Harry Potter& The Order of The Phoenix（在线收听）

Harry Potter& The Order of The Phoenix

There are books ... and there’s Harry Potter!

They’re the biggest phenomenon in the history of publishing: two hundred million copies about a boy who discovers he’s a world famous ¹⁾wizard. They’re sold in over 200 countries and translated into over 50 languages. Beyond the books is an industry: films, dolls, games and merchandise, making hundreds of millions of pounds a year. 

All this from an idea, which wandered into mind of the then pretty penniless, J. K. Rowling, as she sat on a train. She imagined his story as a series of seven books, each spanning a year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 

The fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, goes on sale in twenty-eight and a half hours. It’s confidently expected to have the biggest ²⁾print run in history. 

Interviewer: So this is it, is it?

Rowling: This is it, yeah.

Interviewer: How many pages?

Rowling: How many pages ... Seven hundred and sixty-six.

Interviewer: Seven hundred and sixty-six. You want to read the first sentence? Actually we know what the first sentence is.

Rowling: Oh, you know what the first sentence is. I could read you a random sentence. Uhm, ... No, not that one. That gives way too much away. You can have... “’Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly,’ said Hermione, ³⁾unperturbed.”

Interviewer: A very Hermione sort of thing to say, isn’t it?

Rowling: It is a very Hermione sentence, isn’t it?

Interviewer: Are we going to discover, in Book Five, why, for example, Voldemort has such an ⁴⁾animus against Harry’s parents?

Rowling: Yes.

Interviewer: Can you give us a clue as to ...?

Rowling: No. It’s not long now, come on. (Laugh) Yes, you do find that out in Book Five. 

Interviewer: What else are you willing to tell us about what’s in Book Five?

Rowling:  Uuuhmmm, whewww. Uhh, ... Obviously a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

Interviewer: Is that going to be a woman?

Rowling: Yes. And it’s not Fleur, which everyone on the Internet ⁵⁾speculates about. And it’s not, .... Who’s the other one they keep asking about? ... Uhm ....

Interviewer: ... can’t remember.

Rowling: ... Mrs. Figg. It’s not Mrs. Figg. I’ve read both of those. 

Interviewer: Are we going to discover anything more about Snape and ...?

Rowling: Yes.

Interviewer: ... and Harry’s mother? 

Rowling: Mmm...

Interviewer: Did he have a crush on Harry’s mother? ⁶⁾Unrequited love? Anything like that?

Rowling: Hence, his ... hence his animosity to Harry?

Interviewer: Yes. 

Rowling: You speculate?

Interviewer: I speculate, yes. I’m just asking whether you can tell us?

Rowling: No. I can’t tell you. But you do, you do find out more about Snape. And, uhm, yeah, quite a lot more about him actually.

Interviewer: And is there going to be a death in this book?

Rowling: Yeah, horrible, horrible ...

Interviewer: A horrible death of a ...

Rowling: Um Hmm.

Interviewer: ...of a significant figure.

Rowling: Um Hmm. Yeah. I went into the kitchen, having done it, uhm, ...

Interviewer: What, killed this person?

Rowling: Yeah. Well, I’d rewritten the death ... uhm ... and rewritten and that was it. It was definitive, and the person was definitely dead. And I walked into the kitchen crying, and ⁷⁾Neil said to me, “What on earth is wrong?” And I said, “Well, I’ve just killed the per ...” He ... Neil doesn’t know who the person is, but I said, “I’ve just killed the person.” And he said, “Well, don’t do it then.” I thought, he’s a doctor, you know, and I said, “Well, it just doesn’t work like that. You, ... writing children’s books you need to be ruthless killer.”

Interviewer: Is it going to upset people?

Rowling: Hmm, yes. Upset me! Well, I ... you know, I always ... knew it was coming, but I managed to live in denial, and carry on with the character and not think about it.

Interviewer: So you know what is going to become of, really, all the major characters ...

Rowling: Um Hmm.

Interviewer: ... over the span of the series.

Rowling: Yeah. Yeah.

Interviewer: Why stop when they ... grow up? Might be interesting to know what becomes of Harry as an adult.

Rowling: How do you know he’ll still be alive?

Interviewer: Oh, ... Oh, the end of Book Seven.

Rowling: Be one way to kill off the merchandising.

Interviewer: That really would be killing the golden goose, wouldn’t it?

Interviewer: Has Book Five, that’s the thing that’s the size of a house of brick ...

Rowling: Yes.

Interviewer: It was originally much longer than that, was it?

Rowling: No. Actually it wasn’t. Uhm ... it’s about the size I ... no, that’s not even true. Originally, I think it would be slightly shorter than Goblet of Fire. And uhm, ... what is the phrase the tale grew in the telling? It did. Uhm, the thing is I’ve got so much now, so much back-story to tell. Uhm, but I doubt -- I really mean it this time - Six will not need to be that long. It won’t need to be that long.

