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At the age of one year old, Harry had somehow survived a curse from the greatest Dark sorcerer of all time,
哈利一岁时，居然在遭到伏地魔诅咒之后幸存下来。
Lord Voldemort, whose name most witches and wizards still feared to speak.
伏地魔是有史以来最厉害的黑巫师，大多数女巫和男巫都不敢提到他的名字。
Harry’s parents had died in Voldemort’s attack, but Harry had escaped with his lightning scar,
哈利的父母就死在这个黑巫师手下，可是哈利大难不死，只留下了这道闪电形伤疤。
and somehow — nobody understood why — Voldemort’s powers had been destroyed the instant he had failed to killHarry.
而且，不知怎的，好像自那个恶毒的咒语在哈利身上失灵之后，伏地魔的魔力就被摧毁了。
So Harry had been brought up by his dead mother’s sister and her husband.
所以，哈利是由他的姨妈和姨父养大的。
He had spent ten years with the Dursleys, never understanding why he kept making odd things happen without meaningto,
他在德思礼家住了十年，一直搞不懂他为什么能在无意中导致一些古怪的事情发生，
believing the Dursleys’ story that he had got his scar in the car crash that had killed his parents.
因为德思礼一家只说他的父母死于车祸，他的伤疤也是在车祸中留下的。
And then, exactly a year ago, Hogwarts had written to Harry, and the whole story had come out.
一年前，霍格沃茨魔法学校写信给哈利，他才了解到自己的身世。
Harry had taken up his place at wizard school, where he and his scar were famous . . .
他上了魔法学校，在那里他和他的伤疤赫赫有名……
but now the school year was over, and he was back with the Dursleys for the summer,
可现在学年结束了，他回到德思礼家过暑假，
back to being treated like a dog that had rolled in something smelly.
他们把他当成一条在邋遢地方打过滚的狗来对待。
The Dursleys hadn’t even remembered that today happened to be Harry’s twelfth birthday.
德思礼一家忘记了这一天恰好是哈利的十二岁生日。
Of course, his hopes hadn’t been high; they’d never given him a real present,
当然，哈利也没有寄予多大的希望，他们从来不会送他什么像样的礼物，
let alone a cake — but to ignore it completely . . .
更别提生日蛋糕了——但是，完全忘掉未免……
At that moment, Uncle Vernon cleared his throat importantly and said,
正在这时，弗农姨父煞有介事地清了清嗓子，说道：
“Now, as we all know, today is a very important day.”
“我们都知道，今天是个非常重要的日子。”
Harry looked up, hardly daring to believe it.
哈利抬起头，简直不敢相信自己的耳朵。
“This could well be the day I make the biggest deal of my career,” said Uncle Vernon.
“今天我可能会做成平生最大的一笔交易。”弗农姨父说。
Harry went back to his toast.
哈利低下头继续吃面包片。
Of course, he thought bitterly, Uncle Vernon was talking about the stupid dinner party.
当然啦，他怨忿地想，弗农姨父是在讲那个愚蠢的晚宴。
He’d been talking of nothing else for two weeks.
他两星期来张口闭口说的都是这件事。
Some rich builder and his wife were coming to dinner and Uncle Vernon was hoping to get a huge order from him (Uncle Vernon’s company made drills).
一个有钱的建筑商和他妻子要来吃晚饭，弗农姨父希望那人能订他一大笔货（弗农姨父的公司是做钻机的）。
“I think we should run through the schedule one more time,” said Uncle Vernon.
“我想我们应该把晚上的安排再过一遍，”弗农姨父说，
“We should all be in position at eight o’clock. Petunia, you will be — ?”
“八点钟大家应该各就各位。佩妮，你应该——？”
“In the lounge,” said Aunt Petunia promptly,
“在客厅里，”佩妮姨妈应声说，
“waiting to welcome them graciously to our home.”
“等着亲切地欢迎他们光临。”
“Good, good. And Dudley?”
“很好，很好。达力？”
“I’ll be waiting to open the door.” Dudley put on a foul, simpering smile.
“我等着给他们开门。”达力堆起一副令人恶心的做作笑容，
“May I take your coats, Mr. and Mrs. Mason?”
“我替你们拿着衣服好吗，梅森先生和夫人？”
“They’ll love him!” cried Aunt Petunia rapturously.
