Beyond Quidditch: games and pastimes in the wizarding world 超越魁地奇:巫师世界中的游戏和消遣

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Beyond Quidditch: games and pastimes in the wizarding world 超越魁地奇:巫师世界中的游戏和消遣 翻译者:张瑜璐

We know loads about a wizard's fondness for Snitches, Bludgers and Quaffles. But how else do magical folk unwind? 我们知道巫师对告密者、游走球和鬼飞球的喜爱。但魔法人还能怎样放松?

Everyone loves some form of friendly competition now and then. It’s why most homes have at least one board game, why bars have pool tables, and why the back page of every Muggle newspaper is devoted to the exploits of sports teams. 每个人时不时都喜欢某种形式的友谊赛。这就是为什么大多数家庭至少有一个棋盘游戏,为什么酒吧有台球桌,为什么麻瓜报纸的最后一页都专门报道运动队的功绩。

Wizarding folk are no different, with their own gaming traditions every bit rich and arcane as that of non-magical people. After all, the Department of Magical Games and Sports surely does something other than administer Quidditch matches and run the Triwizard Tournament every five years. 巫师也不例外,他们自己的游戏传统和非魔法的人一样丰富而神秘。毕竟,魔法游戏和体育部除了管理魁地奇比赛和每五年举办一次三强争霸赛之外,肯定还有别的事情要做。

In some respects, to be sure, there are radical differences in the nature of these leisurely pastimes. Video games are wildly popular with Muggles, yet are essentially unknown to wizarding kind; this is, of course, because magic plays havoc with electricity. And in any case, when you can fly, Apparate and eat Chocolate Frogs all in one afternoon, who in their right mind would loll in front of a screen for amusement? 当然,在某些方面,这些悠闲消遣的性质有着根本的区别。电子游戏在麻瓜中广受欢迎,但对于巫师来说基本上是不为人所知的;这当然是因为魔法会破坏电力。不管怎样,当你能在一个下午飞起来,幻影出现,吃巧克力青蛙的时候,有谁会在他们的头脑里懒散地躺在屏幕前取乐呢?

On the other hand, some games (in particular children’s games) are enjoyed by both communities throughout history; in the United States, young Modesty Barebone enjoyed a simple game of hopscotch in Fantasic Beasts. Lord Voldemort mocked Harry Potter for playing ‘hide and seek’ during a duel. The satisfaction of collecting cards from Chocolate Frogs would be understood by Muggle children every bit as much as magical children. 另一方面,历史上两个社区都喜欢一些游戏(特别是儿童游戏);在美国,年轻的谦虚的巴雷博恩喜欢在幻想动物中玩简单的跳房子游戏。伏地魔嘲笑哈利波特在决斗中玩“捉迷藏”。麻瓜孩子和魔法孩子一样,会理解从巧克力青蛙那里收集卡片的满足感。

Where the style and nature of these games diverges is, naturally enough, when enchanted objects come into play. The popular Devon pastime of Shuntbumps is akin to the medieval Muggle practice of jousting, although played on flying broomsticks instead of horses. Gobstones resembles marbles to an almost uncanny degree, except the loser receives a faceful of foul-smelling liquid for their trouble. 这些游戏的风格和性质之间的区别自然就在于附魔物品开始发挥作用。德文郡流行的顺风车消遣类似于中世纪麻瓜的搏击,虽然用的是飞天扫帚而不是马 ,尽管使用的是飞天扫帚而不是马。高脚石和大理石有着近乎不可思议的相似程度,除了失败者会因为麻烦而得到满脸恶臭的液体。 Then, of course, there's chess. 当然,还有国际象棋。

Ron Weasley’s skill at wizard chess came in pretty handy when he, Harry and Hermione needed to win a high-risk outsized version. In the Muggle world, the noble and ancient board game (different only from its magical counterpart in that the pieces can’t move unaided, or indeed, hurt you as much) can teach us a valuable lesson whether magical or otherwise. Ron was pretty competent, even with a ‘battered’ set, demonstrating that a lack of riches is no bar to high attainment. Despite her striking breadth of knowledge, Hermione loses against Ron, reinforcing the idea there’s all sorts of different forms of intelligence. Finally, chess teaches players that sacrifices have to be made in order to advance in any complex endeavour – as when the friends sought the Philosopher’s Stone. 当罗恩·韦斯莱、哈利和赫敏需要赢得一个高风险的超大版本时,罗恩·韦斯莱的巫师象棋技能派上了用场。在麻瓜世界里,高贵而古老的棋盘游戏(不同于它的魔法棋盘游戏,只是棋子不能独立移动,或者实际上,伤害你一样多)可以给我们一个宝贵的教训,无论是魔法还是其他。罗恩很有能力,即使是在一个“破旧”的布景下,也证明了缺乏财富并不是获得高成就的障碍。尽管她的知识广度惊人,赫敏还是输给了罗恩,强化了她有各种不同形式的智慧的想法。最后,国际象棋教导玩家,要想在任何复杂的事业中取得进步,就必须做出牺牲——就像朋友们寻找魔法石一样。

