Chapter 2: The Council Of Elrond

Chapter 2 THE COUNCIL OF ELROND Next day Frodo woke early, feeling refreshed and well. He walked along the terraces above the loud-flowing Bruinen and watched the pale, cool sun rise above the far mountains, and shine down, slanting through the thin silver mist; the dew upon the yellow leaves was glimmering, and the woven nets of gossamer twinkled on every bush. Sam walked beside him, saying nothing, but sniffing the air, and looking every now and again with wonder in his eyes at the great heights in the East. The snow was white upon their peaks. On a seat cut in the stone beside a turn in the path they came upon Gandalf and Bilbo deep in talk. ‘Hullo! Good morning!’ said Bilbo. ‘Feel ready for the great council?’ ‘I feel ready for anything,’ answered Frodo. ‘But most of all I should like to go walking today and explore the valley. I should like to get into those pine-woods up there.’ He pointed away far up the side of Rivendell to the north. “You may have a chance later,’ said Gandalf. ‘But we cannot make any plans yet. There is much to hear and decide today.’ Suddenly as they were talking a single clear bell rang out. “That is the warning bell for the Council of Elrond,’ cried Gandalf. ‘Come along now! Both you and Bilbo are wanted.’ Frodo and Bilbo followed the wizard quickly along the winding path back to the house; behind them, uninvited and for the moment forgotten, trotted Sam. Gandalf led them to the porch where Frodo had found his friends the evening before. The light of the clear autumn morning was now glowing in the valley. The noise of bubbling waters came up from the foaming river-bed. Birds were singing, and a wholesome peace lay on the land. To Frodo his dangerous flight, and the rumours of the darkness growing in the world outside, already seemed only the memories of a troubled dream; but the faces that were turned to meet them as they entered were grave. Elrond was there, and several others were seated in silence about him. Frodo saw Glorfindel and Gloin; and in a corner alone Strider was sitting, clad in his old travel-worn clothes again. Elrond drew Frodo to a seat by his side, and presented him to the company, saying: ‘Here, my friends, is the hobbit, Frodo son of Drogo. Few have

第二章 愛隆會議 隔天佛羅多醒得很早，感覺神清氣爽。他沿著布魯伊南河上方轟鳴的梯田走著，看著蒼白而涼爽的太陽從遠山升起，斜斜地穿過薄薄的銀霧灑下光芒；黃葉上的露珠閃爍著，蜘蛛絲編織的網在每叢灌木上閃耀。山姆走在他身旁，一言不發，只是嗅著空氣，不時帶著驚奇的眼神望向東方高聳的山峰。山頂上覆蓋著白雪。在小徑轉彎處一塊鑿刻在石頭上的座位旁，他們發現甘道夫和比爾博正在深入交談。「哈囉！早安！」比爾博說。「你準備好參加大會了嗎？」「我什麼都準備好了，」佛羅多回答。「但最重要的是，我今天想去散步，探索山谷。我想去那邊的松樹林。」他指向瑞文戴爾北方遠處的山坡。「你以後可能有機會，」甘道夫說。「但我們現在還不能做任何計劃。今天有很多事情要聽和決定。」突然，就在他們談話時，一聲清脆的鈴聲響起。「那是愛隆會議的警示鐘聲，」甘道夫喊道。「快來吧！你和比爾博都被需要。」佛羅多和比爾博迅速跟著巫師沿著蜿蜒的小徑回到屋子；他們身後，山姆未受邀請且暫時被遺忘地小跑著。甘道夫領他們來到門廊，佛羅多前一天晚上在那裡找到了他的朋友們。清朗秋日的晨光此刻正照耀著山谷。潺潺水聲從泡沫翻騰的河床傳來。鳥兒歌唱著，一片祥和寧靜籠罩著大地。對佛羅多來說，他危險的逃亡，以及外界黑暗日益增長的謠言，此刻都彷彿只是一場噩夢的回憶；但當他們進入時，轉過來迎接他們的臉龐卻是嚴肅的。愛隆在那裡，還有幾個人靜靜地圍坐在他身旁。佛羅多看到了葛羅芬戴爾和葛羅音；角落裡，亞拉岡獨自坐著，再次穿著他那身舊的、飽經風霜的衣服。愛隆把佛羅多拉到他身旁的一個座位上，並把他介紹給眾人，說道：「我的朋友們，這位是哈比人，卓戈之子佛羅多。很少有人...

