3 The Invitation

—CHAPTER THREE— The Invitation By the time Harry arrived in the kitchen, the three Dursleys were already seated around the table. None of them looked up as he entered or sat down. Uncle Vernon's large red face was hidden behind the morning's Daily Mail and Aunt Petunia was cutting a grapefruit into quarters, her lips pursed over her horse-like teeth. Dudley looked furious and sulky, and somehow seemed to be taking up even more space than usual. This was saying something, as he always took up an entire side of the square table by himself. When Aunt Petunia put a quarter of unsweetened grapefruit onto Dudley's plate with a tremulous 'There you are, Diddy darling', Dudley

哈利到厨房时，德思礼一家三口已经围着桌子坐了下来。 当他进来或坐下时，他们没有一个抬头看他。 弗农姨父那张红红的大脸藏在早晨的《每日邮报》后面，佩妮姨妈正在把一个葡萄柚切成四份，嘴唇紧抿着她那像马一样的牙齿。 达力看上去又气又恼，而且似乎比平时占了更多的地方。 这说明了一些问题，因为他总是一个人占着方桌的一整边。 佩妮姨妈把四分之一的不加糖的葡萄柚放进达力的盘子里，一边颤抖着说：“给你，亲爱的爸爸。

glowered at her. His life had taken a most unpleasant turn since he had come home for the summer with his end-of-year report. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had managed to find excuses for his bad marks as usual; Aunt Petunia always insisted that Dudley was a very gifted boy whose teachers didn't understand him, while Uncle Vernon maintained that 'he didn't want some swotty little nancy boy for a son anyway'. They also skated over the accusations of bullying in the report– 'He's a boisterous little boy, but he wouldn't hurt a fly!' said Aunt Petunia tearfully. However, at the bottom of the report there were a few well chosen comments from the school nurse which not even Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia could explain away. No matter how much Aunt Petunia wailed that Dudley was big-boned, and that his poundage was really puppy-fat, and that he was a growing boy who needed plenty of food, the fact remained that the school outfitters didn't stock knickerbockers big enough for him any more. The school nurse had seen what Aunt

怒视着她。自从他带着年终报告回家过暑假以来，他的生活发生了非常不愉快的变化。 弗农姨父和佩妮姨妈又像往常一样为他的坏成绩找到了借口。佩妮姨妈一直坚持认为达力是一个非常有天赋的男孩，只是老师们不理解他，而弗农姨父则坚持说，“他不想要一个又懒又娘的小男孩当儿子。” 他们还回避了报道中对欺凌弱小的指控——“他是一个吵闹的小男孩，但他连一只苍蝇都不会伤害！”佩妮姨妈泪流满面地说。 然而，在报告的末尾，有几句校医精心挑选的话，就连弗农姨父和佩妮姨妈也无法解释清楚。 不管佩妮姨妈怎么哭闹说达力骨瘦如柴，说他的体重像小狗一样胖，说他是一个正在长大的男孩，需要大量的食物，但事实是，学校的服装商店里再也没有他穿得下的大短裤了。 学校的护士看到了姨妈

Petunia's eyes– so sharp when it came to spotting fingerprints on her gleaming walls, and in observing the comings and goings of the neighbours– simply refused to see: that, far from needing extra nourishment, Dudley had reached roughly the size and weight of a young killer whale. So– after many tantrums, after arguments that shook Harry's bedroom floor, and many tears from Aunt Petunia– the new regime had begun. The diet sheet that had been sent by the Smeltings school nurse had been taped to the fridge, which had been emptied of all Dudley's favourite things– fizzy drinks and cakes, chocolate bars and burgers– and filled instead with fruit and vegetables and the sorts of things that Uncle Vernon called 'rabbit food'. To make Dudley feel better about it all, Aunt Petunia had insisted that the whole family follow the diet too. She now passed a grapefruit quarter to Harry. He noticed that it was a lot smaller than Dudley's. Aunt Petunia seemed to feel that the best way to keep

佩妮的眼睛——在她那闪闪发光的墙壁上发现指纹和观察邻居们来来往往时是那么锐利——就是不愿看到：达力根本不需要额外的营养，他的个头和体重已经和一头年轻的虎鲸差不多了。 于是——在多次发脾气之后，在争吵得把哈利卧室的地板都震得发抖之后，在佩妮姨妈流下多次眼泪之后——新的制度开始了。 斯梅廷学校的护士送来的节食单被贴在了冰箱上，冰箱里已经没有达力喜欢吃的东西了——碳酸饮料、蛋糕、巧克力棒和汉堡——取而代之的是水果、蔬菜和弗农姨父称之为“兔粮”的东西。 为了让达力好受些，佩妮姨妈坚持要全家都遵守这个食谱。 这时她递给哈利一个二十五美分的葡萄柚。 他注意到它比达力的小得多。 佩妮姨妈似乎觉得最好的办法是

up Dudley's morale was to make sure that he did, at least, get more to eat than Harry. But Aunt Petunia didn't know what was hidden under the loose floorboard upstairs. She had no idea that Harry was not following the diet at all. The moment he had got wind of the fact that he was expected to survive the summer on carrot sticks, Harry had sent Hedwig to his friends with pleas for help, and they had risen to the occasion magnificently. Hedwig had returned from Hermione's house with a large box stuffed full of sugar-free snacks (Hermione's parents were dentists). Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, had obliged with a sack full of his own home-made rock cakes (Harry hadn't touched these; he had had too much experience of Hagrid's cooking). Mrs Weasley, however, had sent the family owl, Errol, with an enormous fruitcake and assorted pasties. Poor Errol, who was elderly and feeble, had needed a full five days to recover from the journey. ikcjeo. And then on Harry's birthday (which the Dursleys had completely ignored) he had received four superb birthday cakes, one each from Ron,

