Over Hill and Under Hill 越过山岭钻进山内

OVER HILL AND UNDER HILL

越过山岭钻进山

There were many paths that led up into those mountains, and many passes over them. But most of the paths were cheats and deceptions and led nowhere or to bad ends; and most of the passes were infested by evil things and dreadful dangers. The dwarves and the hobbit, helped by the wise advice of Elrond and the knowledge and memory of Gandalf, took the right road to the right pass.

通往山里的路有许多条,越过山岭的隘口也有许多个,但大多数的道路都只是骗人的假象,带着人在山里转圈子,或者通向死路。而大多数的隘口则有邪恶的东西出没,或是埋伏着可怕的危险。矮人和霍比特人一来有埃尔隆德睿智的建议,二来有甘道夫的知识与记忆,因此他们踏上的是正确的道路,这些道路把他们带到了正确的隘口。

Long days after they had climbed out of the valley and left the Last Homely House miles behind, they were still going up and up and up. It was a hard path and a dangerous path, a crooked way and a lonely and a long. Now they could look back over the lands they had left, laid out behind them far below. Far, far away in the West, where things were blue and faint, Bilbo knew there lay his own country of safe and comfortable things, and his little hobbit-hole. He shivered. It was getting bitter cold up here, and the wind came shrill among the rocks. Boulders, too, at times came galloping down the mountain-sides, let loose by mid-day sun upon the snow, and passed among them (which was lucky), or over their heads (which was alarming). The nights were comfortless and chill, and they did not dare to sing or talk too loud, for the echoes were uncanny, and the silence seemed to dislike being broken—except by the noise of water and the wail of wind and the crack of stone.

在他们爬出了山谷好多天,把最后家园甩在身后好多哩路之后,他们依然在不停地往上走。这是一条艰难而又危险的路,也是一条蜿蜒的路、孤独的路和漫长的路。此时,他们回头就能看见已经离开的那片土地,它们静静地躺在身后很下面的地方。在西面很远很远的地方,所有东西呈现出一片淡淡的蓝,比尔博知道那里是他一切都那么安全、舒适的故乡,那里有他小小的霍比特人洞府。这里的寒气已经越来越凛冽了,劲风在岩石间呼啸而过。有时候,正午的烈会晒融山顶的积雪,让山上的大石松动,然后顺着山坡急滚而下。这些石头有时会从他们之间穿过(这算是很幸运的),有时则会从他们头上飞过(这就叫人心惊胆寒)。夜晚则寒风刺骨,叫人苦不堪言,而他们也不敢唱歌或是大声说话,因为回声是危险的,山中的宁静似乎不喜欢被打破——能够例外的只有水流声、凄厉的风啸和岩石断裂的声音。

“The summer is getting on down below,” thought Bilbo, “and haymaking is going on and picnics. They will be harvesting and blackberrying, before we even begin to go down the other side at this rate.” And the others were thinking equally gloomy thoughts, although when they had said good-bye to Elrond in the high hope of a midsummer morning, they had spoken gaily of the passage of the mountains, and of riding swift across the lands beyond. They had thought of coming to the secret door in the Lonely Mountain, perhaps that very next last moon of Autumn—“and perhaps it will be Durin’s Day” they had said. Only Gandalf had shaken his head and said nothing. Dwarves had not passed that way for many years, but Gandalf had, and he knew how evil and danger had grown and thriven in the Wild, since the dragons had driven men from the lands, and the goblins had spread in secret after the battle of the Mines of Moria. Even the good plans of wise wizards like Gandalf and of good friends like Elrond go astray sometimes when you are off on dangerous adventures over the Edge of the Wild; and Gandalf was a wise enough wizard to know it.

“山下面一定还是夏天呢。”比尔博想,“大家一定在忙着晒稻草,出去野餐什么的。照这个速度看来,还没等我们开始从山那边下去,他们都已经在收庄稼、摘黑莓了。”其他人的想法也和比尔博同样郁,尽管他们在夏至当天,曾满怀期望地和埃尔隆德道别,当时他们以愉快的心情谈论着怎样穿过山脉,然后在山那边的大地上放马驰骋。他们已经想到了怎样来到孤山密门之前,或许那时刚好就是下一次同样的秋月之夜。“或许还刚好是都林之日呢。”他们说。只有甘道夫摇了摇脑袋,什么也没说。矮人们已经有很多年没有走过这条道路了,但甘道夫走过,他知道在这片荒野之中,自从恶龙将人类从这片土地上赶走,半兽人又在墨瑞亚矿坑之战后秘密扩张,自那时起,这里有多少邪恶与危险在滋生着。只要你是前往荒野边缘去进行危险的冒险,那么即便是甘道夫这样睿智的巫师和埃尔隆德这样的好朋友制订的周全计划,照样会有可能出问题。甘道夫作为一个睿智的巫师,自然很清楚这一点。

He knew that something unexpected might happen, and he hardly dared to hope that they would pass without fearful adventure over those great tall mountains with lonely peaks and valleys where no king ruled. They did not. All was well, until one day they met a thunderstorm—more than a thunderstorm, a thunder-battle. You know how terrific a really big thunderstorm can be down in the land and in a river-valley; especially at times when two great thunderstorms meet and clash. More terrible still are thunder and lightning in the mountains at night, when storms come up from East and West and make war. The lightning splinters on the peaks, and rocks shiver, and great crashes split the air and go rolling and tumbling into every cave and hollow; and the darkness is filled with overwhelming noise and sudden light.

