Firebolt 火弩箭 By J.K. Rowling Originally published on  on Aug 10th 2015 根据J.K.罗琳 最初于2015年8月10日发表在pottermore的logo上 翻译者：张瑜璐

in the late twentieth century, the Nimbus Racing Broom Company dominated its competition. The Nimbus Two Thousand and Two Thousand and One models outsold all other top-class brooms combined by a factor of three to one. 在二十世纪后期，“灵光飞天扫帚公司”主导了这场比赛。“灵光2000”和“2001”型号的销量是其他所有顶级扫帚的三倍。

Little did the Nimbus designers realise that a racing broom was in development that would knock them from their number one spot within twelve months of its release. This was the Firebolt, a top-secret project developed by Randolph Spudmore (son of Able Spudmore of Ellerby and Spudmore, who produced the Tinderblast in 1940 and the Swiftstick in 1952, both serviceable brooms, but never achieving great popularity). Nimbus的设计师们几乎没有意识到一款赛车扫帚正在开发中，它将在发布后的12个月内将他们从排名第一的位置上淘汰。这就是火弩箭，由伦道夫·斯普德莫尔（Ellerby和Spudmore的Able Spudmore之子开发的一个绝密项目，他们在1940年生产了导火线，在1952年生产了Swiftstick，这两种扫帚都是有用的，但从未获得广泛的欢迎）。

A skillful and innovative broom designer, Randolph was the first to use goblin-made ironwork (including footrests, stand and twig bands), the secrets of which are not fully understood, but which seem to give the Firebolt additional stability and power in adverse weather conditions and a special non-slip foot grip that is of particular advantage to Quidditch players. The handle is of polished ebony and the twigs of birch or hazel according to personal preference (birch is reputed to give more ‘oomph’ in high ascents, whereas hazel is preferred by those who prefer hair-trigger steering). 伦道夫是一位熟练且富有创新精神的扫帚设计师，他是第一个使用妖精制造的铁制品（包括脚凳，站立和细枝乐队）的人，虽然他们的秘密尚未完全了解，但在恶劣天气下，它似乎赋予了火弩箭额外的稳定性和力量。 状况和特殊的防滑脚抓地力，对于魁地奇球员来说尤为有利。 根据个人喜好，手柄采用抛光的乌木和桦木或榛树的树枝制成（据说桦木在较高的上升情况下会给人以更大的“蓬松感”，而喜欢使用触发式操纵的人则首选榛树）。

The Firebolt is a costly broom and Harry Potter was among the first to own one. It continues to be made in relatively small quantities, partly because the goblin workers involved in the patented ironwork are prone to strikes and walkouts at the smallest provocation. 火弩箭是一把昂贵的扫帚，哈利·波特是最早拥有它的人之一。它的产量仍相对较低，部分原因是参与专利铁厂的妖精工人容易在最小的挑衅中发生罢工。