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At the age of one year old, Harry had somehow survived a curse from the greatest Dark sorcerer of all time,
哈利一歲時，居然在遭到伏地魔詛咒之后幸存下來。
Lord Voldemort, whose name most witches and wizards still feared to speak.
伏地魔是有史以來最厲害的黑巫師，大多數女巫和男巫都不敢提到他的名字。
Harry’s parents had died in Voldemort’s attack, but Harry had escaped with his lightning scar,
哈利的父母就死在這個黑巫師手下，可是哈利大難不死，只留下了這道閃電形傷疤。
and somehow — nobody understood why — Voldemort’s powers had been destroyed the instant he had failed to killHarry.
而且，不知怎的，好像自那個惡毒的咒語在哈利身上失靈之后，伏地魔的魔力就被摧毀了。
So Harry had been brought up by his dead mother’s sister and her husband.
所以，哈利是由他的姨媽和姨父養大的。
He had spent ten years with the Dursleys, never understanding why he kept making odd things happen without meaningto,
他在德思禮家住了十年，一直搞不懂他為什么能在無意中導致一些古怪的事情發生，
believing the Dursleys’ story that he had got his scar in the car crash that had killed his parents.
因為德思禮一家只說他的父母死于車禍，他的傷疤也是在車禍中留下的。
And then, exactly a year ago, Hogwarts had written to Harry, and the whole story had come out.
一年前，霍格沃茨魔法學校寫信給哈利，他才了解到自己的身世。
Harry had taken up his place at wizard school, where he and his scar were famous . . .
他上了魔法學校，在那里他和他的傷疤赫赫有名……
but now the school year was over, and he was back with the Dursleys for the summer,
可現在學年結束了，他回到德思禮家過暑假，
back to being treated like a dog that had rolled in something smelly.
他們把他當成一條在邋遢地方打過滾的狗來對待。
The Dursleys hadn’t even remembered that today happened to be Harry’s twelfth birthday.
德思禮一家忘記了這一天恰好是哈利的十二歲生日。
Of course, his hopes hadn’t been high; they’d never given him a real present,
當然，哈利也沒有寄予多大的希望，他們從來不會送他什么像樣的禮物，
let alone a cake — but to ignore it completely . . .
更別提生日蛋糕了——但是，完全忘掉未免……
At that moment, Uncle Vernon cleared his throat importantly and said,
正在這時，弗農姨父煞有介事地清了清嗓子，說道：
“Now, as we all know, today is a very important day.”
“我們都知道，今天是個非常重要的日子。”
Harry looked up, hardly daring to believe it.
哈利抬起頭，簡直不敢相信自己的耳朵。
“This could well be the day I make the biggest deal of my career,” said Uncle Vernon.
“今天我可能會做成平生最大的一筆交易。”弗農姨父說。
Harry went back to his toast.
哈利低下頭繼續吃面包片。
Of course, he thought bitterly, Uncle Vernon was talking about the stupid dinner party.
當然啦，他怨忿地想，弗農姨父是在講那個愚蠢的晚宴。
He’d been talking of nothing else for two weeks.
他兩星期來張口閉口說的都是這件事。
Some rich builder and his wife were coming to dinner and Uncle Vernon was hoping to get a huge order from him (Uncle Vernon’s company made drills).
一個有錢的建筑商和他妻子要來吃晚飯，弗農姨父希望那人能訂他一大筆貨（弗農姨父的公司是做鉆機的）。
“I think we should run through the schedule one more time,” said Uncle Vernon.
“我想我們應該把晚上的安排再過一遍，”弗農姨父說，
“We should all be in position at eight o’clock. Petunia, you will be — ?”
“八點鐘大家應該各就各位。佩妮，你應該——？”
“In the lounge,” said Aunt Petunia promptly,
“在客廳里，”佩妮姨媽應聲說，
“waiting to welcome them graciously to our home.”
“等著親切地歡迎他們光臨。”
“Good, good. And Dudley?”
“很好，很好。達力？”
“I’ll be waiting to open the door.” Dudley put on a foul, simpering smile.
“我等著給他們開門。”達力堆起一副令人惡心的做作笑容，
“May I take your coats, Mr. and Mrs. Mason?”
“我替你們拿著衣服好嗎，梅森先生和夫人？”
“They’ll love him!” cried Aunt Petunia rapturously.
