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哈利·波特与混血王子
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 英文 中文 双语对照 双语交替 首页 目录 上一章 下一章 | |
| CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE HORCRUXES
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| 第二十三章 魂器
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| Harry could feel the Felix Felicis wearing off as he crept back into the castle. The front door had remained unlocked for him, but on the third floor he met Peeves and only narrowly avoided detection by diving sideways through one of his shortcuts. By the time he got up to the portrait of the Fat Lady and pulled off his Invisibility Cloak, he was not surprised to find her in a most unhelpful mood.
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| 悄悄走回城堡时，哈利能感觉到福灵剂的效力在渐渐消失。大门还没锁，但在四楼他碰到了皮皮鬼，急忙钻进旁边一条近道，才没被发现。走到胖夫人肖像前他扯下隐形衣时，发现她的情绪对他非常不利，但他并不觉得意外。
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| “What sort of time do you call this?”
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| “你知道现在是什么时间吗？”
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| “I’m really sorry — I had to go out for something important —”
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| “非常抱歉——我有重要的事情必须出去——”
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| “Well, the password changed at midnight, so you’ll just have to sleep in the corridor, won’t you?”
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| “半夜里改了口令，你只能睡走廊了。”
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| “You’re joking!” said Harry. “Why did it have to change at midnight?”
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| “开玩笑！”哈利说，“为什么要半夜改口令？”
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| “That’s the way it is,” said the Fat Lady. “If you’re angry, go and take it up with the headmaster, he’s the one who’s tightened security.”
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| “就是这样的，”胖夫人说，“你要是有气跟校长说去，是他让加强保安措施的。”
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| “Fantastic,” said Harry bitterly, looking around at the hard floor. “Really brilliant. Yeah, I would go and take it up with Dumbledore if he was here, because he’s the one who wanted me to —”
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| “好啊，”哈利看看坚硬的地面，怨恨地说，“真是妙极了。对，如果邓布利多在的话，我是要去跟他说说，因为是他要我——”
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| “He is here,” said a voice behind Harry. “Professor Dumbledore returned to the school an hour ago.”
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| “他在，”哈利身后一个声音说，“邓布利多教授一小时前就回学校了。”
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| Nearly Headless Nick was gliding toward Harry, his head wobbling as usual upon his ruff.
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| 差点没头的尼克朝哈利飘了过来，脑袋依旧在皱领上摇摇晃晃。
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| “I had it from the Bloody Baron, who saw him arrive,” said Nick. “He appeared, according to the Baron, to be in good spirits, though a little tired, of course.”
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| “我听血人巴罗说的，他看到了。巴罗说邓布利多看上去心情很好，就是有点累，那是当然的。”
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| “Where is he?” said Harry, his heart leaping.
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| “他在哪儿？”哈利的心怦怦跳了起来。
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| “Oh, groaning and clanking up on the Astronomy Tower, it’s a favorite pastime of his —”
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| “哦，在天文塔上哼哼唧唧，丁铃当啷。这是他最喜欢的消遣——”
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| “Not the Bloody Baron — Dumbledore!”
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| “不是血人巴罗，我问的是邓布利多！”
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| “Oh — in his office,” said Nick. “I believe, from what the Baron said, that he had business to attend to before turning in —”
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| “哦，在他办公室，”尼克说，“据巴罗说，他睡觉前还有点事要办——”
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| “Yeah, he has,” said Harry, excitement blazing in his chest at the prospect of telling Dumbledore he had secured the memory. He wheeled about and sprinted off again, ignoring the Fat Lady who was calling after him.
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| “是，没错，”一想到可以告诉邓布利多他搞到了记忆，哈利满心兴奋，掉头就跑。
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| “Come back! All right, I lied! I was annoyed you woke me up! The password’s still ‘tapeworm’!”
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| 胖夫人在后面叫了起来：“回来！我骗你的！我是生气你把我吵醒了！口令还是‘绦虫’！”
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| But Harry was already hurtling back along the corridor and within minutes, he was saying “toffee éclairs” to Dumbledore’s gargoyle, which leapt aside, permitting Harry entrance onto the spiral staircase.
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| 但哈利已经跑远了，几分钟后，他已在对邓布利多的石头怪兽说“太妃手指饼”了。怪兽跳到一旁，让哈利走上了螺旋楼梯。
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| “Enter,” said Dumbledore when Harry knocked. He sounded exhausted.
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| “进来。”哈利敲门后听到邓布利多说，声音似乎疲惫不堪。
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| Harry pushed open the door. There was Dumbledore’s office, looking the same as ever, but with black, star-strewn skies beyond the windows.
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| 哈利推开门。邓布利多的办公室还是老样子，但窗外换成了缀满星斗的黑色夜空。
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| “Good gracious, Harry,” said Dumbledore in surprise. “To what do I owe this very late pleasure?”
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| “啊呀，哈利，”邓布利多惊讶地说，“这么晚来有什么事吗？”
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| “Sir — I’ve got it. I’ve got the memory from Slughorn.”
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| “先生——我搞到了，我搞到了斯拉格霍恩的记忆。”
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| Harry pulled out the tiny glass bottle and showed it to Dumbledore. For a moment or two, the headmaster looked stunned. Then his face split in a wide smile.
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| 哈利忙掏出小玻璃瓶给邓布利多看。校长似乎愣了片刻，然后脸上绽开了笑容。
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| “Harry, this is spectacular news! Very well done indeed! I knew you could do it!”
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| “哈利，这是激动人心的消息！真是太棒了！我知道你能办到！”
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| All thought of the lateness of the hour apparently forgotten, he hurried around his desk, took the bottle with Slughorn’s memory in his uninjured hand, and strode over to the cabinet where he kept the Pensieve.
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| 他显然完全忘记了已是深夜，急忙从桌后出来，用那只好手接过斯拉格霍恩的记忆，大步走到摆着冥想盆的柜子前。
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| “And now,” said Dumbledore, placing the stone basin upon his desk and emptying the contents of the bottle into it. “Now, at last, we shall see. Harry, quickly . . .”
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| “现在，”邓布利多把石盆搁在桌上，把瓶里的东西倒了进去，“现在，我们终于要看到了。哈利，快……”
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| Harry bowed obediently over the Pensieve and felt his feet leave the office floor. . . . Once again he fell through darkness and landed in Horace Slughorn’s office many years before.
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| 哈利顺从地俯身到冥想盆上，感到双脚离开了地面……他再一次在黑暗中坠落，掉到多年前斯拉格霍恩的办公室里。
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| There was the much younger Slughorn, with his thick, shiny, straw-colored hair and his gingery-blond mustache, sitting again in the comfortable winged armchair in his office, his feet resting upon a velvet pouffe, a small glass of wine in one hand, the other rummaging in a box of crystalized pineapple. And there were the halfdozen teenage boys sitting around Slughorn with Tom Riddle in the midst of them, Marvolo’s gold-and-black ring gleaming on his finger.
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| 还是那年轻得多的斯拉格霍恩，一头浓密光泽的草黄色头发，姜黄色的小胡子，坐在一张舒适的带翼扶手椅中，脚搁在天鹅绒大坐垫上，一手端着一小杯葡萄酒，另一只手在一盒菠萝蜜饯里挑拣着。六七个十多岁的男孩围坐在斯拉格霍恩旁边，其中有汤姆·里德尔。马沃罗的黑宝石金戒指在里德尔的手上闪烁着。
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| Dumbledore landed beside Harry just as Riddle asked, “Sir, is it true that Professor Merrythought is retiring?”
