Harry Potter& The Order of The Phoenix

Harry¹ Potter& The Order of The Phoenix²

 

There are books ... and there’s Harry Potter!

They’re the biggest phenomenon in the history of publishing: two hundred million copies about a boy who discovers he’s a world famous ¹⁾wizard. They’re sold in over 200 countries and translated into over 50 languages. Beyond the books is an industry: films, dolls, games and merchandise, making hundreds of millions of pounds a year. 

All this from an idea, which wandered into mind of the then pretty penniless, J. K. Rowling, as she sat on a train. She imagined his story as a series of seven books, each spanning a year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft³ and Wizardry. 

The fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, goes on sale in twenty-eight and a half hours. It’s confidently expected to have the biggest ²⁾print run in history. 

Interviewer: So this is it, is it?

Rowling: This is it, yeah.

Interviewer: How many pages?

Rowling: How many pages ... Seven hundred and sixty-six.

Interviewer: Seven hundred and sixty-six. You want to read the first sentence? Actually we know what the first sentence is.

Rowling: Oh, you know what the first sentence is. I could read you a random⁴ sentence. Uhm, ... No, not that one. That gives way too much away. You can have... “’Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly,’ said Hermione, ³⁾unperturbed.”

Interviewer: A very Hermione sort of thing to say, isn’t it?

Rowling: It is a very Hermione sentence, isn’t it?

Interviewer: Are we going to discover, in Book Five, why, for example, Voldemort has such an ⁴⁾animus⁵ against Harry’s parents?

Rowling: Yes.

Interviewer: Can you give us a clue as to ...?

Rowling: No. It’s not long now, come on. (Laugh) Yes, you do find that out in Book Five. 

Interviewer: What else are you willing to tell us about what’s in Book Five?

Rowling:  Uuuhmmm, whewww. Uhh, ... Obviously a new Defense⁶ Against the Dark Arts teacher.

Interviewer: Is that going to be a woman?

Rowling: Yes. And it’s not Fleur, which everyone on the Internet ⁵⁾speculates about. And it’s not, .... Who’s the other one they keep asking about? ... Uhm ....

Interviewer: ... can’t remember.

Rowling: ... Mrs. Figg. It’s not Mrs. Figg. I’ve read both of those. 

Interviewer: Are we going to discover anything more about Snape and ...?

Rowling: Yes.

Interviewer: ... and Harry’s mother? 

Rowling: Mmm...

Interviewer: Did he have a crush on Harry’s mother? ⁶⁾Unrequited love? Anything like that?

Rowling: Hence, his ... hence his animosity to Harry?

Interviewer: Yes. 

Rowling: You speculate?

Interviewer: I speculate, yes. I’m just asking whether you can tell us?

Rowling: No. I can’t tell you. But you do, you do find out more about Snape. And, uhm, yeah, quite a lot more about him actually.

Interviewer: And is there going to be a death in this book?

Rowling: Yeah, horrible, horrible ...

Interviewer: A horrible death of a ...

Rowling: Um Hmm.

Interviewer: ...of a significant figure.

Rowling: Um Hmm. Yeah. I went into the kitchen, having done it, uhm, ...

Interviewer: What, killed this person?

Rowling: Yeah. Well, I’d rewritten the death ... uhm ... and rewritten and that was it. It was definitive⁷, and the person was definitely dead. And I walked into the kitchen crying, and ⁷⁾Neil said to me, “What on earth is wrong?” And I said, “Well, I’ve just killed the per ...” He ... Neil doesn’t know who the person is, but I said, “I’ve just killed the person.” And he said, “Well, don’t do it then.” I thought, he’s a doctor, you know, and I said, “Well, it just doesn’t work like that. You, ... writing children’s books you need to be ruthless killer⁸.”

Interviewer: Is it going to upset people?

Rowling: Hmm, yes. Upset me! Well, I ... you know, I always ... knew it was coming, but I managed to live in denial, and carry on with the character and not think about it.

Interviewer: So you know what is going to become of, really, all the major characters ...

Rowling: Um Hmm.

Interviewer: ... over the span of the series.

Rowling: Yeah. Yeah.

Interviewer: Why stop when they ... grow up? Might be interesting to know what becomes of Harry as an adult.

Rowling: How do you know he’ll still be alive?

Interviewer: Oh, ... Oh, the end of Book Seven.

Rowling: Be one way to kill off the merchandising.

Interviewer: That really would be killing⁹ the golden goose, wouldn’t it?

Interviewer: Has Book Five, that’s the thing that’s the size of a house of brick ...

Rowling: Yes.

Interviewer: It was originally much longer than that, was it?

Rowling: No. Actually it wasn’t. Uhm ... it’s about the size I ... no, that’s not even true. Originally, I think it would be slightly shorter than Goblet¹⁰ of Fire. And uhm, ... what is the phrase the tale grew in the telling? It did. Uhm, the thing is I’ve got so much now, so much back-story to tell. Uhm, but I doubt -- I really mean it this time - Six will not need to be that long. It won’t need to be that long.