240 THE LORD OF THE RINGS ever come hither through greater peril or on an errand more urgent.’ He then pointed out and named those whom Frodo had not met before. There was a younger dwarf at Gloin’s side: his son Gimli. Beside Glorfindel there were several other counsellors of Elrond’s household, of whom Erestor was the chief; and with him was Galdor, an Elf from the Grey Havens who had come on an errand from Cirdan the Shipwright. There was also a strange Elf clad in green and brown, Legolas, a messenger from his father, Thranduil, the King of the Elves of Northern Mirkwood. And seated a little apart was a tall man with a fair and noble face, dark-haired and grey-eyed, proud and stern of glance. He was cloaked and booted as if for a journey on horseback; and indeed though his garments were rich, and his cloak was lined with fur, they were stained with long travel. He had a collar of silver in which a single white stone was set; his locks were shorn about his shoulders. On a baldric he wore a great horn tipped with silver that now was laid upon his knees. He gazed at Frodo and Bilbo with sudden wonder. ‘Here,’ said Elrond, turning to Gandalf, ‘is Boromir, a man from the South. He arrived in the grey morning, and seeks for counsel. I have bidden him to be present, for here his questions will be answered.’ Not all that was spoken and debated in the Council need now be told. Much was said of events in the world outside, especially in the South, and in the wide lands east of the Mountains. Of these things Frodo had already heard many rumours; but the tale of Gloin was new to him, and when the dwarf spoke he listened attentively. It appeared that amid the splendour of their works of hand the hearts of the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain were troubled. ‘It is now many years ago,’ said Gloin, ‘that a shadow of disquiet fell upon our people. Whence it came we did not at first perceive. Words began to be whispered in secret: it was said that we were hemmed in a narrow place, and that greater wealth and splendour would be found in a wider world. Some spoke of Moria: the mighty works of our fathers that are called in our own tongue Khazad-dim; and they declared that now at last we had the power and numbers to return.’ Gloin sighed. ‘Moria! Moria! Wonder of the Northern world! Too deep we delved there, and woke the nameless fear. Long have its vast mansions lain empty since the children of Durin fled. But now we spoke of it again with longing, and yet with dread; for no dwarf has dared to pass the doors of Khazad-dtiim for many lives of kings, save Thror only, and he perished. At last, however, Balin listened to the