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| 邓布利多落到哈利的身边时，里德尔正在问：“先生，梅乐思教授要退休了吗？”
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| “Tom, Tom, if I knew I couldn’t tell you,” said Slughorn, wagging his finger reprovingly at Riddle, though winking at the same time. “I must say, I’d like to know where you get your information, boy, more knowledgeable than half the staff, you are.”
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| “汤姆，汤姆，我知道也不能告诉你，”斯拉格霍恩责备地对他摇着一根沾满糖霜的手指，但又眨眨眼睛。“我不得不说，我想知道你的消息是从哪儿得来的，孩子。你比一半的教员知道得都多。”
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| Riddle smiled; the other boys laughed and cast him admiring looks.
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| 里德尔微微一笑，其他男孩也笑起来，向他投去钦佩的目光。
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| “What with your uncanny ability to know things you shouldn’t, and your careful flattery of the people who matter — thank you for the pineapple, by the way, you’re quite right, it is my favorite —”
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| “你这个鬼灵精，能知道不该知道的事，又会小心讨好重要的人——顺便谢谢你的菠萝，你猜中了，这是我最喜欢的——”
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| Several of the boys tittered again.
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| 几个男孩窃笑起来。
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| “— I confidently expect you to rise to Minister of Magic within twenty years. Fifteen, if you keep sending me pineapple, I have excellent contacts at the Ministry.”
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| “——我相信你二十年内就会升为魔法部长。也许只要十五年，如果你经常给我送菠萝蜜饯的话。我在部里有很硬的关系。”
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| Tom Riddle merely smiled as the others laughed again. Harry noticed that he was by no means the eldest of the group of boys, but that they all seemed to look to him as their leader.
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| 其他男孩又笑起来，汤姆·里德尔只是微露笑容。哈利注意到在这些男孩中他绝不是年龄最大的，但他们似乎都把他看作领袖。
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| “I don’t know that politics would suit me, sir,” he said when the laughter had died away. “I don’t have the right kind of background, for one thing.”
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| “我不知道政界是否适合我，先生，”笑声渐止后汤姆·里德尔说，“首先我没有背景。”
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| A couple of the boys around him smirked at each other. Harry was sure they were enjoying a private joke, undoubtedly about what they knew, or suspected, regarding their gang leader’s famous ancestor.
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| 旁边两个男孩相视而笑。哈利相信他们是想到了一个私下流传的笑话，无疑是他们知道的或是猜测的，与他们头儿的显赫祖先有关。
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| “Nonsense,” said Slughorn briskly, “couldn’t be plainer you come from decent Wizarding stock, abilities like yours. No, you’ll go far, Tom, I’ve never been wrong about a student yet.”
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| “什么话，”斯拉格霍恩爽朗地说，“你那样的才能，一定出自体面的巫师世家，这一点再清楚不过了。你前途无量，汤姆，我还从没看错过一个学生。”
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| The small golden clock standing upon Slughorn’s desk chimed eleven o’clock behind him and he looked around.
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| 斯拉格霍恩书桌上的金色小钟打了十一点。
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| “Good gracious, is it that time already? You’d better get going, boys, or we’ll all be in trouble. Lestrange, I want your essay by tomorrow or it’s detention. Same goes for you, Avery.”
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| “老天，已经到时间了？该走啦，孩子们——不然我们就麻烦了。莱斯特兰奇，明天交论文，不然就关禁闭。你也一样，埃弗里。”
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| One by one, the boys filed out of the room. Slughorn heaved himself out of his armchair and carried his empty glass over to his desk. A movement behind him made him look around; Riddle was still standing there.
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| 男孩们鱼贯而出。斯拉格霍恩从椅子上爬起来，把空杯子拿到桌前。身后的动静使他回过头来，里德尔还站在那儿。
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| “Look sharp, Tom, you don’t want to be caught out of bed out of hours, and you a prefect . . .”
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| “快点儿，汤姆，你不想被人抓到熄灯时间还在外面吧，你是级长……”
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| “Sir, I wanted to ask you something.”
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| “先生，我想问你点事。”
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| “Ask away, then, m’boy, ask away. . . .”
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| “那就快问，孩子，快问……”
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| “Sir, I wondered what you know about . . . about Horcruxes?”
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| “先生，我想问你知不知道……魂器。”
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| Slughorn stared at him, his thick fingers absentmindedly caressing the stem of his wine glass.
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| 斯拉格霍恩瞪着他，胖手指心不在焉地抚摩着杯脚。
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| “Project for Defense Against the Dark Arts, is it?”
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| “黑魔法防御术的课题，是吗？”
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| But Harry could tell that Slughorn knew perfectly well that this was not schoolwork.
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| 但哈利看得出斯拉格霍恩明知这不是学校的功课。
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| “Not exactly, sir,” said Riddle. “I came across the term while reading and I didn’t fully understand it.”
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| “不是，先生，我在书上看到的，不大理解。”
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| “No . . . well . . . you’d be hard-pushed to find a book at Hogwarts that’ll give you details on Horcruxes, Tom, that’s very Dark stuff, very Dark indeed,” said Slughorn.
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| “嗯……是啊……在霍格沃茨很难找到一本详细介绍魂器的书，汤姆。那是非常邪恶的东西，非常邪恶。”斯拉格霍恩说。
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| “But you obviously know all about them, sir? I mean, a wizard like you — sorry, I mean, if you can’t tell me, obviously — I just knew if anyone could tell me, you could — so I just thought I’d ask —”
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| “但你显然很了解，先生？我是说，像你这样的巫师——对不起，我的意思是，如果你不能告诉我，显然——我只知道如果有人能告诉我，那就是你——所以我就想问一问——”
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| It was very well done, thought Harry, the hesitancy, the casual tone, the careful flattery, none of it overdone. He, Harry, had had too much experience of trying to wheedle information out of reluctant people not to recognize a master at work. He could tell that Riddle wanted the information very, very much; perhaps had been working toward this moment for weeks.
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| 恰到好处，哈利想，那种犹豫、不经意的语气，巧妙的恭维，一点儿都没有过火。哈利自己有过太多从不情愿的人嘴里套取信息的经历，不会认不出一个行家。他看得出里德尔非常非常想要这个信息，也许为这一刻已经筹划了好几个星期。
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| “Well,” said Slughorn, not looking at Riddle, but fiddling with the ribbon on top of his box of crystalized pineapple, “well, it can’t hurt to give you an overview, of course. Just so that you understand the term. A Horcrux is the word used for an object in which a person has concealed part of their soul.”
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| “嗯，”斯拉格霍恩说道，他没看里德尔，而是玩弄着菠萝蜜饯盒子上的缎带，“当然，给你简单介绍一下不会有什么坏处，只是让你理解一下这个名词。魂器是指藏有一个人的部分灵魂的物体。”
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| “I don’t quite understand how that works, though, sir,” said Riddle.
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| “可我不大明白那是怎么回事，先生。”里德尔说。
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| His voice was carefully controlled, but Harry could sense his excitement.
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| 他的声音是小心控制的，但哈利能感到他的激动。
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| “Well, you split your soul, you see,” said Slughorn, “and hide part of it in an object outside the body. Then, even if one’s body is attacked or destroyed, one cannot die, for part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged. But of course, existence in such a form . . .”
