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.
在女贞路4号的德斯里先生和太太非常自豪非常感谢的说他们非常正常。他们是最不想被卷进任何奇怪或者是神秘事件的人，因为他们根本不认可这种胡说八道。
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.
德斯里先生是格卢宁公司的主管，这个公司专门生产钻头。他是一个健壮如牛几乎没有脖子的男人，但他确实有非常多的胡子。德斯里夫人瘦瘦的金发碧眼的女人，并且她的脖子几乎是正常脖子两倍，这在她花了这么多的时间伸过篱笆“监视”邻居的时候非常有用。 德斯里夫妇有一个叫达利的小儿子，并且在他们看来哪儿也没有更好的孩子了。
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.
德斯里夫妇有他们想要的一切，但他们同样也有秘密，并且他们最大的恐惧就是一些人可能发现它。他们无法忍受有人发现波特夫人是德斯里夫人的妹妹，但是她们已经多年未见了，事实上德斯里夫人假装她没有这样一个妹妹，因为她的妹妹和她一无是处的丈夫尽可能的和德斯里一家不同。德斯里夫妇一想到当波特夫妇来到这这条街的时候邻居可能说什么就禁不住战栗。他们知道波特夫妇也有一个小儿子，但是却从没有见过。这个小男孩是另一个他们和波特夫妇保持距离的好理由，他们不想达利和这样的孩子混在一起。
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.
当德斯里夫妇在这个灰色的星期二也就是我们故事开始的时间慵懒的起床的时候，外面多云的天空没有任何迹象表明奇怪和神秘的事情将很快会在这个国家到处发生。德斯里先生一边找出他那最无聊的领带准备上班一边哼着小曲，而德斯里夫人一边愉快的说着闲话一边把尖叫的达利扔进了他的高凳子上。他们都没有注意到一个大的黄褐色的猫头鹰飞过窗户。
At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. “Little tyke,” chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four’s drive.
在八点半的时候，德斯里先生拿起了他的公文包，在德斯里夫人的脸颊上亲了一下，在想要给达利一个告别吻的时候却没有亲到，因为达利正在发脾气并且把他的燕麦扔到了墙上。“小调皮鬼”，德斯里先生一边咯咯的笑着一边离开了房子。他进了他的车然后从四号车道上退了出来。
It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar — a cat reading a map. For a second, Mr. Dursley didn’t realize what he had seen — then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn’t a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive — no, looking at the sign; cats couldn’t read maps or signs. Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.
那是在街道的拐角处他注意到了一些特别的事情的第一个信号——一只猫正在看地图。一时间德斯里先生没有意识到他看到了什么，以至于他又把头转过去再看了一遍。那儿有一只花斑猫站在女贞路的拐角处，但是看不到地图。他又能怎么想呢？这一定是光线的把戏罢了。德斯里先生眨了眨眼看向那只猫，那只猫也看了过来。当德斯里先生走过拐角上到路上的时候，他从车镜里又看向这只猫。它正在读写着女贞路的路牌，不，看着这个路牌，猫并不认识地图或者路牌。德斯里先生摇了摇自己然后把这只猫抛掷脑后了。当他向着小镇行驶的时候，除了他今天想要得到的一个钻头大单子别的什么也没想。
But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn’t help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks. Mr. Dursley couldn’t bear people who dressed in funny clothes — the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren’t young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt — these people were obviously collecting for something . . . yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.
但是在小镇边缘的时候，钻头被其它一些事情拽出了他的脑海。当他被困在一如既往的早高峰的交通阻塞的时候，他无法不注意到那儿有许多穿着奇怪的人，穿着长袍的人。德斯里先生无法忍受穿着奇特的人——那些你在年轻人身上才能看到的“盛装”。他猜这又是一些愚蠢的新潮流。他在方向盘上敲着他的手指，他的眼睛落在了这些站的实在太近的怪人身上。他们正在兴奋的一起低语。德斯里先生愤怒的看到其中一些人一点儿也不年轻。为什么？那个男人一定比他还大，并且穿着一个祖母绿的披风！他神经病吧！但是德斯里先生猛然意识到这可能是一些愚蠢的噱头——这些人明显正在收集什么......是的，他们一定是这样。交通开始移动了，几分钟之后，德斯里先生到达了格卢宁停车场，他的思绪重新回到了钻头。
Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn’t, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn’t see the owls swoop- ing past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he’d stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery.
