哈利·波特：一段魔法史

但我们确实有他的墓碑
but we do actually have his tombstone.
墓碑本身就是一件魔法物件
It’s quite a magical object in itself.
尼古拉斯·勒梅也许没能不朽
Nicolas Flamel may not have achieved immortality,
但是炼金术士们仍在继续寻找长生不老药
but alchemists continued their search for the elixir of life.
他们的一些秘密指令
And some of their mysterious instructions survive
在魔法卷轴上保留了下来
on a magical scroll.
我们把这个从盒子里拿出来
Let’s take this one out the box.
-这就是惊艳的… -天啊
– So, this is the…amazing… – Oh, my God.
李普利卷轴 你看
..Ripley scroll. There you are.
乔治·李普利爵士
炼金术士
英国律修会修士
作家
真了不得
It’s extraordinary.
这大概是1600年制♥作♥的
I think it’s made about the year 1600…
上面记录了如何制♥作♥魔法石
and it tells you how to make the philosopher’s stone.
看
Oh, look.
-是不是很难以置信 -太华丽了 看
– Isn’t that incredible? – Oh, it’s so gorgeous. Look at this.
色彩还是很
And the colours are still so…
保存得非常完好
It’s beautifully preserved.
它一直是卷起来存放的
Well, it’s been rolled up for all that time,
因此得以保存完好
so that partly preserves it.
我们很少把它全部展开
We very rarely unscroll the whole thing.
我非常荣幸 看呐
I’m genuinely so honoured, look at this.
这是我第一次有机会
This is the first time I’ve had the chance
亲眼看看这种文物
to see these kind of artefacts myself.
当然我看过很多参考书
Obviously I’ve got a lot of reference books,
有一些很廉价的
some of them are very cheap,
二十五年前
from 25 years old,
三十年前的那些 我用作研究资料
30 years old, that I was using as research materials.
所以 私心来讲 能一睹真品机会难得
So, selfishly, this was a chance to see the real deal.
我在创作魔法石的故事时
I had a really vivid dream about Nicolas Flamel
做过一个关于尼古拉斯·勒梅很真实的梦
during the writing of Philosopher’s Stone.
我梦到我在他的炼金室里
I dreamt that I was in his alchemist studio
墙上都是这种象征符号♥
and this kind of symbolism was all over his walls.
我什么问题都没问 只是静静看
I didn’t even ask questions, I was just watching.
典型的作家作风 观察
A typical writer, observing.
问都不问
Didn’t even ask.
然后把它们结合成一个整体
And make them all but one,
看这里
lo here
这就是魔法石
is the philosopher’s stone.
我以前从来没有
I’ve never seen…
见过这样的东西
anything quite like this before.
可以想象很少有人见过
I would imagine few people have.
炼金术让我着迷之处在于
What fascinates me about alchemy
它包含着科学 真正的科学 不是吗
is you have this mixture of science, actual science, right?
因为这是古老的化学
Because this was old chemistry,
有一些是真正的科学
so some of it is genuinely scientific.
他们观察到的现象
They were observing phenomena
我们现在认为是化学的基础
that we recognise now as the basis for chemistry.
所以这是令人着迷的交叉领域 不是吗
So it’s just this fascinating hybrid, isn’t it?
没错 所有想法的结合
Yeah, combination of all these ideas.
你们没照着尝试造魔法石让我很失望
And I’m really disappointed you haven’t tried to make one.
要是它真的可行 我们可就成了笑话
Because the joke’s on us if this works!
我们会确保它确实可行的
We’ll make sure it does work. Yeah.
很多科学发现
Many scientific discoveries
都是人们在研究炼金术的过程中
were actually made as a result of people
顺便发现的
carrying out that alchemical process.
德比的约瑟夫·怀特有一幅非常有名的画
There’s a very famous painting, it’s by Joseph Wright of Derby,
炼金术士
德比的约瑟夫·怀特 1734-1797
皇家艺术研究院准会员
画上是一个十七世纪德国的
and it shows a German chemist, alchemist,
化学家 炼金术士
in the 17th century.
他试图通过煮一烧瓶的尿液来炼金
He’s trying to create gold and he’s boiling a flask of urine!
他没能炼出金子
He doesn’t create gold,
但却在这个过程中发现了磷
but he discovers phosphorus in the process.
魔法与科学的关系
The relationship between magic and science,
尤其在近代早期显得极其重要
particularly in the early modern period is extremely important.
