By J.K. Rowling

Originally published on 

 

on Aug 10th 2015

 

 

J.K.罗琳

原载于

2015年8月10日

 

The old British superstition that it is unlucky to see owls flying by daylight is readily explained, for when wizards break cover to send messages by day, something dramatic must be afoot in the magical world. Muggles may subsequently experience the unpleasant aftershocks, without any idea of their cause.

As a (mostly) nocturnal bird of prey, the owl is inevitably seen as sinister by Muggles, but it has been a faithful servant and helpmeet to witches and wizards for many centuries. In spite of the many alternatives available for magical communication across long distances (including Patronuses, Floo powder, and enchanted devices such as mirrors and even coins), the faithful and reliable owl remains the most common method used by wizardkind across the world.

 

古老的英国，迷信认为在白天看到猫头鹰飞行是不吉利的，这一迷信很容易解释，因为当巫师们在白天打破屏障发送信息时，魔法世界里一定会发生戏剧性的事情。麻瓜可能随后会经历令人不快的余震，而不知道余震的起因。

猫头鹰是一种（大多数情况下）夜间活动的猛禽，不可避免地被麻瓜们看作是邪恶的，但几个世纪以来，它一直是巫师们忠实的仆人和帮手。尽管有许多可供远距离魔法交流的替代品（包括守护神、飞路粉、魔法装置，如镜子甚至硬币），忠诚可靠的猫头鹰仍然是世界各地巫师使用的最常见的方法。

 

The advantages of owls as messengers are those very qualities that make Muggles view them with suspicion: they operate under cover of darkness, to which Muggles have a superstitious aversion; they have exceptionally well-developed night vision; and are agile, stealthy and capable of aggression when challenged. So numerous are the owls employed by wizards worldwide that it is generally safe to assume that virtually all of them are either the property of the Owl Postal Service of their country, or of an individual witch or wizard.

 

猫头鹰作为信使的优势正是那些使麻瓜们对它们产生怀疑的特质：它们在黑暗的掩护下行动，麻瓜们对此有一种迷信的厌恶；他们有着异常发达的夜视能力；当受到挑战时，他们敏捷、隐秘且具有侵略性。世界各地的巫师雇佣的猫头鹰是如此之多，以至于我们可以有把握地认为几乎所有的猫头鹰都是他们国家的猫头鹰邮政局的财产，或者是某个巫师或女巫的财产。

 

Whether because they possess an innate bent for magic (just as pigs are reputed to be innately non-magical), or because generations of their ancestors have been domesticated and trained by wizards and they have inherited the traits that make this easy, owls learn very quickly, and seem to thrive on their task of tracing and tracking the witch or wizard for whom their letters are intended.

 

无论是因为他们拥有天生的魔法爱好（就像猪被认为是天生的非魔法），或者是因为他们的祖先世代被巫师驯化和训练，他们继承了让这变得容易的特质，猫头鹰学得很快，而且似乎很擅长追踪和追踪他们的信要写给谁的女巫或巫师。

 

The mystical association between the name and the human who bears it has long been understood by witches and wizards of all cultures. While the process remains mysterious even to those who train up owlets to become wizarding pets or postal owls, the birds appear to be able to make such a connection between the name and its possessor that enables them to trace the witch or wizard concerned wherever he or she may be. An owl does not need to know an address, although witches and wizards generally add the place to the envelope on the off-chance that the owl is intercepted and the letter falls into other hands.

 

长期以来，所有文化中的男女巫师都理解这个名字与拥有这个名字的人之间的神秘联系。虽然这个过程对那些训练小猫头鹰成为巫师宠物或邮政猫头鹰的人来说仍然是神秘的，但这些鸟似乎能够在名字和拥有者之间建立这样一种联系，使他们能够追踪到相关的巫师或女巫，无论他或她可能在哪里。猫头鹰不需要知道地址，尽管巫师们通常会把地址写在信封上，以防猫头鹰被截获，信件落入他人之手。

 

Should a witch or wizard not wish to be sent letters (or tracked in any other way), he or she will have to resort to Repelling, Disguising or Masking Spells, of which there are a great range. It is possible to protect yourself from all correspondence, or all but that carried by a specific owl. If a witch or wizard is determined not to be contactable by a persistent creditor or ex-boy or girlfriend, they might try a masking spell specific to that person, but this ploy is easily circumnavigated by asking somebody else to send the owl. In general, it takes strong protective magic, and a willingness to forego a lot of birthday cards, to avoid the attentions of Owl Post.

Trained owls are expensive, and it is quite usual for a wizarding family to share a single owl, or else only use Postal owls.