 

《哈利·波特与凤凰社 》

 

世界上有许多书……还有《哈利·波特》。

《哈利·波特》系列是出版史上最不可思议的现象：关于一个小男孩发现自己是世界上有名巫师的故事已卖了两亿本。哈利·波特系列被译成五十多种文字，人们可以在两百多个国家买到它。而且除了书外，哈利·波特已形成了一个产业：电影、洋娃娃、游戏和其它相关商品，这个产业每年利润高达数亿英镑。

而这一切都来自一个想法。当时身无分文的J·K·罗琳坐在火车上，脑子里有了这个想法，她把这个想法构思成共有七本书的系列，每书写的是在霍格沃茨魔法学校里的一年发生的事。

这个系列的第五部《哈利·波特与凤凰社》28个半小时后就上市了，几乎可以肯定的是这将会是历史上印量最大的书。

问：这就是第五部，对吗？

罗琳：对，正是。

问：共有多少页？

罗琳：多少页？766页。

问：766页。你愿不愿意把书的第一句话给我们听？其实我们早就知道这句话了。

罗琳：哦，你早已知道第一句话了。我随便给你念一句吧。嗯，这句不行，这会泄露太多的事情，念这句吧：“‘是的，但我认为我们要认真地为这事投票，’赫敏镇定地说。”

问：这是一句很有典型赫敏风格的话，对不对？

罗琳：是的，这正是赫敏会说的话。

问：在第五本书里，我们会不会知道伏地魔对哈利的父母怀有敌意的原因？

罗琳：会的。

问：你能不能先透露一点……？

罗琳：不能。你很快就会知道了，（笑）不过你会在第五本书里找到答案。

问：那么，第五本书里的内容你现在究竟能说多少？

罗琳：嗯，呃，很显然，书里要有一位黑魔法防御术老师。

问：是一位女性？

罗琳：是的，嗯，但不是互联网上普遍猜测的弗莱尔，不是的，他们猜测的另一个人是谁？

问：……不记得。

罗琳：……是费格夫人。也不是她。关于对这两人的猜测我都看过。

问：我们是不是会知道更多关于斯内普和……？

罗琳：对。

问：……和哈利的母亲？

罗琳：嗯……

问：他是不是看上了哈利的母亲？是无结果的爱？有没有这样的事？

罗琳：结果，结果引起了他对哈利的敌意？

问：对。

罗琳：你是这样猜测的？

问：对，我只是想问一下，你……会不会把答案告诉我？

罗琳：不行，我不能告诉你。不过在这本书中，你会对斯内普有更多的了解，还在，嗯……其实书中有许多关于他的事。

问：书中有人死吗？

罗琳：有，很可怕，非常可怕……

问：这可怕的死亡是……

罗琳：嗯……

问：一个重要人物之死？

罗琳：嗯，对，我……我走进厨房，那是我刚刚，呃……

问：什么？是杀了这个人后？

罗：对，我重写了这个死亡故事……呃……然后又重写，然后就完了，这次是很确定的……这个确实是死了。我哭着走进厨房……尼尔问我：“怎么回事？”我说；“我刚刚写完那个人死去的部分。”尼尔并不知道这个人是谁，而我只是说：“我把这个人杀了。”他说：“那就不要这样写嘛。”我想，他是一名医生，所以……我说：“故事必须这样发展。写儿童读物要残忍一点，要做杀手。”

问：这会让读者不高兴吗？

罗琳：呃，会吧，我也不高兴，你看，我……我一直都知道会有这一天，但我却不肯面对，把这个人物一直往下写，力图不去想这事。

问：你知道书中所有主要人物最后的结果，对不对？

罗琳：是。

问：这是在整个系列的过程中发生的。

罗琳：是的，是的。

问：为什么不在人物长大时收笔呢？知道哈利成人后是什么样子肯定很有意思。

罗琳：你怎么知道他还活着？

问：哦……哦，这会发生在第七部书的最后？

罗琳：这可是破坏书宣传营销的一个好办法。

问：这是杀鸡取卵，对不对？

问：第五部像砖头那么厚……

罗琳：是的。

问：原来构想更长，是不是？

罗琳：不，原本只是……关于书的长度，不，那也不对。原本以为比《火焰杯》略短，那话怎说？故事越说越长，的确是。问题是我有许多背景要交代，但这次说真的，第六部不必那么长。

 

注释:

1)   wizard [5wizEd] n. 巫士，巫师           

2) print run 印刷量

3) unperturbed [5QnpE5tE:bd] a. 镇定不惊的，泰然自若的

4) animus [5AnimEs] n. 仇视，恶意。下面的animosity是它的名词形式。

5) speculate [5spekju7leit] v. 推测

6) unrequited [5Qnri5kwaitid] a. 无报答的

7) Neil 尼尔，罗琳的丈夫。

 

1 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

2 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

3 witchcraft   

n.魔法，巫术

参考例句：

• The woman practising witchcraft claimed that she could conjure up the spirits of the dead.那个女巫说她能用魔法召唤亡灵。
• All these things that you call witchcraft are capable of a natural explanation.被你们统统叫做巫术的那些东西都可以得到合情合理的解释。

4 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

5 animus   

n.恶意；意图

参考例句：

• They are full of animus towords us.他们对我们怀有敌意。
• When you have an animus against a person,you should give it up.当你对别人怀有敌意时，你应当放弃这种想法。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 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。

8 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

9 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

10 goblet   

n.高脚酒杯

参考例句：

• He poured some wine into the goblet.他向高脚酒杯里倒了一些葡萄酒。
• He swirled the brandy around in the huge goblet.他摇晃着高脚大玻璃杯使里面的白兰地酒旋动起来。