240 《魔戒》「從未有人冒著更大的危險或帶著更緊急的任務來到此地。」他接著指出並介紹了佛羅多以前未曾見過的人。葛羅音身旁坐著一位年輕的矮人：他的兒子金靂。葛羅芬戴爾身旁坐著幾位愛隆家族的其他顧問，其中以埃瑞斯特為首；與他同行的還有甘道夫，一位來自灰港岸的精靈，他奉造船者瑟丹之命前來。還有一位身穿綠褐色衣裳的奇特精靈，勒苟拉斯，他是來自他父親——北幽暗密林之王瑟蘭督伊的使者。稍遠處坐著一位高大的男子，他面容英俊高貴，黑髮灰眼，神情驕傲而嚴肅。他身披斗篷，腳穿長靴，彷彿是為騎馬旅行而準備；儘管他的衣著華麗，斗篷內襯皮毛，卻因長途跋涉而沾染了污漬。他戴著一個銀質項圈，上面鑲嵌著一顆白色的寶石；他的頭髮在肩部被剪短。他肩上斜掛著一條皮帶，上面佩戴著一支銀尖大號角，此刻正放在他的膝上。他帶著突如其來的驚訝凝視著佛羅多和比爾博。「這位，」愛隆轉向甘道夫說道，「是波羅莫，一位來自南方的人。他於清晨抵達，前來尋求建議。我已邀請他出席，因為他的問題將在此得到解答。」會議中所有討論和辯論的內容，此刻無需盡述。許多關於外界事件的討論，特別是南方和山脈以東廣闊土地上的事。這些事情佛羅多早已聽聞許多傳聞；但葛羅音的故事對他來說是全新的，當這位矮人開口時，他專心聆聽。看來，儘管孤山矮人的手工藝品輝煌燦爛，他們的心中卻充滿了不安。「那是許多年前的事了，」葛羅音說道，「一股不安的陰影籠罩了我們的人民。起初我們並未察覺它的來源。耳語開始在秘密中流傳：有人說我們被困在一個狹窄的地方，而更豐富的財富和輝煌將在更廣闊的世界中找到。有些人提到了摩瑞亞：我們祖先的偉大工程，在我們自己的語言中稱為凱薩督姆；他們宣稱，現在我們終於有了力量和人數可以回去。」葛羅音嘆了口氣。「摩瑞亞！摩瑞亞！北方世界的奇蹟！我們在那裡挖掘得太深了，喚醒了無名的恐懼。自從都靈的子孫逃離以來，它那巨大的廳堂已空置了漫長的歲月。但現在我們又帶著渴望，卻又帶著恐懼地談論起它；因為除了索爾之外，沒有任何矮人敢於穿越凱薩督姆的大門，而索爾也已殞命。然而，最終，巴林聽從了

THE COUNCIL OF ELROND 241 whispers, and resolved to go; and though Dain did not give leave willingly, he took with him Ori and Oin and many of our folk, and they went away south. “That was nigh on thirty years ago. For a while we had news and it seemed good: messages reported that Moria had been entered and a great work begun there. Then there was silence, and no word has ever come from Moria since. “Then about a year ago a messenger came to Dain, but not from Moria — from Mordor: a horseman in the night, who called Dain to his gate. The Lord Sauron the Great, so he said, wished for our friendship. Rings he would give for it, such as he gave of old. And he asked urgently concerning hobbits, of what kind they were, and where they dwelt. “‘For Sauron knows,” said he, ‘“‘that one of these was known to you on a time.” ‘At this we were greatly troubled, and we gave no answer. And then his fell voice was lowered, and he would have sweetened it if he could. “‘As a small token only of your friendship Sauron asks this,’ he said: “‘that you should find this thief,’? such was his word, ‘‘and get from him, willing or no, a little ring, the least of rings, that once he stole. It is but a trifle that Sauron fancies, and an earnest of your good will. Find it, and three rings that the Dwarf-sires possessed of old shall be returned to you, and the realm of Moria shall be yours for ever. Find only news of the thief, whether he still lives and where, and you shall have great reward and lasting friendship from the Lord. Refuse, and things will not seem so well. Do you refuse?”’ ‘At that his breath came like the hiss of snakes, and all who stood by shuddered, but Dain said: “‘I say neither yea nor nay. I must consider this message and what it means under its fair cloak.” ‘“*Consider well, but not too long,” said he. “**The time of my thought is my own to spend,”’ answered Dain. ‘**Ror the present,”’ said he, and rode into the darkness. “Heavy have the hearts of our chieftains been since that night. We needed not the fell voice of the messenger to warn us that his words held both menace and deceit; for we knew already that the power that has re-entered Mordor has not changed, and ever it betrayed us of old. Twice