《哈利·波特与凤凰社 》

世界上有许多书……还有《哈利·波特》。

《哈利·波特》系列是出版史上最不可思议的现象：关于一个小男孩发现自己是世界上有名巫师的故事已卖了两亿本。哈利·波特系列被译成五十多种文字，人们可以在两百多个国家买到它。而且除了书外，哈利·波特已形成了一个产业：电影、洋娃娃、游戏和其它相关商品，这个产业每年利润高达数亿英镑。

而这一切都来自一个想法。当时身无分文的J·K·罗琳坐在火车上，脑子里有了这个想法，她把这个想法构思成共有七本书的系列，每书写的是在霍格沃茨魔法学校里的一年发生的事。

这个系列的第五部《哈利·波特与凤凰社》28个半小时后就上市了，几乎可以肯定的是这将会是历史上印量最大的书。

问：这就是第五部，对吗？

罗琳：对，正是。

问：共有多少页？

罗琳：多少页？766页。

问：766页。你愿不愿意把书的第一句话给我们听？其实我们早就知道这句话了。

罗琳：哦，你早已知道第一句话了。我随便给你念一句吧。嗯，这句不行，这会泄露太多的事情，念这句吧：“‘是的，但我认为我们要认真地为这事投票，’赫敏镇定地说。”

问：这是一句很有典型赫敏风格的话，对不对？

罗琳：是的，这正是赫敏会说的话。

问：在第五本书里，我们会不会知道伏地魔对哈利的父母怀有敌意的原因？

罗琳：会的。

问：你能不能先透露一点……？

罗琳：不能。你很快就会知道了，（笑）不过你会在第五本书里找到答案。

问：那么，第五本书里的内容你现在究竟能说多少？

罗琳：嗯，呃，很显然，书里要有一位黑魔法防御术老师。

问：是一位女性？

罗琳：是的，嗯，但不是互联网上普遍猜测的弗莱尔，不是的，他们猜测的另一个人是谁？

问：……不记得。

罗琳：……是费格夫人。也不是她。关于对这两人的猜测我都看过。

问：我们是不是会知道更多关于斯内普和……？

罗琳：对。

问：……和哈利的母亲？

罗琳：嗯……

问：他是不是看上了哈利的母亲？是无结果的爱？有没有这样的事？

罗琳：结果，结果引起了他对哈利的敌意？

问：对。

罗琳：你是这样猜测的？

问：对，我只是想问一下，你……会不会把答案告诉我？

罗琳：不行，我不能告诉你。不过在这本书中，你会对斯内普有更多的了解，还在，嗯……其实书中有许多关于他的事。

问：书中有人死吗？

罗琳：有，很可怕，非常可怕……

问：这可怕的死亡是……

罗琳：嗯……

问：一个重要人物之死？

罗琳：嗯，对，我……我走进厨房，那是我刚刚，呃……

问：什么？是杀了这个人后？

罗：对，我重写了这个死亡故事……呃……然后又重写，然后就完了，这次是很确定的……这个确实是死了。我哭着走进厨房……尼尔问我：“怎么回事？”我说；“我刚刚写完那个人死去的部分。”尼尔并不知道这个人是谁，而我只是说：“我把这个人杀了。”他说：“那就不要这样写嘛。”我想，他是一名医生，所以……我说：“故事必须这样发展。写儿童读物要残忍一点，要做杀手。”

问：这会让读者不高兴吗？

罗琳：呃，会吧，我也不高兴，你看，我……我一直都知道会有这一天，但我却不肯面对，把这个人物一直往下写，力图不去想这事。

问：你知道书中所有主要人物最后的结果，对不对？

罗琳：是。

问：这是在整个系列的过程中发生的。

罗琳：是的，是的。

问：为什么不在人物长大时收笔呢？知道哈利成人后是什么样子肯定很有意思。

罗琳：你怎么知道他还活着？

问：哦……哦，这会发生在第七部书的最后？

罗琳：这可是破坏书宣传营销的一个好办法。

问：这是杀鸡取卵，对不对？

问：第五部像砖头那么厚……

罗琳：是的。

问：原来构想更长，是不是？

罗琳：不，原本只是……关于书的长度，不，那也不对。原本以为比《火焰杯》略短，那话怎说？故事越说越长，的确是。问题是我有许多背景要交代，但这次说真的，第六部不必那么长。

注释:

1)   wizard [5wizEd] n. 巫士，巫师           

2) print run 印刷量

3) unperturbed [5QnpE5tE:bd] a. 镇定不惊的，泰然自若的

4) animus [5AnimEs] n. 仇视，恶意。下面的animosity是它的名词形式。

5) speculate [5spekju7leit] v. 推测

6) unrequited [5Qnri5kwaitid] a. 无报答的

7) Neil 尼尔，罗琳的丈夫。