第八节 新闻报道让德思礼先生更加不安

 

Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!"). Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:
"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin.
　　"Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"
　　"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early -- it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."
　　Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain?
　　Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place?
And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters...
　　德思礼太太这一天过得很好，一切正常。晚饭桌上，德思礼太太向他讲述了邻居家的母女矛盾，还说达力又学会一个新词（“绝不”），德思礼先生也尽量表现得正常。安顿达力 睡下之后，他来到起居室，听到晚间新闻的最后一段报道：
　　“最后，据各地鸟类观察者反映，今天全国猫头鹰表现反常。通常情况下，它们都是在夜间捕食，白天很少露面，可是今天，日出时猫头鹰就四处纷飞。专家们也无法解释猫头鹰为什么改变了它们的睡眠习惯。”新闻播音员说到这里，咧嘴一笑。“真是太奇妙了。现在 我把话筒交给吉姆?麦古，问问他天气情况如何。吉姆，今天夜里还会下猫头鹰雨吗？”
　　“噢，泰德，”气象播音员说，“这我可不知道，今天不仅猫头鹰表现反常。全国各地远至肯特郡、约克郡、丹地肯特郡在英格兰南部。约克郡在英格兰北部。丹地是英格兰北部海港。等地的目击者都纷纷打来电话说，我们原来预报昨天有雨，结果下的不是雨而是流星！也许人们把本该一星期后举行的庆祝篝火之夜指每年11月5日在英国举行的庆祝篝火之夜活动。晚会提前举行了，朋友们！不过我向你们保证，今晚一定有雨。”
　　德思礼先生坐在扶手椅里惊呆了。英国普遍下流星雨？猫头鹰光天化日之下四处纷飞？到处都是披着斗篷的怪人？还有一些传闻，关于波特一家的传闻……