【英语原著】哈利·波特与魔法石 （37）

Harry had the best morning he’d had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunch-time, wouldn’t fall back on their favourite hobby of hitting him. They ate in the zoo restaurant and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory wasn’t big enough, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.
Harry felt, afterwards, that he should have known it was all too good to last.
After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in here, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon’s car and crushed it into a dustbin –but at the moment it didn’t look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.

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

Knowledge Point

• Harry had the best morning he’d had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunch-time, wouldn’t fall back on their favourite hobby of hitting him.
  ⇒ get bored with sth 对某事心生无聊/厌烦之感
  ⇒ fall back on sth
  to use something, especially a form of financial support, when other things have failed

• They ate in the zoo restaurant and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory wasn’t big enough, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.
  ⇒ knickerbocker glory [noun] 【参见图片】
  (UK ​ /ˌnɪk.əˌbɒk.ə ˈɡlɔː.ri/ US ​ /ˌnɪk.ɚˌbɑː.kɚ ˈɡlɔːr.i/)

  
  knickerbocker glory

• Harry felt, afterwards, that he should have known it was all too good to last.
  ⇒ “it was all too good to last”，太过于美好以至于不能长久。这里的“should have known”使用了虚拟语气，意为“Harry早该知道的”。说明后文要发生什么不好的事情了，在这里做了铺垫。

• After lunch they went to the reptile house.
  ⇒ reptile [noun] 爬行动物
  (UK ​ /ˈrep.taɪl/ US ​ /ˈrep.taɪl/)
  an animal that produces eggs and uses the heat of the sun to keep its blood warm

• It was cool and dark in here, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone.
  ⇒ lizard [noun] (UK ​ /ˈlɪz.əd/ US ​ /ˈlɪz.ɚd/) 蜥蜴 【参见图片】
  a small reptile that has a long body, four short legs, a long tail, and thick skin
  ⇒ snake [noun] (UK ​ /sneɪk/ US ​ /sneɪk/) 蛇【参见图片】
  a reptile with a long body and no legs
  ⇒ crawl [verb] (UK ​ /krɔːl/ US ​ /krɑːl/)
  to move slowly or with difficulty, especially with your body stretched out along the ground or on hands and knees

  
  lizard
  snake

• Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons.
  ⇒ cobra [noun] (UK ​ /ˈkəʊ.brə/ US ​ /ˈkoʊ.brə/) 眼镜蛇【参见图片】
  a poisonous snake from Africa and southern Asia that makes itself look bigger and more threatening by spreading the skin at the back of its head
  ⇒ man crush
  说的是直男之间基于才华或性格等因素产生的欣赏之情。
  女人间的欣赏之情是“girl crush”。
  ⇒ python [noun] (UK ​ /ˈpaɪ.θən/ US ​ /ˈpaɪ.θɑːn/) 蚺；巨蟒【参见图片】
  a very large snake that kills animals for food by wrapping itself around them and crushing them

  
  cobra
  python

• Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon’s car and crushed it into a dustbin –but at the moment it didn’t look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.
  ⇒ wrap sth. around sb./sth. 用……围住……
  ⇒ in the mood; not in the mood
  这就是我们日常表达“有心情/没心情”的短语，比如：
  I am just not in the mood these days. （我只是这几天情绪不好。）