Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter. He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down, and slowly began to open the yellow envelope.
哈利回到了厨房，仍然盯着他的信，他把账单和明信片交给了弗农姨父，坐了下来，并且小心翼翼地打开了这个黄色的信封。
Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the postcard.
弗农姨父撕开了账单，厌恶地哼了一声，然后把明信片翻了过来。
“Marge’s ill,” he informed Aunt Petunia. “Ate a funny whelk . . .”
“玛吉生病了，”她告诉佩妮姨妈，“吃了个奇怪的海螺...”
“Dad!” said Dudley suddenly. “Dad, Harry’s got something!”
“爸爸！”大力突然说道，“爸爸，哈利得到了什么东西！”
Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter, which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon.
哈利正要打开他的信，信被写在和信封一样重的羊皮纸上，这时信突然被弗农姨父从他的手上抽走了。
“That’s mine !” said Harry, trying to snatch it back. “这是我的！”哈利说道，想要夺回来。
“Who’d be writing to you?” sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. And it didn’t stop there. Within seconds it was the grayish white of old porridge.
“谁会给你写信？”弗农姨父冷笑道，一只手把信抖开并且瞟了一眼。他的脸迅速从红色变绿了，比交通信号灯还快。还没完，几秒钟后，它就变成了老粥的浅灰白色。
“P-P-Petunia!” he gasped. “佩...佩...佩妮！”他喘息的说道。
Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise.
达利想要抓着信读一下，但是弗农把信举起来让他够不到。佩妮姨妈好奇地把信拿了过来并且读了第一行。有那么一会儿，她似乎要晕倒了。她扼住喉咙，发出一种哽咽的声音。
“Vernon! Oh my goodness — Vernon!” “弗农！哦，我的天啊——弗农！”
They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn’t used to being ignored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick.
他们看着彼此，似乎忘了哈利和达利还在房间里。达利不习惯被忽视。他用他的斯梅婷手杖在他父亲的头上轻敲了一下。
“I want to read that letter,” he said loudly. “我想看一下这封信，”他大声说道。
“I want to read it,” said Harry furiously, “as it’s mine. ”
“我想看一下，”哈利大声说道，“这是我的”
“Get out, both of you,” croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope.
“滚出去，你们两个”弗农姨父低沉的说道，把信塞回了信封里。
Harry didn’t move. 哈里面没有动。
“I WANT MY LETTER!” he shouted. “我想要我的信！”他大声说
“Let me see it!” demanded Dudley. “让我看一下！”达利要求到
“OUT!” roared Uncle Vernon, and he took both Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall, slamming the kitchen door behind them. Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; Dudley won, so Harry, his glasses dangling from one ear, lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between door and floor.
“出去！”弗农姨父暴跳如雷，然后他抓着哈利和达利的后颈部，把他们扔进了客厅，砰的关上了厨房的门。哈利和达力立刻为谁会在钥匙孔前偷听而激烈的争吵了一场，但没有作声；达利赢了，所以哈利，他的眼镜从一只耳朵上耷拉下来，趴在地上，听着门和地板之间的缝隙。
“Vernon,” Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, “look at the address — how could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don’t think they’re watching the house?”
“弗农”佩妮姨妈用颤抖的声音说道，“看这个地址——他们怎么可能知道他睡在哪儿呢？你不认为他们在看着这个房子吗？”
“Watching — spying — might be following us,” muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.
“看着——监视——或许跟踪我们，”弗农姨父狂怒地嘟囔着。
“But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don’t want —”
“但是我们应该怎么做呢，弗农？我们应该回信呢吗？告诉他们我们不想——”
Harry could see Uncle Vernon’s shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen.
哈利能够看到弗农姨父闪亮的黑色鞋子在厨房里走来走去。
“No,” he said finally. “No, we’ll ignore it. If they don’t get an answer. . . . Yes, that’s best . . . we won’t do anything. . . .”
“不，”他最后说道，“不，我们会忽略它。如果他们没有得到回复...是的，这是最好的...我们什么也不做...”
“But —” “但是——”
“I’m not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn’t we swear when we took him in we’d stamp out that dangerous nonsense?”
“这个家里可没有，佩妮!”我们不是发过誓，我们带着他的时候要把那危险的鬼话消灭掉吗?” （比较奇怪的一句，到底是正是邪呢？？）
That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he’d never done before; he visited Harry in his cupboard.
这个晚上当他下班回来的时候，弗农姨父做了他之前从没做过的事；他见了哈利在他的橱柜中。
“Where’s my letter?” said Harry, the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door. “Who’s writing to me?”
“我的信在哪儿？”哈利说，弗农姨父刚一挤进门来。“谁写给我的？”
“No one. It was addressed to you by mistake,” said Uncle Vernon shortly. “I have burned it.”
“没有人，是错寄给你的，”弗农姨父简短地说道，“我已经把它烧掉了”
“It was not a mistake,” said Harry angrily, “it had my cupboard on it.”
“根本没弄错，”哈利生气地说，“上面标着我的橱柜”
“SILENCE!” yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling. He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful.
“安静！”弗农姨父吼道，有两个蜘蛛从天花板上掉了下来。他深吸了一口气，然后强迫他自己挤出了笑容，这看起来很痛苦。
“Er — yes, Harry — about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking . . . you’re really getting a bit big for it . . . we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley’s second bedroom.”
“是的，哈利——关于这个橱柜。你的姨妈和我考虑了一下...它已经有点儿容不下你了...我们想如果你搬进达利的次卧会比较好。”
“Why?” said Harry. “为什么？”哈利说
“Don’t ask questions!” snapped his uncle. “Take this stuff upstairs, now.”
“别问问题！”他的叔叔生气的说，”带着这些东西上楼，立刻“
The Dursleys’ house had four bedrooms: one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon’s sister, Marge), one where Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn’t fit into his first bedroom. It only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything he owned from the cupboard to this room. He sat down on the bed and stared around him. Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old video camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over the next door neighbor’s dog; in the corner was Dudley’s first-ever television set, which he’d put his foot through when his favorite program had been canceled; there was a large birdcage, which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air rifle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it. Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things in the room that looked as though they’d never been touched.
德斯里家的房子有四个卧室：一间是弗农姨父和佩妮姨妈的，一间是客房（一般是富农的姐姐，玛吉），一间达利在睡，还有一间达利堆满了玩具和他房间里放不下的东西。哈利只花了一趟上楼把他所有的东西从橱柜搬到这个房间。他在床上坐下来然后环顾四周。这里所有的东西都是坏的。那台一个月大的摄像机躺在一个小的能开的坦克上面，达利曾开着它碾压过邻居家的狗；角落是达利的第一台电视机，当他最喜欢的节目被取消时他把脚伸进了电视机里（幽默的写法）；还有一个大鸟笼，里面曾经养过一只鹦鹉，达力在学校里用它换了一支真正的气枪，气枪放在一个架子上枪头已经全弯了，因为达利曾经坐在了上面。其他的架子上放满了书。它们是这个房间里唯一看起来从来没有被碰过的东西。
From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother, “I don’t want him in there . . . I need that room . . . make him get out. . . .”
楼下传来达力对他母亲嚎啕大哭的声音，”我不想他在那...我需要那个房间..让他滚出去...“
Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday he’d have given anything to be up here. Today he’d rather be back in his cupboard with that letter than up here without it.
哈利叹了口气，躺在床上。昨天他为了到这儿来什么都愿意做。今天他宁愿带着那封信回到他的柜子里，也不愿上来这儿没了那封信。
