One of the greatest formative experiences of my life preceded Harry Potter, though it informed much of what I subsequently wrote in those books. This revelation came in the form of one of my earliest day jobs. Though I was sloping off to write storeies during my lunch hours, I paid the rent in my early 20s by working in the research department at Amnesty International's headquarters in London.
想象力使我随后写书有了很多的想法，但对我影响最深远的经历发生在写《哈利·波特》之前。这种影响源于我早期的工作经历。在刚二十几岁的时候，为了付房租，我在伦敦大赦国际总部的调查部门工作，但我可以在午餐时间偷偷溜出去写小说。
There in my little office I read bastily scribbled letters smuggled out of totalitarian regimes by men and women who were risking imprisonment to inform the outside world of what was happening to them. I saw photographs of those who had disappeared without trace, sent to Amnesty by their desperate families and friends. I read the testimony of torture victims and saw pictures of their injuries. I opened handwritten, eye-witness accounts of summary trials and executions, of kidnappings and rapes.
在那狭小的办公室里，我看着从集权主义政体偷运出来的信件。写这些信件的人，为了让外界知道他们那里所发生的事情冒着被监禁的危险，用潦草的字迹匆匆写下他们的遭遇，然后再将信件寄给我们。我看过那些由绝望的家人和朋友寄来的无迹可寻的人的照片。我读过被严刑拷打的受害者的证词并看了他们遍体鳞伤的图片。我打开过目击者的手记，描述了对于绑架和强奸案的审判和处决。
Many of my co-workers were ex-political prisoners, people who had been displaced from their homes, or fled into exile, because they had the temerity to speak against their government. Visitors to our office included those who had come to give information, or to try and find out what had happened to those who they had left behind.
我的很多同事以前都是政治犯，因为他们敢于批判政府，所以被赶出家门，或被放逐海外。来我们办公室的访客，包括那些前来提供信息的，或想方设法知道那些留下的同志发生了什么事的人。
I shall never forget the African torture victim, a young man no older than I was at the time, who had become mentally ill after all he had endured in his homeland. He trembled uncontrollably as he spoke into a video camera about the brutality inflicted upon him. He was a foot taller than I was, and seemed as fragile as a child. I was given the job of escorting him back to the underground station afterwards, and this man whose life had been shattered by cruelty took my hand with exquisite courtesy, and wished me future happiness.
我永远不会忘记那个非籍酷刑受害者，一个当时还没我大的年轻男子，他因在故乡的经历而精神错乱。在摄像机前讲述被残暴地摧残的经历时，他的身体止不住地颤抖。他比我高一英尺，但看上去却像个孩子一样脆弱。随后我遵照组织的安排护送他到地铁站时，这名人生已遭到残酷摧毁的男子彬彬有礼地握着我的手，祝我未来幸福。
