巫师1故事集（听读巫师和跳跳埚）

巫师和跳跳埚(1)

★ 第1章 ★

There was once a kindly old wizard who used his magic generously and wisely for the benefit of his neighbors.

从前，有一位善良的老巫师，他总是慷慨而智慧地利用自己的魔法，帮助周围的邻居们。

Rather than reveal the true source of his power, he pretended that his potions, charm, and antidotessprang ready-made from the little cauldron he called his lucky cooking pot.

他没有告诉别人他的力量来自哪里，而是谎称他的魔药、咒语和解药都是从一口小坩埚里现成地跳出来的。他管这口埚叫他的幸运埚。

From miles around people came to him with their troubles, and the wizard was pleased to give his pot a stir and put things right.

方圆几里的人们有了麻烦都来找他，老巫师总是很乐意地搅拌一下他的坩埚，让事情迎刃而解。

This well-beloved wizard lived to a goodly age, then died, leaving all his chattels to his only son.

这位深受爱戴的巫师活了很久，去世后，他所有的财产都留给了他唯一的儿子。

This son was of a very different disposition to his gentle father.

这个儿子跟他性情温和的父亲完全不一样。

Those who could not work magic were, to the son's mind, worthless, and he had often quarreled with his father's habit of dispensing magical aid to their neighbors.

在儿子看来，那些不会魔法的人都是废物，他经常因父亲用魔法帮助邻居的习惯而跟父亲吵架。

Upon the father's death, the son found hidden inside the old cooking pot a small package bearing his name.

父亲死后，儿子发现那口旧坩埚里藏着一个小包裹，上面写着他的名字。

He opened it, hoping for gold, but found instead a soft, thick slipper, much too small to wear, and with no pair.

他打开包裹，以为会发现金子，却只找到了一只又厚又软的拖鞋，小得根本不能穿，而且找不到另一只。

A fragment of parchment within the slipper bore the words “In the fond hope, my son, that you will never need it.”

鞋子里有一小片羊皮纸，上面写着：“我真心地希望，我的儿子，你永远用不着它。”

The son cursed his father's age-softened mind then threw the slipper back into the cauldron, resolving to use it henceforth as a rubbish pail.

儿子咒骂父亲老糊涂了，把鞋子扔回了坩埚里，决定从此把这坩埚当成垃圾桶。

That very night a peasant woman knocked on the front door.

就在那天夜里，一个老农妇敲响了他的大门。

“My granddaughter is afflicted by a crop of warts, sir,” she told him.

“我孙女身上长了很多疣，先生，”老农妇对他说。

“Your father used to mix a special poultice in that old cooking pot -”

“你父亲以前会在那口旧坩埚里调制一种特殊的膏药——”

“Begone!” cried the son. “What care I for your brat's warts?”

“走开!”儿子嚷道，“你家小孩长疣跟我有什么关系?”

And he slammed the door in the old woman's face.

他当着老农妇的面，把门重重地关上了。

At once there came a loud clanging and banging from his kitchen.

就在那时，他的厨房里传出了哐啷、哐啷的响声。

The wizard lit his wand and opened the door, and there, to his amazement, he saw his father's old cooking pot:

巫师点亮魔杖推开门，在厨房里，他惊讶地看到了父亲的旧坩埚：

It had sprouted a single foot of brass and was hopping on the spot, in the middle of the floor, making a fearful noise upon the flagstones.

坩埚已经长出一只黄铜脚，正在厨房中央的地板上跳着，跳得石板地发出了可怕的声响。

The wizard approached it in wonder but fell back hurriedly when he saw that the whole of the pot's surface was covered in warts.

巫师惊奇地走上前去，但当看见坩埚的表面布满了疣，他赶紧退了回来。

“Disgusting object!” he cried, and he tried firstly to Vanish the pot, then to clean it by magic, and finally to force it out of the house.

“令人恶心的东西!”他嚷道。他先试图用咒语让坩埚消失，接着试图用魔法把它弄干净，最后又试图把它赶出房子。

None of his spells worked, however, and he was unable to prevent the pot hopping after him out of the kitchen, and then following him up to bed, clanging and banging loudly on every wooden stair.

可是他的魔法统统不管用，坩埚跟在他身后跳出厨房，跟着他跳上楼去睡觉，在每一级木头楼梯上发出吵闹的声音：哐啷、哐啷、哐啷，他完全拿它没有办法。

The wizard could not sleep all night for the banging of the warty old pot by his bedside, and next morning the pot insisted upon hopping after him to the breakfast table.

巫师整整一夜没睡着觉，因为长满肉瘤的旧坩埚在他床边不停地吵，第二天早晨，坩埚不依不饶地跟着他跳到早餐桌旁。

Clang, clang, clang, went the brass-footed pot, and the wizard had not even started his porridge when there came another knock on the door.

哐啷、哐啷、哐啷，那只黄铜独脚不停地跳着，巫师还没开始喝粥，外面又有人敲门了。

An old man stood on the doorstep. “This my old donkey, sir,” he explained.