提振达力的士气，就是确保他至少比哈利吃得多。 但佩妮姨妈不知道楼上松动的地板下面藏着什么。 她不知道哈利根本没有按照食谱节食。 哈利一听说他要靠胡萝卜棒熬过这个夏天，就派海德薇去找他的朋友们，请求帮助，他们表现得非常出色。 海德薇从赫敏家回来了，手里拿着一大盒无糖零食（赫敏的父母是牙医）。 霍格沃茨的猎场看守海格送来了满满一袋他自己做的石头蛋糕(哈利没有碰它们；他对海格的烹调经验太丰富了)。 韦斯莱夫人派家里的猫头鹰埃罗尔送来了一个巨大的水果蛋糕和各种各样的馅饼。 可怜的埃罗尔年老体弱，整整用了五天时间才从旅途中恢复过来。 在哈利生日那天（德思礼一家完全没有理会），他收到了四个精美的生日蛋糕，一个是罗恩送的，

Hermione, Hagrid and Sirius. Harry still had two of them left, and so, looking forward to a real breakfast when he got back upstairs, he started eating his grapefruit without complaint. Uncle Vernon laid aside his paper with a deep sniff of disapproval and looked down at his own grapefruit quarter. 'Is this it?' he said grumpily to Aunt Petunia. Aunt Petunia gave him a severe look, and then nodded pointedly at Dudley, who had already finished his own grapefruit quarter, and was eyeing Harry's with a very sour look in his piggy little eyes. Uncle Vernon gave a great sigh which ruffled his large, bushy moustache, and picked up his spoon. The doorbell rang. Uncle Vernon heaved himself out of his chair and set off down the hall. Quick as a flash, while his mother was occupied with the kettle, Dudley stole the rest of Uncle Vernon's grapefruit. Harry heard talking at the door, and someone laughing, and Uncle Vernon answering curtly.

赫敏、海格和小天狼星。 哈利还剩下两个，所以，他期待着回到楼上时能吃到一顿真正的早餐，就毫无怨言地吃起了葡萄柚。 弗农姨父放下报纸，不以为然地深深地哼了一声，低头看着自己那一小块葡萄柚。 “是这个吗？”他怒气冲冲地对佩妮姨妈说。 佩妮姨妈严厉地看了他一眼，然后朝达力点了点头。达力已经吃完了自己那一份葡萄柚，正用猪一样的小眼睛恶狠狠地盯着哈利的那份。 弗农姨父长长地叹了口气，弄皱了他那又大又浓密的小胡子，然后拿起勺子。 门铃响了。弗农姨父猛地从椅子上站起来，朝大厅走去。 达力趁母亲忙着煮水壶的时候，一眨眼就把弗农姨父剩下的葡萄柚偷走了。 哈利听见门口有人说话，有人在笑，弗农姨父简短地回答。

Then the front door closed, and the sound of ripping paper came from the hall. Aunt Petunia set the teapot down on the table and looked curiously around to see where Uncle Vernon had got to. She didn't have to wait long to find out; after about a minute, he was back. He looked livid. 'You,' he barked at Harry. 'In the living room. Now.' Bewildered, wondering what on earth he was supposed to have done this time, Harry got up and followed Uncle Vernon out of the kitchen and into the next room. Uncle Vernon closed the door sharply behind both of them. 'So,' he said, marching over to the fireplace and turning to face Harry as though he was about to pronounce him under arrest. 'So.' Harry would have dearly loved to have said 'So what?', but he didn't feel that Uncle Vernon's temper should be tested this early in the morning, especially when it was already under severe strain from lack of food. He therefore settled for looking politely puzzled.

然后前门关上了，大厅里传来撕纸的声音。 佩妮姨妈把茶壶放在桌子上，好奇地环顾四周，想看看弗农姨父到哪里去了。 她没等多久就知道了；大约一分钟后，他回来了。 他脸色铁青。“你。”他对哈利吼道。 “在客厅里。现在。”哈利迷惑不解，不知道自己这次到底干了些什么。他站起身来，跟着弗农姨父走出厨房，走进隔壁房间。 弗农姨父在他们俩身后猛地关上了门。 “所以。”他说着大步走向壁炉，转过身来面对哈利，好像要宣布他被捕了。 “所以”。哈利很想说：“那又怎样？”但他觉得弗农姨父的脾气不应该这么一大早就被考验，尤其是在他已经因为缺乏食物而非常紧张的情况下。 因此，他只好装出一副彬彬有礼的困惑表情。