诗翁彼豆故事集 第23期:兔子巴比蒂和她的呱呱树桩(7)

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号：tingroom，领取免费英语资料大礼包。

　　While the “rogue” ability to perform magic sometimes appears in those of apparent non-magical descent (though several later studies have suggested that there will have been a witch or wizard somewhere on the family tree) , Muggles cannot perform magic. 麻瓜不会施魔法，尽管有时非魔法人士会表现出会施魔法的“异常”本领（不过后来的几项研究提出，这些家族里偶尔确实会出现一个巫师）。

　　The best - or worst - they could hope for are random¹ and uncontrollable effects generated by a genuine magical wand, which, as an instrument through which magic is supposed to be channelled, sometimes holds residual² power that it may discharge at odd moments – see also the notes on wandlore for “The Tale of the Three Brothers”. ) 他们最多能够奢望的，是一根真正有魔力的魔杖随意地、无法控制地发挥作用，因为魔杖作为输送魔法的工具，有时候会保留一些残余力量，偶尔就会释放出来——参照《三兄弟的传说》评论中关于魔杖学的笔记。）

　　He is completely ignorant of the true nature of magic and wizards, and therefore swallows the preposterous³ suggestions of both the charlatan⁴ and Babbitty. 他完全不知道魔法和巫师的真正特性，因此只好把江湖骗子和巴比蒂的荒唐建议照单全收。

　　This is certainly typical of a particular type of Muggle thinking: in their ignorance, they are prepared to accept all sorts of impossibilities about magic, including the proposition that Babbitty has turned herself into a tree that can still think and talk. 这无疑是典型的麻瓜思维：因为无知，他们愿意接受魔法带来的各种不可能的事情，包括认为巴比蒂把自己变成了一棵会思想会说话的树。

　　(It is worth noting at this point, however, that while Beedle uses the talking-tree device to show us how ignorant the Muggle King is, he also asks us to believe that Babbitty can talk while she is a rabbit. （不过，这里值得注意的是，彼豆利用会说话的树来反映麻瓜国王有多无知，同时他还要求我们相信巴比蒂变成兔子以后仍会说话。

　　This might be poetic⁵ licence, but I think it more likely that Beedle had only heard about Animagi, and never met one, for this is the only liberty that he takes with magical laws in the story. 这恐怕是属于诗人的大胆狂想了，但是我认为更有可能的是彼豆只听说过阿尼马格斯，并没有见过，因为故事中他只在这一点上歪曲了魔法规律。

　　Animagi do not retain the power of human speech while in their animal form, although they keep all their human thinking and reasoning powers. 阿尼马格斯变为动物形态后，就失去了会说人类语言的功能，尽管他们还保留着人类的思维和推理能力。

　　This, as every schoolchild knows, is the fundamental difference between being an Animagus, and Transfiguring oneself into an animal. 每个小学生都知道，这是阿尼马格斯和把自己变形为动物的根本区别。

　　In the case of the latter, one would become the animal entirely⁶, with the consequence that one would know no magic, be unaware⁷ that one had ever been a wizard, and would need somebody else to Transfigure one back to one's original form. ) 在后一种情况，此人会完全变成动物，结果就是不会魔法，也不知道自己曾经是一个巫师，并且需要别人把他重新变回原来的样子。）

　　I think it possible that in choosing to make his heroine pretend to turn into a tree, and threaten the King with pain like an axe⁸ stroke in his ownside, Beedle was inspired by real magical traditions and practices. 我认为，彼豆选择让女主人公假装变成一棵树，以此来威胁国王感受被斧头砍的痛苦，可能是受到了现实中的魔法传统和做法的启发。

　　Trees with wand-quality wood have always been fiercely protected by the wand makers⁹ who tend them, and cutting down such trees to steal them risks incurring¹⁰ not only the malice¹¹ of the Bowtruckles (Note. 5:For a full description of these curious little tree-dwellers, see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. ) usually nesting there, but also the ill effect of any protective curses placed around them by their owners. 具有魔杖素质的树木总是受到魔杖制作者的有力保护，砍伐偷盗这样的树木，不仅会招惹通常栖息在哪里的护树罗锅(注释五：护树罗锅：欲知这种栖息在树上的古怪小动物的详情，请看《神奇动物及产地》。）的怨恨，而且还会尝到树的主人设置的防护咒所造成的恶果。

　　In Beedle's time, the Cruciatus Curse had not yet been made illegal by the Ministry¹² of Magic, (Note.6:The Cruciatus, Imperius and Avada Kedavra Curses were first classified as Unforgivable in 1717, with the strictest penalties attached to their use. ) and could have produced precisely¹³ the sensation with which Babbitty threatens the King. 在彼豆那个时代，夺魂咒还没有被魔法部定为非法咒语，（注释六：夺魂咒、钻心咒和阿瓦达索命咒于一七一七年被定为不可饶恕咒，任何人一旦使用，将受到最严厉的惩罚。）它能够造成的效果跟巴比蒂威胁国王所产生的效果完全一样。

分享到：