1 Dudley Demented

CHAPTER ONE Dudley Demented The hottest day of the summer so far was drawing to a close and a drowsy silence lay over the large, square houses of Privet Drive. Cars that were usually gleaming stood dusty in their drives and lawns that were once emerald green lay parched and yellowing–for the use of hosepipes had been banned due to drought. Deprived of their usual car-washing and lawn-mowing pursuits, the inhabitants of Privet Drive had retreated into the shade of their cool houses, windows thrown wide in the hope of tempting in a non-existent breeze. The only person left outdoors was a teenage boy who was lying flat on his back in a flowerbed outside number four.

第一章达力精神错乱到目前为止，夏天最热的一天快要过去了，女贞路那些方方正正的大房子笼罩着一种令人昏昏欲睡的寂静。 平时闪闪发光的汽车停在车道上，尘土飞扬，曾经翠绿的草坪也因为干旱而禁止使用水管，变得干枯发黄。 女贞路的居民们没有了平时洗车和修剪草坪的工作，他们躲进了凉爽的房子的阴凉处，把窗户开得大大的，希望能吹进一点并不存在的微风。 唯一留在外面的人是一个十几岁的男孩，他正平躺在四号门外的花坛上。

He was a skinny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who had the pinched, slightly unhealthy look of someone who has grown a lot in a short space of time. His jeans were torn and dirty, his T-shirt baggy and faded, and the soles of his trainers were peeling away from the uppers. Harry Potter's appearance did not endear him to the neighbours, who were the sort of people who thought scruffiness ought to be punishable by law, but as he had hidden himself behind a large hydrangea bush this evening he was quite invisible to passers-by. In fact, the only way he would be spotted was if his Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia stuck their heads out of the living-room window and looked straight down into the flowerbed below. On the whole, Harry thought he was to be congratulated on his idea of hiding here. He was not, perhaps, very comfortable lying on the hot, hard earth but, on the other hand, nobody was glaring at him, grinding their teeth so loudly that he could not hear the news, or shooting nasty questions at him, as had happened every time he

他是一个瘦骨嶙峋、黑头发、戴着眼镜的男孩，长得有点瘦削，有点不健康，像是一个在短时间内长了很多的人。 他的牛仔裤又破又脏，t恤又松又旧，运动鞋的鞋底已经从鞋面脱落。 哈利·波特的外表使邻居们不喜欢他，他们都认为邋遢应该受到法律的惩罚，但由于他今天晚上躲在一丛大绣球花后面，路人根本看不见他。 事实上，只有弗农姨父或佩妮姨妈从客厅的窗户探出头来，直视下面的花坛，他才会被发现。 总的来说，哈利觉得他能想到躲在这里是值得祝贺的。 他躺在又热又硬的地上也许不太舒服，但另一方面，没有人瞪着他，大声地咬牙切齿，使他听不见消息，也没有人像他每次那样向他提出刻薄的问题

had tried sitting down in the living room to watch television with his aunt and uncle. Almost as though this thought had fluttered through the open window, Vernon Dursley, Harry's uncle, suddenly spoke. 'Glad to see the boy's stopped trying to butt in. Where is he, anyway?' 'I don't know,' said Aunt Petunia, unconcerned. 'Not in the house.' Uncle Vernon grunted. 'Watching the news…' he said scathingly. 'I'd like to know what he's really up to. As if a normal boy cares what's on the news–Dudley hasn't got a clue what's going on; doubt he knows who the Prime Minister is! Anyway, it's not as if there'd be anything about his lot on our news–' 'Vernon, shh!' said Aunt Petunia. 'The window's open!' 'Oh–yes–sorry, dear.' The Dursleys fell silent. ikcjeo. Harry listened to a jingle about Fruit 'n' Bran breakfast cereal while he watched Mrs Figg, a batty cat-loving old lady

