In 1997, J.K. Rowling published Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. But most of her audience didn't actually read that book; they read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone or...
1997年，J.K. 羅琳出版了《哈利波特：賢者之石》（註一）。但其實大部分的讀者都沒有讀這個版本；他們讀的是《哈利波特：神秘的魔法石》，或...
Harry Potter a L'École des Sorciers
（法文版）《哈利波特：神秘的魔法石》
Harry Potter va Sang-e Jadu
（波斯文版）《哈利波特：神秘的魔法石》
Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal
（西班牙文版）《哈利波特：神秘的魔法石》
The bewitching Harry Potter books have reached readers in over 200 territories and over 60 languages. The authorized translations came from separate publishing houses with little oversight from the author. So translators were not only tasked with adapting the text from English into their target languages and cultures but also making assumptions about Rowling's intentions and translating the spirit of her approach. Their task was particularly challenging because the Harry Potter series is filled with invented words, alliteration, wordplay, and British culture references.
天馬行空的《哈利波特》系列在 200 多個城市發行，被翻譯成 60 多種語言。官方譯本由不同的出版社負責，很少與作者對接。因此，譯者不僅要將英文原文翻譯成目標語並在地化，還要猜測羅琳的用意，保留她用字遣詞的精隨。這項任務異常艱辛，因為《哈利波特》系列裡滿滿都是自創詞、押頭韻、文字遊戲以及英式文化指涉。
The main characters' first names—Harry, Hermione, and Ron—mostly stayed the same across languages with small changes to accommodate different alphabets and phonetics. That's easy enough for conventional names like Harry Potter, but many of the other proper names in the books carry loaded meanings—meanings that would be lost if it's not translated. Take Severus Snape, the name invokes severity and sounds like "snake." So, the Italian translator made the jump and named him Severus Piton, which is basically "python." In French, he's Severus Rogue, which means Severus "Arrogance." As you can tell, both solutions sacrificed Rowling's alliteration.
主角群的名字－－哈利、妙麗與榮恩－－在大部分語言中都採直接音譯，只有因應不同的字母和發音微調。處理哈利波特這種一般的名字，這麼做就夠用了，但很多書中的專有名詞都有寓意－－要是沒譯出來，弦外之音就會消失。像是賽佛勒斯．石內卜（Severus Snape），他的名字有刻薄（severity）之意，發音近似於「蛇（snake）」。所以義大利譯者大膽改成 Severus Piton，Piton 基本上是指「python（巨蟒）」。在法文中，他叫做 Severus Rogue，意思是賽佛勒斯．「自大（arrogance）」。就像你看到的，兩種解法都犧牲掉羅琳押頭韻的巧思。
The name "Hogwarts" combines two English words, but because the names stay the same in most languages, those connotations were lost for those readers. In an attempt to preserve Rowling's approach to the school's name, the French translator used "Poudlard." "Pou du lard" means "slice of bacon or fat." The Hungarian version went with "Roxfort," a mix of the British university Oxford and Roquefort, a well-known blue cheese. The house names and founders also experienced unique changes in some of the target languages. In Catalan, the names became: Nícanor Griffindor, Sírpentin Slytherin, Mari Pau Ravenclaw, and Hortensia Hufflepuff.
「霍格華茲（Hogwarts）」是由兩個英文單字組成，但大部分的版本都採音譯法，所以讀者無從得知這層涵義。為了保留羅琳在校名上的手法，法文譯者改成「Poudlard」。「Pou du lard」意思是「一片培根或脂肪」。匈牙利的版本則是「Roxfort」，取自英國牛津大學（Oxford）和羅克福乾酪（Roquefort），一種很有名的藍紋乳酪。學院名稱和創辦人在有些語言中也有巧妙的更動。在加泰隆語中，創辦人的名字變成：Nícanor Griffindor、Sírpentin Slytherin、Mari Pau Ravenclaw 和 Hortensia Hufflepuff（註二）。
There is a ton of wordplay that happens in the Harry Potter books as well. The famous Diagon Alley, a play on the word "diagonally" and the infamous Knockturn Alley from "nocturnally." This type of pun is a real puzzle for translators, and most dropped it in favor of literal translations. The Spanish translator was able to at least rhyme with "Callejón Diagon." And translators had several approaches to Quidditch, an invented game made from the invented words Quaffle, Bludger, and Snitch—the three types of balls used in the game. In Spanish, the words were not changed. The French translator kept the word Quidditch but changed the names of the balls. And others changed the game's name altogether. In Dutch, Quidditch is "Zwerkbal." In Norwegian, it's "Rumpeldunk."
《哈利波特》裡也有一堆文字遊戲。大家熟知的斜角巷（Diagon Alley），就取自「對角地（diagonally）」，惡名昭彰的夜行巷（Knockturn Alley）則來自「夜裡地（nocturnally）」。這類型的雙關讓譯者很困擾，所以最後大家都乾脆只照字面翻譯。西班牙文譯者至少還有押韻，翻譯成「Callejón Diagon」。各國譯者對魁地奇也有不同的處理方式，魁地奇是書中虛構的比賽，包含快浮、搏格以及金探子－－三種自創的球種。西班牙文保留原本的名字。而法文譯者保留「魁地奇」，但改了用球名稱。其他版本的則是連遊戲名稱都一起改了。在荷蘭文中，魁地奇變成「Zwerkbal」。挪威版則變成「Rumpeldunk」。
O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, standardized tests in the wizarding world, weren't always able to retain their animal acronyms. But in Swedish, their implied meanings remained while the wording was changed. O.W.L.s became Grund Examen i Trollkonst or G.E.T, meaning "goat" in Swedish. And N.E.W.T.s were changed to Fruktansvart Utmattande Trollkarls Test or F.U.T.T., derived from "futtig" meaning "measly or mean."
