诗翁彼豆故事集 第9期:好运泉(4)

 　　Albus Dumbledore on 'The Fountain of Fair Fortune' 邓布利多评《好运泉》

　　'The Fountain of Fair Fortune' is a perennial¹ favorite, so much so that it was the subject of the sole attempt to introduce a Christmas pantomime to Hogwarts' festive² celebrations. 《好运泉》是一个长久以来深受喜欢的故事，竟然前所未有地在霍格沃茨的节目庆祝活动中被排成了一部圣诞节的哑剧。

　　Our then Herbology master, Professor Herbert Beery, (Note1: Professor Beery eventually left Hogwarts to teach at W.A.D.A. (Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts) , where, he once confessed to me, he maintained a strong aversion to mounting performances of this particular story, believing it to be unlucky. ) 我们那时的草药课教师，赫伯特·比尔利教授（注释一：赫伯特·比尔利最后离开霍格华兹去教授魔法学院的戏剧艺术，在那里，他曾向我坦白他对增加这一特殊故事的表演感到十分厌恶，并认为这是很不吉利的。）

　　an enthusiastic devotee of аmаteur dramatics, proposed an adaptation of this well-beloved children's tale as a Yuletide treat for staff and students. 是一位十分热心的戏剧业余爱好者，他提出要把这个深爱的孩子们喜爱的故事改编成一个圣诞节的演出节目，供师生们欣赏。

　　I was then a young Transfiguration teacher, and Herbert assigned me to 'special effects', which included providing a fully³ functioning Fountain of Fair Fortune and a miniature grassy⁴ hill, up which our three heroines and hero would appear to march, while it sank slowly into the stage and out of sight. 我当时是一位年轻的变形课教师，赫伯特分配我负责“特技效果”，包括提供一个功能齐全的好运泉，以及一个小型的草坡，我们三个女主人公和一位男主人公做出往上爬的样子，然后草坡慢慢沉入舞台下面不见了。

　　I think I may say, without vanity, that both my Fountain and my Hill performed the parts allotted⁵ to them with simple goodwill⁶. 我认为，我可以毫不自夸地说，我的好运泉和草坡都认真负责地完成了分配给它们的任务。

　　Alas⁷, that the same could not be said of the rest of the cast. 唉，然而剧组的其他成员就不是这样了。

　　Ignoring for a moment the antics of the gigantic 'Worm' provided by our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Professor Silvanus Kettleburn, the human element proved disastrous⁸ to the show. 我们暂且不说神奇动物保护课教师西尔瓦努斯·凯特尔伯恩提供的那条巨大“蠕虫”古怪滑稽，因为最后证明是人为因素破坏了整台演出。

　　Professor Beery, in his role of director, had been dangerously oblivious⁹ to the emotional entanglements¹⁰ seething¹¹ under his very nose. 比尔利教授作为导演，竟然没有察觉到发生在他鼻子底下的感情纠葛，这就很危险了。

　　Little did he know that the students playing Amata and Sir Luckless had been boyfriend and girlfriend until one hour before the curtain rose, at which point 'Sir Luckless' transferred his affections to 'Asha'. 他不知道扮演阿玛塔的学生和扮演倒霉爵士的学生一直是一对恋人，而就在大幕拉开的一个小时前，“倒霉爵士”移情别恋，爱上了“阿莎”。

　　Suffice it to say that our seekers after Fair Fortune never made it to the top of the Hill. 只要说一句就够了：我们那几个寻找好运泉的人始终没能到达山顶。

　　The curtain had barely risen when Professor Kettleburn's 'Worm' – now revealed to be an Ashwinder (Note 2: See Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for a definitive¹² description of this curious beast. 大幕刚刚拉开，凯特尔伯恩教授的“蠕虫”——大家这才看出是一条被施了肥胖咒的火灰蛇（注释二：参见《怪兽及其产地》。

　　It ought never to be voluntarily introduced into a wood-panelled room, nor have an Engorgement Charm placed upon it. ) 它从不会自愿进入一个木质房间，更别提还被施了暴食咒。）

　　-with an Engorgement Charm upon it – exploded in a shower of hot sparks and dust, filling the Great Hall with smoke and fragments of scenery. ——突然爆炸，炽热的火星和灰尘四处散落，使大礼堂里充满了烟雾和布景碎片。

