《哈利•波特与魔法石》赏析(1)

Chapter One The Boy Who Lived 

      Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you\'d expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn\'t hold with such nonsense.

      Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.

      The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn\'t think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley\'s sister, but they hadn\'t met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn\'t have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn\'t want Dudley mixing with a child like that.

      When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair. None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.

privet 女贞（植物）n.

the last... 最不可能的
Tom is the last student to finish his homework on time. 所有学生中Tom 是最不可能按时完成作业的。

be involved in something 与某事有牵连，卷入某事
I don\'t want to get involved in your trouble. 我不想卷入到你们的麻烦中。

hold with something (用于否定或疑问句) 同意，赞成
I don\'t hold with the use of force. 我不赞成使用武力。
We don\'t hold with letting children watch as much TV as they want. 我们不赞成让孩子们无限制地看电视。

beefy  adj. (人或身体) big or fat

blonde adj. (头发)金色的 n. 金发女郎

come in 可以等同于become 或者become available

crane n. 起重机
vi. (为看得清楚而)探着身子；伸长脖子
People were craning out of the windows and waving. 人们把身子探出窗外，挥舞着手。

spy n. 间谍/ vi. 暗中监视、侦查、刺探

bear vt. 承受，承担

pretend vi. 假装，装作

good-fo-nothing 一无是处的

as unDursleyish as it was possible to be 可翻译为“一点都不像德思礼家的样子”。

shudder vi./n. （因寒冷、害怕或激动）发抖，战栗
I shuddered at the thought of all the trouble I’d caused. 一想到自己惹下的麻烦，我就战栗不已。

dull adj. 乏味无聊的；昏暗的；阴沉的

hum vi.  (蜜蜂等)发嗡嗡声 ; 发哼哼声 ; 哼曲子

gossip n. 闲话,聊天;流言蜚语 v. 闲谈；八卦

wrestle v.与...摔跤; 用力搬动；全力对付

tawny adj. 黄褐色的，茶色的

flutter vi. （使）飘动，挥动，颤动 Flags fluttered in the breeze. 旗帜在风中飘动。
             （鸟、虫）拍翅

句子解读

thank you very much 在这里可以翻译为“拜托拜托了”，暗含一种讽刺。因为从下文中我们会知道德思礼一家并不像他们自称的那样体面而又正派，只其实是很虚伪的一家子，实在让人无语。

      住在女贞路四号的德思礼先生及夫人，非常骄傲地宣称自己是十分正常的人，拜托拜托了。他们绝不会卷入任何奇怪或神秘的事情，因为他们对此总是嗤之以鼻。

       德思礼先生是一家叫作格朗宁的钻机工厂的老板。他非常肥壮、结实，几乎肥到没有脖子，但却有一把大胡子。德思礼夫人则很瘦，一头金发。她的脖子有常人的两倍那么长，这使得她整天伸长脖子透过花园围栏去偷窥邻居家的动静变得非常容易。德思礼夫妇有个儿子叫做达力。在他们眼中，这世界上再没有比达力更棒的男孩了。

      德思礼一家几乎有他们想要的一切东西。但是他们也有一个秘密，而且他们最大的担心就是有一天别人会发现这个秘密。如果有人知道关于波特一家的事，他们会受不了的。波特夫人是德思礼夫人的妹妹，但是她们已经有很多年没有见面了。事实上，德思礼夫人假装她从来没有什么妹妹，因为她的妹妹和那不中用的妹夫没有一丝一毫德思礼家族的风范。一想到波特一家的到来会招致邻居的议论，德思礼一家就会浑身发抖。德思礼一家知道波特夫妇也有一个儿子，只是未曾谋面。这个小男孩也成了德思礼一家避开波特一家的借口，因为他们不希望听话的达德里与这种小孩混在一起。

      当德思礼先生和夫人在灰暗阴沉的星期二早晨醒来时，我们的故事便开始了。外面阴云密布的天空并不能预示着今天会有什么离奇古怪的事情发生。德思礼先生一边哼着小曲一边挑了一条他最难看的领带准备去上班，德思礼夫人则一边口中叨念着一边把依依呀呀的达力塞进高椅子里。谁也没注意到这时有一只巨大的褐色的猫头鹰从窗外掠过。