1 The Dark Lord Ascending

CHAPTER ONE THE DARK LORD ASCENDING The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the narrow, moonlit lane. For a second they stood quite still, wands directed at each other's chests; then, recognizing each other, they stowed their wands beneath their cloaks and started walking briskly in the same direction.

第一章黑魔王崛起那两个人不知从哪里冒出来，在月光照耀下的狭窄巷子里相隔几码。 有那么一秒钟，他们一动不动地站着，用魔杖指着对方的胸膛。然后，他们认出了彼此，把魔杖藏在斗篷下面，朝同一个方向快步走去。

"News?" asked the taller of the two. "The best," replied Severus Snape. The lane was bordered on the left by wild, low- growing brambles, on the right by a high, neatly manicured hedge. The men's long cloaks flapped around their ankles as they marched. "Thought I might be late," said Yaxley, his blunt features sliding in and out of sight as the branches of overhanging trees broke the moonlight. "It was a little trickier than I expected. But I hope he will be satisfied. You sound confident that your reception will be good?" Snape nodded, but did not elaborate. They turned right, into a wide driveway that led off the lane. The high hedge curved with them, running off into the distance beyond the pair of impressive wrought-iron gates barring the men's way. Neither of them broke step: In silence both raised their left arms in a kind of salute and passed straight through, as though the dark metal were smoke.

“有消息吗？”个子高的那个问。 “最好的。”西弗勒斯·斯内普回答。 小路的左边是低矮的野荆棘，右边是修剪得整整齐齐的高高的树篱。 男人们行进时，长斗篷在脚踝处飘动。 “我想我可能要迟到了。”亚克斯利说，他那生硬的面孔在月光的映照下忽隐忽现。 “这比我想象的要棘手一些。 但我希望他会满意。 听起来你很有信心你的接待会很好？”斯内普点点头，但没有详细说明。 他们向右拐，进入一条宽阔的车道，驶出了小巷。 高高的树篱随着他们弯曲，延伸到挡住他们去路的那两扇令人印象深刻的锻铁大门的远处。 两人都没有停下脚步，默默地举起左臂敬礼，径直走了过去，仿佛那黑色的金属是烟雾。

The yew hedges muffled the sound of the men's footsteps. There was a rustle somewhere to their right: Yaxley drew his wand again, pointing it over his companion's head, but the source of the noise proved to be nothing more than a pure-white peacock, strutting majestically along the top of the hedge. "He always did himself well, Lucius. Peacocks..." Yaxley thrust his wand back under his cloak with a snort. A handsome manor house grew out of the darkness at the end of the straight drive, lights glinting in the diamond-paned downstairs windows. Somewhere in the dark garden beyond the hedge a fountain was playing. mclhfa. Gravel crackled beneath their feet as Snape and Yaxley sped toward the front door, which swung inward at their approach, though nobody had visibly opened it.

紫杉树篱挡住了人们的脚步声。 他们右边什么地方响起了沙沙的声音，亚克斯利又抽出魔杖，指着同伴的头顶，但声音的来源原来是一只纯白的孔雀，正在树篱顶上神气十足地昂首阔步。 “他总是做得很好，卢修斯。 孔雀……”亚克斯利哼了一声，把魔杖塞进了斗篷。 笔直车道尽头的黑暗中出现了一座漂亮的庄园，楼下镶着钻石的窗户上闪烁着灯光。 在树篱那边黑暗的花园里的某个地方，有一个喷泉在喷水。 斯内普和亚克斯利飞快地朝前门奔去，碎石在他们脚下噼啪作响。他们一走近，大门就向内打开了，但没有人打开。

The hallway was large, dimly lit, and sumptuously decorated, with a magnificent carpet covering most of the stone floor. The eyes of the pale-faced portraits on the walls followed Snape and Yaxley as they strode past. The two men halted at a heavy wooden door leading into the next room, hesitated for the space of a heartbeat, then Snape turned the bronze handle. The drawing room was full of silent people, sitting at a long and ornate table. The room's usual furniture had been pushed carelessly up against the walls. Illumination came from a roaring fire beneath a handsome marble mantelpiece surmounted by a gilded mirror. Snape and Yaxley lingered for a moment on the threshold. As their eyes grew accustomed to the lack of light, they were drawn upward to the strangest feature of the scene: an apparently unconscious human figure hanging upside down over the table, revolving slowly as if suspended by an invisible rope, and

走廊很大，灯光昏暗，装饰得很华丽，一块华丽的地毯覆盖着大部分的石头地板。 斯内普和亚克斯利大步走过时，墙上那些脸色苍白的肖像的眼睛一直盯着他们。 两个人在一扇通往隔壁房间的沉重木门前停了下来，犹豫了一会儿，然后斯内普转动了青铜把手。 客厅里坐满了沉默的人，他们坐在一张华丽的长桌旁。 房间里常用的家具被随意地推到墙边。 明亮的光线来自漂亮的大理石壁炉下面熊熊燃烧的火焰，壁炉上方是一面镀金的镜子。 斯内普和亚克斯利在门口逗留了一会儿。 他们的眼睛渐渐适应了昏暗的环境，便被眼前最奇怪的景象吸引住了：一个毫无知觉的人影倒挂在桌子上，慢慢地旋转着，仿佛被一根看不见的绳子吊着

reflected in the mirror and in the bare, polished surface of the table below. None of the people seated underneath this singular sight was looking at it except for a pale young man sitting almost directly below it. He seemed unable to prevent himself from glancing upward every minute or so. "Yaxley. Snape," said a high, clear voice from the head of the table. "You are very nearly late." The speaker was seated directly in front of the fireplace, so that it was difficult, at first, for the new arrivals to make out more than his silhouette. As they drew nearer, however, his face shone through the gloom, hairless, snakelike, with slits for nostrils and gleaming red eyes whose pupils were vertical. He was so pale that he seemed to emit a pearly glow. "Severus, here," said Voldemort, indicating the seat on his immediate right. "Yaxley— beside Dolohov."

反射在镜子和下面光秃秃的、擦亮的桌子表面上。 坐在这奇异景象下面的人，除了一个几乎正坐在它正下方的脸色苍白的年轻人，谁也没有看它。 他似乎忍不住每隔一分钟就往上看一眼。 ”亚克斯利。斯内普。”一个高亢、清晰的声音从桌子上方传来。 “你快迟到了。” 说话的人正坐在壁炉的正前方，因此，刚到的人很难辨认出他的轮廓以外的东西。 然而，当他们走近时，他的脸在黑暗中闪闪发光，没有毛，像蛇一样，鼻孔裂开，红色的眼睛闪闪发光，瞳孔垂直。 他脸色苍白，似乎发出了珍珠般的光芒。 “西弗勒斯，这里。”伏地魔指着他右边的座位说。 “亚克斯利——在多洛霍夫旁边。”