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哈利波特作者J.K.罗琳，新书《The Ickabog》《艾卡伯格》
第一章
King Fred the Fearless，
佛雷德-无畏之王
Once upon a time, there was a tiny country called Cornucopia, which had been ruled for centuries by a long line of fair-haired kings. The king at the time of which I write was called King Fred the Fearless.
早年，有个很小的国家，名叫Cornucopia（考纽考皮亚）。一向被有着长长的金发国王控制，长达好几个世纪。我所描绘的是一位叫费雷德的国王，在那时 ，他被称为无畏之王。
J.K罗琳He’d announced the ‘Fearless’ bit himself, on the morning of his coronation, partly because it sounded nice with ‘Fred’, but also because he’d once managed to catch and kill a wasp all by himself, if you didn’t count five footmen and the boot boy.
这个称谓是费雷德在自个加冕的早晨自封的。不只是因为无畏和他的名字听起来很分配，还因为他早年单独设法抓到并杀死一个白人新教徒，更不必说五个大脚怪和靴子男孩。
King Fred the Fearless came to the throne on a huge wave of popularity. He had lovely yellow curls, fine sweeping moustaches and looked magnificent in the tight breeches, velvet doublets, and ruffled shirts that rich men wore at the time.
无畏之王费雷德登位时，人流如潮。他藏着极心爱的金黄色的曲折的旺盛的胡须。穿戴紧身长裤、天鹅绒紧身外套、并穿戴只需其时有钱人穿的褶边衬衣，看起来巨大且绮丽。
Fred was said to be generous, smiled and waved whenever anyone caught sight of him and looked awfully handsome in the portraits that were distributed throughout the kingdom, to be hung in town halls.
费雷德跟传言的相同：雍容大方，对眼之所及的一切人浅笑，挥手致意。他的肖像照在整个王国都分发下去，还被挂在了礼堂大厅。总之，帅极了。
The people of Cornucopia were most happy with their new king, and many thought he’d end up being even better at the job than his father, Richard the Righteous, whose teeth (though nobody had liked to mention it at the time) were rather crooked.
有了新国王的Cornucopia（考纽考皮亚）公民很开心。许多人认为他会比他的父亲—理查德正义之王做得非常好。他父亲的牙齿（尽管其时没人提及）真实是太黑了，像糊了的菜相同。
King Fred was secretly relieved to find out how easy it was to rule Cornucopia. In fact, the country seemed to run itself. Nearly everybody had lots of food, the merchants made pots of gold, and Fred’s advisors took care of any little problem that arose. All that was left for Fred to do was beam at his subjects whenever he went out in his carriage and go hunting five times a week with his two best friends, Lord Spittleworth and Lord Flapoon.
国王弗雷德私下里很放松，因为他发现控制Cornucopia是件很简略的事。实践上，整个国家看起来能自个运转。几乎一切人有足够的食物，商我们都能赚的盆钵充斥，佛雷德的智囊团可以处置发生的任何小疑问。仅有剩下需要佛雷德做的作业就是坐上马车，与最佳的兄弟斯气度沃斯爵士和菲莱普恩爵士，去外边一周打猎五次。
Spittleworth and Flapoon had large estates of their own in the country, but they found it much cheaper and more amusing to live at the palace with the king, eating his food, hunting his stags, and making sure that the king didn’t get too fond of any of the beautiful ladies at court. They had no wish to see Fred married, because a queen might spoil all their fun. For a time, Fred had seemed to rather like Lady Eslanda, who was as dark and beautiful as Fred was fair and handsome, but Spittleworth had persuaded Fred that she was far too serious and bookish for the country to love her as queen. Fred didn’t know that Lord Spittleworth had a grudge against Lady Eslanda. He’d once asked her to marry him, but she’d turned him down.
斯气度沃斯和菲莱普恩在这个国家有许多的工业，可是他们发现与国王住一同，吃他的美食，打他的猎物是件有意思的且能占廉价的事。当然他们还要保证国王不会对王宫里的秀丽女士过于喜爱。他们不想国外成婚，因为有王后可以会损失他们的快乐喜爱。有段时刻，弗雷德看起来非常喜爱艾斯兰达——一位又黑又秀丽的姑娘，与帅气有魅力的弗雷德很相配。可是斯气度沃斯以艾斯兰达太严厉而且是个书痴人，缺乏担任王后为由说服了弗雷德。不过弗雷德不晓得的是斯气度沃斯爵士对艾斯兰达女士有深深的怨气，因为斯气度沃斯爵士曾向艾斯兰达女士求婚，被其回绝了。
Lord Spittleworth was very thin, cunning, and clever. His friend Flapoon was ruddy-faced, and so enormous that it required six men to heave him onto his massive chestnut horse. Though not as clever as Spittleworth, Flapoon was still far sharper than the king.
