Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself -- no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.
The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.
It winked.
Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.
The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:
"I get that all the time.
"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."
The snake nodded vigorously.
"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.
The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.
Boa Constrictor, Brazil.
"Was it nice there?"
The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see -- so you've never been to Brazil?"
As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump.
"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"
Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.
"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened -- one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.
Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.
As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come.... Thanksss, amigo."
The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.
"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"
The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"
Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go -- cupboard -- stay -- no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.
哈利一邊在這些大玻璃窗前走著,一邊聚精會神地盯著蛇看。
他覺得說這些蛇是悶死的話都沒有什么可奇怪的——整天一個伴兒都沒有,卻不停地有無聊的人不厭其煩地用手指敲著玻璃。這甚至比睡在柜子里還要糟糕——睡在柜子里最多只會有帕尤妮亞姨媽過來敲門把你吵醒。
這時那只蛇突然睜開了它的眼睛。并且慢慢地,非常緩慢地把頭抬到它的眼睛正好可以直視哈利的位置便停了下來。
它朝哈利使了一下眼色。
哈利愣住了。然后他趕緊轉(zhuǎn)過身去看有沒有人在注意他。還好沒有。于是他也朝那只蛇使了下眼色。
那只蛇把頭指向維能姨文和達(dá)德里的方向,然后眼睛朝向天花板望了望。哈利馬上明白了其中的意思:"曖,我總是遭到人們這樣的對待。""我知道。"哈利透過玻璃小聲地說,雖然他并不能肯定那蛇能不能聽見他說話。"一定很討厭吧。"那只蛇重重地點了一下頭。
"你到底從哪里來的?"哈利問道。
那蛇用尾巴戳了一下玻璃旁邊的一塊小標(biāo)簽。哈利馬上貼過去看。
"巴西莽蛇"
"巴西這地方怎么樣?"
那只蛇又用尾巴指了一下那塊標(biāo)簽,哈利才發(fā)現(xiàn)后面還有字——此動物是在動物園里培育的。"哦,我明白了,原來你從來沒有去過巴西?"那蛇搖了搖頭。正在這時一陣恐怖的叫聲嚇得哈利一跳:"達(dá)德里!
"滾開,小子。"達(dá)德里一邊說一邊一拳打在哈利的肋骨上。哈利在毫無防備的情況下重重的摔在水泥地上。接下來發(fā)生的事來得太突然以至于沒有人看清楚了它是如何發(fā)生的——前一秒鐘,皮爾斯和達(dá)德里還緊緊地趴在玻璃上;后一秒鐘,他們就大呼小叫地拼命地往后跑。
哈利爬起來,被眼前的情景驚呆了。擋住那條巴西蛇的玻璃窗轉(zhuǎn)眼間消失了。
那只巨大的蛇正迅速地舒展開身體,爬到了地上——整個爬蟲館內(nèi)的人群尖叫著往出口處飛奔。
當(dāng)那條蛇緩緩地滑過哈利腳邊時,哈利聽到一個低低的,嘶嘶的聲音說:"我從巴西來的,謝謝你親愛的。"爬蟲館的管理員頓時嚇呆了。
"那塊玻璃。"他喃喃自語,"那塊玻璃哪里去了?"動物園園長親自給帕尤妮亞姨媽送來一杯濃茶,并且一遍又一遍地賠禮道歉。
皮爾斯和達(dá)德里說話都給巴了。其實就哈利看來,那條蛇除了戲弄他從他們腳邊爬了過去以外,其它什么也沒做。不過那時已經(jīng)是在維能姨丈的車?yán)锪?。達(dá)德里哭訴道那條蛇幾乎咬下了他的腿,而皮爾斯則說那蛇想纏住他使他憋氣而死。最糟糕的是,皮爾斯居然冷靜下來,并且問哈利:"你當(dāng)時跟蛇說了話,是吧,哈利?"維能姨丈等到皮爾斯安全地離開后才開始對哈利發(fā)火。他氣得連話都快說不出來了。他因為說了幾個單詞:"去——柜子里——呆著——沒有飯吃。"接著,他便癱倒在沙發(fā)里了,帕尤妮亞姨媽趕緊跑去給他倒了一大杯白蘭地。