普等巫測（O.W.L.s）和超勞巫測（N.E.W.T.s）是魔法世界裡的標準考試，縮寫的動物雙關也沒能保留在其他語言之中（註三）。不過瑞典文保留了它背後的涵義，更動了用字。O.W.L.s 變成了 Grund Examen i Trollkonst，縮寫 G.E.T 為瑞典文中的「山羊」。N.E.W.T.s 被改成 Fruktansvart Utmattande Trollkarls Test，縮寫 F.U.T.T. 取自「futtig」，意思是「可憐的、嚴厲的」。
The infamous anagram of Tom Marvolo Riddle's name was altered by many translators to achieve the same revelation of "I am Lord Voldemort." In Danish, Tom is named "Romeo G. Detlev Jr." And in French, he is "Tom Elvis Jedusor," which was extra clever because "Jeu du sort" means "fate riddle."
湯姆．魔佛羅．瑞斗的重組字謎也是出了名的難翻，很多譯者為了呈現重組後的句子「我是佛地魔」，也有所調整。丹麥文中，湯姆的名字變成「Romeo G. Detlev Jr.」。法文則變成「Tom Elvis Jedusor」，這個譯法很精妙，因為其中的「Jeu du sort」意思是「災厄瑞斗」。
Culturally, the Harry Potter series is unmistakably British, but translating that for a global group of readers wasn't easy. Some food items were changed to make them less foreign to the target country. Sherbet lemons, a popular candy item in Britain, became krembo, a chocolate covered sweet from Israel. Crisps became chips in the U.S., and in the Arabic version, bacon became eggs.
就文化來說，《哈利波特》系列的確走英式風格，但要翻譯給全球的讀者可就不容易了。其中有些食物就為了讓該地讀者好理解而更改。像是檸檬雪寶，這款很受歡迎的英國糖果，就變成了「krembo」，以色列的一種巧克力糖。英式英文的「crisps（薯條）」改成美式的「chips」，阿拉伯文版中，培根變成了雞蛋。
Sometimes a foreign setting undergoes translation too. For the Ukrainian translation, the atmosphere of an English boarding school was swapped out for an orphanage. In the books and films, Hagrid has a provincial West Country accent.
有時場景設定也會因地制宜。烏克蘭文版中，英國的住宿學院風搖身一變成了孤兒院風。在小說版和電影版中，海格操著一口英國西南部的腔調。
No? Blimey Harry, didn't you ever wonder where your mum and dad learned it all? You're a wizard, Harry.
不？我的老天哈利，你難道不好奇你爸媽在哪學的嗎？哈利，你是個巫師啊。
For the Japanese translations, it was replicated by using Tōhoku dialect, which is a pastoral accent from northeastern Japan. Other translators chose to have Hagrid simply speak more informally, while others dropped his accent entirely.
日文版裡使用了東北方言來重現，這是一種日本東北的鄉下腔調。其他譯者則讓海格的講話方式更隨興一點，還有些版本則是直接忽略腔調不譯。
Despite translators' best efforts to remain true to the text, some things still were lost in translation. In the mainland Chinese editions of Harry Potter, there were footnotes to explain puns and cultural references. The Spanish translator sometimes used italics to signal an invented word with no translation.
雖然譯者盡可能忠於原文，但翻譯中某些東西還是會不見。像是哈利波特簡中版裡，書中用註腳來解釋雙關和文化詞彙。西班牙文譯者有時則是保留原本的自創詞彙，改用斜體字表示。
But in the end, it doesn't matter if you're reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone or the many translations of it. One thing that always seems to translate is the love fans around the world share for tales of "The Boy Who Lived."
總而言之，無論你是讀原版的《哈利波特：賢者之石》，還是翻譯版本都沒關係。有一件事似乎歷久不衰，也就是全球粉絲對「那個活下來的男孩」這個故事的喜愛。
註一：《Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone》是哈利波特第一集的原始書名，後來我們讀到的都是《Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone》。
註二：原文中創辦人的名字為 Godric Gryffindor、Salazar Slytherin、 Rowena Ravenclaw 和 Helga Hufflepuff。
註三：普等巫測的縮寫為 O.W.L.s，對應到貓頭鷹（owl）；而終極巫測的縮寫為 N.E.W.T.s，對應到蠑螈（newt）。
- 「為了、試圖」- in an attempt to
In an attempt to preserve Rowling's approach to the school's name, the French translator used "Poudlard."
為了保留羅琳在校名上的手法，法文譯者改成「Poudlard」。 - 「一大堆的」- a ton of
There is a ton of wordplay that happens in the Harry Potter books as well.
《哈利波特》裡也有一堆文字遊戲。