他知道总会有意料之外的事情发生,那些顶峰与谷地都显得那么孤单的巍巍高山,是没有国王来统治的地方,要越过那样的高山,他几乎不敢奢望一路上会连一点可怕的冒险都不碰上。他们的确碰上了。刚开始一切都还顺利,直到有一天,他们遇到了一场大雷雨——事实上,不仅仅是一场大雷雨,简直就是一场雷暴。你也知道在平原上或是河谷中,一场真正的大雷雨会有多么可怕,尤其是两场大雷雨冲撞到了一块儿的时候。比这还要可怕的雷与电在山区的夜里同肆虐,再加上从东方和西方赶来,构成一场混战。闪电劈在山巅,岩石也为之战栗,声声巨响划破空气,隆隆地滚进所有的岩与山洞,黑暗中充斥着压倒一切的噪音和突如其来的刺眼光芒。

Bilbo had never seen or imagined anything of the kind. They were high up in a narrow place, with a dreadful fall into a dim valley at one side of them. There they were sheltering under a hanging rock for the night, and he lay beneath a blanket and shook from head to toe. When he peeped out in the lightning-flashes, he saw that across the valley the stone-giants were out, and were hurling rocks at one another for a game, and catching them, and tossing them down into the darkness where they smashed among the trees far below, or splintered into little bits with a bang. Then came a wind and a rain, and the wind whipped the rain and the hail about in every direction, so that an overhanging rock was no protection at all. Soon they were getting drenched and their ponies were standing with their heads down and their tails between their legs, and some of them were whinnying with fright. They could hear the giants guffawing and shouting all over the mountainsides.

比尔博这辈子从来没有看到过或者想到过还会有这样的景象。他们被困在一片狭窄的高处,一边是陡直的峭壁,下面是黑暗的山谷。他们躲在—块凸伸出来的岩石下面过夜,比尔博盖了条毯子,从头到脚一直都在抖个不停。当他借着闪电朝外看去时,发现山谷对面的岩石巨人跑了出来,相互用大石头扔来扔去当游戏在玩,还抓起石头往山下的黑暗里扔,那些石头要么把下面的树木砸得东倒西歪,要么嘭的一声碎成许多小块。这时来了一风雨,风把雨水和冰雹朝四面八方打着,如此一来,凸出的岩石就连一点防护作用都起不到了。只一会儿工夫他们就被淋成了落汤鸡,小马们也垂头聋脑地站在那里,尾巴紧紧夹在后之间,有几匹还害怕得哀嚎了起来。他们听见山坡上到处是巨人们的狂笑声和尖声。

“This won’t do at all!” said Thorin. “If we don’t get blown off, or drowned, or struck by lightning, we shall be picked up by some giant and kicked sky-high for a football.”

“这样下去可不是个办法!”索林说,“就算我们不被吹走、淹死或是遭雷劈,我们也会被哪个巨人抓到,当成足球给踢上天。”

“Well, if you know of anywhere better, take us there!” said Gandalf, who was feeling very grumpy, and was far from happy about the giants himself.

“行啊,你要是知道有什么更好的地方,就赶紧带我们去吧!”甘道夫憋了一肚子的火,他其实也对那些巨人的行为很看不入眼。

The end of their argument was that they sent Fili and Kili to look for a better shelter. They had very sharp eyes, and being the youngest of the dwarves by some fifty years they usually got these sort of jobs (when everybody could see that it was absolutely no use sending Bilbo). There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something (or so Thorin said to the young dwarves). You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after. So it proved on this occasion.

吵到最后的结果是派菲力和奇力出去寻找更好的躲避处。他们俩都拥有非常锐利的眼睛,加之他们比其他矮人小了五十岁左右,是矮人中最年轻的两个,所以像这样的活儿通常都派给他们(大家都看得出来,要是派比尔博去绝对是白搭)。如果你是想要找某样东西(索林就是这么跟这两个年轻的矮人说的),学会怎么用眼睛看是最重要的。像平常那样随便看看当然也能找到东西,但其实找到的并不总是你真正要找的东西。这次的情形便证明了果然如此。

Soon Fili and Kili came crawling back, holding on to the rocks in the wind. “We have found a dry cave,” they said, “not far round the next corner; and ponies and all could get inside.”

很快,菲力和奇力就在风中紧紧抓着岩石,几乎是爬着回来了。“我们找到了一个干的洞,”他们汇报道,“就在转个弯过去不远的地方,小马和所有的东西也都能挤得进去。”

“Have you thoroughly explored it?” said the wizard, who knew that caves up in the mountains were seldom unoccupied.

“你们有没有彻底地检查过那个洞?”巫师很清楚在大山里很少会有没被占据的山洞,所以会有这样一问。

“Yes, yes!” they said, though everybody knew they could not have been long about it; they had come back too quick. “It isn’t all that big, and it does not go far back.”