他试着坐在客厅里和叔叔婶婶一起看电视。 哈利的叔叔弗农·德思礼突然说话了，就好像这个念头从敞开的窗户里飞了进来。 “很高兴看到那孩子不再插嘴了。 他到底在哪儿？“我不知道。”佩妮姨妈漠不关心地说。 “不在家里。”弗农姨父咕哝了一声。 “看新闻……”他尖刻地说。 “我倒想知道他到底想干什么。 好像一个正常的男孩会关心新闻似的——达力根本不知道发生了什么事；我怀疑他知道首相是谁！再说，我们的新闻里也不会有关于他的报道——”“弗农，嘘！佩妮姨妈说。 “窗户开着！”“哦——是的——对不起，亲爱的。”德思礼一家沉默了。 哈利一边听着水果和麸皮早餐麦片的广告歌，一边看着费格太太——一个爱猫的古怪老太太

from nearby Wisteria Walk, amble slowly past. She was frowning and muttering to herself. Harry was very pleased he was concealed behind the bush, as Mrs Figg had recently taken to asking him round for tea whenever she met him in the street. She had rounded the corner and vanished from view before Uncle Vernon's voice floated out of the window again. 'Dudders out for tea?' 'At the Polkisses',' said Aunt Petunia fondly. 'He's got so many little friends, he's so popular…' Harry suppressed a snort with difficulty. The Dursleys really were astonishingly stupid about their son, Dudley. They had swallowed all his dim-witted lies about having tea with a different member of his gang every night of the summer holidays. Harry knew perfectly well that Dudley had not been to tea anywhere; he and his gang spent every evening vandalising the play park, smoking on street corners and throwing stones at passing cars and children. Harry had seen them at it during his evening walks around Little

从附近的Wisteria Walk漫步而过。 她皱着眉头喃喃自语。 哈利很高兴自己躲在灌木丛后面，因为费格太太最近每次在街上遇到他，都喜欢请他去喝茶。 她转过拐角，从视野中消失了，弗农姨父的声音又从窗口飘了出来。 “达力出去喝茶？”“在波兰家。”佩妮姨妈慈爱地说。 “他有那么多小朋友，那么受欢迎……”哈利好不容易忍住没哼一声。 德思礼一家对他们的儿子达力真是愚蠢得惊人。 他们已经相信了他的所有愚蠢的谎言，他说暑假每天晚上都和他的团伙里不同的人喝茶。 哈利很清楚达力哪儿也没吃过茶点。他和他的同伙每天晚上都破坏游乐场，在街角抽烟，向过往的汽车和孩子扔石头。 哈利晚上在利特尔附近散步时，曾看见他们这样做

Whinging; he had spent most of the holidays wandering the streets, scavenging newspapers from bins along the way. The opening notes of the music that heralded the seven o'clock news reached Harry's ears and his stomach turned over. Perhaps tonight–after a month of waiting–would be the night. 'Record numbers of stranded holidaymakers fill airports as the Spanish baggage-handlers' strike reaches its second week–' 'Give 'em a lifelong siesta, I would,' snarled Uncle Vernon over the end of the newsreader's sentence, but no matter: outside in the flowerbed, Harry's stomach seemed to unclench. If anything had happened, it would surely have been the first item on the news; death and destruction were more important than stranded holidaymakers. He let out a long, slow breath and stared up at the brilliant blue sky. Every day this summer had been the same: the tension, the expectation, the temporary relief, and then mounting tension again… and always, growing more insistent all the

金;假期的大部分时间他都在街上游荡，沿路从垃圾箱里捡报纸。 预示七点钟新闻的音乐的开头音符传到了哈利的耳朵里，他的胃翻腾起来。 也许今晚——经过一个月的等待——就是那个夜晚。 西班牙行李搬运工的罢工进入了第二周，滞留在机场的度假者人数创下了记录——”“让他们一辈子都睡个大觉，我会的。”弗农姨父在新闻播音员的句子结束时咆哮道，但没关系：在外面的花坛里，哈利的胃似乎松了一口气。 如果真的发生了什么事，肯定会成为新闻的头条；死亡和破坏比滞留的度假者更重要。 他慢慢地长长地呼了一口气，抬头凝视着灿烂的蓝天。 这个夏天的每一天都是一样的：紧张，期待，暂时的放松，然后又加剧了紧张……而且总是越来越强烈