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One of the greatest formative experiences of my life preceded Harry Potter, though it informed much of what I subsequently wrote in those books. This revelation came in the form of one of my earliest day jobs. Though I was sloping off to write storeies during my lunch hours, I paid the rent in my early 20s by working in the research department at Amnesty International's headquarters in London.
想象力使我隨后寫書有了很多的想法，但對我影響最深遠(yuǎn)的經(jīng)歷發(fā)生在寫《哈利·波特》之前。這種影響源于我早期的工作經(jīng)歷。在剛二十幾歲的時候，為了付房租，我在倫敦大赦國際總部的調(diào)查部門工作，但我可以在午餐時間偷偷溜出去寫小說。
There in my little office I read bastily scribbled letters smuggled out of totalitarian regimes by men and women who were risking imprisonment to inform the outside world of what was happening to them. I saw photographs of those who had disappeared without trace, sent to Amnesty by their desperate families and friends. I read the testimony of torture victims and saw pictures of their injuries. I opened handwritten, eye-witness accounts of summary trials and executions, of kidnappings and rapes.
在那狹小的辦公室里，我看著從集權(quán)主義政體偷運出來的信件。寫這些信件的人，為了讓外界知道他們那里所發(fā)生的事情冒著被監(jiān)禁的危險，用潦草的字跡匆匆寫下他們的遭遇，然后再將信件寄給我們。我看過那些由絕望的家人和朋友寄來的無跡可尋的人的照片。我讀過被嚴(yán)刑拷打的受害者的證詞并看了他們遍體鱗傷的圖片。我打開過目擊者的手記，描述了對于綁架和強(qiáng)奸案的審判和處決。
Many of my co-workers were ex-political prisoners, people who had been displaced from their homes, or fled into exile, because they had the temerity to speak against their government. Visitors to our office included those who had come to give information, or to try and find out what had happened to those who they had left behind.
我的很多同事以前都是政治犯，因為他們敢于批判政府，所以被趕出家門，或被放逐海外。來我們辦公室的訪客，包括那些前來提供信息的，或想方設(shè)法知道那些留下的同志發(fā)生了什么事的人。
I shall never forget the African torture victim, a young man no older than I was at the time, who had become mentally ill after all he had endured in his homeland. He trembled uncontrollably as he spoke into a video camera about the brutality inflicted upon him. He was a foot taller than I was, and seemed as fragile as a child. I was given the job of escorting him back to the underground station afterwards, and this man whose life had been shattered by cruelty took my hand with exquisite courtesy, and wished me future happiness.
我永遠(yuǎn)不會忘記那個非籍酷刑受害者，一個當(dāng)時還沒我大的年輕男子，他因在故鄉(xiāng)的經(jīng)歷而精神錯亂。在攝像機(jī)前講述被殘暴地摧殘的經(jīng)歷時，他的身體止不住地顫抖。他比我高一英尺，但看上去卻像個孩子一樣脆弱。隨后我遵照組織的安排護(hù)送他到地鐵站時，這名人生已遭到殘酷摧毀的男子彬彬有禮地握著我的手，祝我未來幸福。