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| “就是说，你把你的灵魂分裂开，”斯拉格霍恩说，“将一部分藏在身体外的某个物体中。这样，即使你的身体遭到袭击或摧毁，你也死不了，因为还有一部分灵魂留在世间，未受损害。但是，当然，以这种形式存在……”
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| Slughorn’s face crumpled and Harry found himself remembering words he had heard nearly two years before: “I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost . . . but still, I was alive.”
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| 斯拉格霍恩的脸皱了起来，哈利想起他两年前听到的话。
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| “. . . few would want it, Tom, very few. Death would be preferable.”
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| “我被剥离了肉体，比幽灵还不如，比最卑微的游魂还不如……但是我还活着。”
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| But Riddle’s hunger was now apparent; his expression was greedy, he could no longer hide his longing.
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| “……很少有人想那样，汤姆，少而又少。死去还痛快些。”
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| “How do you split your soul?”
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| 但里德尔的饥渴现在很明显，他表情贪婪，已经隐藏不住他的欲望。
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| “Well,” said Slughorn uncomfortably, “you must understand that the soul is supposed to remain intact and whole. Splitting it is an act of violation, it is against nature.”
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| “怎么分裂灵魂呢？”
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| “But how do you do it?”
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| “哦，”斯拉格霍恩不安地说，“你必须明白，灵魂应该保持完整无缺。分裂它是一种违逆，是反自然的。”
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| “By an act of evil — the supreme act of evil. By committing murder. Killing rips the soul apart. The wizard intent upon creating a Horcrux would use the damage to his advantage: He would encase the torn portion —”
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| “可是怎么分裂呢？”
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| “Encase? But how — ?”
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| “通过邪恶的行为——最邪恶的行为，通过谋杀。杀人会使灵魂分裂，想要制造魂器的巫师则利用这种破坏，把分裂出的灵魂碎片封存——”
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| “There is a spell, do not ask me, I don’t know!” said Slughorn, shaking his head like an old elephant bothered by mosquitoes. “Do I look as though I have tried it — do I look like a killer?”
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| “封存？可是怎么——？”
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| “No, sir, of course not,” said Riddle quickly. “I’m sorry . . . I didn’t mean to offend . . .”
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| “有一个咒语，不要问我，我不知道！”斯拉格霍恩像被蚊子叮烦的老象一样摇着脑袋，“我看上去像是试过的吗——我像杀人犯吗？”
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| “Not at all, not at all, not offended,” said Slughorn gruffly. “It’s natural to feel some curiosity about these things. . . . Wizards of a certain caliber have always been drawn to that aspect of magic. . . .”
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| “不，先生，当然不是，”里德尔说，“对不起……我不是有意冒犯……”
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| “Yes, sir,” said Riddle. “What I don’t understand, though — just out of curiosity — I mean, would one Horcrux be much use? Can you only split your soul once? Wouldn’t it be better, make you stronger, to have your soul in more pieces, I mean, for instance, isn’t seven the most powerfully magical number, wouldn’t seven — ?”
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| “哪里，哪里，没有冒犯，”斯拉格霍恩粗声粗气地说，“对这些事情有些好奇是正常的……有才能的巫师总会被魔法的那一面所吸引……”
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| “Merlin’s beard, Tom!” yelped Slughorn. “Seven! Isn’t it bad enough to think of killing one person? And in any case . . . bad enough to divide the soul . . . but to rip it into seven pieces . . .”
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| “是的，先生，”里德尔说，“可我不明白的是——仅仅出于好奇，我想问的是，一个魂器用处大吗？灵魂是不是只能分裂一次？多分几片是不是更好，能让你更强大？比如说，七不是最有魔力的数字吗，七个——？”
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| Slughorn looked deeply troubled now: He was gazing at Riddle as though he had never seen him plainly before, and Harry could tell that he was regretting entering into the conversation at all.
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| “我的老天爷啊，汤姆！”斯拉格霍恩叫道，“七个！想杀一个人还不够邪恶吗？无论如何……分裂灵魂已经够邪恶了……而分成七片……”
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| “Of course,” he muttered, “this is all hypothetical, what we’re discussing, isn’t it? All academic . . .”
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| 斯拉格霍恩现在显得非常不安了，他瞪着里德尔，好像以前没看清他，哈利看得出他在后悔参与了这场谈话。
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| “Yes, sir, of course,” said Riddle quickly.
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| “当然，”他小声说道，“我们谈的这些都是假设，是不是？只是学术性的……”
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| “But all the same, Tom . . . keep it quiet, what I’ve told — that’s to say, what we’ve discussed. People wouldn’t like to think we’ve been chatting about Horcruxes. It’s a banned subject at Hogwarts, you know. . . . Dumbledore’s particularly fierce about it. . . .”
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| “是的，先生，当然。”里德尔马上说。
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| “I won’t say a word, sir,” said Riddle, and he left, but not before Harry had glimpsed his face, which was full of that same wild happiness it had worn when he had first found out that he was a wizard, the sort of happiness that did not enhance his handsome features, but made them, somehow, less human. . . .
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| “不过，汤姆……我所讲的——我们所讨论的这些，还是别说出去。人们知道我们聊过魂器是不会高兴的。这在霍格沃茨是禁止的，你知道……邓布利多尤其激烈……”
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| “Thank you, Harry,” said Dumbledore quietly. “Let us go. . . .”
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| “我绝不会说出去的，先生。”里德尔说完就离开了。但哈利瞥见了他的面孔，上面充满了狂喜，像他刚发现自己是巫师时一样，那种喜悦没有令他的面庞更显英俊，反而显得有些狰狞……
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| When Harry landed back on the office floor Dumbledore was already sitting down behind his desk. Harry sat too and waited for Dumbledore to speak.
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| “谢谢你，哈利，”邓布利多低声说，“我们走吧……”
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| “I have been hoping for this piece of evidence for a very long time,” said Dumbledore at last. “It confirms the theory on which I have been working, it tells me that I am right, and also how very far there is still to go. . . .”
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| 哈利落回到办公室的地上，邓布利多已经坐在书桌后。哈利也坐了下来，等着邓布利多开口。
|
| Harry suddenly noticed that every single one of the old headmasters and headmistresses in the portraits around the walls was awake and listening in on their conversation. A corpulent, rednosed wizard had actually taken out an ear trumpet.
|
| “我等这个证据已经有很久了，”邓布利多终于说，“它证实了我的推测，证明我是对的，也告诉我前面的道路还很长……”
|
| “Well, Harry,” said Dumbledore, “I am sure you understood the significance of what we just heard. At the same age as you are now, give or take a few months, Tom Riddle was doing all he could to find out how to make himself immortal.”
|
| 哈利突然发现墙上画像中的老校长们全都醒了，在偷听他们的谈话。一个红鼻子的肥胖巫师还拿出了助听器。
|
| “You think he succeeded then, sir?” asked Harry. “He made a Horcrux? And that’s why he didn’t die when he attacked me? He had a Horcrux hidden somewhere? A bit of his soul was safe?”
|
| “哈利，”邓布利多说，“我相信你了解刚才那段对话的重要性。就在你这样的年龄，汤姆·里德尔正千方百计打听怎样能让他永远不死。”
|
| “A bit . . . or more,” said Dumbledore. “You heard Voldemort: What he particularly wanted from Horace was an opinion on what would happen to the wizard who created more than one Horcrux, what would happen to the wizard so determined to evade death that he would be prepared to murder many times, rip his soul repeatedly, so as to store it in many, separately concealed Horcruxes. No book would have given him that information. As far as I know — as far, I am sure, as Voldemort knew — no wizard had ever done more than tear his soul in two.”
