Okay, so books were around for a long time before Harry Potter. But JK Rowling turned book consumption, especially for children, into something close to addiction.
没错，在哈利?波特之前，书籍就已经存在很久了。但是JK罗琳把阅读消费，尤其是儿童阅读变成了一种近乎上瘾的现象。
You want proof? The UK release of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in 1999 was timed at 3.45pm to prevent children in England and Wales from skipping school to get their copy.想要证据？1999年，《哈利?波特与阿兹卡班囚徒》在英国的首发时间定在下午3点45分，就是为了阻止英格兰和威尔士的孩子们逃学去买书。The later books got HUGE but it didn't stop kids devouring them.后来的几本书都很厚重，但那也无法阻止孩子们如饥似渴地阅读。Grown-ups got hooked too, with the books being released in adult-friendly covers.大人们也被迷住了，该系列小说还发布了更适合成年人风格的封面版本。The book releases themselves became headline news: when the fourth book Goblet of Fire came out in 2000, booksellers around the world got together to coordinate the first ever global midnight launch.每次的新书发布会都成为新闻头条：2000年该系列第四本《火焰杯》发布的时候，全世界的书商们聚集在一起协调组织了首个全球午夜发布会。When Rowling received an honorary degree at St Andrews University that same year, the Scottish institution said she had proved that children's books "are still capable of capturing and enchanting an immense audience, irrespective of the competing attractions of television, Nintendo, Gameboy and Pokemon".同年，罗琳在圣安德鲁斯大学接受荣誉学位的时候，该校表示，她证明了儿童书“仍然能够抓住广大受众的眼球并让他们着迷，完全没有受到电视、任天堂、Gameboy以及Pokemon等竞争对手的影响。”The Harry Potter books are credited with opening the way to a whole swathe load of young adult fantasy fiction.《哈利?波特》系列被认为是为一大批针对年轻人的奇幻小说打开了大门。Lots of books were released in the hope they would be "the next Harry Potter", such as Artemis Fowl, The Spiderwick Chronicles and A Series of Unfortunate Events.很多书出版的时候都希望能成为“下一个哈利?波特”，比如，《阿特米斯奇幻历险》、《奇幻精灵事件簿》以及《波特莱尔大冒险》。Would we have had blockbuster series like Twilight and The Hunger Games novels had not Potter paved the way?如果不是哈利?波特开了先河，我们能看到《暮光》和《饥饿游戏》这样的系列大片和小说吗？And let's not forget fan fiction.别忘了，还有粉丝文学呢。The internet is thrumming with tens of thousands of unofficial spin-off stories about life at Hogwarts, The Dursleys and what the Weasley twins get up to at parties.互联网上充斥着成千上万个非正式的衍生故事版本，有关霍格沃兹的生活、德思礼一家以及双胞胎韦斯莱兄弟在派对上干坏事等内容。For a generation of kids brought up on Thomas the Tank Engine and The Polar Express, there was suddenly a shiny new steam train in the engine shed.对于看着《火车头汤姆斯》和《极地特快》长大的一代孩子，忽然间记忆的车库里就多了一列闪闪发亮的新蒸汽火车。Yes, the Hogwarts Express.是的，这就是霍格沃茨特快列车。No trip to King's Cross Station in London is complete without a selfie on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.去伦敦的国王十字火车站，如果不在九又四分之三月台拍张自拍照，这次旅程就不算完整。Most words have to be around for 10 years before they will be considered for the Oxford English Dictionary, but JK Rowling's word "muggle" - which made its debut in Philosopher's Stone - was an exception.多数新词都要过个十年才能被考虑收入牛津英语词典，然而JK罗琳在《哈利?波特与魔法石》首次造出的新词“麻瓜”却是个例外。It was added to the OED in less than half the usual time, appearing in 2002 as "a person who lacks a particular skill or skills, or who is regarded as inferior in some way".“麻瓜”诞生后还不到五年，就被收入牛津英语词典，2002年这个词在词典中的意思是“一个没有特殊技能的人，或在某些方面弱于他人的人”。In the world of Harry Potter, a muggle is a person without magical powers.在哈利?波特的世界，麻瓜是指一个没有魔法能力的人。We suspect that Crumple-Horned Snorkack - an elusive magical creature in Sweden - may take longer to make it into the muggle lexicon.