一个老头儿站在门口。“先生，我的老驴子，”老头儿说道。

“Lost, she is, or stolen, and without her, I cannot take my wares to market, and my family will go hungry tonight.”

“我的老驴子丢了，也可能被人偷了。没了驴子，我就没法把我的货物驮到市场上去卖，今晚我们全家就要挨饿了。”

“And I am hungry now!” roared the wizard, and he slammed the door upon the old man.

“我现在还饿着呢!”巫师吼道，当着老人的面把门重重地关上了。

Clang, clang, clang, went the cooking pot's single brass foot upon the floor, but now its clamor was mixed with the brays of a donkey and human groans of hunger, echoing from the depths of the pot.

哐啷、哐啷、哐啷，坩埚的独脚在地板上跳着，但是现在它的吵闹声中有混杂着驴叫声和人饥饿的呻吟声，这些声音是从坩埚的深处传出来的。

“Be still. Be silent!” shrieked the wizard, but not all his magical powers could quieten the wartypot, which hopped at his heels all day, braying and groaning and clanging, no matter where he went or what he did.

“别动。安静!”巫师尖叫道，但是不管他用什么魔法，都不能使长满疣的坩埚安静下来。坩埚整天跟在他的身后挑来跳去，发出驴叫声、呻吟声和撞击声，不管他去什么地方，做什么事情。

That evening there came a third knock upon the door, and there on the threshold stood a young woman sobbing as though her heart would break.

那天傍晚，门外第三次传来敲门声，门槛外站着一个年轻的妇人，哭得伤心欲绝。

“My baby is grievously ill,” she said. “Won't you please help us? Your father bade me come if troubled –”

“我的宝宝病得很重，”她说，“你能不能行行好帮帮我们？ 你父亲吩咐我有难处就过来——”

But the wizard slammed the door on her.

可是巫师当着她的面把门重重地关上了。

And now the tormenting pot filled to the brim with salt water, and slopped tears all over the floor as it hopped, and brayed, and groaned, and sprouted more warts.

这一下，那口折磨人的坩埚里充满了盐水，它一边蹦跳着把泪水泼溅在地上，一边发出驴叫和呻吟，冒出更多的疣。

Though no more villagers came to seek help at the wizard's cottage for the rest of the week, the pot kept him informed of their many ills.

尽管在这个星期接下来的时间里，不再有村民到巫师家里来寻求帮助，但是坩埚仍然不停地把他们的病患告诉他。

Within a few days, it was not only braying and groaning and slopping and hopping and sprouting warts, it was also choking and retching, crying like a baby, whining like a dog, and spewing out bad cheese and sour milk and a plague of hungry slugs.

在短短的几天里，它不仅发出驴叫和呻吟，一边跳一边抛洒泪水，冒出疣，而且又是咳嗽又是干呕，像婴儿一样啼哭，像狗一样哀号，还吐出变质的奶酪和发酸的牛奶，以及数不清的饥饿的鼻涕虫。

The wizard could not sleep or eat with the pot beside him, but the pot refused to leave, and he could not silence it or force it to be still.

坩埚整天跟在巫师身边，折腾得他吃不下睡不着。可是坩埚就是不肯离开，巫师也无法使它安静下来，或强迫它静止不动。

At last, the wizard could bear it no more.

最后，巫师再也忍受不住了。

“Bring me all your problems, all your troubles, and your woes!” he screamed, fleeing into the night, with the pot hopping behind him along the road into the village.

“把你们所有的难处、所有的苦恼、所有的悲伤都拿给我吧!”他大喊一声，跑进了夜色中，顺着道路跑进村里，坩埚一跳一跳地也跟在他的身后，

“Come! Let me cure you, mend you and comfort you!

“来吧!让我给你们治病，帮助你们，安慰你们吧!

I have my father's cooking pot, and I shall make you well!”

我有我父亲的坩埚，我会让你们都好起来的!”

And with the foul pot still bounding along behind him, he ran up the street, casting spells in every direction.

他在街上奔跑着，把咒语射向四面八方，那令人恶心的坩埚仍然一跳一跳地跟在他身后。

Inside one house the little girl's warts vanished as she slept;

在一座房子里，那个熟睡的小姑娘身上的疣消失了;

The lost donkey was Summoned from a distant briar patch and set down softly in its stable;

那头丢失的驴子被魔法从远处的荆棘地里召唤回来了，悄悄地进了牲口棚;

The sick baby was doused in dittany and woke, well and rosy.

那个病中的婴儿，身上撒了白藓水，健康地苏醒了，脸蛋红扑扑的。

At every house of sickness and sorrow, the wizard did his best, and gradually the cooking pot beside him stopped groaning and retching, and became quiet, shiny, and clean.

在每一户有病痛和烦恼的人家，巫师都用尽全力去帮助他们，慢慢地，他身边的坩埚不再呻吟、干呕，而是变得安静、清爽、锃光瓦亮的了。

The pot burped out the single slipper he had thrown into it and permitted him to fit it onto the brass foot.

