8 The Quidditch World Cup

—CHAPTER EIGHT— The Quidditch World Cup Clutching their purchases, Mr Weasley in the lead, they all hurried into the wood, following the lantern-lit trail. They could hear the sounds of thousands of people moving around them, shouts and laughter, snatches of singing. The atmosphere of feverish excitement was highly infectious; Harry couldn't stop grinning. They walked through the wood for twenty minutes, talking and joking loudly, until at last they emerged on the other side, and found themselves in the shadow of a gigantic stadium. Though Harry could see only a fraction of the immense gold walls surrounding

第八章魁地奇世界杯他们紧紧抓着买来的东西，韦斯莱先生走在最前面，顺着灯笼照亮的小路匆匆走进树林。 他们可以听到成千上万的人在他们周围移动的声音，喊叫和笑声，断断续续的歌声。 这种狂热的气氛极具传染性；哈利忍不住笑了。 他们在树林里走了二十分钟，大声地说着、开着玩笑，最后来到了树林的另一边，发现自己置身于一个巨大的体育场的阴影里。 虽然哈利只能看到周围巨大的金墙的一小部分

the pitch, he could tell that ten cathedrals would fit comfortably inside it. 'Seats a hundred thousand,' said Mr Weasley, spotting the awestruck look on Harry's face. 'Ministry task force of five hundred have been working on it all year. Muggle-Repelling Charms on every inch of it. Every time Muggles have got anywhere near here all year, they've suddenly remembered urgent appointments and had to dash away again… Bless them,' he added fondly, leading the way towards the nearest entrance, which was already surrounded by a swarm of shouting witches and wizards. 'Prime seats!' said the Ministry witch at the entrance, when she checked their tickets. 'Top Box! Straight upstairs, Arthur, and as high as you can go.' The stairs into the stadium were carpeted in rich purple. They clambered upwards with the rest of the crowd, which slowly filtered away through doors into the stands to their left and right. Mr Weasley's party kept climbing, and at last they reached the top of the staircase, and found

在球场上，他可以看出十个教堂可以舒适地容纳进去。 “座位有十万人。”韦斯莱先生看到哈利脸上敬畏的表情，说道。 “魔法部五百人的特别小组已经研究了一年了。 每一寸地方都有驱逐麻瓜咒。 这一年来，每次麻瓜靠近这里，他们都会突然想起有紧急约会，不得不再次匆匆离开……上帝保佑他们。”他慈爱地加了一句，领着大家向最近的入口走去，那里已经被一群大喊大叫的巫师团团围住了。 ' '席位!魔法部的女巫在入口处检查他们的票时说。 “机顶盒!直接上楼，亚瑟，越高越好。”通往体育场的楼梯铺着深紫色的地毯。 他们和其他人群一起往上爬，人群慢慢地穿过门进入他们左右的看台。 韦斯莱先生一行人继续往上爬，最后他们到了楼梯顶上，发现了

themselves in a small box, set at the highest point of the stadium and situated exactly halfway between the golden goalposts. About twenty purple-and-gilt chairs stood in two rows here, and Harry, filing into the front seats with the Weasleys, looked down upon a scene the like of which he could never have imagined. A hundred thousand witches and wizards were taking their places in the seats which rose in levels around the long oval pitch. Everything was suffused with a mysterious golden light that seemed to come from the stadium itself. The pitch looked smooth as velvet from their lofty position. At either end of the pitch stood three goal hoops, fifty feet high; right opposite them, almost at Harry's eye level, was a gigantic blackboard. Gold writing kept dashing across it as though an invisible giant's hand was scrawling upon it and then wiping it off again; watching it, Harry saw that it was flashing advertisements across the pitch.

他们自己在一个小盒子里，设置在体育场的最高点，正好位于黄金门柱的中间。 这里大约有二十张紫金相间的椅子排成两排，哈利和韦斯莱一家一起挤进前排的座位，俯视着一幅他从未想象过的景象。 在长长的椭圆形球场周围，一排排升高的座位上坐着十万巫师。 一切都弥漫着一种神秘的金色光芒，似乎来自体育场本身。 从他们高高在上的位置看，球场像天鹅绒一样光滑。 球场两端各立着三个五十英尺高的球门圈；就在他们对面，几乎在哈利眼睛的高度，是一块巨大的黑板。 金字在上面不停地划来划去，好像有一只看不见的巨人的手在上面潦草地写着，然后又擦掉了。哈利注视着它，发现它在球场上闪烁着广告。

The Bluebottle: A Broom for All the Family– safe, reliable and with In-built Anti-Burglar Buzzer… Mrs Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess-Remover: No Pain, No Stain!… Gladrags Wizardwear– London, Paris, Hogsmeade… Harry tore his eyes away from the sign and looked over his shoulder to see who else was sharing the box with them. So far it was empty, except for a tiny creature sitting in the second from last seat at the end of the row behind them. The creature, whose legs were so short they stuck out in front of it on the chair, was wearing a tea-towel draped like a toga, and it had its face hidden in its hands. Yet those long, bat-like ears were oddly familiar… 'Dobby?' said Harry incredulously. The tiny creature looked up and parted its fingers, revealing enormous brown eyes and a nose the exact size and shape of a large tomato. It wasn't Dobby– it was, however, unmistakeably a house-elf, as Harry's friend Dobby had been.