 

如果一个女巫或巫师不想被寄信（或以任何其他方式被追踪），他或她将不得不使用排斥、伪装或掩蔽法术，其中有很大的范围。可以保护自己免受所有通信，或者所有但那是由一只特定的猫头鹰携带的如果一个女巫或巫师被一个顽固的债主或前男友或女友拒绝接触，他们可能会尝试一种特定于那个人的掩蔽咒，但这种伎俩很容易被别人通过发送猫头鹰来绕过。一般来说，它需要强大的保护魔法，并愿意放弃大量的生日卡，以避免猫头鹰邮政的注意。

训练有素的猫头鹰是昂贵的，这是非常常见的一个巫师家庭共享一个猫头鹰，或只使用邮政猫头鹰。

 

J.K. Rowling’s thoughts

My love of, and fascination with, owls long pre-dates the first idea for Harry Potter. I trace it to a cuddly owl toy that my mother made me when I was six or seven, which I adored.

 

J.K.罗琳的思想

我对猫头鹰的喜爱和迷恋早在《哈利·波特》诞生之前就有了。我把它追溯到一个可爱的猫头鹰玩具，我妈妈在我六七岁的时候给我做的，我很喜欢。

 

Of course, owls have been associated with magic for a long time, and feature in many old illustrations of witches and wizards, second only to cats as Most Magical Creature. The owl’s association with wisdom was established in Roman times, for it is the emblem of Minerva, goddess of wisdom.

 

当然，猫头鹰与魔法联系在一起已经有很长一段时间了，在许多古老的巫师插图中，猫头鹰是仅次于猫的最神奇的生物。猫头鹰与智慧的联系在罗马时代就确立了，因为它是智慧女神密涅瓦的象征。

 

Owl breeds shown within the Harry Potter books include the eagle owl (large, tufted and fierce-looking, owned by Draco Malfoy); the Little Owl (tiny, cute, but perhaps not very impressive, like Pigwidgeon, owned by Ron); and the Snowy Owl, which is also known as the Ghost Owl (Harry’s Hedwig).

 

在《哈利·波特》的书中，猫头鹰的品种包括猫头鹰（大猫头鹰，簇生，长相凶猛，主人是德拉科·马尔福）；小猫头鹰（小猫头鹰，可爱，但也许不是很令人印象深刻，像小猪，拥有罗恩）；和雪猫头鹰，这也被称为鬼猫头鹰（哈利的海德薇）。

 

I made a few elementary mistakes when it came to my depiction of Hedwig. Firstly, Snowy Owls are diurnal (ie, they fly by day). Secondly, they are virtually mute, so Hedwig’s frequent hoots and chirrups of approval and comfort should be taken as signs of her magically enhanced abilities. Thirdly, as countless well-meaning owl-lovers and experts kept writing to me in the early days, owls do not eat bacon (Hedwig enjoys a bit of bacon rind when she delivers post at breakfast).

 

我在描述海德薇时犯了几个低级错误。首先，雪猫头鹰是昼行的（即白天飞行）。第二，他们实际上是哑巴，所以海德薇频繁的嘶嘶声和肯定与安慰应该被视为她的魔法增强能力的迹象。第三，在早期，无数好心的猫头鹰爱好者和专家不断给我写信，说猫头鹰不吃培根（海德薇在早餐时送信时喜欢吃一点培根皮）。

 

When I dreamed up Errol, the aged, long-suffering and overworked Weasley family owl, I had in mind a picture I thought I had seen, which featured a very comical, large, fluffy, grey, bewildered-looking bird whose breed I had never known. In fact, I wondered whether it had been a real photograph, or whether imagination was distorting the image. It was with sheer delight, therefore, that I rounded a corner on my first ever visit to the aviary at Leavesden Studios, where they were filming Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and saw a line of big, grey, fluffy, bewildered-looking owls blinking back at me, each an exact replica of the half-remembered picture I thought I might have dreamed. They were all playing Errol, and they are Great Greys.

 

当我梦见埃罗尔时，那是韦斯莱家的猫头鹰，上了年纪，长期受苦，工作过度。我脑海中浮现出一张我以为自己见过的照片，照片上是一只非常滑稽的、巨大的、毛茸茸的、灰色的、看上去有些迷惑的鸟，它的品种我从来不知道。事实上，我怀疑这是否是一张真实的照片，或者是想象力扭曲了图像。因此，在我第一次参观利维斯登画室的鸟舍时，我高兴地拐了个弯，他们在拍摄《哈利·波特与魔法石》的时候，看到一排又大又灰、毛茸茸的、看起来迷惑不解的猫头鹰朝我眨着眼睛，每一只都是我以为自己梦到的那张半梦半醒的照片的复制品。他们都扮演埃罗尔，他们是大灰人。