses an expression meaning 'enter shooting range of a bow' or 'enter a trap'. While retaining the hunting image, the meaning (asking the beetle into a trap) is slightly different from the English.
The Japanese refers to an insect that has been hunted into a corner or 'cornered'. (Kogane-mushi is here written in katakana in preference to the Chinese characters 黄金虫.)
The Vietnamese appears to suggest an insect whose wings have been caught.
(A summary of this chapter can be found at Harry Potter Facts. Detailed notes on the chapter can be found at Harry Potter Lexicon)
 Chapter 24 |
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