“检查过了,检查过了!”话虽是这样说的,可其实大家都知道,就算检查也没花多少时间,因为他们没去多久就回来了,“其实那个洞也没那么大,没走多久就到头了。”

That, of course, is the dangerous part about caves: you don’t know how far they go back, sometimes, or where a passage behind may lead to, or what is waiting for you inside. But now Fili and Kili’s news seemed good enough. So they all got up and prepared to move. The wind was howling and the thunder still growling, and they had a business getting themselves and their ponies along. Still it was not very far to go, and before long they came to a big rock standing out into the path. If you stepped behind, you found a low arch in the side of the mountain. There was just room to get the ponies through with a squeeze, when they had been unpacked and unsaddled. As they passed under the arch, it was good to hear the wind and the rain outside instead of all about them, and to feel safe from the giants and their rocks. But the wizard was taking no risks. He lit up his wand—as he did that day in Bilbo’s dining-room that seemed so long ago, if you remember—, and by its light they explored the cave from end to end.

这说的当然就是洞的最危险之处:有时候你不知道它们有多深,或是背后的某条通路又会连向何处,里面又有什么样的东西在等着你。但现在菲力和奇力带回来的消息似乎已经不错了。于是大家全都站起身来,准备动身。狂风依旧在凄号,闪电依然在咆哮,牵着小马赶路不是件容易事。可即便如此,路还是感觉近了点,没走多久,就来到了有一大块岩石突出在山道上的地方。如果绕到大石后面,就可以看到山壁上有个不高的拱门,大小刚够小马卸下行李和马鞍后挤进去的。走进拱门之后,风雨声被隔在了外面,这要比四面八方都能听到要感觉好多了,而且感觉巨人和他们扔的石头也威胁不到他们了。不过,巫师不想冒任何风险。他点亮了魔杖(如果你们还记得,不久前,他在比尔博家的饭厅里也这样做过,虽然那给人的感觉已经是很久以前了),借着魔杖的光芒把洞从头到尾检查了一遍。

It seemed quite a fair size, but not too large and mysterious. It had a dry floor and some comfortable nooks. At one end there was room for the ponies; and there they stood (mighty glad of the change) steaming, and champing in their nosebags. Oin and Gloin wanted to light a fire at the door to dry their clothes, but Gandalf would not hear of it. So they spread out their wet things on the floor, and got dry ones out of their bundles; then they made their blankets comfortable, got out their pipes and blew smoke rings, which Gandalf turned into different colours and set dancing up by the roof to amuse them. They talked and talked, and forgot about the storm, and discussed what each would do with his share of the treasure (when they got it, which at the moment did not seem so impossible); and so they dropped off to sleep one by one. And that was the last time that they used the ponies, packages, baggages, tools and paraphernalia that they had brought with them.

山洞的空间不算小,但也没有大到让人觉得神秘莫测,地面干燥,几个角落看上去挺舒服的。在洞的一端有可以容纳小马的空间,它们就乖朮地站在那里散着身上的水汽(心里很高兴有这样的变化),一边嚼着嘴巴前挂着的牧草袋。欧因和格罗因想在洞口生一堆火来烤干衣服,但甘道夫根本不同意,因此他们只好把湿了的衣物在地上摊开,从行李里面拿出干衣服来换上。然后,他们舒舒服服地盖上毯子,拿出烟斗,开始喷起烟圈来。甘道夫把他们喷出来的烟圈变成各种颜,驱策着它们朝洞顶一路舞去,算是给大家逗个乐子。他们聊啊聊的,忘记了外面的风雨,只顾兴奋地讨论要用自己那份宝藏来干些什么(当然得先拿到手,不过在此时看来,可能似乎相当的大)。说着说着,大家就一个接一个地睡着了。而这就是他们最后一次用到他们带来的小马、行李、背包、工具和各种装备。

It turned out a good thing that night that they had brought little Bilbo with them, after all. For, somehow, he could not go to sleep for a long while; and when he did sleep, he had very nasty dreams. He dreamed that a crack in the wall at the back of the cave got bigger and bigger, and opened wider and wider, and he was very afraid but could not call out or do anything but lie and look. Then he dreamed that the floor of the cave was giving way, and he was slipping—beginning to fall down, down, goodness knows where to.

从那天晚上发生的事情看来,他们把小比尔博带来实在是一件好事。因为他不知怎的一直睡不着,而等睡着时他又做起了很可怕的噩梦。他梦见山洞后方的一个裂缝变得越来越大、越来越宽,他心中恐惧万分,却什么也喊不出来,也无法动弹,只能躺在那里看。然后他又梦见地板慢慢不见了,他滑了起来,然后开始跌落、跌落,跌向不知何处。

At that he woke up with a horrible start, and found that part of his dream was true. A crack had opened at the back of the cave, and was already a wide passage. He was just in time to see the last of the ponies’ tails disappearing into it. Of course he gave a very loud yell, as loud a yell as a hobbit can give, which is surprising for their size.

梦到这里,他害怕得惊醒了过来,发现刚才的梦境居然部分成真了。山洞后方已经裂开了一条口子,宽得已经成了一条通道。他正好及时看见最后一匹小马的尾巴消失在其间。他当然发出了一声响亮的叫喊,是一个霍比特人所能喊出最响的声音,以他们的身材来说,这已经很让人吃惊了。

Out jumped the goblins, big goblins, great ugly-looking goblins, lots of goblins, before you could say rocks and blocks. There were six to each dwarf, at least, and two even for Bilbo; and they were all grabbed and carried through the crack, before you could say tinder and flint. But not Gandalf. Bilbo’s yell had done that much good. It had wakened him up wide in a splintered second, and when goblins came to grab him, there was a terrific flash like lightning in the cave, a smell like gunpowder, and several of them fell dead.

