【英语原著】哈利·波特与魔法石 （15）

A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you’d have thought he’d just popped out of the ground. The cat’s tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.
Nothing like this man had ever been seen in Privet Drive. He was tall, thin and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak which swept the ground and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man’s name was Albus Dumbledore.
Albus Dumbledore didn’t seem to realise that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realise he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, ‘I should have known.’

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Rowling, J.K.. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone . Bloomsbury. Kindle Edition.

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Knowledge Point

• "A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you’d have thought he’d just popped out of the ground."
  ⇒ that引导的定语从句，“the cat had been watching”修饰“the corner”。
  ⇒ silently ～ quietly
  without any sound; quietly
  ⇒ you’d have thought = you would have thought
  (also you would think) used to say that you expect something to be true, although it is not
  ⇒ “appeared so suddenly and silently (that)......”
  that引导的状语从句时，充当连词，有时可以省略。
  ⇒ pop out of 从……弹出来
  to move quickly and suddenly, especially from a closed space
  (尤指从封闭的空间）爆开，弹出来

  
  pop out

• "The cat’s tail twitched and its eyes narrowed. "
  ⇒ twitch [verb] ~ move slightly
  ⇒ twitch tail
  ⇒ Understanding Your Cat’s Body Language: The Tail
  ⇒ narrow [verb] ~ less wide
  He narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
  (他猜疑地眯起眼睛。)
  

  Understanding Your Cat’s Body Language: The Tail

• "Nothing like this man had ever been seen in Privet Drive."
  ⇒ 在Privet Drive从没见过这个男人。

• "He was tall, thin and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt."
  ⇒ “judging by......”，现在分词作状语，意思为“根据……判断”
  一般会把“judging by the silver of his hair and beard”放在句首，但是which引导的非限定性定语从句要紧跟在其修饰的名次之后，所以把它放在了句子中间，保证了整个句子的结构平衡。
  ⇒ tuck into his belt 塞进他的腰带

• "He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak which swept the ground and high-heeled, buckled boots."
  ⇒ robe [noun] 长袍
  ⇒ cloak [noun] 斗篷
  ⇒ “which swept the ground”，定语从句修饰“cloak”
  （可以扫大街了，的确很“long”）
  ⇒ high heels 高跟鞋
  ⇒ buckle
  to fasten or be fastened with a buckle
  用扣环扣住

  
  robe and cloak
  buckle boots

• "His blue eyes were light, bright and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice."
  ⇒ sparkling [adjective]
  shinning brightly
  ⇒ half-moon spectacles (old-fashioned)
  spectacles ~ glasses
  ⇒ crooked [adjective] 歪的
  not forming a straight line
  ⇒ “as though it had been broken at least twice”，仿佛至少被打断过两次……
  （难怪他的鼻子是歪的，有故事ing）

• "This man’s name was Albus Dumbledore."

  
  Albus Dumbledore

• "Albus Dumbledore didn’t seem to realise that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome."
  ⇒ 有人是这么翻译的：Albus Dumbledore似乎没有意识到他的到来是如此不受欢迎。
  ⇒ where引导的定语从句

• "He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something."
  ⇒ rummage [verb]
  to search for something by moving things around in a careless and hurried way
  ⇒ “looking for something”，现在分词短语作状语表伴随

• "But he did seem to realise he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street."
  ⇒ 尝试翻译：但是他的确意识到自己正被监视着，因为他突然抬头看到了一只猫，它在街的另一端仍然盯着他看。
  ⇒ which引导的定语从句

• "For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him."
  ⇒ 尝试翻译：不知道为什么，他觉得这场景很好笑。

• "He chuckled and muttered, ‘I should have known.’"
  ⇒ chuckle [verb] 暗自笑道；哧哧地笑
  ⇒ mutter [verb] 喃喃自语
  ⇒ I should have known. （虚拟语句）
  ⇒ 尝试翻译：他笑着喃喃自语：“我早该知道的。”

知识星球——读英语原著