By J.K. Rowling

来自J.K.罗琳

Originally published on 

on Mar 11th 2016

发布于pottermore

在2016年3月11日

The wizards of America had played their part in the Great War of 1914-1918, even if the overwhelming majority of their No-Maj compatriots were ignorant of their contribution. As there were magical factions on both sides, their efforts were not decisive, but they won many victories in preventing additional loss of life, and in defeating their magical enemies.

 

美国的巫师们在1914-1918年的世界大战中发挥了自己的作用，即使绝大多数他们的无名同胞不知道他们的贡献。由于双方都有魔法派别，他们的努力并不是决定性的，但他们在防止更多的生命损失和击败他们的魔法敌人方面取得了胜利。

 

This common endeavour led to no softening on MACUSA’s stance on No-Maj/wizard fraternisation, and Rappaport’s Law remained firmly in place. By the 1920s the US wizarding community had become used to existing under a greater degree of secrecy than their European counterparts and to selecting their mates strictly from within their own ranks.

 

这一共同努力并没有使马库萨在“巫师与巫师不得亲亲”问题上的立场有所软化，而拉帕波特的法律依然严格执行。到20世纪20年代，美国巫师群体已经习惯于比欧洲巫师更严格地保密，并且严格从自己的队伍中挑选伴侣。

 

The memory of Dorcus Twelvetrees’ 

catastrophic breach of the Statute of Secrecy had entered magical language, so that being ‘a Dorcus’ was slang for an idiot or inept person. MACUSA continued to impose severe penalties on those who flouted the International Statute of Secrecy. MACUSA was also more intolerant of such magical phenomena as ghosts, poltergeists and fantastic creatures than its European equivalents, because of the risk such beasts and spirits posed of alerting No-Majs to the existence of magic.

 

十二树多克斯的记忆

对《保密法》的灾难性破坏已经进入了魔法语言，所以“魔狐”是指白痴或无能的人的俚语。马库萨继续严厉惩罚那些藐视《国际保密法》的人。与欧洲的同类国家相比，马库萨也更不容忍幽灵、吵闹鬼和奇异生物等魔法现象，因为这些野兽和幽灵可能会让无界巫师警觉到魔法的存在。

 

After the Great Sasquatch Rebellion of 1892 (for full details, see Ortiz O’Flaherty’s highly-acclaimed book Big Foot’s Last Stand), MACUSA headquarters was relocated for the fifth time in its history, moving from Washington to New York, where it remained throughout the 1920s. President of MACUSA throughout the decade was Madam Seraphina Picquery, a famously gifted witch from Savannah.

 

1892年大脚怪大叛乱(详见奥尔蒂斯·奥弗莱厄蒂广受好评的《大脚怪的最后一站》)之后，美国国会总部在历史上第五次搬迁，从华盛顿搬到了纽约，整个20世纪20年代都在纽约。在整个十年中，美国国会的总统是瑟拉菲娜·皮奎奇夫人(Madam Seraphina Picquery)，一位来自萨凡纳(Savannah)的著名天才女巫。

 

By the 1920s Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had been flourishing for more than two centuries and was widely considered to be one of the greatest magical education establishments in the world. In consequence of their common education, all witches and wizards are proficient in the use of a wand.

Legislation introduced at the end of the nineteenth century meant that every member of the magical community in America was required to carry a ‘wand permit’, a measure that was intended to keep tabs on all magical activity and identify the perpetrators by their wands. Unlike Britain, where Ollivanders was considered unbeatable, the continent of North America was served by four great wandmakers.

 

到20世纪20年代，伊佛莫尼魔法学校已经繁荣了两个多世纪，被普遍认为是世界上最伟大的魔法教育机构之一。由于受过共同教育，所有的男女巫师都能熟练地使用魔杖。

十九世纪末出台的法律规定，美国魔法界的每一个成员都必须持有一份“魔杖许可证”，这项措施的目的是监视所有的魔法活动，并通过他们的魔杖来识别施魔法者。在英国，奥利佛被认为是不可战胜的，而北美大陆则由四位伟大的棋手服务。

 

Shikoba Wolfe, who was of Choctaw descent, was primarily famous for intricately carved wands containing Thunderbird tail feathers (the Thunderbird is a magical American bird closely related to the phoenix). Wolfe wands were generally held to be extremely powerful, though difficult to master. They were particularly prized by Transfigurers.

