Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys’ front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets — but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.
自从德斯里夫妇早上醒来在门前的台阶发现他们的侄子已经过去将近10年了，但是女贞路几乎一点儿也没变。太阳在还是像以前一样整洁的前花园升起，照亮了德斯里一家门前的4号黄铜门牌，阳光缓缓照入他们的卧室，他们的卧室还是和德斯里先生看到那个命运般的猫头鹰的新闻报道那天晚上一模一样。只有壁炉架上的照片真正显示了已经过去了多少时间。十年前，那儿有许多照片看起来像一个大的粉色沙滩球穿着不同颜色的帽子——但是达利·德斯里已经不再是一个小孩儿了，现在照片上是一个胖的金发碧眼的男孩儿骑着他的第一辆自行车，在游乐场骑着旋转木马，和他的父亲一块玩电子游戏，被他的妈妈抱着亲着。房间里没有任何迹象表明还有一个男孩住在这所房子里。
Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.
但是哈利波特还在这儿，此时还在睡着，但是睡不长了。他的姨妈佩妮已经醒了，她尖锐的声音制造了今天第一个噪声。
“Up! Get up! Now!”
“起来！快起床！现在！”
Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again. “Up!” she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he’d had the same dream before.
哈利立刻醒了。他的姨妈在门前再一次吼道："起来！"哈利听到她朝着厨房走去然后把煎锅放进烤箱的声音。他翻了个身试着想起他刚刚做的梦。那是个好梦，在梦里有一个飞翔的摩托。他有一种奇怪的感觉，他以前做过同样的梦。
His aunt was back outside the door.
他的姨妈回到了哈利的门前。
“Are you up yet?” she demanded.
“你起床了吗？”她逼问道。
“Nearly,” said Harry.
“马上”哈利说
“Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don’t you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy’s birthday.”
“嗯嗯，快点儿，我想让你看着培根。你最好别让它给烤糊了，我希望达利的生日上所有的事情都是完美的。”
Harry groaned.
哈利抱怨了一声。
“What did you say?” his aunt snapped through the door.
“你说什么?”他姨妈从门里厉声说。
“Nothing, nothing . . .”
“没...没有...”
Dudley’s birthday — how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.
达利的生日——他怎么可能忘呢？哈利慢慢地从床上爬起来开始找他的袜子。他在床底下找到了一双，从其中一只上面扯下一只蜘蛛后，就穿上了。哈利对蜘蛛已经习惯了，因为楼梯下的食橱里都是蜘蛛，而那就是他睡觉的地方。
When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley’s birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise — unless of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley’s favorite punching bag was Harry, but he couldn’t often catch him. Harry didn’t look it, but he was very fast.
他穿好了之后穿过大厅进入厨房。桌子几乎要被达利的生日礼物给淹没了。看起来达利得到了他想要的新电脑，更不用说第二个电视和竞赛自行车。说真的为什么达利想要一辆竞赛自行车对哈利来说是一个谜，因为达利非常胖而且讨厌运动——当然除非这个运动是打人。达利最喜欢的沙袋就是哈利，但是他不怎么能抓到他。哈利看起来弱不禁风，但是他很敏捷。
Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley’s, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.
也许是因为他住在一个黑暗的橱柜里，但是哈利就他的年龄来说一直是又小又瘦。他看起来比他的实际上又小又瘦是因为他所有穿的都是达利的旧衣服，而达利几乎是他的四倍大。哈利长着一张瘦瘦的疙瘩脸，黑黑的头发，亮蓝色的眼睛。他带着用许多透明胶带粘着的圆眼镜因为达利老是打他的鼻子。哈利对他自己的外表唯一喜欢的就是他前额的浅浅的伤疤，形状像一道闪电。自从他记事儿起就一直有，并且他能记起的问他姨妈的第一个问题就是他是怎么有了这个伤疤的。
“In the car crash when your parents died,” she had said. “And don’t ask questions.”
“在你父母去世的那场车祸里，”她那时候说，“并且再也不要问问题了”
Don’t ask questions — that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.
不要问问题——那是和德斯里一家安静生活的第一条规矩。
Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.
在哈利翻培根的时候姨父弗农进了厨房。
“Comb your hair!” he barked, by way of a morning greeting.
“疏一下你的头发！”他咆哮道，作为早上打招呼的方式。
About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way — all over the place.
大约每周一次，姨父弗农翻看他的报纸头条并且大喊哈利需要理一下头发了。哈利一定比他班里其他男孩理发的次数加起来还要多，但是那也没什么用，他的头发依旧我行我素——长得乱七八糟的。