德斯里先生经常在他九楼的办公室里背对着窗户坐。如果他不是这样坐的话，他应该会发现这个早上很难集中注意于钻头的事情。他没有看到大白天的这些猫头鹰俯冲而过，但是在下面街道上的人却看到了。他们指着、看着并且长大了嘴巴当猫头鹰一只接一只的从他们头顶高速飞过的时候。他们中的大部分人甚至在半夜的时候也从来没有见过一只猫头鹰。然而德斯里先生过了一个完全正常的、没有猫头鹰的早晨。他朝五个不同的人喊叫着。他打了几个很重要的电话，又喊了一会儿。他一直情绪高涨直到午餐时间，午餐时间是他觉得应该伸伸腿然后穿过马路去面包店给自己买一些圆面包的时候。
He’d forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker’s. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn’t know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn’t see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.
他本来会把那些穿长袍的人全忘记的，直到他在面包店的旁边经过了一群穿着披风的人。当他路过的时候愤怒的看着他们。他不知道为什么，但是他们让他很不舒服。这群人也在激动的低声交流，但是他一个收集罐也没有看见。那是在他返回经过这群人的时候，同时在包里抓着一个大的甜甜圈，他从他们正在说的话里捕捉到了几个单词。
“The Potters, that’s right, that’s what I heard —”
“— yes, their son, Harry —”
Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.
“波特一家，是的，那就是我听说的”
“——是的，他们的儿子，哈利——”
德斯里先生突然停住了，恐惧淹没了他。他回头看了看这些窃窃私语的人想要对他们说些什么，但后来改变了主意。
He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking . . . no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn’t such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn’t even sure his nephew was called Harry. He’d never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold. There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn’t blame her — if he’d had a sister like that . . . but all the same, those people in cloaks . . .
他跑着穿过道路，急急忙忙的进了他的办公室，对他的秘书厉声说不要打扰他，抓起了他的电话，就在马上拨完家里的号码的时候他改变了主意。他把听筒放了回去并摸了摸自己的胡子，考虑着......不，他太蠢了。波特不是什么不寻常的名字。他确定有不少姓波特的有个叫哈利的儿子。想想吧，他甚至不确定他的外甥是叫哈利。可能是哈维，或者是哈德。没有理由让德斯里夫人担心，任何时候提及她的妹妹她都是不开心。他不想责备他——如果他也有一个像那样的妹妹的话......但都一样，那些穿着披风的人......
He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o’clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.
德斯里先生发现那个下午很难再集中注意于钻头，并且在他下午五点离开这座建筑的时候，他仍然非常担心以至于他直直的撞进了刚好在门外的某人的怀里。
“Sorry,” he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn’t seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, “Don’t be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!”
“抱歉”他嘟囔着，在这个瘦老头摇晃着差点儿跌到地上的时候。德斯里先生没有第一时间意识到这个男人穿着一件紫罗兰色的披风。这个瘦老头看起来对自己差点被撞倒在地上一点儿也不生气。恰恰相反，他的脸上咧着一个大大的微笑，用让路人都注视了过来的声音大声说道：“不用感到抱歉，亲爱的先生，今天没有任何事能让我不开心！庆祝吧，为了‘你知道谁’终于离开了！甚至像你这样的麻瓜也应该庆祝，这个开心的，愉快的一天！”
And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.
然后这个老头从腰上抱了一下德斯里先生并且走开了。
Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn’t approve of imagination.
德斯里先生呆呆的站在那儿。他刚刚被一个完全不认识的人抱了一下。他甚至想到刚刚自己好像被叫做麻瓜，管它是什么意思吧。他有点儿惊慌失措，急忙忙的跑进他的车里然后向家里驶去，希望他只是在胡思乱想，这是他以前从来不希望的，因为他不赞成胡思乱想。
As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw — and it didn’t improve his mood — was the tabby cat he’d spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.
当他驶进四号车道的时候，他看到的第一个东西——这并没有使他的情绪好点儿——是她早上在这儿看见的那只花斑猫。它现在正坐在他花园的墙上。他非常确定这是同一只，因为在眼睛的周围有着同样大的标记。
“Shoo!” said Mr. Dursley loudly.
“Shuu!”德斯里先生大声的喊道。
The cat didn’t move. It just gave him a stern look. Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.