世界上有什么力量
What powers are there out there
是我们看不到
that we perhaps can’t see
但却可以学为己用的呢
but which we can harness and adapt for our own use?
某种程度上来讲这就是一种魔法
And to some extent that is a form of magic.
也许青霉素也是一种魔法
Perhaps penicillin is a form of magic.
也许它就是能持续起作用的魔法
It’s just magic that consistently works.
即使是理性开明的现代社会
But even in our rational, enlightened age of today,
也许依然容得下古老的思考方式
perhaps there’s still a place for the old ways of thinking.
我觉得魔法很迷人
Magic is fascinating to me, clearly,
因为我用很长时间对它进行创作
because I’ve spent a lot of time writing about it,
但我觉得它还和一些很重要的东西有关
but I think that it connects to very important things
比如怎样做人
about what it is to be human
以及人类的欲望与信仰
and what human beings want and what they believe.
“小的时候
“When he had been younger,
哈利总是期盼一个陌生的亲戚
Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown Relation
《哈利·波特与魔法石》 1997年
来把他带走 但是从来都没有成真
“coming to take him away, but it had never happened.
德斯礼一家是他唯一的家人
“The Dursleys where his only family.
但他有时候觉得 也许是希望
“Yet sometimes he thought, or maybe hoped,
街上的陌生人好像认识他
“that strangers in the street seemed to know him.
而且这些陌生人都很奇怪”
“Very strange strangers they were, too.”
孩子们相信魔法
Children believe in magic
因为他们刚刚开始理解
because they’re starting to make sense of
并掌控自己的世界
and control their world.
但我认为每个人心中都有这样的想法
But I think we all have that inside us.
世界很复杂 而且大部分都是不可知的
The world is complex and largely unknowable,
虽然我们现在依靠的是科学研究
and although we’ve moved on to science,
但我觉得我们在内心
I think that we all, at heart,
都保留着一些魔幻思维
retain a certain amount of magical thinking.
塔朗泰拉舞Tarantellegra!
此咒语会使中咒者的双脚不由自主的舞动
腿软脚绵[软腿咒]
Locomotor Wibbly!
消隐无踪[消失咒]
Evanesco!
咧嘴呼啦啦Rictusempra!
呵痒咒 使中咒者全身很痒 捧腹大笑
我一定要加上”嗖”的一声
I’ve got to do a whoosh sound,
这样才显得逼真
it’s the only way it makes it real to me.
要追溯魔法的真实历史
To trace the real history of magic,
最好的地方就是大英图书馆了
there can be few better places than the British Library.
这里共有一亿五千万藏品
It has 150 million items
管♥理♥员♥们在其中搜寻了
and the curators have been searching amongst them
一年多
for over a year.
我们现在位于大英图书馆地下四层
We’re about four floors down underneath the British Library
存放珍贵书籍的保险库
in the strong rooms where we keep most of our rare books.
这里的书绵延不绝
There’s miles and miles of books down here,
空间巨大
so, yeah, it’s a huge space.
我们要进入的是一个奇怪的领域
You are going into sort of strange realms
这里的藏书都比较艰涩难懂
within the collection that are not perhaps so easily understood,
很难进行编目
so easily catalogued.
它们有时会被搁置
They’re sometimes sort of left aside
因为现代研究者与修♥炼♥魔法的人不同
because they don’t perhaps speak to our researchers
现在很难理解这些书
in the way that they do people who practise magic.
每一个霍格沃茨的学生都知道
As every Hogwarts student knows,
一本好的魔法教科书
a good magical textbook
可以挽救生命 或者解决问题
can save your life or solve your problems.
但在十六世纪
But in the 16th century,
英国文化组织的成员
members of the British cultural establishment
也信奉魔法书
believed in them, too.
这是展览中我最喜欢的手稿之一
So, this is one of my favourite manuscripts in the exhibition.
是一本真实的咒语书
It’s an actual book of spells
我觉得它非常迷人
and is extremely beautiful to look at,
而且内容引人入胜
I think, and has a lot of interesting content.
这本真正魔法教科书的主人
A real magical textbook,
是伊丽莎白一世时期的诗人加布里埃尔·哈维
and it belonged to the Elizabethan poet Gabriel Harvey.
这个是关于隐形的试验或咒语
But this one is an experiment or a spell on how to be invisible
以及前期必须要如何准备
and how it must be prepared.
这里记载了很多关于加布里埃尔·哈维的故事
There’s lots of text written about Gabriel Harvey,