斯气度沃斯爵士非常瘦弱，奸刁，而且聪明。而他的兄弟菲莱普恩爵士是个红脸大胖子，他是如此巨大，需要六自个才干把他举到他的超大号栗色马上。尽管不如沃斯聪明，但菲莱普恩仍远比国王弗雷德要精明。
Both lords were expert at flattery, and pretending to be astonished by how good Fred was at everything from riding to tiddlywinks. If Spittleworth had a particular talent, it was persuading the king to do things that suited Spittleworth, and if Flapoon had a gift, it was for convincing the king that nobody on earth was as loyal to the king as his two best friends.
两个爵士在溜须拍马方面是必定的专家,他们对弗
雷德做的一切作业--从骑马到玩游戏-都能假装惊喜至极。假定说斯气度沃斯有一个特另外才干的话，那就是说服国王去做契合沃斯自个自愿的作业，假定说菲莱普恩有个天资的话，那就是能让国王信赖在这个世界上没有比他们这两个最佳兄弟相同忠诚的人了。
Fred thought Spittleworth and Flapoon were jolly good chaps. They urged him to hold fancy parties, elaborate picnics, and sumptuous banquets, because Cornucopia was famous, far beyond its borders, for its food. Each of its cities was known for a different kind, and each was the very best
in the world.
弗雷德认为斯气度沃斯和菲莱普恩是两个非常好的火伴。他们能敦促自个参加精彩的派对，精美的野餐和奢华的宴会——因为Cornucopia（考纽考皮亚）不只因疆域而知名，还因美食而著称。每座城市都有特征的美食，每一种都是世界上最佳吃的。
The capital of Cornucopia, Chouxville, lay in the south of the country, and was surrounded by acres of orchards, fields of shimmering golden wheat, and emerald-green grass, on which pure white dairy cows grazed. The cream, flour, and fruit produced by the farmers here was then given to the exceptional bakers of Chouxville, who made pastries.
Cornucopia（考纽考皮亚）的首都Chouxville（首克斯威乐），位于在这个国家的南边，周围是数英亩的果园，金光闪闪的麦田，和如似祖母绿的草原，草原之上放牧着纯白色奶牛。农人在这儿的出产的奶油、面粉和生果会被送到首克斯威乐杰出的烘焙师手中来制造糕点。
Think, if you please, of the most delicious cake or biscuit you have ever tasted. Well, let me tell you they’d have been downright ashamed to serve that in Chouxville. Unless a grown man’s eyes filled with tears of pleasure as he bit into a Chouxville pastry, it was deemed a failure and never made again.
让咱们想一想，即便咱们吃过的最甘旨的蛋糕或许曲奇饼干，在首都Chouxville（首克斯威乐）也会被直接不屑用来款待。除非能让一个老到人品尝了一点首克斯威乐的糕点而且眼里充溢高兴的泪水，否则就会被认为是失利品并永久不会在做。
The bakery windows of Chouxville were piled high with delicacies such as Maidens’ Dreams, Fairies’ Cradles, and, most famous of all, Hopes-of-Heaven, which were so exquisitely, painfully delicious that they were saved for special occasions and everybody cried for joy as they ate them. King Porfirio, of neighbouring Pluritania, had already sent King Fred a letter, offering him the choice of any of his daughters’ hands in marriage in exchange for a lifetime’s supply of Hopes-of-Heaven, but Spittleworth had advised Fred to laugh in the Pluritanian ambassador’s face.
‘His daughters are nowhere nearpretty enough to exchange for Hopes-of-Heaven, sire!’ said Spittleworth.
首克斯威乐里的烘焙店的窗口总会被精美的糕点堆的逐渐的，如深闺之梦，精灵之篮，当然还有最闻名的-地狱之愿。它是如此的精美，甘旨至极，并被放在了特别的盒子里，每一个品尝到它的人都会开心到哭。领边的国家Pluritania普乐瑞塔尼亚的国王Porfirio颇费瑞欧曾致信给弗雷德说他可以让弗雷德任意选择自个的一个女儿来成婚，只需能供给满足他终身享受的地狱之愿糕点。不过，弗雷德遵循了斯气度沃斯的主张——嘲弄了Pluritania（普乐瑞塔尼亚）大使一番。因斯气度沃斯说：?拿烂埠偷赜副冉虾巫愎页荨！?/span>
To the north of Chouxville lay more green fields and clear, sparkling rivers, where jet-black cows and happy pink pigs were raised. These in turn served the twin cities of Kurdsburg and Baronstown, which were separated from each other by an arching stone bridge over the main river of Cornucopia, the Fluma, where brightly coloured barges bore goods from one end of the kingdom to another.