还来不及喊出“拿石头堵上”的话,就从裂缝口子中跳出许多半兽人来,高大的半兽人,丑陋无比的半兽人,许许多多的半兽人。每个矮人至少摊上要应付六个半兽人,甚至连比尔博都不得不要对付两个。还来不及喊出“快点燧石”的话,矮人们就被抓住,从裂缝里扛了过去。不过甘道夫是个例外,这就是比尔博那声大喊的好处。甘道夫一眨眼就完全醒了过来,当半兽人冲过去抓他的时候,山洞中出现了一道可怕的闪光,就像是划过了一道闪电,随着一股火的味道,几个半兽人立刻倒地丧了命。

The crack closed with a snap, and Bilbo and the dwarves were on the wrong side of it! Where was Gandalf? Of that neither they nor the goblins had any idea, and the goblins did not wait to find out. They seized Bilbo and the dwarves and hurried them along. It was deep, deep, dark, such as only goblins that have taken to living in the heart of the mountains can see through. The passages there were crossed and tangled in all directions, but the goblins knew their way, as well as you do to the nearest post-office; and the way went down and down, and it was most horribly stuffy. The goblins were very rough, and pinched unmercifully, and chuckled and laughed in their horrible stony voices; and Bilbo was more unhappy even than when the troll had picked him up by his toes. He wished again and again for his nice bright hobbit-hole. Not for the last time.

裂缝啪嗒一声关上了,可是比尔博和矮人却被关在了另一边!甘道夫在哪儿?无论是他们还是半兽人都对此一无所知,而半兽人也不想留在那边寻找答案。他们抓着比尔博和矮人们,赶着他们快步前行。山洞十分的幽深黑暗,只有在大山肚子里住惯了的半兽人才能看得清。山洞里的路径曲里拐弯,错综复杂,但半兽人知道该怎么走,就像你们知道怎么到离家最近的邮局去一样。隧道不停地往下延伸,空气已经闷热得让人受不了了。半兽人们非常粗鲁,毫不留情地掐他们,还用他们如石头摩擦一般刺耳的声音发出咯咯嘎嘎的怪笑。比尔博这次比上回被食人妖抓住脚趾头倒拎着的时候还要难过,他一遍又一遍地在心里祈祷能回到自己可而又明亮的霍比特洞府里。当然,这也依然不会是最后一次。

Now there came a glimmer of a red light before them. The goblins began to sing, or croak, keeping time with the flap of their flat feet on the stone, and shaking their prisoners as well.

现在他们眼前出现了一点红的微光。半兽人开始歌唱,或者更应该说是难听的嘶吼,其节拍正与他们扁平的双脚踏在石头上的脚步吻合,把他们的俘虏震得一抖一抖的。

Clap! Snap! the black crack!

喀啦!啪啦!黑的裂缝!

Grip, grab! Pinch, nab!

抓呀,拉呀!掐呀,逮呀!

And down down to Goblin-town

往下往下直达半兽人的城镇,

You go, my lad!

快走,小子!

Clash, crash! Crush, smash!

叮铃,咚咙!敲呀,砸呀!

Hammer and tongs! Knocker and gongs!

榔头和钳子!大锤和铜锣!

Pound, pound, far underground!

轰隆隆,轰隆隆,在那深深的地下!

Ho, ho! my lad!

呵,呵!小子!

Swish, smack! Whip crack!

呼咻,啪嗒!鞭子打!

Batter and beat! Yammer and bleat!

使劲捶,拼命打!哭啼啼,嗷嗷叫!

Work, work! Nor dare to shirk,

干活,干活!看谁敢偷懒,

While Goblins quaff, and Goblins laugh,

只有半兽人可以痛饮,只有半兽人可以大笑,

Round and round far underground

长路绕啊绕,直往地下跑

Below, my lad!

快下去,小子!

It sounded truly terrifying. The walls echoed to the clap, snap! and the crush, smash! and to the ugly laughter of their ho, ho! my lad! The general meaning of the song was only too plain; for now the goblins took out whips and whipped them with a swish, smack!, and set them running as fast as they could in front of them; and more than one of the dwarves were already yammering and bleating like anything, when they stumbled into a big cavern.

这样的歌听起来真的让人很害怕。在他们唱到喀啦,啪啦!和叮铃,咚咙!还有在呵,呵!小子那句中出现难听的笑声时,山洞的墙壁都随之发出嗡嗡的回声。整首歌的意思实在是太明白不过了,因为半兽人配合着唱歌还掏出了鞭子,在唱到呼咻,啪塔!时就到他们身上,让矮人们在他们身前玩儿命地狂奔。当他们连滚带爬地跑进一个大洞窟的时候,已经有好几个矮人在哭啼啼,嗷嗷叫了。

It was lit by a great red fire in the middle, and by torches along the walls, and it was full of goblins. They all laughed and stamped and clapped their hands, when the dwarves (with poor little Bilbo at the back and nearest to the whips) came running in, while the goblin-drivers whooped and cracked their whips behind. The ponies were already there huddled in a corner; and there were all the baggages and packages lying broken open, and being rummaged by goblins, and smelt by goblins, and fingered by goblins, and quarrelled over by goblins.