坩埚打了一个嗝儿，吐出了巫师扔进去的那只拖鞋，并允许巫师把它穿在那只黄铜脚上。

Together, they set off back to the wizard's house, the pot's footstep muffled at last.

巫师和坩埚一起返回家里，坩埚的脚步声终于变得静悄悄了。

But from that day forward, the wizard helped the villagers like his father before him, lest the pot cast off its slipper, and begin to hop once more.

从那以后，巫师像他父亲生前一样帮助村民，生怕坩埚又脱掉鞋子，再次蹦蹦跳跳。

Albus Dumbledore on “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot”

阿不思·邓布利多关于《巫师和跳跳锅》的批注：

A kind old wizard decides to teach his hardhearted son a lesson by giving him a taste of the local Muggles' misery.

一位善良的老巫师，想给铁石心肠的儿子一个教训，让他尝尝当地麻瓜们的苦难。

The young wizard's conscience awakes, and he agrees to use his magic for the benefit of his non-magical neighbors.

年轻巫师的良知觉醒了，他同意利用自己的魔法去帮助那些不会魔法的邻居。

A simple and heart-warming fable, one might think – in which case, one would reveal oneself to be an innocent nincompoop.

读者会认为这是一个简单而温馨的寓言故事——在这种情况下，读者会暴露自己是一个天真的傻瓜。

A pro-Muggle story showing a Muggle-loving father as superior in magic to a Muggle-hating son?

这是一个亲麻瓜的故事，表明爱麻瓜的父亲在魔法上比恨麻瓜的儿子高明，是不是?

It is nothing short of amazing that any copies of the original version of this tale survived the flames to which they were so often consigned.

因此，这个故事的原版书没有一本能够逃脱火焰而保存下来，也就毫不令人吃惊了，这样的书是经常会被丢进火里焚烧的。

Beedle was somewhat out of step with his times in preaching a message of brotherly love for Muggles.

彼豆宣传对麻瓜要怀有手足之情，这跟他的时代有点格格不入。

The persecution of witches and wizards was gathering pace all over Europe in the early fifteenth century.

十五世纪早期，迫害巫师的行径在欧洲愈演愈烈。

Many in the magical community felt, and with good reason, that offering to cast a spell on the Muggle-next-door's sickly pig was tantamount to volunteering to fetch the firewood for one's own funeral pyre.

魔法界的许多人觉得，向隔壁麻瓜邻居的瘟猪施咒语，就等于是在主动往焚烧自己的火堆上添加柴火，这么想也是有道理的。

Note 1. It is true, of course, that genuine witches and wizards were reasonably adept at escaping the stake, block, and noose (see my comments about Lisette de Lapin in the commentary on “Babbitty Rabbity and her Cackling Stump” ) .

注释一：这当然是真的，那些真诚的巫女和巫师们开始熟练的逃避火刑，石块和套索(参见“芭比蒂兔兔和饶舌树桩”注释里我对利塞特的兔子的评论)。

However, a number of deaths did occur: Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington (a wizard at the royal court in his lifetime, and in his death-time, ghost of Gryffindor Tower) was stripped of his wand before being locked in a dungeon and was unable to magic himself out of his execution;

然而，一些杀戮还是发生了，西敏汀的尼古拉斯爵士(生前是宫廷的御用巫师，死后是格兰芬多塔的常驻幽灵)在关入地牢前被剥夺了魔杖，因此他无法使用魔法来让自己免于处决。

And wizarding families were particularly prone to losing younger members, whose inability to control their own magic made them noticeable, and vulnerable, to Muggle witch-hunters.

巫师的家庭尤其容易失去年轻的家庭成员，由于他们没有控制魔法的能力使得自己引人注目，对于麻瓜巫师狩猎者来说他们十分脆弱。

“Let the Muggles manage without us!” was the cry, as the wizards drew further and further apart from their non-magical brethren, culminating with the institution of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy in 1689 when wizardkind voluntarily went underground.

他们的口号是：“让麻瓜们自生自灭吧!”巫师跟他们的非魔法兄弟的距离越来越远，最后于一六八九年颁布了《国际巫师保密法》，从此巫师界便自动转入地下。

Children being children, however, the grotesque Hopping Pot had taken hold of their imaginations.

然而，孩子就是孩子，古怪滑稽的跳跳埚占据了他们的想象。

《诗翁彼豆故事集》故事情节与《哈利·波特》紧密相关又独立成篇。它是《哈利·波特与死亡圣器》中霍格沃茨魔法学校校长邓布利多留给赫敏的一本书。这本故事集由《巫师和跳跳埚》、《好运泉》、《男巫的毛心脏》、《兔子巴比蒂和她的呱呱树桩》和《三兄弟的传说》等5个魔法世界的童话故事组成，其中包含有帮助哈利和他的朋友们打败伏地魔的重要线索。

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