He was an unknown 23-year-old working at a Cambridge bookstore when Thomas Taylor got a commission for the cover of a children's book. The author JK Rowling was as little known as he was. 

在接到委托为一本儿童书籍绘制封面画前，23 岁的托马斯·泰勒只是剑桥一家书店里名不见经传的店员。书的作者 J·K·罗琳和他同样鲜为人知。 

As the illustrator, Mr Taylor read the manuscript, so he was one of the first people to get a glimpse of the world of Harry Potter and Hogwarts, where the world is magic and the rest are just muggles. It was up to him to visualise the young boy with round glasses and a lightning bolt scar. 

作为插画师，泰勒先生是第一批阅读了书籍原稿的人，得以率先看到哈利·波特与霍格沃茨魔法学校这个区分了魔法与 “麻瓜（不会使用魔法的人）” 的世界。用自己的画笔呈现出那个戴圆框眼镜、有闪电形伤疤的年轻男孩成为了他的责任。 

That watercolour has fetched 1.9 million dollars at a New York auction. 

这幅水彩画在纽约市举行的一场拍卖会上以 190 万美元的价格成交。

词汇表

commission 委托
cover 封面
illustrator 插画师
manuscript 原稿
glimpse 看到
muggles 麻瓜，不会魔法的人
visualise 呈现出
watercolour 水彩画
fetched 以…价格成交/卖出
auction 拍卖会