8、第七只猫头鹰 ...
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October 13th, 1952
Dear Gellert,
亲爱的盖勒特，
Again the thirteenth is peaceful, however much the superstitious fear it. These have been good years for England. Very quiet. Thank you for your letter, however sulky. You retain, I see, that talent for poetry that so sparkled your conversation in your youth.
又是一个平和的13号，尽管它在迷信里应该避讳不谈。英格兰步入正轨已有数年，如今她格外宁静怡人。感谢你的来信，尽管还是带着些闷气。字里行间那些频频闪烁的诗歌天赋，这是你年少时的风格，还仍然保留着。
Yes, I know full well what I have done to you. I will not apologize for what was necessary. You had to be removed from power, kept from harming the world, because—well, for the greater good. And seeing as I am a self-righteous old dingbat, as a student most memorably dubbed me a few weeks ago, I would not have murdered you. (I'm even getting some gray hair myself, to properly look the part.) And yet it saddens me, to think of a mind and talent as brilliant as yours wasting away in taffy days; and it saddens me to hear of your suffering. I hope I can provide at least some small joys.
是的，我很清楚自己对你做过什么，但我不会为了这些必要的事情而道歉。你必须远离魔法，以保证不再对世界构成威胁，因为——是的，为了更伟大的利益。正如你所见，我这个“自以为是的老东西”——一个学生几周前给了我这个令人难忘的称呼，他并不会试图谋杀你。（我甚至又多了一些灰发，这让我看起来更像了。）但我还是很难过，一想到你所遭受的一切，想到你那些绝妙的天赋和想法就要消磨在枯燥而漫长的时间里。我所写的这些薄薄的信纸，能够给你带去些许的温暖吗？
I think you deserve to know, Gellert, in confidence, of my intentions for what I won from you in that duel. (I admit that I agree with your habit of circumspect wording, given the nature of it.) I intend to take it with me to my grave. If I can succeed in breaking its bloody history...well, as it's been said, I'm a dingbat. But I believe, with all that I've now seen, that the world is better off without it.
推心置腹地说，盖勒特，我想你有权知晓我将如何处理那件从决斗中赢来的东西。（考虑到它的性质，我承认你的措辞谨慎是个好习惯。）我打算将它带进坟墓里。如果我能够成功终结这段血腥的历史……好吧，只是说如果，毕竟我就是个自以为是的老东西。但我相信，至少在目前看来，没有了它，世界会变得更好。
This is one of those peculiar cases in which I'm unable to anticipate your reaction, I must admit.
必须要承认的是，这是一件我完全没办法预料到你反应的事了。
I must make one more apology, though—if your intent, that time with the ice, was indeed to teach me Russian geography, I'm afraid you quite failed, as I was far too distracted at the time to pay proper attention. I find it odd, though—we knew each other for perhaps two months, and I admit the passion was intriguing, yet you write on it so often. Was that brief time, which you threw away when you left, really so important to you?
我还必须得为另一件事情道歉，不过——变出那些冰花的时候，如果你的本意是要教我俄罗斯地理的话，恐怕那并没有成功。我当时过于分神，以至于没办法集中注意力。这很奇怪，不过——那时我们认识了或许两个多月，我承认当时的热恋的感觉过于迷人，但你也提起它太多次了。那么短暂的一段时光，在你离开时都能随手抛弃的日子，对你来说，真的很重要吗？
I wish you had told me earlier, what those guards were doing to you. I would have had them removed at once, if only through chains of favors. Believe me when I say I had no wish for such degradations to be a part of your sentence; your words left me burning hot with outrage.
希望你能早点告诉我那些看守们对你所做的事情，我会换掉他们，这只需要一点小小的人情。相信我，我从未希望这种遭遇成为你判决的一部分；你在信中所言令我愤慨。
I must to work.
我必须去工作了。
With thanks,
附上真诚的谢意，
注：
1.“我所写的这些薄薄的信纸，能够给你带去些许的温暖吗？”译这里的时候想到了艾青的《雪落在中国的土地上》里我挺喜欢的那句，于是就化用了。
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第8章 第七只猫头鹰
