21 The Tale of the Three Brothers

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE THE TALE OF THE THREE BROTHERS Harry turned to look at Ron and Hermione. Neither of them seemed to have understood what Xenophilius had said either. "The Deathly Hallows?" "That's right," said Xenophilius. "You haven't heard of them? I'm not surprised. Very, very few wizards believe. Witness that knuckleheaded

第二十一章三兄弟的故事哈利转过身来看着罗恩和赫敏。 他们俩似乎也都没听懂谢诺菲留斯说的话。 “死亡圣器？”“没错。”谢诺菲留斯说。 “你没听说过吗？” 我并不感到惊讶。很少，很少有巫师相信。 看看那个笨蛋

young man at your brother's wedding," he nodded at Ron, "who attacked me for sporting the symbol of a well-known Dark wizard! Such ignorance. There is nothing Dark about the Hallows— at least, not in that crude sense. One simply uses the symbol to reveal oneself to other believers, in the hope that they might help one with the Quest." He stirred several lumps of sugar into his Gurdyroot infusion and drank some. "I'm sorry," said Harry. "I still don't really understand." To be polite, he took a sip from his cup too, and almost gagged: The stuff was quite disgusting, as though someone had liquidized bogey-flavored Every Flavor Beans. "Well, you see, believers seek the Deathly Hallows," said Xenophilius, smacking his lips in apparent appreciation of the Gurdyroot infusion. "But what are the Deathly Hallows?" asked Hermione.

你哥哥婚礼上的一个年轻人，”他朝罗恩点点头，“因为我戴着一个著名黑巫师的标志而攻击我！这样的无知。 圣器一点也不黑暗——至少不是那种粗糙的黑暗。 人们只是用这个符号向其他信徒展示自己，希望他们能帮助自己进行探索。” 他把几块糖搅拌到他的葛迪根注射液里，喝了一些。 “对不起。”哈利说。“我还是不太明白。” 出于礼貌，他也从自己的杯子里喝了一口，差点噎住了：这东西很恶心，就好像有人把妖怪味的百味豆液化了一样。 “嗯，你知道，信徒们都在寻找死亡圣器。”谢诺菲留斯说，咂咂嘴唇，显然对葛迪根的注入表示赞赏。 “死亡圣器是什么？”赫敏问。

Xenophilius set aside his empty teacup. "I assume that you are all familiar with 'The Tale of the Three Brothers'?" Harry said, "No," but Ron and Hermione both said, "Yes." Xenophilius nodded gravely. "Well, well, Mr. Potter, the whole thing starts with 'The Tale of the Three Brothers'... I have a copy somewhere...." He glanced vaguely around the room, at the piles of parchment and books, but Hermione said, "I've got a copy, Mr. Lovegood, I've got it right here." And she pulled out The Tales of Beedle the Bard from the small, beaded bag. "The original?" inquired Xenophilius sharply, and when she nodded, he said, "Well then, why don't you read it aloud? Much the best way to make sure we all understand." "Er... all right," said Hermione nervously. She opened the book, and Harry saw that the symbol

谢诺菲留斯把空茶杯放在一边。 “我想你们都熟悉《三兄弟的故事》吧？”哈利说：“不知道。”但罗恩和赫敏都说：“知道。” 谢诺菲留斯严肃地点了点头。 “好了，好了，波特先生，这一切都是从《三兄弟的故事》开始的…… 我在什么地方有一份....” 他茫然地扫视了一下房间，看看那堆羊皮纸和书，赫敏说：“我有一本，洛夫古德先生，就在这里。” 她从串珠小包里拿出了《诗翁彼豆故事集》。 “原文？”谢诺菲留斯厉声问道。赫敏点点头，他说，“那么，你为什么不大声念出来呢？ 这是确保我们都理解的最好方式。” “呃……好吧。”赫敏紧张地说。 她打开书，哈利看到了那个符号

they were investigating headed the top of the page as she gave a little cough, and began to read. "'There were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely, winding road at twilight—'" "Midnight, our mum always told us," said Ron, who had stretched out, arms behind his head, to listen. Hermione shot him a look of annoyance. "Sorry, I just think it's a bit spookier if it's midnight!" said Ron. "Yeah, because we really need a bit more fear in our lives," said Harry before he could stop himself. Xenophilius did not seem to be paying much attention, but was staring out of the window at the sky. "Go on, Hermione." "'In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across. However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the

她轻轻地咳了一声，开始读起书来。 “从前有三兄弟，他们在暮色中沿着一条孤零零的、蜿蜒的路走着——”“半夜，妈妈总是告诉我们。”罗恩说，他伸开双臂，枕在脑后，倾听着。 赫敏恼怒地瞪了他一眼。 “对不起，我只是觉得半夜更可怕！”罗恩说。 “是啊，因为我们的生活中确实需要多一点恐惧。”哈利忍不住说。 谢诺菲留斯似乎没怎么注意，只是盯着窗外的天空。 “接着说，赫敏。”最后，兄弟俩来到了一条河，河太深，不能趟过去，游过去又太危险。 然而，这对兄弟精通魔法艺术，所以他们只是挥挥魔杖，在河上出现了一座桥

treacherous water. They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure. "'And Death spoke to them—'" "Sorry," interjected Harry, "but Death spoke to them?" "It's a fairy tale, Harry!" "Right, sorry. Go on." "'And Death spoke to them. He was angry that he had been cheated out of three new victims, for travelers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic, and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him. "'So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death! So Death crossed to an elder

危险的水。他们走到一半的时候，发现一个戴兜帽的身影挡住了他们的去路。 “对不起，”哈利插嘴说，“是死神对他们说话吗？”“这是个童话，哈利！”“对,对不起。 继续。”死神对他们说话了。 他很生气，因为他又被骗走了三个受害者，因为旅行者通常会淹死在这条河里。 但是死神很狡猾。他假装祝贺三兄弟的魔法，并说每个人都因为聪明地躲过了他而获得了奖励。 “‘于是，那个好斗的大哥要了一根比任何现存的魔杖都强大的魔杖：一根永远能为主人赢得决斗的魔杖，一根配得上战胜死亡的巫师的魔杖！于是死神来到一位长者面前

tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there, and gave it to the oldest brother. "'Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man, decided that he wanted to humiliate Death still further, and asked for the power to recall others from Death. So Death picked up a stone from the riverbank and gave it to the second brother, and told him that the stone would have the power to bring back the dead. "'And then Death asked the third and youngest brother what he would like. The youngest brother was the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And Death, most unwillingly, handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility.'" "Death's got an Invisibility Cloak?" Harry interrupted again.

他找到了河岸上的一棵树，用挂在树上的一根树枝做了一根魔杖，送给了哥哥。 "'老二是个傲慢的人，他决定要进一步羞辱死神，就向他要能把别人从死神手中救回来的力量。 于是死神从河边捡起一块石头给了老二，并告诉他这块石头有起死回生的力量。 然后死神问老三，也是最小的弟弟他想要什么。 最小的弟弟是兄弟中最谦逊也是最聪明的，他不相信死神。 所以他要求有一种东西可以使他离开那个地方而不被死神跟踪。 死神极不情愿地交出了他自己的隐形衣。“死神有一件隐形衣？”哈利又打断了他。