|
| “那么你认为他成功了，先生？”哈利问，“他做成了魂器？所以他袭击我之后没有死？他在某个地方藏有一个魂器？他的一小片灵魂是安全的？”
|
| Dumbledore paused for a moment, marshaling his thoughts, and then said, “Four years ago, I received what I considered certain proof that Voldemort had split his soul.”
|
| “一小片……或更多。”邓布利多说，“你听到了伏地魔的话：他特别想从斯拉格霍恩口中知道的是如果一个巫师制造多个魂器会怎么样，如果一个巫师为了逃避死亡而不惜多次杀人，多次分裂他的灵魂，存在多个单独储藏的魂器中，会有什么后果。没有书本能给他这个知识。据我所知——我想伏地魔也知道——没有一个巫师曾把他的灵魂分裂到两片以上。”
|
| “Where?” asked Harry “How?”
|
| 邓布利多停了停，整理着思绪，然后说：“四年前，我得到了一个证据，表明伏地魔分裂了他的灵魂。”
|
| “You handed it to me, Harry,” said Dumbledore. “The diary, Riddle’s diary, the one giving instructions on how to reopen the Chamber of Secrets.”
|
| “在哪儿？”哈利问，“怎么知道的？”
|
| “I don’t understand, sir,” said Harry.
|
| “是你交给我的，哈利。”邓布利多说，“那本日记，里德尔的日记，教人怎样重新打开密室的那本。”
|
| “Well, although I did not see the Riddle who came out of the diary, what you described to me was a phenomenon I had never witnessed. A mere memory starting to act and think for itself? A mere memory, sapping the life out of the girl into whose hands it had fallen? No, something much more sinister had lived inside that book. . . . a fragment of soul, I was almost sure of it. The diary had been a Horcrux. But this raised as many questions as it answered.
|
| “我不明白，先生。”
|
| “What intrigued and alarmed me most was that that diary had been intended as a weapon as much as a safeguard.”
|
| “哦，虽然我没有看到从日记中现身的里德尔，但你向我描述的是我从未见过的现象。仅仅一个记忆，会有自己的行动和思想？仅仅一个记忆，竟会吸取拿到它的那个女孩的生命？不，那日记本里还有邪恶得多的东西……一片灵魂。我几乎可以确信，那日记本是一个魂器。可是这又提出了更多的问题。令我最感兴趣也最为震惊的是那日记本曾经既被当做防护器，又被当做武器。”
|
| “I still don’t understand,” said Harry.
|
| “我还是不明白。”哈利说。
|
| “Well, it worked as a Horcrux is supposed to work — in other words, the fragment of soul concealed inside it was kept safe and had undoubtedly played its part in preventing the death of its owner. But there could be no doubt that Riddle really wanted that diary read, wanted the piece of his soul to inhabit or possess somebody else, so that Slytherin’s monster would be unleashed again.”
|
| “它起到了魂器的作用——换句话说，藏在里面的那片灵魂是安全的，并且的确起着帮助主人避免死亡的作用。但里德尔无疑希望有人读到那本日记，希望他的那片灵魂附到别人身上，以便将斯莱特林的怪物重新释放出来。”
|
| “Well, he didn’t want his hard work to be wasted,” said Harry. “He wanted people to know he was Slytherin’s heir, because he couldn’t take credit at the time.”
|
| “嗯，他不想让他的辛苦白费，”哈利说，“他希望人们知道他是斯莱特林的继承人，因为他当时得不到名分。”
|
| “Quite correct,” said Dumbledore, nodding. “But don’t you see, Harry, that if he intended the diary to be passed to, or planted on, some future Hogwarts student, he was being remarkably blasé about that precious fragment of his soul concealed within it. The point of a Horcrux is, as Professor Slughorn explained, to keep part of the self hidden and safe, not to fling it into somebody else’s path and run the risk that they might destroy it — as indeed happened: That particular fragment of soul is no more; you saw to that.
|
| “很对，”邓布利多点点头说，“但你有没有想到，哈利，如果他希望日记被传递给或植根于某个未来的霍格沃茨学生，那他对里面宝贵的灵魂碎片可是非常不当心的。正如斯拉格霍恩教授所说，魂器的用途，是把自己的一部分灵魂安全地封存起来，而不是扔到别人的路上去冒被消灭的危险——这实际上发生了：那一片灵魂已不复存在，这你看到了。
|
| “The careless way in which Voldemort regarded this Horcrux seemed most ominous to me. It suggested that he must have made — or been planning to make — more Horcruxes, so that the loss of his first would not be so detrimental. I did not wish to believe it, but nothing else seemed to make sense.
|
| “伏地魔对这个魂器的大意让我感到大大的不祥。这意味着他很可能已经做成——或者计划要做更多的魂器，所以失去一个不会那么危险。我不愿相信这一点，但似乎没有其他解释可以说得通。
|
| “Then you told me, two years later, that on the night that Voldemort returned to his body, he made a most illuminating and alarming statement to his Death Eaters. ‘I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality.’ That was what you told me he said. ‘Further than anybody,’ And I thought I knew what that meant, though the Death Eaters did not. He was referring to his Horcruxes, Horcruxes in the plural, Harry, which I do not believe any other wizard has ever had. Yet it fitted: Lord Voldemort has seemed to grow less human with the passing years, and the transformation he has undergone seemed to me to be only explicable if his soul was mutilated beyond the realms of what we might call ‘usual evil’ . . .”
|
| “两年后你告诉我，在伏地魔还魂的那个夜里，他对食死徒说了一句令人警醒的话：‘我，在长生的路上比谁走得都远。’你告诉我这就是他说的话：‘比谁走得都远。’食死徒不知道，但是我想我知道它的含义。他是在指他的魂器，多个魂器，哈利。我相信这是其他任何巫师都不曾有过的。但种种迹象都很吻合——这些年来伏地魔似乎变得越来越不像人，我想那种变形只能解释为，他的灵魂受到的破坏超出了我们所说的一般邪恶的范围……”
|
| “So he’s made himself impossible to kill by murdering other people?” said Harry. “Why couldn’t he make a Sorcerer’s Stone, or steal one, if he was so interested in immortality?”
|
| “他靠杀人使自己不死？”哈利说，“如果他那么想长生不死，为什么不造一块魔法石，或者偷一块呢？”
|
| “Well, we know that he tried to do just that, five years ago,” said Dumbledore. “But there are several reasons why, I think, a Sorcerer’s Stone would appeal less than Horcruxes to Lord Voldemort.
|
| “我们知道，他五年前正是那么做的。但我想魔法石不如魂器对伏地魔的胃口，有几点原因。
|
| “While the Elixir of Life does indeed extend life, it must be drunk regularly, for all eternity, if the drinker is to maintain their immortality. Therefore, Voldemort would be entirely dependent on the Elixir, and if it ran out, or was contaminated, or if the Stone was stolen, he would die just like any other man. Voldemort likes to operate alone, remember. I believe that he would have found the thought of being dependent, even on the Elixir, intolerable. Of course he was prepared to drink it if it would take him out of the horrible part-life to which he was condemned after attacking you, but only to regain a body. Thereafter, I am convinced, he intended to continue to rely on his Horcruxes: He would need nothing more, if only he could regain a human form. He was already immortal, you see . . . or as close to immortal as any man can be.
