诗翁彼豆故事集 第26期:三兄弟的传说(3)

 　　Albus Dumbledore on “The Tale of the Three Brothers” 阿不思·邓布利多评《三兄弟的传说》

　　This story made a profound impression on me as a boy. 我小时候，这个故事给我留下了深刻的印象。

　　I heard it first from my mother, and it soon became the tale I requested more often than any other at bedtime. 第一次我是听我母亲讲的，很快，它就成为我睡觉前央求她讲得最多的一个故事。

　　This frequently led to arguments with my younger brother, Aberforth, whose favourite story was “Grumble the Grubby Goat”. 弟弟阿不福思经常为此跟我发生争吵，他最喜欢的故事是《脏山羊克朗布》。

　　The moral of “The Tale of the Three Brothers” could not be any clearer: human efforts to evade¹ or overcome death are always doomed² to disappointment. 《三兄弟的传说》的寓意再明显不过：人类想要躲避或征服死神的努力注定不会成功。

　　The third brother in the story ( “the humblest and also the wisest” ) is the only one who understands that, having narrowly escaped Death once, the best he can hope for is to postpone³ their next meeting for as long as possible. 故事里的老三（“最谦虚也是最聪明的”）是唯一懂得的人，侥幸逃脱死神一次之后，他最多只能希望尽量延迟与死神的下一次见面。

　　This youngest brother knows that taunting⁴ Death – by engaging in violence, like the first brother, or by meddling⁵ in the shadowy art of necromancy⁶, (Note1: Necromancy is the Dark Art of raising the dead. It is a branch of magic that has never worked, as this story makes clear. JKR) like the second brother - means pitting oneself against a wily enemy who cannot lose. 这位最小的弟弟明白，嘲弄死神——像老大那样动武，或像老二那样玩弄神秘莫测的招魂术（注释一：招魂术是指唤醒死者的黑魔法。这门魔法根本不灵，故事里对此讲得很清楚。——J.K。罗琳注）——意味着跟一位诡计多端、只赢不输的劲敌较量。

　　The irony⁷ is that a curious legend has grown up around this story, which precisely⁸ contradicts the message of the original. 具有讽刺意味的是，围绕这个故事生出了一个奇怪的传言，跟故事原来的寓意正好相反。

　　This legend holds that the gifts Death gives the brothers – an unbeatable wand, a stone that can bring back the dead, and an Invisibility Cloak that endures for ever – are genuine objects that exist in the real world. 传言认为，死神送给三兄弟的礼物——一根不可战胜的魔杖，一块能够起死回生的石头，还有一件永不磨损的隐形衣——都是确确实实存在于世界上的东西。

　　The legend goes further: if any person becomes the rightful owner of all three, then he or she will become “master of Death”, which has usually been understood to mean that they will be invulnerable, even immortal⁹. 传言还说：如果一个人合法拥有了这三样东西，他（或她）就会成为“死神的主人”，这句话通常被认为是指他（或她）是无懈可击的，甚至是长生不老的。

　　We may smile, a little sadly, at what this tells us about human nature. 看到故事里向我们揭示的人性，我们或许会露出略含忧伤的微笑。

　　The kindest interpretation¹⁰ would be: “Hope springs eternal”. (note2: This quotation¹¹ demonstrates that Albus Dumbledore was not only exceptionally well read in wizarding terms, but also that he was familiar with the writings of Muggle poet Alexander Pope. JKR) 最仁慈的解释是：“希望是永恒的”。（注释二：这句引言显示阿不思·邓布利多不仅对巫师文献涉猎甚广，而且对麻瓜诗人亚历山大·蒲柏的作品也很熟悉。——J.K。罗琳注）

1 evade   

vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避

参考例句：

• He tried to evade the embarrassing question.他企图回避这令人难堪的问题。
• You are in charge of the job.How could you evade the issue?你是负责人，你怎么能对这个问题不置可否？

2 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

3 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

4 taunting   

嘲讽( taunt的现在分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落

参考例句：

• She wagged a finger under his nose in a taunting gesture. 她当着他的面嘲弄地摇晃着手指。
• His taunting inclination subdued for a moment by the old man's grief and wildness. 老人的悲伤和狂乱使他那嘲弄的意图暂时收敛起来。

5 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

6 necromancy   

n.巫术；通灵术

参考例句：

• Fielding was not ashamed to practise a little necromancy.菲尔丁不知羞耻地施展小巫术。
• All New Elements of Magic including Necromancy,Illusions and powerful Artifacts.全新的魔法元素包括招魂，幻象和强大的神器。

7 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

8 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

9 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

10 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

11 quotation   

n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情

参考例句：

• He finished his speech with a quotation from Shakespeare.他讲话结束时引用了莎士比亚的语录。
• The quotation is omitted here.此处引文从略。