那只猫没有移动，只是给了他一个严肃的目光。这是正常猫的行为吗？德斯里先生奇怪道。他振作了一下精神，走进了房子里。他仍然决定不向他的妻子提任何事。
Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door’s problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word (“Won’t!”). Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:
德斯里夫人仍然过了一个好的正常的一天。晚餐的时候她一直在跟德斯里先生说隔壁夫人和她女儿之间的问题以及达利是如何学到一个新的单词“不要！”的。德斯里先生尽力表现得正常。当达利被放到床上之后，他很及时的进入了卧室以至于可以听到晚间新闻得最后一条播报。
“And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation’s owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern.” The newscaster allowed himself a grin. “Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?”
“最终，各地的鸟类观察者都报道了这个国家的猫头鹰今天不同寻常的行为。尽管猫头鹰一般是在晚上捕食并且很少在白天被看到，但是这已经有了数百个从黎明开始就被目击到的这些猫头鹰在往各个方向飞。专家们也不能解释为什么这些猫头鹰突然改变了他们的睡眠模式。”这个新闻播报员脸上笑了一下。“最神秘的现象。现在，转到吉姆·麦格芬的天气播报。吉姆，今天晚上还会有更多的神秘事件吗？”
“Well, Ted,” said the weatherman, “I don’t know about that, but it’s not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they’ve had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early — it’s not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight.”
“好吧，泰德”气候员说到，“关于这个我不知道，但是今天并不是只有猫头鹰的行为很奇怪。远至像肯特、纽约郡和邓迪的观察者也打电话给我说，他们那出现了大量的流星雨！而不是我昨天承诺的降雨。或许人们提前庆祝了篝火之夜——一直持续到下周，伙计们！但是我可以承诺今天晚上会比较潮湿。”
Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters . . .
德斯里先生呆呆的坐在他的椅子上。全英国的流星雨？猫头鹰在大白天飞？各地身着长袍的神秘人？还有一个窃窃私语，是关于波特......
Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He’d have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. “Er — Petunia, dear — you haven’t heard from your sister lately, have you?”
德斯里夫人端着两杯茶进了卧室。这不是个好事儿，他必须对她说点儿什么。他紧张的清了清嗓子。“呃——我亲爱的牵牛花——你最近没从你妹妹那听到什么吧？有吗？”
As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn’t have a sister.
正如他所期望的那样，德斯里夫人看起来又震惊又气愤。毕竟他们平时都假装没有妹妹。
“No,” she said sharply. “Why?”
“没有”她用急促的声音说道，“为什么这样问呢？”
“Funny stuff on the news,” Mr. Dursley mumbled. “Owls . . . shooting stars . . . and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today . . .”
“新闻里的一些趣事，”德斯里先生喃喃道，“猫头鹰......流星雨......还有今天镇上出现了许多看起来很滑稽的人......”
“So ?” snapped Mrs. Dursley.
“所以呢？”德斯里夫人叫道。
“Well, I just thought . . . maybe . . . it was something to do with . . . you know . . . her crowd.”
“呃，我就是想......或许......这与.......有关......你知道的......她们那群人。”
Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he’d heard the name “Potter.” He decided he didn’t dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, “Their son — he’d be about Dudley’s age now, wouldn’t he?”
德斯里先生抿了口茶，他正在想是否要壮着胆子告诉她自己听到的那个名字“波特”。他觉得他还是不敢。他尽可能说的时候表现得平静，“他们的儿子——他现在应该和达利的年龄差不多吧，是吗？”
“I suppose so,” said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.
“我想应该是”德斯里夫人呆呆的回到。
“What’s his name again? Howard, isn’t it?”
“他叫什么来着？霍华德，是吗？”
“Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me.”
“哈利。让我说就是一个肮脏的、普通的名字”
“Oh, yes,” said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. “Yes, I quite agree.”
"哦，是的"德斯里先生说到，他的心猛地沉了下来，“是的，我完全同意”
He didn’t say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.
当他们去到楼上的床上的时候他没有再说关于这个话题的任何一个字儿。当德斯里夫人在洗漱间的时候，德斯里先生踱到了卧室的窗户那往下看向了房前的花园。那只猫还在那，它往下盯着女贞路好像正在等着什么东西。
Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did . . . if it got out that they were related to a pair of — well, he didn’t think he could bear it.
他是在胡思乱想吗？这些事情可能和波特有任何的联系吗？如果有的话......如果结果是他们被牵扯进了一部分——好吧，他不认为他能容忍这种情况。