洞窟中央点着一大堆火,四周的墙上插着火把,把洞窟照得亮堂堂的,可以看见里面站满了半兽人。当他们看到矮人们跑着进来(可怜的比尔博跑在最后,离鞭子最近),后面是拿着鞭子打、驱赶的半兽人时,全都放声大笑,跺脚拍手,不亦乐乎。小马们先他们一步挤在了一个角落里,所有的行李包袱全都敞开着撂在地上,半兽人们翻来搜去,拿到鼻子前闻闻,用手指拨来拨去,然后你争我夺,吵成一

I am afraid that was the last they ever saw of those excellent little ponies, including a jolly sturdy little white fellow that Elrond had lent to Gandalf, since his horse was not suitable for the mountain-paths. For goblins eat horses and ponies and donkeys (and other much more dreadful things), and they are always hungry. Just now however the prisoners were thinking only of themselves. The goblins chained their hands behind their backs and linked them all together in a line, and dragged them to the far end of the cavern with little Bilbo tugging at the end of the row.

这恐怕是矮人们最后一次看到这些非常出的小马了,这其中包括一匹快活而又结实的小白马,那是埃尔隆德借给甘道夫的,因为他原来那匹不适合走山路。半兽人吃马和驴子(还有其他更恐怖的东西),而且他们总是觉得肚子饿。不过此时此刻这些俘虏们还没空替小马们伤心,他们心里想到的只有自己。半兽人将他们的手绑在背后,把他们连成一串,拖到洞的远端,可怜的比尔博挣扎着走在队伍的最后面。

There in the shadows on a large flat stone sat a tremendous goblin with a huge head, and armed goblins were standing round him carrying the axes and the bent swords that they use. Now goblins are cruel, wicked, and bad-hearted. They make no beautiful things, but they make many clever ones. They can tunnel and mine as well as any but the most skilled dwarves, when they take the trouble, though they are usually untidy and dirty. Hammers, axes, swords, daggers, pickaxes, tongs, and also instruments of torture, they make very well, or get other people to make to their design, prisoners and slaves that have to work till they die for want of air and light. It is not unlikely that they invented some of the machines that have since troubled the world, especially the ingenious devices for killing large numbers of people at once, for wheels and engines and explosions always delighted them, and also not working with their own hands more than they could help; but in those days and those wild parts they had not advanced (as it is called) so far. They did not hate dwarves especially, no more than they hated everybody and everything, and particularly the orderly and prosperous; in some parts wicked dwarves had even made alliances with them. But they had a special grudge against Thorin’s people, because of the war which you have heard mentioned, but which does not come into this tale; and anyway goblins don’t care who they catch, as long as it is done smart and secret, and the prisoners are not able to defend themselves.

在一块扁平巨石上的影之中,坐着一个身形巨大的半兽人,他长着一颗硕大的脑袋,身边簇拥着全副武装的半兽人,手中拿着他们擅长使用的斧子和弯刀。半兽人残忍、邪恶而又歹毒,他们虽然创造不出什么美丽的东西,却也能制作出一些巧的东西来。尽管他们通常邋遢而又肮脏,但如果他们不怕麻烦的话,他们在挖隧道和开矿方面可以跟矮人做得一样棒,最多只输给矮人中最心灵手巧的那几个。锤子、斧子、刀剑、匕首、镐头、钳子还有各种刑具,他们都能够制作得非常出,或者让别人照着他们的设计制作出来。这里所说的别人指的就是他们的俘虏和奴隶,这些人必须不停地工作,直到最后因为呼吸不到新鲜空气和见不到光明而死在地底。他们完全有可能发明过一些后来祸害过世界的机械,尤其是那些可以一下子杀死许多人的巧装置,因为他们最喜欢轮子、动力装置和爆炸,而且用这样的装置杀人可以最大程度免去他们亲自动手之苦。但在当时那个时代,在那样的荒僻之地,他们还没有进步(姑且称其为进步吧)到如此的程度。他们并不特别痛恨矮人,对矮人的仇视并不比对所有人和所有事物的仇视更多,他们尤其不讨厌那些听话的和有钱的矮人,在某些地区,他们甚至会和矮人中的败类结盟。但他们对索林那一族却怀着特别的恶意,这是因为之前提到过的那场战争之故,但在我们这个故事里,我们无暇细述这段往事。不过再怎么说,半兽人对他们要抓的对象是不太在意的,他们在乎的是要把活儿干得漂亮,神不知鬼不觉的,要让那些被抓的人还来不及抵抗就乖乖就擒。

“Who are these miserable persons?” said the Great Goblin.

“这些可怜的家伙是什么人?”半兽人头领问道。

“Dwarves, and this!” said one of the drivers, pulling at Bilbo’s chain so that he fell forward onto his knees. “We found them sheltering in our Front Porch.”

“是矮人,还有这个!”驱赶着他们的一个半兽人一拽拴着比尔博的链子,比尔博扑通一声就跪在了地上。“我们发现他们在我们的前门厅里躲雨。”

“What do you mean by it?” said the Great Goblin turning to Thorin. “Up to no good, I’ll warrant! Spying on the private business of my people, I guess! Thieves, I shouldn’t be surprised to learn! Murderers and friends of Elves, not unlikely! Come! What have you got to say?”

