Can Harry Potter wave his magic wand and revive a dead language? Publishers of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, who plan to translate the adventures of the schoolboy wizardsintosLatin and ancient Greek, think it might help, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported. Author J.K. Rowling and her publishers Bloomsbury hope the translations will help children overcome the dread of studying the two ancient languages, the newspaper said."We aren't under any illusions that the Latin and Greek will be best-sellers but we think that it will mean much more fun lessons for anyone studying Latin and Greek," said Emma Matthewson, Rowling's editor at Bloomsbury. Peter Needham, who taught Latin and Greek at top boys school Eton College, was translating the first of Rowling's books, "This is going to be a wonderful thing for children. It has got very witty dialogue..." He was quoted as saying. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is not the first children's book to be translatedsintosLatin. Paddington Bear, Alice in Wonderland and Winnie the Pooh have all had the Latin treatment, the newspaper said.

　　哈里·波特的魔杖能让已死的语言起死回生吗？《哈里·波特与魔法石》的出版商认为这有可能。据《每日电讯报》报道，他们打算把这个魔法学生的冒险故事译成拉丁文和古希腊文。报纸说，该书作者J.K.罗琳和她的出版商布卢姆斯伯里出版社希望译本能帮助孩子们战胜对学习这两种古代语言的恐惧。布卢姆斯伯里出版社罗琳的编辑爱玛·马修森说：“我们不指望拉丁版和希腊文版能成为畅销书，不过我们相信它们能让拉丁文和希腊文学习者学起来更有乐趣。”顶尖男校伊顿公学的拉丁及希腊文教师彼得·尼德海姆正在翻译罗琳《哈里·波特》系列小说的第一部(即《哈里·波特与魔法石》——编者注)。报纸援引他的话说：“它将成为孩子们的心爱之物，其中有非常诙谐机智的对白……。”报纸还说，《哈里·波特与魔法石》并不是第一本被译成拉丁文的儿童书籍，《帕丁顿熊》、《爱丽丝漫游奇境记》和《维尼小熊》都有拉丁文译本。

　　Remarks：很不错的想法，我们可以试试把《还珠格格》剧本弄成文言文以便在青少年中普及古典文化。