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CHAPTER ONE THE WORST BIRTHDAY
第一章 最糟糕的生日
Not for the first time, an argument had broken out over breakfast at number four, Privet Drive.
這天，女貞路四號的早餐桌上又起了爭執(zhí)。
Mr. Vernon Dursley had been woken in the early hours of the morning by a loud, hooting noise from his nephew Harry’s room.
一大早，弗農(nóng)德思禮先生就被他外甥哈利屋里的一陣高聲怪叫吵醒了。
“Third time this week!” he roared across the table.
“這星期是第三次了！”他隔著桌子咆哮，
“If you can’t control that owl, it’ll have to go!”
“如果你管不住那只貓頭鷹，就讓它滾蛋！”
Harry tried, yet again, to explain.
哈利再次試圖解釋。
“She’s bored,” he said. “She’s used to flying around outside.
“它悶得慌，它在外面飛慣了，
If I could just let her out at night —”
要是我可以在晚上放它出去……”
“Do I look stupid?” snarled Uncle Vernon,
“你當(dāng)我是傻子啊？”弗農(nóng)姨父大吼道，
a bit of fried egg dangling from his bushy mustache.
一絲煎雞蛋在他濃密的胡子上晃蕩著。
“I know what’ll happen if that owl’s let out.”
“我知道把一只貓頭鷹放出去會有什么后果。”
He exchanged dark looks with his wife, Petunia.
他和他妻子佩妮陰沉地交換了一下眼色。
Harry tried to argue back but his words were drowned by a long, loud belch from the Dursleys’ son, Dudley.
哈利想反駁，但他的話被表哥達力一聲又長又響的飽嗝淹沒了。
“I want more bacon.”
“我還要一些臘肉。”
“There’s more in the frying pan, sweetums,” said Aunt Petunia, turning misty eyes on her massive son.
“煎鍋里有的是，寶貝，”佩妮姨媽眼眶濕潤地看著她的大塊頭兒子說道，
“We must build you up while we’ve got the chance. . . .
“我們要抓緊時間把你養(yǎng)胖……
I don’t like the sound of that school food. . . .”
學(xué)校的伙食讓我聽著不舒服……”
“Nonsense, Petunia, I never went hungry when I was at Smeltings,” said Uncle Vernon heartily.
“胡說，我在斯梅廷上學(xué)時從沒餓過肚子。”弗農(nóng)姨父情緒激烈地說，
“Dudley gets enough, don’t you, son?”
“達力吃得不差，是不是，兒子？”
Dudley, who was so large his bottom drooped over either side of the kitchen chair, grinned and turned toHarry.
達力胖得屁股上的肉都從座椅的兩邊掛了下來。他咧嘴一笑，轉(zhuǎn)身對哈利說道：
“Pass the frying pan.”
“把煎鍋遞過來。”
“You’ve forgotten the magic word,” said Harry irritably.
“你忘了說咒語。”哈利惱火地說。
The effect of this simple sentence on the rest of the family was incredible:
這樣簡單的一句話，對家中其他人產(chǎn)生了不可思議的影響。
Dudley gasped and fell off his chair with a crash that shook the whole kitchen;
達力倒吸一口冷氣，從褥子上栽了下來，整個廚房都被震動了；
Mrs. Dursley gave a small scream and clapped her hands to her mouth;
德思禮太太尖叫一聲，迅速捂住嘴巴；
Mr. Dursley jumped to his feet, veins throbbing in his temples.
德思禮先生跳起來，太陽穴上青筋暴露。
“I meant ‘please’!” said Harry quickly.
“我的意思是‘請’！”哈利連忙說，
“I didn’t mean —”
“我不是指——”
“WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU,” thundered his uncle, spraying spit over the table,
“我沒跟你說嗎，”姨父厲聲怒斥，唾沫星子濺到了桌上，
“ABOUT SAYING THE ‘M’ WORD IN OUR HOUSE?” “But I —”
“在我們家不許說那方面的詞！”“可我——”
“HOW DARE YOU THREATEN DUDLEY!” roared Uncle Vernon, pounding the table with his fist. “I just —”
“你怎么敢威脅達力！”弗農(nóng)姨父捶著桌子咆哮道。 “我只是——”
“I WARNED YOU! I WILL NOT TOLERATE MENTION OF YOUR ABNORMALITY UNDER THIS ROOF!”
“我警告過你！我不能容忍你在我家里提到你的特異功能！
“All right,” said Harry, “all right . . .”
“好吧，”哈利說，“好吧……”
Uncle Vernon sat back down, breathing like a winded rhinoceros and watching Harry closely out of the cornersof his small, sharp eyes.
弗農(nóng)姨父坐了下來，像一頭氣短的犀牛一樣喘著粗氣，那雙精明的小眼睛緊瞟著哈利。