|
| “长生不老药确实能够延长生命，但必须经常喝，永远喝下去，才能保持不死。那样，伏地魔将完全依赖此药。如果药用完了或是受到污染，或是魔法石被盗，他就会像其他人一样死去。伏地魔喜欢单独行动，记得吗？我相信他会觉得依赖是不可容忍的，哪怕是依赖长生不老药。当然，为了摆脱他在袭击你之后那种半生半死的可怕状态，他愿意喝它，但那只是为了重获肉体。之后，我相信他还是打算继续依靠他的魂器：他不再需要别的，只要能重获一个人身。他已经长生不死了……或者说比任何人都更接近长生不死了。
|
| “But now, Harry, armed with this information, the crucial memory you have succeeded in procuring for us, we are closer to the secret of finishing Lord Voldemort than anyone has ever been before. You heard him, Harry: ‘Wouldn’t it be better, make you stronger, to have your soul in more pieces . . . isn’t seven the most powerfully magical number . . .’ Isn’t seven the most powerfully magical number. Yes, I think the idea of a seven-part soul would greatly appeal to Lord Voldemort.”
|
| “但现在，哈利，有了你为我们搞到的这个关键记忆，我们比任何人都更接近如何将伏地魔消灭的秘密。哈利，你听到他说了：‘多分几块是不是更好，能让你更强大……七不是最有魔力的数字吗……’七不是最有魔力的数字吗。对，我认为把灵魂分成七片对伏地魔很有吸引力。”
|
| “He made seven Horcruxes?” said Harry, horror-struck, while several of the portraits on the walls made similar noises of shock and outrage. “But they could be anywhere in the world — hidden — buried or invisible —”
|
| “他做了七个魂器？”哈利惊恐地问道，墙上几个肖像也发出震惊和愤慨之声，“但它们可能在世界上任何地方——隐藏着——埋着或隐形——”
|
| “I am glad to see you appreciate the magnitude of the problem,” said Dumbledore calmly “But firstly, no, Harry, not seven Horcruxes: six. The seventh part of his soul, however maimed, resides inside his regenerated body. That was the part of him that lived a spectral existence for so many years during his exile; without that, he has no self at all. That seventh piece of soul will be the last that anybody wishing to kill Voldemort must attack — the piece that lives in his body.”
|
| “我很高兴你能看到问题的严重程度，”邓布利多镇静地说，“但首先，哈利，不是七个魂器，是六个。第七部分灵魂，无论怎样残破，仍在他复活的身体里，就是这一部分的他在多年流亡中以幽灵般的形式存在着，没有它，他就没有了自己。这第七部分灵魂将是想要杀死伏地魔的人最后必须攻击的对象——他体内的那一片。”
|
| “But the six Horcruxes, then,” said Harry, a little desperately, “how are we supposed to find them?”
|
| “可是那六个魂器，”哈利有些急不可耐地说，“怎么才能找到它们呢？”
|
| “You are forgetting . . . you have already destroyed one of them. And I have destroyed another.”
|
| “你忘了……你已经摧毁了一个，我又摧毁了一个。”
|
| “You have?” said Harry eagerly.
|
| “你摧毁了一个？”哈利忙问。
|
| “Yes indeed,” said Dumbledore, and he raised his blackened, burned-looking hand. “The ring, Harry. Marvolo’s ring. And a terrible curse there was upon it too. Had it not been — forgive me the lack of seemly modesty — for my own prodigious skill, and for Professor Snape’s timely action when I returned to Hogwarts, desperately injured, I might not have lived to tell the tale. However, a withered hand does not seem an unreasonable exchange for a seventh of Voldemort’s soul. The ring is no longer a Horcrux.”
|
| “是的，”邓布利多举起他那只焦黑的手说，“那个戒指，哈利，马沃罗的戒指。那上面有一个可怕的咒语。要不是——请原谅我的不谦虚——要不是我本领高强，还有斯内普教授在我重伤回到霍格沃茨后及时相助，我可能就不会活着讲这个故事了。但，一只枯手换取伏地魔七分之一的灵魂似乎不算太贵。戒指已不再是魂器了。”
|
| “But how did you find it?”
|
| “可你是怎么找到它的？”
|
| “Well, as you now know, for many years I have made it my business to discover as much as I can about Voldemort’s past life. I have traveled widely, visiting those places he once knew. I stumbled across the ring hidden in the ruin of the Gaunts’ house. It seems that once Voldemort had succeeded in sealing a piece of his soul inside it, he did not want to wear it anymore. He hid it, protected by many powerful enchantments, in the shack where his ancestors had once lived (Morfin having been carted off to Azkaban, of course), never guessing that I might one day take the trouble to visit the ruin, or that I might be keeping an eye open for traces of magical concealment.
|
| “你知道，我多年来想方设法了解伏地魔过去的生活，跑了很多地方，寻访他的踪迹。我发现这个戒指藏在冈特家的废墟中。好像伏地魔把他的一片灵魂藏在里面后，他就不想再戴它了。他把它藏在他祖先住过的小屋里（莫芬当然已被押往阿兹卡班了），用许多强大的魔法保护着它。但是伏地魔没想到我有一天会来踏访这个废墟，并会留意寻找魔法隐藏的痕迹。
|
| “However, we should not congratulate ourselves too heartily. You destroyed the diary and I the ring, but if we are right in our theory of a seven-part soul, four Horcruxes remain.”
|
| “然而，我们不要庆祝得太早。你消灭了日记，我消灭了戒指，如果关于七片灵魂的猜测是正确的，那就还有四个魂器。”
|
| “And they could be anything?” said Harry. “They could be old tin cans or, I dunno, empty potion bottles. . . .”
|
| “它们可能是任何东西？”哈利说道，“可能是旧铁罐……或者……空药瓶……？”
|
| “You are thinking of Portkeys, Harry, which must be ordinary objects, easy to overlook. But would Lord Voldemort use tin cans or old potion bottles to guard his own precious soul? You are forgetting what I have showed you. Lord Voldemort liked to collect trophies, and he preferred objects with a powerful magical history. His pride, his belief in his own superiority, his determination to carve for himself a startling place in magical history; these things suggest to me that Voldemort would have chosen his Horcruxes with some care, favoring objects worthy of the honor.”
|
| “你想的是门钥匙，哈利，那是容易被忽略的普通物件。但伏地魔会用旧铁罐或空药瓶来保存他自己宝贵的灵魂吗？你忘了我告诉你的一点，伏地魔喜欢收集纪念品，他喜欢具有强大魔法且有历史意义的物品。他的骄傲、他的优越感、他为自己在魔法史上占取惊人地位的决心，这些都让我觉得伏地魔会精心挑选他的魂器，偏爱配得上这份荣誉的物品。”
|
| “The diary wasn’t that special.”
|
| “日记没那么特殊。”
|
| “The diary, as you have said yourself, was proof that he was the Heir of Slytherin; I am sure that Voldemort considered it of stupendous importance.”
|
| “你自己说过，日记能证明他是斯莱特林的继承人，我相信伏地魔认为它意义重大。”
|
| “So, the other Horcruxes?” said Harry. “Do you think you know what they are, sir?”
|
| “那么，其他魂器呢？”哈利问，“你知道它们都是什么吗，先生？”
|
| “I can only guess,” said Dumbledore. “For the reasons I have already given, I believe that Lord Voldemort would prefer objects that, in themselves, have a certain grandeur. I have therefore trawled back through Voldemort’s past to see if I can find evidence that such artifacts have disappeared around him.”