Johannes Jonker, a Muggle-born wizard whose No-Maj father was an accomplished cabinet maker, turned himself into an accomplished wandmaker. His wands were highly sought after and instantly recognisable, as they were usually inlaid with mother-of-pearl. After experimenting with many cores, Jonker’s preferred magical material was hair of the Wampus cat.

 

科巴·沃尔夫(koba Wolfe)是乔克托族(Choctaw)人，他最著名的作品是雕刻复杂的魔杖，里面有雷鸟的尾羽(雷鸟是一种神奇的美国鸟，与凤凰的羽毛关系密切)。沃尔夫魔杖通常被认为非常强大，但很难掌握。变形人尤其珍视它们。

约翰内斯·杨克，一个麻瓜出身的巫师，他的父亲是一个很有成就的橱柜制造者，他把自己变成了一个很有成就的魔杖制造者。他的魔杖非常抢手，而且一眼就能认出来，因为它们通常都镶有珍珠母。他尝试了许多核，他最喜欢的魔法材料是万普斯猫的头发。

 

Thiago Quintana caused ripples through the magical world when his sleek and usually lengthy wands began entering the market, each encasing a single translucent spine from the back of the White River Monsters of Arkansas and producing spells of force and elegance. Fears about over-fishing of the monsters were assuaged when it was proven that Quintana alone knew the secret of luring them, a secret he guarded jealously until his death, at which point wands containing White River Monster spines ceased production.

Violetta Beauvais, the famous wandmaker of New Orleans, refused for many years to divulge the secret core of her wands, which were always made of swamp mayhaw wood. Eventually it was discovered that they contained hair of the rougarou, the dangerous dog-headed monster that prowled Louisiana swamps. It was often said of Beauvais wands that they took to Dark magic like vampires to blood, yet many an American wizarding hero of the 1920s went into battle armed only with a Beauvais wand, and President Picquery herself was known to possess one.

 

古时候，昆塔纳的魔杖光滑且通常很长，他的魔杖开始进入市场，每个魔杖都从阿肯色的白色河怪背上包扎了一根半透明的脊椎骨，产生了力量和优雅的咒语，在魔法世界掀起了涟漪。当事实证明只有昆塔纳一个人知道引诱它们的秘密时，关于过度捕捞这些怪物的传闻得到了缓和，这个秘密他一直小心翼翼地守护着，直到他死后，含有白河怪物脊骨的魔杖停止了生产。

新奥尔良著名的魔杖制作人维奥莱塔·博维，多年来拒绝透露她魔杖的秘密核心，她的魔杖总是用梅山木做的。最后人们发现里面有鲁格鲁人的毛发，这是一种危险的狗头怪兽，在路易斯安那州的沼泽地里游荡。人们常说，波维魔杖能施黑魔法，就像吸血鬼能吸血一样。然而，20世纪20年代，许多美国巫师英雄打仗时只带着一根波维魔杖，皮奎奇总统本人也有一根。

 

Unlike the No-Maj community of the 1920s, MACUSA allowed witches and wizards to drink alcohol. Many critics of this policy pointed out that it made witches and wizards rather conspicuous in cities full of sober No-Majs. However, in one of her rare light-hearted moments, President Picquery was heard to say that being a wizard in America was already hard enough. ‘The Gigglewater,’ as she famously told her Chief of Staff, ‘is non-negotiable.’

 

20世纪20年代，马库萨允许巫师喝酒。许多对这项政策持批评态度的人指出，在那些到处都是头脑清醒的“小人物”的城市里，这让巫师们显得格外引人注目。然而，在她难得的轻松时刻，有人听到皮奎里校长说，在美国当巫师已经够难的了。她对自己的幕僚长说过一句著名的话:“笑声是没有商量余地的。”