蓝瓶：全家用的扫帚——安全、可靠，内置防盗蜂鸣器……斯考尔夫人的万能魔法去污剂：无痛不污！……格拉德布魔法服——伦敦、巴黎、霍格莫德……哈利把目光从招牌上移开，扭头看了看，想看看还有谁和他们一起住在那个箱子里。 到目前为止，除了他们身后那排后排倒数第二个座位上坐着一个小东西外，什么也没有。 那家伙坐在椅子上，两条腿很短，前面都伸出来了，身上裹着一条茶巾，像长袍一样披在身上，双手捂着脸。 可是那双蝙蝠似的长耳朵却出奇地熟悉……哈利不敢相信地问。 这个小家伙抬起头，把手指分开，露出了一双巨大的棕色眼睛和一个大番茄大小形状的鼻子。 那不是多比——不过，那绝对是个家养小精灵，就像哈利的朋友多比一样。

Harry had set Dobby free from his old owners, the Malfoy family. 'Did sir just call me Dobby?' squeaked the elf curiously, from between its fingers. Its voice was higher even than Dobby's had been, a teeny, quivering squeak of a voice, and Harry suspected– though it was very hard to tell with a house-elf– that this one might just be female. Ron and Hermione spun around in their seats to look. Though they had heard a lot about Dobby from Harry, they had never actually met him. Even Mr Weasley looked around in interest. 'Sorry,' Harry told the elf, 'I just thought you were someone I knew.' 'But I knows Dobby too, sir!' squeaked the elf. She was shielding her face, as though blinded by light, though the Top Box was not brightly lit. 'My name is Winky, sir– and you, sir–' her dark brown eyes widened to the size of side plates as they rested upon Harry's scar, 'you is surely Harry Potter!' 'Yeah, I am,' said Harry.

哈利把多比从它原来的主人马尔福一家手中解放了出来。 “先生刚才是不是叫我多比？”小精灵从指缝间好奇地尖声问道。 它的声音甚至比多比的声音还要高，是一种细小的、颤抖的吱吱声，哈利怀疑——虽然家养小精灵很难分辨——这可能是个女的。 罗恩和赫敏在座位上转过身来看。 虽然他们从哈利那里听到了很多关于多比的事，但他们从来没有真正见过他。 就连韦斯莱先生也饶有兴趣地环顾四周。 “对不起，”哈利对小精灵说，“我只是以为你是我认识的人。“可是我也认识多比，先生！”小精灵尖声问道。 她用手遮着脸，好像被光线照瞎了一样，尽管顶楼的灯光并不明亮。 “我叫闪闪，先生——而你，先生——”她的深棕色眼睛盯着哈利的伤疤，睁得像侧盘子那么大，“你肯定是哈利·波特！“是的，我是。”哈利说。

'But Dobby talks of you all the time, sir!' she said, lowering her hands very slightly and looking awestruck. 'How is he?' said Harry. 'How's freedom suiting him?' 'Ah, sir,' said Winky, shaking her head, 'ah, sir, meaning no disrespect, sir, but I is not sure you did Dobby a favour, sir, when you is setting him free.' 'Why?' said Harry, taken aback. 'What's wrong with him?' 'Freedom is going to Dobby's head, sir,' said Winky sadly. 'Ideas above his station, sir. Can't get another position, sir.' 'Why not?' said Harry. Winky lowered her voice by a half octave and whispered, 'He is wanting paying for his work, sir.' 'Paying?' said Harry blankly. 'Well– why shouldn't he be paid?' Winky looked quite horrified at the idea, and closed her fingers slightly so that her face was

“可是多比总是谈起你，先生！”她说，双手微微放低，显出敬畏的样子。 “他怎么样了？”哈利问。“自由对他合适吗？”“啊，先生，”闪闪摇着头说，“啊，先生，我没有不尊重你的意思，先生，但是我不确定你放多比自由的时候是不是帮了他一个忙，先生。”“为什么?哈利说，吃了一惊。 “他怎么了？”“多比的脑袋自由了，先生。”闪闪伤心地说。 ”“他的想法超出了他的地位，先生。 我找不到别的工作了，先生。”哈利问。 闪闪把声音放低了半个八度，小声说：“他想要工钱，先生。”哈利茫然地问。 “那么——为什么不付给他钱呢？”闪闪听了这个想法，显得很害怕，她把手指微微合上，这样她的脸就