“你们是什么意思?”半兽人头领转向索林说,“我敢打包票你们一定没安什么好心思!该不会是来打探我们的秘密的吧!你们这小偷,看你们就是一副贼样!说不定还是杀人凶手和灵之友!嗯?你有什么要说的吗?”

“Thorin the dwarf at your service!” he replied—it was merely a polite nothing. “Of the things which you suspect and imagine we had no idea at all. We sheltered from a storm in what seemed a convenient cave and unused; nothing was further from our thoughts than inconveniencing goblins in any way whatever.” That was true enough!

“矮人索林愿为您效劳!”索林回答道——这只是客套话,并不当真。“你所怀疑和推测的事情我们一点都不知道,我们只是就近找了个看起来没人用的山洞躲避一下暴风雨,一点也没有想要打搅半兽人的意思。”这倒是千真万确的。

“Um!” said the Great Goblin. “So you say! Might I ask what you were doing up in the mountains at all, and where you were coming from, and where you were going to? In fact I should like to know all about you. Not that it will do you much good, Thorin Oakenshield, I know too much about your folk already; but let’s have the truth, or I will prepare something particularly uncomfortable for you!”

“嗯!你自然会这样说啦!”那半兽人头领说,“那我能否请教一下你们在这大山里干什么,是从哪儿来的,又要往哪儿去?事实上,我想要了解关于你们的一切。并不是我有什么不知道的,索林·橡木盾,我对你们这帮家伙已经了解得够多了,不过你们最好还是说实话,否则我可要准备一点特别不舒服的东西让你们尝尝了!”

“We were on a journey to visit our relatives, our nephews and nieces, and first, second, and third cousins, and the other descendants of our grandfathers, who live on the East side of these truly hospitable mountains,” said Thorin, not quite knowing what to say all at once in a moment, when obviously the exact truth would not do at all.

“我们这是要去走亲戚,看看侄子外甥,还有七大姑八大姨什么的,只要是一个老祖宗的都想去看看,他们住在这座环境宜人的大山的东边。”索林一时间不知道该说些什么,反正实话是肯定不能说出口的。

“He is a liar, O truly tremendous one!” said one of the drivers. “Several of our people were struck by lightning in the cave, when we invited these creatures to come below; and they are as dead as stones. Also he has not explained this!” He held out the sword which Thorin had worn, the sword which came from the Trolls’ lair.

“他撒谎,他是个超级大骗子!”一名半兽人士兵在旁边插嘴道,“我们去把这些家伙请下来的时候,有好几个同伴被山洞里面的闪电给打中,全都死翘翘了!得叫他把这个解释一下!”他一边说着一边捧出了索林戴在身上的宝剑,也就是从食人妖的洞里得来的那把。

The Great Goblin gave a truly awful howl of rage when he looked at it, and all his soldiers gnashed their teeth, clashed their shields, and stamped. They knew the sword at once. It had killed hundreds of goblins in its time, when the fair elves of Gondolin hunted them in the hills or did battle before their walls. They had called it Orcrist, Goblin-cleaver, but the goblins called it simply Biter. They hated it and hated worse any one that carried it.

半兽人头领一看见那把宝剑,发出一声可怕的怒吼,他手下所有的士兵都咬牙切齿,开始敲打盾牌并跺起脚来,因为他们一眼就认出了那把剑,当年刚多林的美丽灵在山中猎杀他们,或是在他们的城墙外与他们厮杀时,那把剑曾杀死过成千上百的半兽人。他们称呼它为奥克锐斯特,“斩杀半兽人之剑”,但半兽人们则简称其为“咬剑”。他们痛恨这把剑,更痛恨携带这把剑的人。

“Murderers and elf-friends!” the Great Goblin shouted. “Slash them! Beat them! Bite them! Gnash them! Take them away to dark holes full of snakes, and never let them see the light again!” He was in such a rage that he jumped off his seat and himself rushed at Thorin with his mouth open.

“杀人凶手,灵之友!”半兽人头领喊了起来,“给我他们!打他们!咬他们!嚼碎他们!把他们扔到全是毒蛇的黑洞中,让他们永世见不到光明!”他气愤得从宝座上跳了下来,张开大嘴,朝着索林冲了过来。

Just at that moment all the lights in the cavern went out, and the great fire went off poof! into a tower of blue glowing smoke, right up to the roof, that scattered piercing white sparks all among the goblins.

正在此时,山洞中所有的灯火都灭了,正中央那堆大火也扑的一声熄灭,一缕青烟袅袅升起,直直地向洞顶飞去,白的火星则四处飞溅,直射入半兽人的人中。

The yells and yammering, croaking, jibbering and jabbering; howls, growls and curses; shrieking and skriking, that followed were beyond description. Several hundred wild cats and wolves being roasted slowly alive together would not have compared with it. The sparks were burning holes in the goblins, and the smoke that now fell from the roof made the air too thick for even their eyes to see through. Soon they were falling over one another and rolling in heaps on the floor, biting and kicking and fighting as if they had all gone mad.

