原文赏析

“Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one,” she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.
"有谁见到一只癞蛤蟆吗？尼维尔的那只不见了。"她说起话来像是在发号施令，她那一头毛茸茸的棕发和宽大的门牙很不讨人喜欢。

“We've already told him we haven't seen it,” said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.
"我们说过没见到。"罗恩说。但那女孩似乎并没有听见，因为她正盯着罗恩手上的魔杖看。

“Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then.”
"哦，你在变魔术吗？那就让我们开开眼界吧。

She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.
"她一屁股坐了下来，罗恩看起来像被吓了一跳。

“Er — all right.”He cleared his throat.
"呃……好吧！"罗恩清了清嗓门。

“Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow.”
"天灵灵，地灵灵，将这又笨又胖的大耗子变一变，黄色就行。"

He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep.
他摇摇魔杖，但没有任何变化。斯卡伯斯仍是灰色的，依然熟睡着。

“Are you sure that's a real spell?” said the girl. “Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard — I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough — I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?”She said all this very fast.
"你肯定是这条咒语吗？"女孩说，"好像不大灵验哟。我也试过几条咒语，全都很有效幄。我家人没有一个是魔法师，所以当我接到录取通知的时候非常惊讶，当然，我也很开心，因为那儿是学习魔法的最好的学校。我已经将所有的教材内容都牢记于心，希望够用吧。对了，我叫荷米恩。格林佐，你们呢？"她说话就像连珠炮一样快。

Harry looked at Ron, and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn't learned all the course books by heart either.
哈利看看罗恩，从他那惊讶的神情看出他和自己一样还没有熟记教材内容。

“I'm Ron Weasley,” Ron muttered.
"我是罗恩。威斯里。"罗恩嘟哝着。

“Harry Potter,” said Harry.
"我是哈利·波特。"

“Are you really?” said Hermione. “I know all about you, of course — I got a few extra books, for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century.”
"真的吗？"荷米思惊奇地说，"我知道很多有关你的事。我有一本介绍你的背景资料的课外书。而且你可是《现代魔法师》和《二十世纪神秘艺术兴衰及魔法大事记》里的名人呀。"

“Am I?” said Harry, feeling dazed.
"是吗？"哈利感到莫明其妙。

“Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me,” said Hermione. “Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad… Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon.”And she left, taking the toadless boy with her.
"天哪，你自己还不知道，如果我是你的话，我一定会把事情弄得清清楚楚。"荷米恩说，"知道你们会被分到哪一个学院吗？我到处打听，希望能被分到格林芬顿，人人都说那里最好，而且我听说丹伯多本人也是从那里出身的。不过，卫文卡罗也不错……好了，我们得去找尼维尔的癞蛤蟆。你们两个也快换衣服，我想我们就快到了。"说完，她带着小男孩走了。

“Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it,” said Ron. He threw his wand back into his trunk. “Stupid spell — George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud.”
"无论我分到哪儿都好，千万别让我和她分到一起。"罗恩边说边把魔杖扔回皮箱里，"该死的魔法，一定是乔治故意捉弄我。"

“What house are your brothers in?” asked Harry.
"你兄弟们会分到哪里？"

“Gryffindor,” said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. “Mom and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin.”
"格林芬顿。"罗恩说，似乎又笼罩在忧郁中，"爸妈也是念这个学院的，我不知道他们是否在乎我分到哪里。我觉得卫文卡罗也不错，但恐怕他们会让我到史林德林。"

“That's the house Vol, I mean, YouKnowWho was in?”
"那不正是'那个人'念的学院吗？"

“Yeah,” said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed.
"是啊。"罗恩瘫倒在座位上，十分沮丧。

重点讲解

bossy adj. 专横的，爱发号施令的

His bossy attitude aggravates me.
他专横的态度使我恼火。
He's our manager, that's why he's so bossy.
他是我们的经理，所以这么跋扈。

to be taken aback 吃惊，吓一跳

The Manager was taken aback at the news that some company had already launched the product into the market.
当经理得知某公司已经把该产品投放市场时，他不禁大吃一惊。

either的用法归纳：

1. either用作代词，意为“（两者之中）任一、任何一个”。在句中可作主语（此时句中谓语动词用单数）、宾语、表语和定语（作定语时，有的词典把它称为形容词；either作定语时，只能修饰单数名词。）如：

Either (of the books) is popular with the students.（两本书）随便哪一本都受到同学们的欢迎。（主语）
The books were either works on travel or detective novels.这些书要么是旅游方面的书，要么是侦探小说。（表语）
You can park on either side of the street.在街道的哪边停车都可以。（定语）

2. either用作副词，用于否定句作“也”解释，通常置于句末。如：

I don't like the red shirt and I don”t like the green one either.我不喜欢这件红衬衫，也不喜欢这件绿衬衫。
As for me, I shall not return there either.如果是我，我也不会回到那儿的。

either还可用来强调含否定意义的短语。如：

I know a good ltalian restaurant. It”s not far from here either.我知道一家意大利餐馆，离这儿并不远。

3. either可以构成短语，either…or…，意为“或……或……、不是……就是……”，在句中连接两个并列成分。如：

Either you or Tom has done it.（连接并列主语）不是你就是汤姆做了这件事。
You may either stay at home or go there with us.（连接并列谓语）你既可以待在家里也可以和我们一道去。