25、第二十四只猫头鹰 ...
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November 13th, 1981
Dear Gellert,
亲爱的盖勒特，
You did, I recall, some time ago, ask me to owl you when I was through with Voldemort. This owl is perhaps a decade later than you expected, old friend? And I am not yet sure that I am through with him, perse. But I did appreciate your optimism many times during the war, even though he actually gave me a good deal more trouble than you did. Not to insult your Dark Lordliness, but he had a few specific advantages, particularly a natural talent for Legilimency which rivaled my own, and which I was unable to predict until far too late in the game...
你曾……我想起来，在好久之前，你曾要我在处理好伏地魔的事后给你写信。这封信也许比你预期的要晚了十多年，我的老朋友？我不确定我是否彻底地击败了他，但我在这场战争里曾不止一次地感激过你的那种乐观精神，尽管实际上他给我带来的麻烦确实要比你多得多。这可不是在辱没你身为黑魔王的素养，但他的确有些特别的优势，尤其是那份可以与我匹敌的摄神取念的天赋。而这是我在战事的末尾才意识到的，这未免太迟了些……
But I digress. Through a very interesting turn of events, Voldemort is—not defeated for good, certainly, though most would like to think so. I believe, though, that he is staved off, set back, for years, most likely, and when he returns, he shall be very weak.
我有些偏题了。历经这一值得玩味的转变之后，伏地魔——并没有被彻底打败。当然，多数人并不愿承认这一点。但我相信，他会落没、退败上许多年。当再卷土重来时，他很有可能会变得非常虚弱。
I agree as to the disappointment involved in owling an unresponsive correspondent. But, Gellert, the battle against Voldemort was tooth and nail, and I organized the front force while maintaining Hogwarts. I have grown unfamiliar as of late with my bed-curtains, and particularly in the past year, I feel as if I have seen new-carved headstones more often. There has been so little time...
我承认寄一封有去无回的信令人沮丧。但是，盖勒特，与伏地魔对抗需要拼尽全力，我在维持霍格沃茨的同时还需要组织前线。我没办法睡个好觉，以至于对自己的床帘都会感到些许陌生。尤其是在过去的几年里，我似乎常常能看见一片堆起的新坟。我的时间太少了……
Even now, more than a month after his defeat, I battle exhaustion. But I do not wish to abandon you, old friend, even though I have done so for years. Sherbet lemons for my conscience, you said once, but they never seem to do any good.
即使是现在，离战争结束已经过去了一个月，我还是会感到筋疲力尽。但我并非成心想要抛下你，老朋友，即使我这么多年来确实是这样做的。你有一次曾说，给我的良心几个柠檬雪宝吧，但它们似乎并未起效。
I am sorry to hear of your friend's death. I am sorry for so much.
为你的友人哀悼，然而让我感到难过的还有更多。
There have been some peculiar rumors spreading about you, amongst the Dark wizards and the underground of Europe—as I'd been working about that area quite a bit, trying to stem Voldemort's control of the werewolves and giants. They say old Grindelwald has shown remorse in his moldering cell. They say he cries in grief for his victims. A decade ago I would have thought this nonsense, but it has been a very, very long ten years, battering and changing the whole face of Britain. I have seen men and women whose hearts and souls I thought I knew altered, scarred, changed forever. So it is too easy for me to imagine that all this terrible change could have spread across the channel, over the continent, up the mountains to Nurmengard.
我还听到了一些有关于你的奇怪传闻，流传在黑巫师和欧洲的地下组织当中——我当时在那片区域有不少工作，试图切断伏地魔对狼人和巨人的控制。他们说老格林德沃在他腐旧的囚牢里忏悔，他们说他为他曾经的受害者们而痛哭流涕。放在十年以前，我一定会觉得这是在胡言乱语，但这真的，真的是一个过于漫长的十年，战争甚至改变了大不列颠的全貌。那些我曾经熟识的人——他们的身与心都伤痕遍布，永远无法再回到从前。所以，我不难想象这种巨变会穿越海峡，跨过大陆，抵达纽蒙迦德的山巅。
And it has been so long since we truly corresponded. So long since I knew your heart. So let me ask you, just this once, in all sincerity, no mockery—how are you, old friend?
我们很久未曾真正地通信过了，我也很久再未触碰到你的内心。所以这一次，请让我不带嘲弄地、真诚地问问你——你还好吗，老朋友？
注：
1.第一句英文结构看起来有点奇怪，但我认为是这样的——原句：You did, I recall, some time ago, ask me to owl…… 理解过来： You did（I recall, some time ago）ask me to owl……
2.乐观精神，指GG在战争年间和AD写信，问他和伏地魔到底谁更棘手？（奇怪的好胜心出现了）
3.邓教说他的时间太少了，解释那一段的潜台词都是在说GG为啥不给他写信。但是格皇你真的，十一年？你是忍者吧？多多都说了他是忙呢？你呢，在纽蒙迦德忙着看书是吧？格皇的内心感觉像是：哼，你不回信？那我也不写了，憋死我也不写了。
4.所以那些有关于格皇的传言让多多难过了？感觉这里邓教对传言的怀疑是对应上了前文两人对于GG受虐的态度。
5.差不多从这里就开始进入主线了。1981.10.31日詹姆和莉莉去世，哈利得到“大难不死的男孩”的称号。小天狼星被诬陷，被捕入狱（哭），这期间阿不思主要和麦格（还有海格）忙着转移安顿哈利。并且在1981年，斯教“奉伏地魔之命”来到霍格沃茨任教魔药课（比波特一家遇害要早）。
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第25章 第二十四只猫头鹰
