当了爸爸的哈利·波特 能教我们育儿魔法吗

Our family is just home from the bookstore, with multiple copies of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” in hand, gamely reading in a new format — the book is the script of the play by the same name, and thus a different reading experience from the seven novels that came before it.

我们一家人刚从书店回到家， 带回好几本《哈利•波特与被诅咒的孩子》(Harry Potter and the Cursed Child)。大伙儿聚精会神读着这本新体裁的书：它是同名舞台剧的剧本，所以阅读体验和前七集小说不一样。

There will be no spoilers here, but the very title makes clear that “The Cursed Child” is a story about parents and children in a way that the original series never was. Harry Potter is a father now, and one question this book will answer is how the Boy Who Lived — when his parents didn’t — handles that role.

本文不含剧透，不过标题已经很清楚，《被诅咒的孩子》是一个关于亲子关系的故事，和原系列作品完全不同。哈利•波特现在当爸爸了，而本书要回答的问题是，这个父母双亡的“活下来的男孩”将如何扮演这个角色。

As an orphan, Harry himself could operate free of the burden a parent’s fears, love and expectation can place on a person. Now, as a parent, he has to confront it.

孤儿哈利自己不必承受父母的担忧、慈爱和期望加给一个孩子的那种负担。如今他身为人父，得要面对这些问题了。

For readers who started reading these books when the first one came out nearly 20 years ago and grew up with Harry and friends, the scenes that reveal the characters as adults are the ones we’ve been waiting for. Though the story has serious themes, the sheer fun of returning to the familiar magical world is a delight.

有些读者在20年前第一集小说出版时就开始追这个系列，和哈利还有他的朋友们一同成长。对这些读者来说，呈现人物长大成人后的故事场景，是我们一直期待的。虽然本书主题颇为严肃，但是能够重返我们熟悉的魔法世界，那种单纯的喜悦还是很令人享受。

And there are certainly moments when real-life parents can fantasize about the possibility of a magical assist. Imagine being able to use a spell like “Accio Binky!” to return a dropped pacifier to the sleeping baby, or “Expelliarmus Mobilio!” to expel a mobile phone right out of a teenager’s hand.

现实世界中的父母也一定曾在某些时刻幻想过让魔法来相助。要是我们能够使用像是“奶嘴飞来！”的咒语，让掉落的奶嘴回到熟睡的宝宝口中，或是“除你手机！”，让手机从青少年手中飞走，那该有多好。

Molly Brennan, a mother of two attending a book release party on Saturday night at Watchung Booksellers in Montclair, N.J., suggested a spell called Behavioramus. “I would dodge it,” said her son, Logan Brown, 9. “I like my behavior how it is.”

莫莉•布伦南(Molly Brennan)是两个孩子的妈，在周六晚间参加了新泽西州蒙特克莱尔(Montclair)的沃昌书店(Watchung Booksellers)的新书发布会。她提出一个叫做“表现好点儿！(Behavioramus)”的咒语。 “我会躲过这个咒语，”布伦南9岁的儿子洛根•布朗(Logan Brown)说。 “我觉得我的表现很好啊。”

Becky Middleton of Glen Ridge, N.J., who has four children ages 6, 9, 9 and 11, said her spell of choice would be volume control. Rob Fechner of Montclair, the father of two boys ages 7 and 10, asked for a spell “to pause time so I could get stuff done and take a nap.”

新泽西州峰岭区(Glen Ridge)的贝琪•米德尔顿(Becky Middleton)有四个孩子，一个6岁、两个9岁，最大的11岁。她说她想选的是能控制音量的咒语。蒙特克莱尔的罗伯•费区纳(Rob Fechner)有7岁和10岁的两个儿子，他想要的是“可以暂停时间，好让我把事情做完，还能打个盹”的咒语。

It’s giving nothing away to say that none of those abilities seem likely to make raising children any simpler for Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Ron. As Julia Miner, a mother of three who lives outside Washington, D.C., said Sunday, when she was up to page 70 of “The Cursed Child,” parenting teenagers has challenges no matter who you are. Magic has never helped much with relationships in the Harry Potter universe, and the fact that wizards face some of the same bitter limits that Muggles do has always been a part of the series’ appeal.

哈利、金妮、赫敏、罗恩拥有这些魔法，可是抚养孩子这件事恐怕不会因此变得简单——这么说应该不算剧透。正如三个孩子的母亲茱莉娅•麦纳(Julia Miner)周日所说的：无论你是谁，孩子到了十几岁，做父母的都不容易。她住在华盛顿特区郊外，这本书读到了第70页。在哈利•波特的世界里，魔法从没给人际关系帮上多大的忙。巫师也要面对和麻瓜一样的各种艰难的局限，这也正是这个系列故事吸引人的一部分原因。

But for many parents and children in this universe, the books are conversation–starters that help connect us, engaging us in the same world. Now our conversations can go further.

然而，对我们这个世界里的许多家长和孩子来说，这些书能够开启对话，让我们彼此连结，建立在同一个世界里的交流。现在，我们的对话可以更深入了。