Playing cards seem to be as popular and widespread in the wizarding world as they are with Muggles, albeit with the added convenience of Self-Shuffling packs. And just like in the wizarding world, cards are often associated with a more louche, ribald, outré kind of player. 扑克牌在巫师界似乎和麻瓜一样受欢迎和广泛传播,尽管有自动洗牌包的便利性。就像在巫师世界里一样,纸牌通常与一个更粗俗、下流、出格的玩家联系在一起。

At a very basic level, consider Exploding Snap. It’s similar to the less incendiary Muggle children’s version, and the players best remembered for competing at Hogwarts were mavericks like Fred and George Weasley. 在一个非常基本的层次上,考虑爆炸式快照。它类似于麻瓜儿童版,最让人印象深刻的是在霍格沃茨比赛的小牛队,比如弗雷德和乔治·韦斯莱。

When Hagrid played a few hands on a pig's head with a mysterious turban and then drunkenly blurted out the secret information about the fluffy Achilles tendon of three dogs, it also proved the poor reputation of playing cards. Muggle's love for the can theft associated with playing cards fascinated Arthur Weasley by reaching into the marked deck, which was designed to fool confused competitors and win bets. 当海格(自己并不陌生)拿着神秘的头巾在猪头上玩了几手,然后醉醺醺地脱口而出三只狗蓬松的跟腱的秘密信息时,也证明了打牌的名声不好。麻瓜对与扑克牌有关的偷罐行为的热爱吸引了亚瑟·韦斯莱,他伸手去摸有标记的牌堆,这是为了愚弄迷惑的竞争对手和赢得赌注而设计的。

For many Muggles, playing cards also carry a faint whiff of the occult – for some people it’s due to their relationship to the Tarot, while others attribute different ‘personalities’ to the four suits. We saw this reflected at Hogwarts in the many packs dotted about the Divination classroom, and when Harry encountered resident seer Sybill Trelawney shuffling along a corridor muttering: ‘Two of spades: conflict… Seven of spades: an ill omen…’ 对许多麻瓜来说,扑克牌也带有一丝神秘的气息——对一些人来说,这是因为他们和塔罗牌的关系,而另一些人则把不同的“个性”归因于这四套西装。我们在霍格沃茨的占卜教室里看到了这一点,当哈利在走廊上看到常驻预言家赛比尔·特里劳尼拖着脚步在走廊上喃喃自语:“黑桃二:冲突……黑桃七:不祥的预兆……”

Moving on to outdoor pursuits, both Muggles and magic folk have historically shown an unaccountable keenness to explore the recreational potential of animal bladders. Famously, medieval Muggle football was played with a pig’s bladder. Wizards themselves were no slouches when it came to the resourceful application of modified urine sacs, batting a poor pig’s bladder back and forth over a hedge in the archaic sport of Swivenhodge (similar to Muggle tennis), or competing to lance an inflated dragon’s bladder atop a 20-foot high pole in the bizarre 12th-century German pastime of Stichstock. 转到户外活动,麻瓜和魔术人都表现出了一种无法解释的热情去探索动物膀胱的娱乐潜力。众所周知,中世纪的麻瓜足球是用猪的膀胱踢的。巫师们自己也不是懒散的人,在古老的运动斯威文霍奇(类似麻瓜网球)的树篱上来回敲击一头可怜的猪的膀胱,或者在12世纪德国诡异的门架娱乐活动中,在20英尺高的杆子上用长矛将一条膨胀的龙的膀胱栓住。

Straightforward trials of speed are also as popular with wizards as they are with Muggles – one of the more famous international broomstick races runs 300 miles from Kopparberg to Arjeplog in Sweden, with the added excitement that the course passes through a dragon reserve (which has been known to burn out more than a few competitors over the years). 直接的速度测试同样受到巫师和麻瓜的欢迎——其中一个比较著名的国际扫帚比赛从科帕伯格到瑞典的阿杰普洛跑了300英里,更令人兴奋的是,球场经过了一个龙的保护区(过去几年里,这个保护区被认为已经烧掉了不少竞争者)。

Certain games in the Muggle world seem arcane to the point of absurdity – bog snorkling for one, or chasing a wheel of cheese down a treacherous hillside. Magical folk seem to have acquired a little more sense over the years; consider (the now-banned) Creaothceann, an old broomstick-based sport where competitors battled to catch falling rocks in cauldrons strapped to their helmets. 麻瓜世界里的某些游戏似乎神秘到了荒谬的地步——泥沼中有人在打呼噜,或者在险恶的山坡上追逐一轮奶酪。这些年来,神奇的人似乎获得了更多的感觉;想想(现在被禁止的)克里奥特希恩,一个古老的以扫帚为基础的运动,参赛者在头盔上用大锅接住掉落的岩石。

The thread that runs directly though all games, wizarding and Muggle, from all over the the world is this: people love to compete, to outfox opponents, and to bring glory on their home team. Just remember, next time you’re in a heated debate about the relative merits of Quidditch over Quodpot (the American variant): it’s only a game. 直接贯穿于世界各地的所有比赛,巫师和麻瓜的主线是:人们喜欢竞争,战胜对手,并为他们的主队带来荣耀。记住,下一次当你在激烈辩论魁地奇相对于Quodpot(美国变体)的优点时:这只是一场游戏。

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