|
| “我只能猜测。”邓布利多说，“由于已经说过的原因，我相信伏地魔会偏爱本身高贵的物品。因此我仔细搜索伏地魔的过去，看能否找到这种物品在他周围消失的痕迹。”
|
| “The locket!” said Harry loudly. “Hufflepuff ’s cup!”
|
| “金挂坠盒！”哈利大声说，“赫奇帕奇的杯子！”
|
| “Yes,” said Dumbledore, smiling, “I would be prepared to bet — perhaps not my other hand — but a couple of fingers, that they became Horcruxes three and four. The remaining two, assuming again that he created a total of six, are more of a problem, but I will hazard a guess that, having secured objects from Hufflepuff and Slytherin, he set out to track down objects owned by Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Four objects from the four founders would, I am sure, have exerted a powerful pull over Voldemort’s imagination. I cannot answer for whether he ever managed to find anything of Ravenclaw’s. I am confident, however, that the only known relic of Gryffindor remains safe.”
|
| “对，”邓布利多微笑道，“我可以打赌——也许不能用我这只好手，但可以用两根手指，它们就是第三第四个魂器。还有两个要难一点——假设他一共做了六个，但我试着猜一下，他得到赫奇帕奇和斯莱特林的宝物之后，就会去寻找格兰芬多或拉文克劳的遗物。我想，四位创始人的四件宝物一定对伏地魔有着极大的吸引力。我无法回答他是否找到了拉文克劳的东西，但我确信，格兰芬多惟一已知的遗物安然无恙。”
|
| Dumbledore pointed his blackened fingers to the wall behind him, where a ruby-encrusted sword reposed within a glass case.
|
| 邓布利多用焦黑的手朝他身后的墙上一指，那儿的玻璃匣子里躺着一把镶着红宝石的宝剑。
|
| “Do you think that’s why he really wanted to come back to Hogwarts, sir?” said Harry. “To try and find something from one of the other founders?”
|
| “你认为这是他想回霍格沃茨的真正原因吗，先生？”哈利说，“为找到其他创始人的遗物？”
|
| “My thoughts precisely,” said Dumbledore. “But unfortunately, that does not advance us much further, for he was turned away, or so I believe, without the chance to search the school. I am forced to conclude that he never fulfilled his ambition of collecting four founders’ objects. He definitely had two — he may have found three — that is the best we can do for now.”
|
| “这正是我的猜测。但可惜这并未给我们多少帮助，因为他还没有来得及在校内搜索就被赶走了，至少我相信如此。我只能推断，他未能实现收集四位创始人遗物的野心。他肯定有了两个，也许找到了三个——我们目前就只能推知这么多。”
|
| “Even if he got something of Ravenclaw’s or of Gryffindor’s, that leaves a sixth Horcrux,” said Harry, counting on his fingers. “Unless he got both?”
|
| “就算他得到了拉文克劳或格兰芬多的东西，那还剩下第六个魂器，”哈利扳着手指说，“除非他两个都搞到了？”
|
| “I don’t think so,” said Dumbledore. “I think I know what the sixth Horcrux is. I wonder what you will say when I confess that I have been curious for a while about the behavior of the snake, Nagini?”
|
| “我认为没有，”邓布利多说，“我想我知道第六个魂器是什么。如果我坦白地告诉你，我对那条蛇——纳吉尼的行为已经关注了一段时间，不知你会说什么。”
|
| “The snake?” said Harry, startled. “You can use animals as Horcruxes?”
|
| “蛇？”哈利很吃惊，“可以用动物做魂器？”
|
| “Well, it is inadvisable to do so,” said Dumbledore, “because to confide a part of your soul to something that can think and move for itself is obviously a very risky business. However, if my calculations are correct, Voldemort was still at least one Horcrux short of his goal of six when he entered your parents’ house with the intention of killing you.
|
| “不大可取，因为把你灵魂的一部分托付给一个自己能动的、有思维的东西是非常冒险的。但是，如果我估计正确，伏地魔在进你父母家想杀你的时候，至少还缺少一个魂器，尚未达到他要做六个的目标。
|
| “He seems to have reserved the process of making Horcruxes for particularly significant deaths. You would certainly have been that. He believed that in killing you, he was destroying the danger the prophecy had outlined. He believed he was making himself invincible. I am sure that he was intending to make his final Horcrux with your death.
|
| “他似乎在利用特别重要的谋杀来制作魂器，你当然是这样一个目标。他相信如果杀了你，他就消灭了预言所提示的危险。他相信这样他就天下无敌了。我想他一定是打算用你的死来做他的最后一个魂器。
|
| “As we know, he failed. After an interval of some years, however, he used Nagini to kill an old Muggle man, and it might then have occurred to him to turn her into his last Horcrux. She underlines the Slytherin connection, which enhances Lord Voldemort’s mystique; I think he is perhaps as fond of her as he can be of anything; he certainly likes to keep her close, and he seems to have an unusual amount of control over her, even for a Parselmouth.”
|
| “我们知道，他失败了。但隔了几年后，他用纳吉尼杀死了一个麻瓜老头，也许他就是在那时想到了把这条蛇变成他的最后一个魂器的。它可以突出斯莱特林的家世，增加伏地魔的神秘性。我想这可能是他最喜欢的东西了。他无疑喜欢把它带在身边，而且似乎对它有异乎寻常的支配力，这即使在蛇佬腔中也是罕见的。”
|
| “So,” said Harry, “the diary’s gone, the ring’s gone. The cup, the locket, and the snake are still intact, and you think there might be a Horcrux that was once Ravenclaw’s or Gryffindor’s?”
|
| “那，日记毁了，戒指毁了，杯子、挂坠盒和蛇还在，你认为还有一个魂器可能是拉文克劳或格兰芬多的遗物？”
|
| “An admirably succinct and accurate summary, yes,” said Dumbledore, bowing his head.
|
| “很好，一个简练而准确的总结，是的。”邓布利多点头赞许道。
|
| “So . . . are you still looking for them, sir? Is that where you’ve been going when you’ve been leaving the school?”
|
| “那……你还在寻找它们吗，先生？你离开学校就是去做这件事吗？”
|
| “Correct,” said Dumbledore. “I have been looking for a very long time. I think . . . perhaps . . . I may be close to finding another one. There are hopeful signs.”
|
| “对，我找了很长时间。我想……也许……我快要找到另一个了，有些蛛丝马迹了。”
|
| “And if you do,” said Harry quickly, “can I come with you and help get rid of it?”
|
| “如果你找到了，”哈利马上说，“我能跟你去帮忙消灭它吗？”
|
| Dumbledore looked at Harry very intently for a moment before saying, “Yes, I think so.”
|
| 邓布利多非常认真地看了哈利一会儿，然后说：“我想可以。”
|
| “I can?” said Harry, thoroughly taken aback.
|
| “我可以？”哈利说，吃了一惊。
|
| “Oh yes,” said Dumbledore, smiling slightly. “I think you have earned that right.”
|
| “哦，是的，”邓布利多说着微微一笑，“我想你赢得了这个权利。”
|
| Harry felt his heart lift. It was very good not to hear words of caution and protection for once. The headmasters and headmistresses around the walls seemed less impressed by Dumbledore’s decision; Harry saw a few of them shaking their heads and Phineas Nigellus actually snorted.