首克斯威乐的北边有个更大的地步，有着明澈见底，波光粼粼的河流，还放牧着黢黑发亮的牛和粉色的猪。这些猪牛最终会送到双胞胎城市Kurdsburg and Baronstown（克斯伯格市和巴融斯堂市），两个城市位于在这个国家的骨干河福逯玛河滨两端，被一座石拱桥联接，河里有着形形色色装满货品的驳船，人山人海，一望无边。
Kurdsburg was famous for its cheeses: huge white wheels, dense orange cannonballs, big crumbly blue-veined barrels and little baby cream cheeses smoother than velvet.
Kurdsburg克斯伯格市以奶酪而出名——无量的白色轮子，密布的橘子瓣点缀，易碎蓝纹路的巨桶和笔鹅绒还有和婉的婴儿奶酪。
Baronstown was celebrated for its smoked and honey-roasted hams, its sides of bacon, its spicy sausages, its melting beefsteaks, and its venison pies.
Baronstown巴融斯堂市以蜜制烟熏烤肠而知名——一块块的精选的培根，香辣的蘸料，还有柔软香嫩的牛排和鹿肉派。
The savoury fumes rising from the chimneys of the red-brick Baronstown stoves mingled with the odorous tang wafting from the doorways of the Kurdsburg cheese mongers, and for forty miles all around, it was impossible not to salivate breathing in the delicious air.
悦耳肺腑的香味从巴融斯堂市红砖的烘房烟囱里飘出来，混合着从克斯伯格奶酪店飘出的甜美气味，百里飘香。在这种甜美的空气里呼吸，口水都忍不住的流出来。
A few hours north of Kurdsburg and Baronstown, you came upon acres of vineyards bearing grapes as large as eggs, each of them ripe and sweet and juicy. Journey onwards for the rest of the day and you reached the granite city of Jeroboam, famous for its wines. They said of the Jeroboam air that you could get tipsy simply walking its streets. The best vintages changed hands for thousands upon thousands of gold coins, and the Jeroboam wine merchants were some of the richest men in the kingdom.
在这两座城市的北边，约几个小时的旅程，你会遇到一个几英亩的葡萄庄园，里边老到的葡萄甜美多汁，大如鸡蛋。在往北几个小时，你就抵达了以葡萄酒而出名的Jeroboam（杰若保姆市）。传闻即便你走在它的大街上，呼吸着它的空气，你也会变得微醉。这儿的最佳的酒几经倒手，金币价格几经翻番。这儿的葡萄酒商是这个国家最赋有的那一集体。
But a little north of Jeroboam, a strange thing happened. It was as though the magically rich land of Cornucopia had exhausted itself by producing the best grass, the best fruit, and the best wheat in the world. Right at the northern tip came the place known as the Marshlands, and the only things that grew there were some tasteless, rubbery mushrooms and thin dry grass, only good enough to feed a few mangy sheep.
可是，杰若保姆市稍北一点，发生了一件新鲜的作业。早年这是如魔法般丰饶的土地，生长着世界上最佳的牧草，最佳的生果，最佳的麦田，可是变得干涸瘠薄了。在往北一点，就是闻名的Marshlands麻石地了，那里仅生长着一些无味橡胶般的蘑菇和一些虚弱干草，将将够满足喂食一些老弱病残的绵羊。
The Marshlanders who tended the sheep didn’t have the sleek, well-rounded, well-dressed appearance of the citizens of Jeroboam, Baronstown, Kurdsburg, or Chouxville. They were gaunt and ragged. Their poorly nourished sheep never fetched very good prices, either in Cornucopia or abroad, so very few Marshlanders ever got to taste the delights of Cornucopian wine, cheese, beef, or pastries. The most common dish in the Marshlands was a greasy mutton broth, made of those sheep who were too old to sell.
照看这些绵羊的麻石地人并没有如克斯伯格人和巴融斯堂人或许首克斯威乐人那样红光满面，身段圆润，穿戴稳当的表面，他们虚弱褴褛。不管是在国内或许国外，他们短少养分的羊历来没卖过好代价。所以极稀有些的麻石地人早年品尝过葡萄酒、奶酪、牛肉或许糕点的夸姣。他们最常吃的食物是油腻的羊肉汤。羊肉是那些太老卖不出去的羊的肉。
The rest of Cornucopia found the Marshlanders an odd bunch – surly, dirty, and ill-tempered. They had rough voices, which the other Cornucopians imitated, making them sound like hoarse old sheep. Jokes were made about their manners and their simplicity. As far as the rest of Cornucopia was concerned, the only memorable thing that had ever come out of the Marshlands was the legend of the Ickabog.
Cornucopia（考纽考皮亚）其他的居民发现麻石地人是一个非常古怪的集体——他们心眼坏，龌龊，脾气浮躁。他们有着粗糙的嗓音，被考纽考皮亚其他居民仿照后，搞得他们的嗓音听起来像沙哑的老羊。关于麻石地人行为和愚蠢的笑话举目皆是。据其他的居民所知，麻石地仅有一件令人难忘的的事——Ickabog艾卡伯格的传奇。