　　While the enormous fiery¹³ eggs it had laid at the foot of my Hill ignited the floorboards, 'Amata' and 'Asha' turned upon each other, dueling¹⁴ so fiercely that Professor Beery was caught in the crossfire¹⁵, and staff had to evacuate¹⁶ the Hall, as the inferno¹⁷ now raging onstage threatened to engulf¹⁸ the place. 当我山脚下放置的那些巨大的火蛋点燃地板时，“阿玛塔”和“阿莎”正在相互厮杀，打斗的十分激烈，以至于把比尔利教授也被卷进了她们的交战。浓烈的大火席卷了舞台，眼看就要吞噬整个大礼堂，师生们不得不从礼堂撤离。

　　The night's entertainment concluded with a packed hospital wing; it was several month? before the Great Hall lost its pungent¹⁹ aroma²⁰ of wood smoke, and even longer before Professor Beery's head reassumed its normal proportions, and Professor Kettleburn was taken off probation²¹. 那天晚上演出的结果是医院里人满为患，过了好几个月，大礼堂里那股刺鼻的焦木头味儿才逐渐散 去，过了更长的时间，比尔利教授的脑袋才恢复了正常的比例，凯特尔伯恩教授才结束了他的试用期。

1 perennial   

adj.终年的；长久的

参考例句：

• I wonder at her perennial youthfulness.我对她青春常驻感到惊讶。
• There's a perennial shortage of teachers with science qualifications.有理科教学资格的老师一直都很短缺。

2 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

5 allotted   

分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I completed the test within the time allotted . 我在限定的时间内完成了试验。
• Each passenger slept on the berth allotted to him. 每个旅客都睡在分配给他的铺位上。

6 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

7 alas   

int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)

参考例句：

• Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
• Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。

8 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

9 oblivious   

adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的

参考例句：

• Mother has become quite oblivious after the illness.这次病后，妈妈变得特别健忘。
• He was quite oblivious of the danger.他完全没有察觉到危险。

10 entanglements   

n.瓜葛( entanglement的名词复数 )；牵连；纠缠；缠住

参考例句：

• Mr. White threaded his way through the legal entanglements. 怀特先生成功地解决了这些法律纠纷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• At dawn we broke through the barbed wire entanglements under the city wall. 拂晓我们突破了城墙的铁丝网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 seething   

沸腾的，火热的

参考例句：

• The stadium was a seething cauldron of emotion. 体育场内群情沸腾。
• The meeting hall was seething at once. 会场上顿时沸腾起来了。

12 definitive   

adj.确切的，权威性的；最后的，决定性的

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• No one has come up with a definitive answer as to why this should be so.至于为什么该这样，还没有人给出明确的答复。

13 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

14 dueling   

n. 决斗, 抗争(=duelling) 动词duel的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• More light-hearted But somewhat puzzled, Vladimir prepared to meet Eugene on the dueling ground. 弗拉基米尔心里轻松了一些，但仍感到有些困惑，在这种心情下，他准备去决斗场地迎战叶甫盖尼。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• They had been dueling for hours and finally called a draw. 他们一直决斗了数小时，最后打成平局。

15 crossfire   

n.被卷进争端

参考例句：

• They say they are caught in the crossfire between the education establishment and the government.他们称自己被卷进了教育机构与政府之间的争端。
• When two industrial giants clash,small companies can get caught in the crossfire.两大工业企业争斗之下，小公司遭受池鱼之殃。

16 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

17 inferno   

n.火海；地狱般的场所

参考例句：

• Rescue workers fought to get to victims inside the inferno.救援人员奋力营救大火中的受害者。
• The burning building became an inferno.燃烧着的大楼成了地狱般的地方。

18 engulf   

vt.吞没，吞食

参考例句：

• Floodwaters engulf a housing project in the Bajo Yuna community in central Dominican Republic.洪水吞没了多米尼加中部巴杰优那社区的一处在建的住房工程项目。
• If we are not strong enough to cover all the minds up,then they will engulf us,and we are in danger.如果我们不够坚强来抵挡大众的意念，就会有被他们吞没的危险。

19 pungent   

adj.（气味、味道）刺激性的，辛辣的；尖锐的

参考例句：

• The article is written in a pungent style.文章写得泼辣。
• Its pungent smell can choke terrorists and force them out of their hideouts.它的刺激性气味会令恐怖分子窒息，迫使他们从藏身地点逃脱出来。

20 aroma   

n.香气，芬芳，芳香

参考例句：

• The whole house was filled with the aroma of coffee.满屋子都是咖啡的香味。
• The air was heavy with the aroma of the paddy fields.稻花飘香。

21 probation   

n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期)

参考例句：

• The judge did not jail the young man,but put him on probation for a year.法官没有把那个年轻人关进监狱，而且将他缓刑察看一年。
• His salary was raised by 800 yuan after his probation.试用期满以后，他的工资增加了800元。