|
| 哈利的心飞了起来。终于听到一次不是谨慎和保护之类的话了，感觉真好。墙上的校长们似乎对邓布利多的决定不那么赞赏。哈利看到有几个人在摇头，菲尼亚斯·奈杰勒斯打起了呼噜。
|
| “Does Voldemort know when a Horcrux is destroyed, sir? Can he feel it?” Harry asked, ignoring the portraits.
|
| “魂器被毁时伏地魔会知道吗，先生？他能感觉到吗？”哈利问道，没去理睬那些画像。
|
| “A very interesting question, Harry. I believe not. I believe that Voldemort is now so immersed in evil, and these crucial parts of himself have been detached for so long, he does not feel as we do. Perhaps, at the point of death, he might be aware of his loss . . . but he was not aware, for instance, that the diary had been destroyed until he forced the truth out of Lucius Malfoy. When Voldemort discovered that the diary had been mutilated and robbed of all its powers, I am told that his anger was terrible to behold.”
|
| “非常有趣的问题，哈利。我想不会。因为伏地魔现在罪恶太深，而他的这些重要部分又分离得太久，我相信他的感觉不如我们了。也许在临死时，他才会感觉到损失……像那本日记被毁的时候他就没有察觉，后来才从卢修斯·马尔福口中逼问出来。我听说，当伏地魔发现日记被摧毁并失去了所有魔力之后，曾经大发雷霆，非常可怕。”
|
| “But I thought he meant Lucius Malfoy to smuggle it into Hogwarts?”
|
| “可我以为是他要卢修斯·马尔福把它偷偷带进霍格沃茨的。”
|
| “Yes, he did, years ago, when he was sure he would be able to create more Horcruxes, but still Lucius was supposed to wait for Voldemort’s say-so, and he never received it, for Voldemort vanished shortly after giving him the diary.
|
| “是的，那是多年以前，伏地魔确信自己可以制造多个魂器的时候。但卢修斯仍要等伏地魔的许可才能行动，他没有等到，因为伏地魔交托日记后不久便消失了。他无疑认为卢修斯对魂器除了小心看护之外不敢做任何事。但他过于依靠卢修斯对主人的畏惧了——要知道这个主人已失踪多年并被卢修斯认为已经死亡了。当然，卢修斯不知道那本日记实际上是什么。我想伏地魔只会跟他说日记被施了巧妙的魔法，能使密室重新打开。如果卢修斯知道他手里捧了主人的一片灵魂，一定会对它更加尊敬一些——但事实是，他为了自己的目的执行了老计划：把日记安置在亚瑟·韦斯莱的女儿身上。他希望以此败坏亚瑟的名声，把我赶出霍格沃茨，同时除掉一件非常容易惹祸的物证。啊，可怜的卢修斯……出于私心丢掉魂器而触怒了伏地魔，去年在魔法部又是那样的惨败，如果他此刻暗自庆幸能在阿兹卡班苟且偷安，我是不会奇怪的。”
|
| “No doubt he thought that Lucius would not dare do anything with the Horcrux other than guard it carefully, but he was counting too much upon Lucius’s fear of a master who had been gone for years and whom Lucius believed dead. Of course, Lucius did not know what the diary really was. I understand that Voldemort had told him the diary would cause the Chamber of Secrets to reopen because it was cleverly enchanted. Had Lucius known he held a portion of his master’s soul in his hands, he would undoubtedly have treated it with more reverence — but instead he went ahead and carried out the old plan for his own ends: By planting the diary upon Arthur Weasley’s daughter, he hoped to discredit Arthur and get rid of a highly incriminating magical object in one stroke. Ah, poor Lucius . . . what with Voldemort’s fury about the fact that he threw away the Horcrux for his own gain, and the fiasco at the Ministry last year, I would not be surprised if he is not secretly glad to be safe in Azkaban at the moment.”
|
| 哈利坐在那里沉思了一会儿，问道：“如果魂器全部给销毁了，伏地魔就能被杀死？”
|
| Harry sat in thought for a moment, then asked, “So if all of his Horcruxes are destroyed, Voldemort could be killed?”
|
| “我想是的，”邓布利多说，“没有了魂器，伏地魔就是个灵魂已经残损的凡人。但不要忘记，尽管灵魂残破得无法修复，他的脑子和魔力还完好无损。即使已经没有魂器，杀死伏地魔这样的巫师还是需要超常的能力与本领。”
|
| “Yes, I think so,” said Dumbledore. “Without his Horcruxes, Voldemort will be a mortal man with a maimed and diminished soul. Never forget, though, that while his soul may be damaged beyond repair, his brain and his magical powers remain intact. It will take uncommon skill and power to kill a wizard like Voldemort even without his Horcruxes.”
|
| “可我没有超常的能力与本领。”哈利脱口而出。
|
| “But I haven’t got uncommon skill and power,” said Harry, before he could stop himself.
|
| “你有，”邓布利多坚定地说，“你有伏地魔从未有过的能力。你有——”
|
| “Yes, you have,” said Dumbledore firmly. “You have a power that Voldemort has never had. You can —”
|
| “我知道！”哈利不耐烦地说，“我有爱！”他好容易才没有加上：“有什么了不起！”
|
| “I know!” said Harry impatiently. “I can love!” It was only with difficulty that he stopped himself adding, “Big deal!”
|
| “是的，哈利，你有爱，”邓布利多好像十分了解哈利舌头底下压着的话，“想想你经历的一切，这是非常了不起的。你还太年轻，不知道你是多么特殊，哈利。”
|
| “Yes, Harry, you can love,” said Dumbledore, who looked as though he knew perfectly well what Harry had just refrained from saying. “Which, given everything that has happened to you, is a great and remarkable thing. You are still too young to understand how unusual you are, Harry.”
|
| “那么，预言说我有‘黑魔王所不了解的能量’，指的就是——爱吗？”哈利问，他感到有点失望。
|
| “So, when the prophecy says that I’ll have ‘power the Dark Lord knows not,’ it just means — love?” asked Harry, feeling a little let down.
|
| “对——就是爱。”邓布利多说，“但是哈利，永远不要忘记，预言的意义只是伏地魔造成的。我去年年底跟你讲过这一点。伏地魔把你当成对他最危险的人——而这样一来，他就使你变成了对他最危险的人！”
|
| “Yes — just love,” said Dumbledore. “But Harry, never forget that what the prophecy says is only significant because Voldemort made it so. I told you this at the end of last year. Voldemort singled you out as the person who would be most dangerous to him — and in doing so, he made you the person who would be most dangerous to him!”
|
| “可这是一回事——”
|
| “But it comes to the same —”
|
| “不是一回事！”邓不利多语气有些不耐烦了。他用枯黑的手指着哈利说：“你太把那个预言当回事了！”
|
| “No, it doesn’t!” said Dumbledore, sounding impatient now. Pointing at Harry with his black, withered hand, he said, “You are setting too much store by the prophecy!”
|
| “可是，”哈利结结巴巴地说，“你说过那预言意味着——”
|
| “But,” spluttered Harry, “but you said the prophecy means —”
|
| “如果伏地魔从未听说过那个预言，它还会应验吗？它还会有意义吗？当然不会！你认为预言厅中的每个预言都应验了吗？”
|
| “If Voldemort had never heard of the prophecy, would it have been fulfilled? Would it have meant anything? Of course not! Do you think every prophecy in the Hall of Prophecy has been fulfilled?”