“他们会喜欢他的！”佩妮姨妈欣喜若狂地说。
“Excellent, Dudley,” said Uncle Vernon.
“好极了，达力。”弗农姨父说，
Then he rounded on Harry. “And you?”
然后他突然转向哈利，“那么你呢？”
“I’ll be in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending I’m not there,” said Harry tonelessly.
“我待在我的卧室里，不发出一点儿声音，假装我不在家。”哈利声调平板地回答。
“Exactly,” said Uncle Vernon nastily.
“不错。”弗农姨父恶狠狠地说，
“I will lead them into the lounge, introduce you, Petunia, and pour them drinks. At eightfifteen —”
“我将把他们带到客厅里，引见你——佩妮，并给他们倒饮料。八点一刻——”
“I’ll announce dinner,” said Aunt Petunia.
“我宣布开饭。”佩妮姨妈说。
“And, Dudley, you’ll say —”
“达力，你要说——”
“May I take you through to the dining room, Mrs. Mason?” said Dudley,
“我领您上餐室去好吗，梅森夫人？”达力说，
offering his fat arm to an invisible woman.
一面把他的胖胳膊伸给那位看不见的女士。
“My perfect little gentleman!” sniffed Aunt Petunia.
“多标准的小绅士！”佩妮姨妈吸着鼻子说。
“And you?” said Uncle Vernon viciously to Harry.
“你呢？”弗农姨父凶巴巴地问哈利。
“I’ll be in my room, making no noise and pretending I’m not there,” said Harry dully.
“我待在我的卧室里，不发出一点声音，假装我不在家。”哈利无精打采地说。
“Precisely. Now, we should aim to get in a few good compliments at dinner. Petunia, any ideas?”
“对了。现在，我们还应该在餐桌上说一些赞美的话。佩妮，你有什么建议吗？”
“Vernon tells me you’re a wonderful golfer, Mr. Mason. . . .
“梅森先生，弗农跟我说您高尔夫球打得棒极了……梅森夫人，
Do tell me where you bought your dress, Mrs. Mason. . . .”
请告诉我您的衣服是在哪儿买的……”
“Perfect . . . Dudley?”
“非常好……达力？”
“How about — ‘We had to write an essay about our hero at school, Mr. Mason, and I wrote about you.’ ”
“这样行不行：‘梅森先生，老师要我们写一写自己最崇拜的人，我就写了您。’”
This was too much for both Aunt Petunia and Harry.
这可让佩妮姨妈和哈利都无法承受。
Aunt Petunia burst into tears and hugged her son,
佩妮高兴得眼泪直流，紧紧搂住儿子，
while Harry ducked under the table so they wouldn’t see him laughing.
哈利则把头藏到了桌子底下，怕他们看到他大笑的样子。
“And you, boy?”
“你呢，哈利？”
Harry fought to keep his face straight as he emerged.
哈利直起身，努力绷住脸。
“I’ll be in my room, making no noise and pretending I’m not there,” he said.
“我待在我的卧室里，不发出一点声音，假装我不在家。”
“Too right, you will,” said Uncle Vernon forcefully.
“这就对了。”弗农姨父用力地说，
“The Masons don’t know anything about you and it’s going to stay that way.
“梅森夫妇根本不知道你，就让这种情况保持下去。
When dinner’s over, you take Mrs. Mason back to the lounge for coffee, Petunia,
佩妮，晚饭之后你领梅森夫人回客厅喝咖啡，
and I’ll bring the subject around to drills.
我将把话题引到钻机上。
With any luck, I’ll have the deal signed and sealed before the news at ten.
要是走运的话，在十点钟的新闻之前我就可以把签字盖章的协议拿到手。
We’ll be shopping for a vacation home in Majorca this time tomorrow.”
明天这个时候我们就能选购在马乔卡的别墅了。”
Harry couldn’t feel too excited about this.
哈利并不怎么兴奋，
He didn’t think the Dursleys would like him any better in Majorca than they did on Privet Drive.
他不认为德思礼一家到了马乔卡就会比在女贞路多喜欢他一点儿。
“Right — I’m off into town to pick up the dinner jackets for Dudley and me. And you,” he snarled at Harry.
“好——我去城里拿达力和我的礼服。你呢，”他对哈利吼道，
“You stay out of your aunt’s way while she’s cleaning.”
“不要在你姨妈洗衣服的时候去碍手碍脚。”
