《哈利•波特與魔法石》賞析(1)

Chapter One The Boy Who Lived

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.

Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.

The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.

When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair. None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.重點講解：

privet 女貞（植物）n.

the last... 最不可能的
Tom is the last student to finish his homework on time. 所有學生中Tom 是最不可能按時完成作業的。

be involved in something 與某事有牽連，捲入某事
I don't want to get involved in your trouble. 我不想捲入到你們的麻煩中。

hold with something (用於否定或疑問句) 同意，贊成
I don't hold with the use of force. 我不贊成使用武力。
We don't hold with letting children watch as much TV as they want. 我們不贊成讓孩子們無限制地看電視。

beefy adj. (人或身體) big or fat

blonde adj. (頭髮)金色的 n. 金髮女郎

come in 可以等同於become 或者become available

crane n. 起重機
vi. (爲看得清楚而)探着身子；伸長脖子
People were craning out of the windows and waving. 人們把身子探出窗外，揮舞着手。

spy n. 間諜/ vi. 暗中監視、偵查、刺探

bear vt. 承受，承擔

pretend vi. 假裝，裝作

good-fo-nothing 一無是處的

as unDursleyish as it was possible to be 可翻譯爲“一點都不像德思禮家的樣子”。

shudder vi./n. （因寒冷、害怕或激動）發抖，戰慄
I shuddered at the thought of all the trouble I’d caused. 一想到自己惹下的麻煩，我就戰慄不已。

dull adj. 乏味無聊的；昏暗的；陰沉的

hum vi. (蜜蜂等)發嗡嗡聲 ; 發哼哼聲 ; 哼曲子

gossip n. 閒話,聊天;流言蜚語 v. 閒談；八卦

wrestle v.與...摔跤; 用力搬動；全力對付

tawny adj. 黃褐色的，茶色的

flutter vi. （使）飄動，揮動，顫動 Flags fluttered in the breeze. 旗幟在風中飄動。
（鳥、蟲）拍翅

句子解讀

thank you very much 在這裏可以翻譯爲“拜託拜託了”，暗含一種諷刺。因爲從下文中我們會知道德思禮一家並不像他們自稱的那樣體面而又正派，只其實是很虛僞的一家子，實在讓人無語。第一章 大難不死的男孩

住在女貞路四號的德思禮先生及夫人，非常驕傲地宣稱自己是十分正常的人，拜託拜託了。他們絕不會捲入任何奇怪或神祕的事情，因爲他們對此總是嗤之以鼻。

德思禮先生是一家叫作格朗寧的鑽機工廠的老闆。他非常肥壯、結實，幾乎肥到沒有脖子，但卻有一把大鬍子。德思禮夫人則很瘦，一頭金髮。她的脖子有常人的兩倍那麼長，這使得她整天伸長脖子透過花園圍欄去偷窺鄰居家的動靜變得非常容易。德思禮夫婦有個兒子叫做達力。在他們眼中，這世界上再沒有比達力更棒的男孩了。

德思禮一家幾乎有他們想要的一切東西。但是他們也有一個祕密，而且他們最大的擔心就是有一天別人會發現這個祕密。如果有人知道關於波特一家的事，他們會受不了的。波特夫人是德思禮夫人的妹妹，但是她們已經有很多年沒有見面了。事實上，德思禮夫人假裝她從來沒有什麼妹妹，因爲她的妹妹和那不中用的妹夫沒有一絲一毫德思禮家族的風範。一想到波特一家的到來會招致鄰居的議論，德思禮一家就會渾身發抖。德思禮一家知道波特夫婦也有一個兒子，只是未曾謀面。這個小男孩也成了德思禮一家避開波特一家的藉口，因爲他們不希望聽話的達德里與這種小孩混在一起。

當德思禮先生和夫人在灰暗陰沉的星期二早晨醒來時，我們的故事便開始了。外面陰雲密佈的天空並不能預示着今天會有什麼離奇古怪的事情發生。德思禮先生一邊哼着小曲一邊挑了一條他最難看的領帶準備去上班，德思禮夫人則一邊口中叨唸着一邊把依依呀呀的達力塞進高椅子裏。誰也沒注意到這時有一隻巨大的褐色的貓頭鷹從窗外掠過。