半兽人顿时乱成一,尖叫、哭嚎、嘶吼、推拽、奔逃、打斗、咒骂,那种情形真是难以用言语形容。就算你把几百只野猫和野狼放在火上慢慢烤,那个乱劲儿也不能与此相提并论。火星在半兽人身上烧出洞来,原先飞向洞顶的白烟又落了下来,山洞里变得烟雾腾腾,让半兽人伸手也见不到五指。没过多久,他们就被彼此绊倒,在地上滚成了一,相互间拼命撕咬着、踢打着,就像全都发了疯一样。

Suddenly a sword flashed in its own light. Bilbo saw it go right through the Great Goblin as he stood dumbfounded in the middle of his rage. He fell dead, and the goblin soldiers fled before the sword shrieking into the darkness.

突然间,一把宝剑自己发出了光芒来。比尔博看见,就在那个高大的半兽人依旧坐在那里,气得晕晕乎乎的时候,宝剑已经自己飞过去把他给刺穿了。他倒在地上就死了,半兽人士兵们没等宝剑呼啸着飞回到黑暗中去就四下逃散了。

The sword went back into its sheath. “Follow me quick!” said a voice fierce and quiet; and before Bilbo understood what had happened he was trotting along again, as fast as he could trot, at the end of the line, down more dark passages with the yells of the goblin-hall growing fainter behind him. A pale light was leading them on.

宝剑飞回到了鞘中。“快跟我来!”一个平静而又威严的声音说道。不等比尔博搞清楚发生了什么事情,他就已经又像进来时那样快步走了起来,依旧排在队伍的末尾,依旧是在尽力快走,一直往下走过了更多黑暗的通道,身后半兽人大厅里的叫声在他身后变得越来越微弱。前方,有一点微弱的火光在指引着他们。

“Quicker, quicker!” said the voice. “The torches will soon be relit.”

“再快点,再快点!”那声音催促道,“火把很快就会重新点燃的!”

“Half a minute!” said Dori, who was at the back next to Bilbo, and a decent fellow. He made the hobbit scramble on his shoulders as best he could with his tied hands, and then off they all went at a run, with a clink-clink of chains, and many a stumble, since they had no hands to steady themselves with. Not for a long while did they stop, and by that time they must have been right down in the very mountain’s heart.

“等等!”说话的是多瑞,他那时也在队伍的后面,正好在比尔博身边。他是个好心的矮人,虽然自己的双手被绑着,还是尽力把比尔博扛在了自己的肩膀上,然后大家全都狂奔了起来,耳畔是一片铁链的叮当之声。许多人跌倒了,因为他们双手被绑住了,无法保持平衡。没过多久他们停了下来,这时他们一定已经身在山脉的中心了。

Then Gandalf lit up his wand. Of course it was Gandalf; but just then they were too busy to ask how he got there. He took out his sword again, and again it flashed in the dark by itself. It burned with a rage that made it gleam if goblins were about; now it was bright as blue flame for delight in the killing of the great lord of the cave. It made no trouble whatever of cutting through the goblin-chains and setting all the prisoners free as quickly as possible. This sword’s name was Glamdring the Foe-hammer, if you remember. The goblins just called it Beater, and hated it worse than Biter if possible. Orcrist, too, had been saved; for Gandalf had brought it along as well, snatching it from one of the terrified guards. Gandalf thought of most things; and though he could not do everything, he could do a great deal for friends in a tight corner.

此刻,甘道夫点亮了魔杖。救他们的当然是甘道夫,不过刚才他们忙着逃命,根本没空问问他是怎么进到半兽人大厅来的。他再次拔出了宝剑,它在黑喑中又自己发散出光芒来。这把剑只要附近有半兽人,便会因剑上所带的杀气而闪出光芒。现在,它因为欣喜于刚才杀死了山洞中半兽人的首领,而发出了蓝火焰般的亮光。它轻易地斩断了半兽人的铁链,马上就让所有的俘虏都重获了自由。如果你还记得的话,这把剑的名字叫作击敌锤格拉姆德凛。半兽人管它叫“打剑”,对它的仇恨比对咬剑还要深。奥克锐斯特也被甘道夫带回来了,在刚才的那场慌乱中,他劈手就从一个吓得簌簌发抖的卫兵那里把剑夺了过来。甘道夫总是能把大多数事情都考虑到,虽说他不可能做到所有的事情,但他在危难之时能为朋友做的总是很多很多。

“Are we all here?” said he, handing his sword back to Thorin with a bow. “Let me see: one—that’s Thorin; two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven; where are Fili and Kili? Here they are! twelve, thirteen—and here’s Mr. Baggins: fourteen! Well, well! it might be worse, and then again it might be a good deal better. No ponies, and no food, and no knowing quite where we are, and hordes of angry goblins just behind! On we go!”

“我们都到齐了吗?”他一边说着,一边鞠躬为礼,将宝剑递还给索林,“让我来点点:一,这是索林;二、三、四、五、六、七、八、九、十、十一;奇力和菲力在哪儿呢?哦,在这儿哪!十二、十三——还有巴金斯先生:十四!太好了,太好了!有时候情况会变糟,但接下来又可能会变得更好。现在我们没有了小马,没有了食物,也不知道自己身在何方,背后还有一大愤怒的半兽人!所以我们还是继续向前走吧!”

On they went. Gandalf was quite right: they began to hear goblin noises and horrible cries far behind in the passages they had come through. That sent them on faster than ever, and as poor Bilbo could not possibly go half as fast—for dwarves can roll along at a tremendous pace, I can tell you, when they have to—they took it in turn to carry him on their backs.

