哈利·波特维基
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哈利·波特维基
貓頭鷹
Owls
作者:J.K.羅琳
2014年7月30日
最初發佈於Pottermore

古老的英國迷信中所謂的在白天看見貓頭鷹飛行會帶來不幸,其實很容易解釋:當巫師不顧暴露身份、在白天傳送信息時,一定是因為魔法世界里發生了什麼重大的事情。麻瓜們也許事後會受到些不愉快的影響,但完全不知道為什麼會這樣。

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.

作為(幾乎是)夜行性的猛禽,貓頭鷹不可避免地被麻瓜們視為邪惡的生物,但在許多世紀以來,它一直都是男女巫師們忠實的僕人與夥伴。儘管有許多進行長距離魔法通信的替代手段(包括護法呼嚕粉以及鏡子甚至是硬幣之類被施過魔法的物品),通過忠實可靠的貓頭鷹仍然是全世界巫師最常用的方法。

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.

將貓頭鷹作為信使的優點正是那些讓麻瓜帶着懷疑的眼光看待它們的特質:它們在夜幕下行動,讓麻瓜有一種迷信上的厭惡;它們有非常傑出的夜視能力;同時行動敏捷、隱蔽,又能在受到威脅時展現攻擊性。如此眾多的貓頭鷹被世界各地的巫師僱傭,因此可以肯定地說,它們幾乎要麼屬於各國的貓頭鷹郵政系統,要麼是男女巫師的個人財產。

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.

無論是因為它們與生俱來的魔法天賦(就像被認為天生就沒有魔法),還是因為它們的世代祖先都被巫師豢養和訓練,所遺傳的特性讓它們更容易做到,貓頭鷹總是學得很快,並且似乎在追蹤收件的男女巫師時非常努力。

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.

長期以來,各個文化的男女巫師都相當了解名字與本人之間的神秘關聯。儘管個中緣由對那些把小貓頭鷹訓練成巫師寵物或郵局貓頭鷹的人來說也是個謎,但這些鳥似乎就是能把名字和本人聯繫起來,不論要找的巫師在哪裏,都能夠追尋到他們的蹤跡。貓頭鷹不需要知道地址,但巫師們通常還是會在信封上寫下,以防貓頭鷹被截獲、信件落入他人之手。

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.

如果巫師不希望收到信件(或者被其他方式追蹤到),就必須使用驅避咒偽裝咒屏蔽咒等一系列咒語。它能讓你杜絕所有通信,或者只接收來自特定貓頭鷹的信息。如果一個巫師決心不要被執着的債權人或者前男女朋友聯繫上,他們也許會只針對那個人使用屏蔽咒,但這種小花招可以通過請其他人派送貓頭鷹的方式輕易規避。總的來說,要避免收到貓頭鷹傳書,需要使用強大的保護魔法,同時甘願放棄一大堆生日賀卡。

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.

受過訓練的貓頭鷹價格昂貴,因此一個巫師家庭共享一隻貓頭鷹,或只使用郵局貓頭鷹是很普遍的情況。

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

J.K.羅琳的想法[]

我對貓頭鷹的喜愛與迷戀遠在產生寫《哈利波特》的第一個念頭之前。這能追溯到我在六七歲時,母親為我製作的一個可愛的貓頭鷹玩具,我很喜愛它。

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.

當然,貓頭鷹長久以來都與魔法有所聯繫,也在許多描繪男女巫師的插畫當中出現,僅次於——最具魔力的生物。貓頭鷹與智慧的聯繫在羅馬時期就已經存在,它是智慧女神彌涅耳瓦的象徵。

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.

在《哈利波特》系列中出現的貓頭鷹包括雕梟(巨大、毛髮簇生、長相兇殘,由跩哥·馬份所有)、小梟(袖珍、可愛,但可能沒那麼引人矚目,像榮恩擁有的豬水鳧)以及雪梟,也被稱作鬼梟(哈利嘿美)。

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).

我在描寫嘿美時犯了一些基本的錯誤。首先,雪梟是晝行性的(即在白天飛行)。其次,它們其實非常安靜,因此嘿美時常在感到認同和舒服時發出的鳴叫和唧唧聲都應該視為被魔法增進了能力。第三,正如無數好心的貓頭鷹愛好者和專家不停寫信告訴我的一樣,貓頭鷹不吃培根(嘿美喜歡在早餐送信時吃一點熏鹹肉的皮)。

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).

當我想出愛落這隻年老、飽經磨難又超負荷工作的衛斯理家的貓頭鷹時,我的腦海中就浮現出一幅似乎在哪見過的畫面:一隻滑稽、毛茸茸、一臉迷惑的灰色大鳥,但我不知道它是什麼品種。事實上,我很想知道那是一張真實的照片,還是因想像而扭曲後的圖像。因此當我第一次參觀《哈利波特-神秘的魔法石》的拍攝地利維斯登工作室,並在他們的鳥舍中發現一整排毛茸茸、一臉迷惑的灰色大貓頭鷹朝我眨着眼睛時感到無比的喜悅,每隻都是我腦中可能是來自於想像的模糊畫面的完美複製。它們全都扮演愛落,而且全都是大灰梟

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.

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