10、第九只猫头鹰 ...
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January 1st, 1953
Dear Gellert,
亲爱的盖勒特，
You do seem to realize that you will not talk me out of my plans for the object in question, for which I am glad. It would be a shame to wear the wings off owls arguing over this for the rest of our lives.
看来你意识到了自己并不能说服我改变对于这件事计划，这让我很高兴。要是我们的余生都要在猫头鹰的翅膀上争吵，那可就太遗憾了。
Of course I have felt it, the temptation of it, as you have. But do you realize the danger of it, old friend? Surely the old history of Ilmarinen has spread to your corners of the North. There are some things that must be destroyed. And it is not, Gellert, alive. This is crucial. It has no memory, no soul, no life within it. It is not murder to end it, to prevent it from drowning future generations in blood as it has ours.
我的确感受到了它，它的诱惑，也和你一样。但是你意识到它的危险了吗，老朋友？想必伊尔马利宁的旧史早已传遍了北方的角落，有些东西是注定要被毁灭的，然而它并没有，盖勒特，它仍旧存在。这至关重要。它没有记忆，并无灵魂，更不存在生命一说。终结它并不是谋杀，而是阻止下一代再次踏入我们曾经经历过的血泪之中。
One of its powers, I fear, is that the wizards that bond to it do so with an obsessive passion that borders on twisted love. I am saddened to see you affected by this. But I will not apologize for what must be done for—yes—the greater good. The future will be better off without the temptations this thing offers. Breaking its blood inheritance will turn over a new leaf in the relations between the powerful wizards who are steeped in the mysteries...oh, dear. New leaves. I'm afraid that writing on New Year's Day makes me maudlin.
它其中的一种力量，尤为让我担心，这会让巫师们对它的痴迷进而转化为几近扭曲的爱。我很难过，看到你也同样受其影响，但我并不会为了曾经必须要做的事情而道歉——是的——为了更伟大的利益。远离它的诱惑，未来会变得更好。打破其血腥的传承，沉陷于神秘的大巫师之间的关系即将翻开新的一页……哦，天哪，新的一页。我恐怕会因写下这段文字而在新年的第一天里潸然泪下。
But, yet, again, I am sorry for the condition I must leave you in.
但是，仍然，我再次重申，我很抱歉不得不置你于如此境地。
Yet you are correct. Cruel as it is to say, it is the truth—I am ashamed, to have been your lover, if lover' is even the word for such as us. Yet it is a small pleasure that I am able to provide you with some comfort through those memories. I thought, though, that you liked hearing the screams of Muggles?
你是对的，尽管这样说很残酷，然而事实不争——作为你曾经的爱人，我羞愧难当，如果我们之间曾经也能用“爱人”这个词来形容的话。我很荣幸，通过这些记忆带去了你些许慰藉。可是我想，我想，或许你还是更喜欢听麻瓜们的尖叫吧？
It is a bad habit of mine to distract people with sweets. In lieu of that, perhaps, more books? I think Gertrude's grammatical eccentricities might provide you with some entertainment.
用糖果分散别人的注意力是我的一个坏习惯。或许，用书代替才是更好的选择？格特鲁德古怪的语法也许可以让你当做消遣。
I admit, Gellert, that I've been thinking overlong myself on our boyhood time together. It has been so long since I was so intimate with another, without fear, without withholding. You are correct again: I cannot change history. And it is difficult to deny the joy of those months spent in abandoned pleasure and ambition, when I thought that you and your brilliance would save me. But the cost, Gellert. The cost! You left me burying my sister and forever uncertain of my own decency. You left me with parts of myself I must ever hide.
我承认，盖勒特，我思考过很久那段我们共处的少年时光。没有畏惧，没有隐瞒，我也已许久不曾与谁那般亲密过。你又一次说对了：我不能改变过去。谈论着已被抛弃了的夙愿与美好的那几个月里，欢欣难以否认，我那时以为你和你的才华足以拯救我。但是代价是，盖勒特。我付出的代价！你抛下我独自埋葬安娜，活在永无休止的内心的谴责里。你丢下了那个我不得不永远藏匿起来的自己。
Ah, here is the dawn, coming up cold and misty over the Scottish hills. No potted fields here around Hogwarts—wild enough for you, I dare say. The clouds are thick round the dark forest near the grounds, and I have not slept tonight, and I...
黎明已至，寒冷与薄雾笼罩在苏格兰的山丘上。霍格沃兹周围并无零星的田野——我敢说，这对你而言足够狂野了。云层低压在禁林之上，我彻夜未眠，我……
Enjoy your books, Gellert.
祝你阅读愉快吧，盖勒特。
[enclosure: Everybody's Autobiography, Gertrude Stein]
[附：每一个人的自传，格特鲁德·斯坦因著]
注：
1.oh，dear.也有表感叹的意思，不一定是指亲爱的。虽然我很想听多多叫格皇亲爱的，但是他自始至终都没有过。于是我痛心疾首地换掉了已经打上去的“亲爱的”（凋谢
2.伊尔玛利宁是芬兰史诗《卡萨瓦拉》中的一个nb铁匠，造出了三宝磨，但三宝磨后来被毁掉了。AD是想借此说老魔杖注定要被毁灭，但GG当时没懂，结果查了很久的书吧大概？后文会再提到。
3.“No potted fields here around Hogwarts”（霍格沃兹周围并无零星的田野）这一句照应第六封信中GG的气话，说自己待在纽蒙迦德看荒凉景色也比连麦田都少有的英格兰好。感觉AD说他这里也没什么田野的意思一是生气了，二看这凄凉景色，他应该也说自己的境况没比GG好多少。
4.《每个人的自传》格特鲁德著，译完全文之后我专门写了一章，感兴趣可以去末尾看看。
作者有话说
第10章 第九只猫头鹰