于是他们就继续前进了。甘道夫说得很对:在他们身后已经经过的通道里,开始听见从远处传来半兽人的响动和恐怖的叫声。这让他们以比之前更快的速度跑了起来,因为可怜的比尔博根本连他们一半的速度都达不到——我告诉你们,矮人们在迫不得已的时候,可以用惊人的速度在地上滚着走——所以,他们只能轮流来背着比尔博跑。

Still goblins go faster than dwarves, and these goblins knew the way better (they had made the paths themselves), and were madly angry; so that do what they could the dwarves heard the cries and howls getting closer and closer. Soon they could hear even the flap of the goblin feet, many many feet which seemed only just round the last corner. The blink of red torches could be seen behind them in the tunnel they were following; and they were getting deadly tired.

可再怎么样半兽人走得还是要比矮人快,而且他们也更了解这里的道路(这里的隧道是他们自己挖的),更别提他们还憋着满腔怒火了。因此,尽管矮人已经尽了全力,身后的号叫与怒吼还是越来越近了。没多久,他们就甚至能听见对方杂沓的脚步声了,有好多双、好多双脚,似乎就在他们刚刚经过的拐角那边。朝身后的隧道望去,星星点点的火把亮光已经赫然在目,可矮人们此时却已经筋疲力尽了。

“Why, O why did I ever leave my hobbit-hole!” said poor Mr. Baggins bumping up and down on Bombur’s back.

“为什么,哦,为什么我要离开我的霍比特洞府啊!”可怜的巴金斯先生在邦伯的肩膀上颠来颠去的时候开口抱怨道。

“Why, O why did I ever bring a wretched little hobbit on a treasure hunt!” said poor Bombur, who was fat, and staggered along with the sweat dripping down his nose in his heat and terror.

“为什么,哦,为什么我要把这个可怜的小霍比特人带来寻宝啊!”可怜的胖子邦伯也回了他一句抱怨。他又热又怕,走得摇摇晃晃,汗水不断顺着他的鼻子往下滴落。

At this point Gandalf fell behind, and Thorin with him. They turned a sharp corner. “About turn!” he shouted. “Draw your sword Thorin!”

这时,甘道夫来到了队伍的后面,索林和他在一起。在转过了一个很陡的弯之后,甘道夫喊了一声:“是时候了!索林,拔剑!”

There was nothing else to be done; and the goblins did not like it. They came scurrying round the corner in full cry, and found Goblin-cleaver, and Foe-hammer shining cold and bright right in their astonished eyes. The ones in front dropped their torches and gave one yell before they were killed. The ones behind yelled still more, and leaped back knocking over those that were running after them. “Biter and Beater!” they shrieked; and soon they were all in confusion, and most of them were hustling back the way they had come.

他们已经别无选择了,而半兽人也不喜欢这样的局面。他们急急匆匆地绕过转角,嘴巴里嗷嗷乱叫着,却发现斩杀半兽人之剑和击敌锤这两把宝剑闪着幽蓝的寒光,陡然出现在了他们充满惊奇的眼前!走在头里的几个刚够丢下火把发出一声惊叫,便被杀死了。后面的半兽人叫得更多,撒开脚丫就往回跑,结果正和后面追来的半兽人撞个满怀,倒成一片。“咬剑和打剑来啦!”随着他们的尖叫,追兵很快就乱成了一,大多数人又全都朝着来路冲了回去。

It was quite a long while before any of them dared to turn that corner. By that time the dwarves had gone on again, a long, long, way on into the dark tunnels of the goblins’ realm. When the goblins discovered that, they put out their torches and they slipped on soft shoes, and they chose out their very quickest runners with the sharpest ears and eyes. These ran forward, as swift as weasels in the dark, and with hardly any more noise than bats.

又过了好一阵子,才有人敢从那个拐转角转过来。而那时,矮人们早就又已经沿着半兽人地盘上的黑暗隧道跑出去了好大、好大一截。等半兽人发现之后,他们熄掉了手中的火把,换上了软鞋,挑选出那些动作最敏捷、眼睛和耳朵最尖的士兵继续朝前追去。这些半兽人飞奔向前,快得如同黑暗中的黄鼠狼,声音轻得像蝙蝠。

That is why neither Bilbo, nor the dwarves, nor even Gandalf heard them coming. Nor did they see them. But they were seen by the goblins that ran silently up behind, for Gandalf was letting his wand give out a faint light to help the dwarves as they went along.

因此,无论是比尔博还是矮人们,甚至连甘道夫都没有听见他们追赶的脚步,也没有看见他们的身影。但悄无声息地跑在后面的半兽人却把他们看在了眼里,因为甘道夫正用他的魔杖放出微微的光芒来给大家照路。

Quite suddenly Dori, now at the back again carrying Bilbo, was grabbed from behind in the dark. He shouted and fell; and the hobbit rolled off his shoulders into the blackness, bumped his head on hard rock, and remembered nothing more.

突然,背着比尔博跑在最后面的多瑞,被从后面黑暗中伸出来的手一把抓住了!他大喊一声摔倒在地,霍比特人从他肩膀上滚落,跌进了黑暗中,一头撞上坚硬的岩石,然后就什么也不记得了。