我们怀疑弯角鼾兽——瑞典的一种行踪诡秘的神奇生物——也许要多过些时日才能被收入麻瓜词典。In the books, Quidditch is a magical sport played on flying broomsticks, and involves bludgers, quaffles and a golden snitch - a small ball with wings.在《哈利?波特》系列小说中，魁地奇是一种骑飞天扫帚比赛的魔法运动，比赛中会用到游走球、鬼飞球和金色飞贼——一种长翅膀的小球。In the real world, Quidditch is a non-magical sport played on broomsticks, and involves bludgers, quaffles and a golden snitch - a person in a yellow t-shirt with a Velcro tail attached to their shorts.在现实世界中，魁地奇是一种骑着扫帚的非魔法运动，也有游走球、鬼飞球和金色飞贼，这里的金色飞贼是一个穿着黄色T恤、短裤上用魔术贴粘着一个尾巴的人。It started in the US around 2005 and has become a global sport with its own governing body. The Quidditch World Cup takes place annually and was won last year by Australia.魁地奇运动于2005年左右发源于美国，如今它已经成为了一项全球性运动，还有自己的管理机构。每年都会举行魁地奇世界杯比赛，去年由澳大利亚赢得冠军。Until recently, the eight Harry Potter films were the largest-grossing film franchise in history, having brought in a whopping $7.7bn worldwide.八部《哈利?波特》电影全球票房高达77亿美元（约合人民币527亿元），目前是史上最卖座的系列电影。The first Harry Potter film - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - was released in November 2001.第一部《哈利?波特与魔法石》于2001年11月上映。As well as breaking box office records faster than a trip on the Knight Bus, it also introduced the young Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint to the world.这部电影不仅以“骑士公交车”也比不上的速度打破了票房纪录，还让全世界认识了年轻的丹尼尔?雷德克里夫、艾玛?沃森和鲁伯特?格林特。The final film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011) is the highest grossing of all the Potter films at $1.34bn. It's the eighth-highest grossing film of all time.最后一部《哈利?波特与死亡圣器2》（2011年）票房为13.4亿美元（约合人民币92亿元），是该系列电影票房收入最高的一部，也是史上票房收入排名第八的电影。The franchise - now known as JK Rowling's Wizarding World - has continued with the spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016).该系列现在被称为JK?罗琳的魔法世界，已继续推出衍生作品《神奇动物在哪里》（2016）。And there's plenty more to come. Rowling has said she has planned scripts for a total of five Fantastic Beasts films.未来还会推出更多作品。罗琳称，她已经计划为《神奇动物》电影撰写共5集剧本。Harry Potter and the Cursed Child opened in London in 2016 to the same kind of Pottermania that surrounded the release of the books and films.与书籍和电影发行时一样，《哈利?波特和被诅咒的孩子》2016年在伦敦开演时也掀起了“哈迷热”。Some 1,500 fans at the very first performance, many dressed as witches and wizards, gasped at the various plot revelations and stage illusions.首映演出时约有1500名粉丝，其中许多人打扮成巫师的样子，他们被剧中各种出人意料的情节和舞台幻术震惊了。The two-part play begins with Harry, Ron and Hermione in their mid-30s as their own children head off to Hogwarts school.这部舞台剧分为上下部，剧中哈利、罗恩和赫敏已经三十几岁，他们的孩子要去霍格沃茨魔法学校。The play won a record-breaking nine prizes at this year's Olivier Awards.在今年的奥利维尔奖中，《哈利?波特和被诅咒的孩子》打破纪录拿下九项大奖。Cursed Child will be opening on Broadway in New York in 2018 and JK Rowling has said she would like it to be seen widely around the world.该剧将于2018年在纽约百老汇上演，JK?罗琳称，她希望世界各地更多人能观看到这部剧。Millions of people reaching young adulthood have never known a world without Harry Potter.数百万人少年时期都看过《哈利?波特》。Many who've grown up with the books can now get regular doses of JK Rowling via social media - she's got an army of almost 11m followers.这套书籍伴随许多人一同成长，现在他们通过社交媒体继续阅读JK?罗琳的文字。罗琳已经拥有近1100万粉丝。When Donald Trump was compared with Lord Voldemort last year, Rowling tweeted: "How horrible. Voldemort was nowhere near as bad."去年特朗普被比作伏地魔时，罗琳在推特上写道：“多么恐怖啊，伏地魔远不及他邪恶。”She later mocked Twitter users who threatened to burn her books.随后有推特网友威胁要烧毁她的书，罗琳还讽刺了这些人。Twenty years on from that first book, it looks like no-one's going to be saying "Avada Kedavra" to Harry Potter anytime soon.从第一部《哈利?波特》开始，已经过去二十年，短期内好像没有人要和他永别。（译者注：Avada Kedavra为阿瓦达索命咒）