“他們會喜歡他的！”佩妮姨媽欣喜若狂地說。
“Excellent, Dudley,” said Uncle Vernon.
“好極了，達力。”弗農姨父說，
Then he rounded on Harry. “And you?”
然后他突然轉向哈利，“那么你呢？”
“I’ll be in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending I’m not there,” said Harry tonelessly.
“我待在我的臥室里，不發出一點兒聲音，假裝我不在家。”哈利聲調平板地回答。
“Exactly,” said Uncle Vernon nastily.
“不錯。”弗農姨父惡狠狠地說，
“I will lead them into the lounge, introduce you, Petunia, and pour them drinks. At eightfifteen —”
“我將把他們帶到客廳里，引見你——佩妮，并給他們倒飲料。八點一刻——”
“I’ll announce dinner,” said Aunt Petunia.
“我宣布開飯。”佩妮姨媽說。
“And, Dudley, you’ll say —”
“達力，你要說——”
“May I take you through to the dining room, Mrs. Mason?” said Dudley,
“我領您上餐室去好嗎，梅森夫人？”達力說，
offering his fat arm to an invisible woman.
一面把他的胖胳膊伸給那位看不見的女士。
“My perfect little gentleman!” sniffed Aunt Petunia.
“多標準的小紳士！”佩妮姨媽吸著鼻子說。
“And you?” said Uncle Vernon viciously to Harry.
“你呢？”弗農姨父兇巴巴地問哈利。
“I’ll be in my room, making no noise and pretending I’m not there,” said Harry dully.
“我待在我的臥室里，不發出一點聲音，假裝我不在家。”哈利無精打采地說。
“Precisely. Now, we should aim to get in a few good compliments at dinner. Petunia, any ideas?”
“對了。現在，我們還應該在餐桌上說一些贊美的話。佩妮，你有什么建議嗎？”
“Vernon tells me you’re a wonderful golfer, Mr. Mason. . . .
“梅森先生，弗農跟我說您高爾夫球打得棒極了……梅森夫人，
Do tell me where you bought your dress, Mrs. Mason. . . .”
請告訴我您的衣服是在哪兒買的……”
“Perfect . . . Dudley?”
“非常好……達力？”
“How about — ‘We had to write an essay about our hero at school, Mr. Mason, and I wrote about you.’ ”
“這樣行不行：‘梅森先生，老師要我們寫一寫自己最崇拜的人，我就寫了您。’”
This was too much for both Aunt Petunia and Harry.
這可讓佩妮姨媽和哈利都無法承受。
Aunt Petunia burst into tears and hugged her son,
佩妮高興得眼淚直流，緊緊摟住兒子，
while Harry ducked under the table so they wouldn’t see him laughing.
哈利則把頭藏到了桌子底下，怕他們看到他大笑的樣子。
“And you, boy?”
“你呢，哈利？”
Harry fought to keep his face straight as he emerged.
哈利直起身，努力繃住臉。
“I’ll be in my room, making no noise and pretending I’m not there,” he said.
“我待在我的臥室里，不發出一點聲音，假裝我不在家。”
“Too right, you will,” said Uncle Vernon forcefully.
“這就對了。”弗農姨父用力地說，
“The Masons don’t know anything about you and it’s going to stay that way.
“梅森夫婦根本不知道你，就讓這種情況保持下去。
When dinner’s over, you take Mrs. Mason back to the lounge for coffee, Petunia,
佩妮，晚飯之后你領梅森夫人回客廳喝咖啡，
and I’ll bring the subject around to drills.
我將把話題引到鉆機上。
With any luck, I’ll have the deal signed and sealed before the news at ten.
要是走運的話，在十點鐘的新聞之前我就可以把簽字蓋章的協議拿到手。
We’ll be shopping for a vacation home in Majorca this time tomorrow.”
明天這個時候我們就能選購在馬喬卡的別墅了。”
Harry couldn’t feel too excited about this.
哈利并不怎么興奮，
He didn’t think the Dursleys would like him any better in Majorca than they did on Privet Drive.
他不認為德思禮一家到了馬喬卡就會比在女貞路多喜歡他一點兒。
“Right — I’m off into town to pick up the dinner jackets for Dudley and me. And you,” he snarled at Harry.
“好——我去城里拿達力和我的禮服。你呢，”他對哈利吼道，
“You stay out of your aunt’s way while she’s cleaning.”
“不要在你姨媽洗衣服的時候去礙手礙腳。”
