騎士墜鬼馬 Thestrals
Manifesting as black, skeletal, bat-winged horses, but invisible to all who have never been truly touched by death, Thestrals have a somewhat macabre reputation. In centuries past the sight of them was regarded as unlucky; they have been hunted and ill treated for many years, their true nature (which is kindly and gentle) being widely misunderstood. Thestrals are not marks of ill omen, nor (their spooky appearance notwithstanding) are they in any way threatening to humans, always allowing for the fright that the first sight of them tends to give the observer.
騎士墜鬼馬的外型漆黑、骨瘦如柴、長著蝙蝠般的翅膀，有著與死亡有關的可怕名聲，因為只有曾見證死亡的人才看得見牠們。好幾世紀以來，看到騎士墜鬼馬都被視為是不吉利的，因而牠們有多年都遭到獵捕和不當對待，牠們的本性（溫暖又溫和）被嚴重地誤解。騎士墜鬼馬不僅不是惡兆，對人類也完全不構成威脅（雖然外表恐怖），而且總能體諒人們第一眼看見牠們時的驚嚇。
Being able to see Thestrals is a sign that the beholder has witnessed death, and gained an emotional understanding of what death means. It is unsurprising that it took a long time for their significance to be properly understood, because the precise moment when such knowledge dawns varies greatly from person to person. Harry Potter was unable to see Thestrals for years after his mother was killed in front of him, because he was barely out of babyhood when the murder happened, and he had been unable to comprehend his own loss. Even after the death of Cedric Diggory, weeks elapsed before the full import of death’s finality was borne upon him. Only at this point did the Thestrals that pull the carriages from Hogsmeade Station to Hogwarts castle become visible to him. On the other hand, Luna Lovegood, who lost her own mother when she was young, saw Thestrals very soon afterwards because she is intuitive, spiritual and unafraid of the afterlife.
能夠看見騎士墜鬼馬代表曾見過死亡，並從中在情緒上明白死亡的意涵。不意外地，因為領悟的那個精確瞬間因人而異，牠們的重要性很晚才被真正理解。哈利波特看著他的母親在眼前被殺死卻仍有多年無法看見騎士墜鬼馬，這是因為當時他才剛脫離嬰兒時期，而他一直無法理解他失去了什麼。即使是西追．迪哥里的離開，他也是數週後才完全理解死亡所代表的終結。直到那時，他才看到拉著馬車從活米村到霍格華茲城堡的騎士墜鬼馬。相反地，露娜．羅古德雖然也在小時候便失去了母親卻很快就能看見騎士墜鬼馬，全是因為她的直覺、靈性，並且不懼來世。
While somewhat intimidating in appearance, these carnivorous horses are emblematic of a journey to another dimension, and reward all who trust them with faithfulness and obedience. Thestrals are native to the British Isles and Ireland, though they have been spotted in parts of France and the Iberian Peninsula; they seem to have an association with wizards who descend from the horse-loving Celtic peoples. Other parts of the world have their own equivalent to Thestrals.
儘管外型些許讓人膽怯，這些肉食性的馬兒象徵著另一個維度的旅程，並且會對相信牠們的人忠誠和順從。騎士墜鬼馬源於不列顛群島和愛爾蘭，雖然曾有人在法國某些地方和伊比利亞半島看過牠們。牠們似乎跟那些喜愛馬的凱爾特族後代的巫師有所關聯。世界上其他地方也有它們相等的騎士墜鬼馬。
原文港口鑰：https://www.wizardingworld.com/writing-by-jk-rowling/thestrals
一直以來都很喜歡騎士墜鬼馬（不知何故XD），所以當初就想要翻譯這篇了，結果遭到麻生衝擊，一拖就幾百年（不是#）
有沒有誰也很被這個魔法生物吸引的呢？🙋♀️
滿好奇在世界上其他地方的騎士墜鬼馬是不是也長得一副恐怖的樣子、牠們叫什麼名字，又或者當地人是不是也同樣避之唯恐不及。也許在較能接受死亡國家或文化下（墨西哥？），這種生物會有完全不同的命運呢？