|
| “可是——”哈利糊涂了，“可是去年，你说我们中必有一个要把对方杀死——”
|
| “But,” said Harry, bewildered, “but last year, you said one of us would have to kill the other —”
|
| “哈利呀，哈利，那只是因为伏地魔犯了个大错误，他按特里劳妮教授的预言采取了行动！如果伏地魔没有杀死你父亲，会让你产生强烈的复仇欲望吗？当然不会！如果他没有逼你母亲为你而死，会让你得到他无法穿透的魔法保护吗？当然不会！哈利。你看不到吗？伏地魔自己制造了他最可怕的敌人，就像普天下的暴君一样！你知道暴君多么害怕被压迫的人民吗？他们都知道总有一天，在众多受害者中会有一个起来奋起反击！伏地魔也一样。他总是在寻找那个会向他挑战的人，听到预言后就马上行动，结果他不仅亲手选出了那个最有可能除掉他的人，而且给了他一件特别致命的武器！”
|
| “Harry, Harry, only because Voldemort made a grave error, and acted on Professor Trelawney’s words! If Voldemort had never murdered your father, would he have imparted in you a furious desire for revenge? Of course not! If he had not forced your mother to die for you, would he have given you a magical protection he could not penetrate? Of course not, Harry! Don’t you see? Voldemort himself created his worst enemy, just as tyrants everywhere do! Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of them realize that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one who rises against them and strikes back! Voldemort is no different! Always he was on the lookout for the one who would challenge him. He heard the prophecy and he leapt into action, with the result that he not only handpicked the man most likely to finish him, he handed him uniquely deadly weapons!”
|
| “可是——”
|
| “But —”
|
| “你必须明白这一点！”邓布利多站了起来，在屋子里大步地走来走去，闪亮的袍子在身后呼呼飘动。哈利还从没见他这么激动过，“在企图杀你的时候，伏地魔就亲自选出了坐在我面前的这个卓越的人，并为他提供了工具！你能看到伏地魔的思想、野心，甚至能听懂他发令时那蛇说话般的语言，这都只能怪他自己。可是，哈利，尽管你能洞察伏地魔的世界——要知道，这是任何食死徒不惜用杀人来换取的能力，但你却从未接受黑魔法的诱惑，从未显露过丝毫想要追随伏地魔的欲望，一秒钟都没有！”
|
| “It is essential that you understand this!” said Dumbledore, standing up and striding about the room, his glittering robes swooshing in his wake; Harry had never seen him so agitated. “By attempting to kill you, Voldemort himself singled out the remarkable person who sits here in front of me, and gave him the tools for the job! It is Voldemort’s fault that you were able to see into his thoughts, his ambitions, that you even understand the snakelike language in which he gives orders, and yet, Harry, despite your privileged insight into Voldemort’s world (which, incidentally, is a gift any Death Eater would kill to have), you have never been seduced by the Dark Arts, never, even for a second, shown the slightest desire to become one of Voldemort’s followers!”
|
| “当然不会！”哈利愤怒地说，“他杀了我的父母！”
|
| “Of course I haven’t!” said Harry indignantly. “He killed my mum and dad!”
|
| “简而言之，是你的爱保护了你！”邓布利多大声说，“惟有这种保护，才有可能抵御伏地魔那样的权力的诱惑！虽然经历了那么多诱惑，那么多痛苦，你依然心地纯洁，还像你十一岁时那样。当时你向那面能照出你内心愿望的镜子中望去，看到的只有怎样挫败伏地魔，而没有永生和财富。哈利，你知不知道，世上没有几个巫师能看到你在镜中看到的东西？伏地魔那时就该知道他要对付的是什么，可惜他没有！
|
| “You are protected, in short, by your ability to love!” said Dumbledore loudly. “The only protection that can possibly work against the lure of power like Voldemort’s! In spite of all the temptation you have endured, all the suffering, you remain pure of heart, just as pure as you were at the age of eleven, when you stared into a mirror that reflected your heart’s desire, and it showed you only the way to thwart Lord Voldemort, and not immortality or riches. Harry, have you any idea how few wizards could have seen what you saw in that mirror? Voldemort should have known then what he was dealing with, but he did not!
|
| “但他现在知道了。你侵入了伏地魔的思想而不受损害，他想附在你身上时却不能不忍受剧烈的痛苦，他在部里已经发现了这一点。但我想他不了解这是为什么，哈利。他那样忙于破坏自己的灵魂，从来无暇去了解一个纯洁健全的灵魂拥有何等无与伦比的力量。”
|
| “But he knows it now. You have flitted into Lord Voldemort’s mind without damage to yourself, but he cannot possess you without enduring mortal agony, as he discovered in the Ministry. I do not think he understands why, Harry, but then, he was in such a hurry to mutilate his own soul, he never paused to understand the incomparable power of a soul that is untarnished and whole.”
|
| “可是，先生，”哈利说，竭力不想显得像是在争辩，“说到底还是一样，是不是？我必须设法杀死他，否则——”
|
| “But, sir,” said Harry, making valiant efforts not to sound argumentative, “it all comes to the same thing, doesn’t it? I’ve got to try and kill him, or —”
|
| “必须？”邓布利多说道，“你当然必须！但不是因为预言！而是因为你自己，你不这样做就不会安心！我们都知道这一点！请想象一下，如果你从未听过那个预言！你对伏地魔会有什么想法呢？想一想！”
|
| “Got to?” said Dumbledore. “Of course you’ve got to! But not because of the prophecy! Because you, yourself, will never rest until you’ve tried! We both know it! Imagine, please, just for a moment, that you had never heard that prophecy! How would you feel about Voldemort now? Think!”
|
| 看着面前踱来踱去的邓布利多，哈利沉思起来。他想到了他的母亲、他的父亲和小天狼星，想到了塞德里克，想到了伏地魔的种种罪行。他的胸中腾起一股烈焰，直烧到喉咙口。
|
| Harry watched Dumbledore striding up and down in front of him, and thought. He thought of his mother, his father, and Sirius. He thought of Cedric Diggory. He thought of all the terrible deeds he knew Lord Voldemort had done. A flame seemed to leap inside his chest, searing his throat.
|
| “我想除掉他，”哈利轻声说，“我想去做这件事。”
|
| “I’d want him finished,” said Harry quietly. “And I’d want to do it.”
|
| “你当然会！”邓布利多叫道，“你看，预言并没表示你必须做什么！但预言使伏地魔认定你是他的对手……换句话说，你有权选择自己的道路，有权不理睬那个预言！但伏地魔还是会对它念念不忘，他会继续追杀你……所以确实是必然——”
|
| “Of course you would!” cried Dumbledore. “You see, the prophecy does not mean you have to do anything! But the prophecy caused Lord Voldemort to mark you as his equal. . . . In other words, you are free to choose your way, quite free to turn your back on the prophecy! But Voldemort continues to set store by the prophecy. He will continue to hunt you . . . which makes it certain, really, that —”
|
| “我们中有一个会把对方杀死，”哈利说，“是的。”
|
| “That one of us is going to end up killing the other,” said Harry. “Yes.”
|
| 他终于明白了邓布利多要告诉他的意思，那就是：被拽进角斗场去面对一场殊死搏斗和自己昂首走进去是不同的。也许有人会说这二者之间并无多少不同，但邓布利多知道——我也知道，哈利带着一阵强烈的自豪感想道，我父母也知道——这是世界上全部的不同。
|
| But he understood at last what Dumbledore had been trying to tell him. It was, he thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high. Some people, perhaps, would say that there was little to choose between the two ways, but Dumbledore knew — and so do I, thought Harry, with a rush of fierce pride, and so did my parents — that there was all the difference in the world.
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