the messenger has returned, and has gone unanswered. The third and last time, so he says, is soon to come, before the ending of the year. ‘And so I have been sent at last by Dain to warn Bilbo that he is sought by the Enemy, and to learn, if may be, why he desires this ring, this least of rings. Also we crave the advice of Elrond. For the Shadow grows and draws nearer. We discover that messengers have come also to King Brand in Dale, and that he is afraid. We fear that he may yield. Already war is gathering on his eastern borders. If we

埃爾隆德會議 241 竊竊私語，並決定離開；儘管丹恩不情願地允許，他還是帶走了歐力、歐音和我們許多族人，他們向南去了。「那差不多是三十年前的事了。有一段時間我們不斷收到好消息：訊息報告說摩瑞亞已被進入，並且在那裡展開了一項偉大的工程。然後就歸於沉寂，從那以後摩瑞亞再也沒有任何消息傳來。」「大約一年前，一個信使來到了丹恩這裡，但不是來自摩瑞亞——而是來自魔多：一個夜間的騎手，他把丹恩叫到門口。他說，『偉大的索倫魔君希望與我們建立友誼。他會為此贈予戒指，就像他古時所贈予的那樣。』他還急切地詢問關於哈比人的事情，他們是什麼樣的，以及他們居住在哪裡。」「『因為索倫知道，』他說，『你們曾經認識其中一個。』對此我們深感不安，沒有給予任何答覆。然後他那陰森的聲音低了下來，如果可以的話，他會讓它聽起來更甜美。」「『索倫只要求這作為你們友誼的一個小小的表示，』他說：『你們應該找到這個小偷，』——他就是這麼說的——『並且，無論他是否願意，從他那裡取回一枚小小的戒指，那枚最不起眼的戒指，他曾經偷走的。這不過是索倫喜歡的一件小玩意，也是你們善意的保證。找到它，那麼矮人先祖們古時擁有的三枚戒指將歸還給你們，摩瑞亞的國度也將永遠屬於你們。即使只找到關於這個小偷的消息，無論他是否還活著以及在哪裡，你們都將從魔君那裡獲得豐厚的回報和持久的友誼。拒絕的話，事情就不會那麼順利了。你們拒絕嗎？』」他話音剛落，呼吸聲就如同蛇的嘶嘶聲，所有在場的人都顫抖起來，但丹恩說：『我既不說「是」也不說「否」。我必須仔細考慮這條訊息，以及它在華麗外表下隱藏的真正含義。』「『好好考慮，但不要太久，』他說。『我思考的時間由我自己決定，』丹恩回答。『暫時就這樣吧，』他說，然後騎馬駛入黑暗。」「從那天晚上起，我們酋長們的心情一直很沉重。我們不需要信使那陰森的聲音來警告我們，他的話語中既有威脅也有欺騙；因為我們早已知道，重新進入魔多的那個力量並未改變，它過去總是背叛我們。信使已經回來了兩次，都沒有得到答覆。他說，第三次也是最後一次，很快就會到來，就在年底之前。」「因此，我最終被丹恩派來警告比爾博，敵人正在尋找他，並想知道，如果可能的話，他為何渴望這枚戒指，這枚最不起眼的戒指。我們也渴望埃爾隆德的建議。因為陰影正在擴大並逼近。我們發現信使也來到了戴爾的布蘭德國王那裡，他很害怕。我們擔心他可能會屈服。戰爭已經在他的東部邊境集結。如果我們

242 THE LORD OF THE RINGS make no answer, the Enemy may move Men of his rule to assail King Brand, and Dain also.’ “You have done well to come,’ said Elrond. ‘You will hear today all that you need in order to understand the purposes of the Enemy. There is naught that you can do, other than to resist, with hope or without it. But you do not stand alone. You will learn that your trouble is but part of the trouble of all the western world. The Ring! What shall we do with the Ring, the least of rings, the trifle that Sauron fancies? That is the doom that we must deem. “That is the purpose for which you are called hither. Called, I say, though I have not called you to me, strangers from distant lands. You have come and are here met, in this very nick of time, by chance as it may seem. Yet it is not so. Believe rather that it is so ordered that we, who sit here, and none others, must now find counsel for the peril of the world. ‘Now, therefore, things shall be openly spoken that have been hidden from all but a few until this day. And first, so that all may understand what is the peril, the Tale of the Ring shall be told from the beginning even to this present. And I will begin that tale, though others shall end it.’ Then all listened while Elrond in his clear voice spoke of Sauron and the Rings of Power, and their forging in the Second Age of the world long ago. A part of his tale was known to some there, but the full tale to none, and many eyes were turned to Elrond in fear and wonder as he told of the Elven-smiths of Eregion and their friendship with Moria, and their eagerness for knowledge, by which Sauron ensnared them. For in that time he was not yet evil to behold, and they received his aid and grew mighty in craft, whereas he learned all their secrets, and betrayed them, and forged secretly in the Mountain of Fire the One Ring to be their master. But Celebrimbor was aware of him, and hid the Three which he had made; and there was war, and the land was laid waste, and the gate of Moria was shut. Then through all the years that followed he traced the Ring; but since that history is elsewhere recounted, even as Elrond himself set it down in his books of lore, it is not here recalled. For it is a long tale, full of deeds great and terrible, and briefly though Elrond spoke, the sun rode up the sky, and the morning was passing ere he ceased. Of Numenor he spoke, its glory and its fall, and the return of the Kings of Men to Middle-earth out of the deeps of the Sea, borne upon the wings of storm. Then Elendil the Tall and his mighty sons, Isildur and Anarion, became great lords; and the North-realm they made in Arnor, and the South-realm in Gondor above the mouths of Anduin. But Sauron of Mordor assailed them, and they made the

242 《魔戒》不作回應，敵人可能會驅使他統治下的人類去攻擊布蘭德國王和戴恩。』「你們來得很好。」愛隆說。「今天你們將聽到所有需要了解敵人目的的事情。除了抵抗，無論有無希望，你們別無他法。但你們並非孤單。你們會明白，你們的困境只是整個西方世界困境的一部分。魔戒！我們該如何處置魔戒，這最微不足道的戒指，索倫所鍾愛的小玩意？那是我們必須判斷的命運。「這就是你們被召喚到這裡的目的。我說是被召喚，儘管我並沒有召喚你們這些來自遠方土地的陌生人。你們來了，並在此時此刻相遇，這看似偶然。然而並非如此。寧可相信這是天意安排，讓我們這些坐在這裡的人，而非他人，現在必須為世界的危險尋求對策。「因此，現在將公開講述那些直到今天才對少數人揭示的事情。首先，為了讓所有人明白危險是什麼，《魔戒傳說》將從頭到尾講述。而我將開始這個故事，儘管其他人將會結束它。」然後，所有人都靜靜聆聽愛隆用他清晰的聲音講述索倫和力量之戒，以及它們在很久以前的世界第二紀元被鍛造的故事。他故事的一部分對在場的一些人來說是已知的，但完整的故事卻無人知曉，許多人帶著恐懼和驚奇的眼神望向愛隆，當他講述伊瑞詹的精靈工匠以及他們與摩瑞亞的友誼，還有他們對知識的渴望，索倫就是藉此誘捕了他們。因為在那時，他還沒有顯露出邪惡的面貌，他們接受了他的幫助，在技藝上變得強大，而他卻學會了他們所有的秘密，背叛了他們，並在烈焰山脈中秘密鍛造了至尊魔戒，成為他們的主宰。但凱勒布理鵬察覺到了他，並藏起了他所製作的三枚戒指；於是戰爭爆發，土地被夷為廢墟，摩瑞亞之門被關閉。然後在接下來的歲月裡，他追蹤著魔戒；但由於那段歷史在別處已有記載，甚至愛隆本人也在他的知識之書中記錄下來，所以這裡不再重述。因為這是一個漫長的故事，充滿了偉大而可怕的事蹟，儘管愛隆講述得很簡短，太陽卻已升上天空，在他停止講述之前，早晨已悄然過去。他講述了努曼諾爾，它的榮耀與衰落，以及人類國王從深海中，乘著風暴之翼返回中土大陸的故事。然後，高大的伊蘭迪爾和他強大的兒子們，伊西爾杜和安那瑞安，成為了偉大的領主；他們在亞爾諾建立了北方王國，在安都因河口上方的剛鐸建立了南方王國。但魔多的索倫襲擊了他們，他們便建立了

THE COUNCIL OF ELROND 243 Last Alliance of Elves and Men, and the hosts of Gil-galad and Elendil were mustered in Arnor. Thereupon Elrond paused a while and sighed. ‘I remember well the splendour of their banners,’ he said. ‘It recalled to me the glory of the Elder Days and the hosts of Beleriand, so many great princes and captains were assembled. And yet not so many, nor so fair, as when Thangorodrim was broken, and the Elves deemed that evil was ended for ever, and it was not so.’ “You remember?’ said Frodo, speaking his thought aloud in his astonishment. ‘But I thought,’ he stammered as Elrond turned towards him, ‘I thought that the fall of Gil-galad was a long age ago.’ ‘So it was indeed,’ answered Elrond gravely. ‘But my memory reaches back even to the Elder Days. Earendil was my sire, who was born in Gondolin before its fall; and my mother was Elwing, daughter of Dior, son of Luthien of Doriath. I have seen three ages in the West of the world, and many defeats, and many fruitless victories. ‘I was the herald of Gil-galad and marched with his host. I was at the Battle of Dagorlad before the Black Gate of Mordor, where we had the mastery: for the Spear of Gil-galad and the Sword of Elendil, Aeglos and Narsil, none could withstand. I beheld the last combat on the slopes of Orodruin, where Gil-galad died, and Elendil fell, and Narsil broke beneath him; but Sauron himself was overthrown, and Isildur cut the Ring from his hand with the hilt-shard of his father’s sword, and took it for his own.’ At this the stranger, Boromir, broke in. ‘So that is what became of the Ring!’ he cried. ‘If ever such a tale was told in the South, it has long been forgotten. I have heard of the Great Ring of him that we do not name; but we believed that it perished from the world in the ruin of his first realm. Isildur took it! That is tidings indeed.’ ‘Alas! yes,’ said Elrond. ‘Isildur took it, as should not have been. It should have been cast then into Orodruin’s fire nigh at hand where it was made. But few marked what Isildur did. He alone stood by his father in that last mortal contest; and by Gil-galad only Cirdan stood, and I. But Isildur would not listen to our counsel. “**This I will have as weregild for my father, and my brother,” he said; and therefore whether we would or no, he took it to treasure it. But soon he was betrayed by it to his death; and so it is named in the North Isildur’s Bane. Yet death maybe was better than what else might have befallen him. ‘Only to the North did these tidings come, and only to a few. Small wonder is it that you have not heard them, Boromir. From the ruin of the Gladden Fields, where Isildur perished, three men only came ever back over the mountains after long wandering. One of these was Ohtar, the esquire of Isildur, who bore the shards of the

愛隆會議 243 精靈與人類的最後同盟，吉爾加拉德和伊蘭迪爾的軍隊在亞爾諾集結。愛隆於是停頓了一會兒，嘆了口氣。「我清楚記得他們旗幟的輝煌，」他說。「那讓我想起了上古時代的榮光和貝爾蘭的軍隊，當時有那麼多偉大的王子和將領集結。然而，人數卻不如索隆格羅德林被摧毀時那麼多，也不如那時那麼美麗，那時精靈們認為邪惡已永遠終結，但事實並非如此。」「您記得？」佛羅多驚訝地脫口而出。「但我以為，」當愛隆轉向他時，他結結巴巴地說，「我以為吉爾加拉德的殞落是很久以前的事了。」「確實如此，」愛隆嚴肅地回答。「但我的記憶甚至能追溯到上古時代。埃雅仁迪爾是我的父親，他出生在貢多林陷落之前；我的母親是愛爾溫，她是多瑞亞斯的路西安之子迪歐的女兒。我見證了世界西方三個時代，經歷了許多失敗，以及許多徒勞的勝利。」「我是吉爾加拉德的傳令官，並隨他的軍隊行進。我曾參與魔多黑門前的達哥拉德平原之戰，在那裡我們取得了勝利：因為吉爾加拉德的長矛埃格洛斯和伊蘭迪爾的寶劍納希爾，無人能抵擋。我目睹了奧洛朱因山坡上的最後一戰，吉爾加拉德在那裡死去，伊蘭迪爾倒下，納希爾在他身下斷裂；但索倫本人被推翻，伊西爾杜用他父親寶劍的劍柄碎片從索倫手中砍下了魔戒，並將其據為己有。」此時，陌生人波羅莫插話道：「原來魔戒的下落是這樣！」他喊道。「如果南方曾流傳過這樣的故事，那它也早已被遺忘了。我聽說過我們不願提及的那位的至尊魔戒；但我們相信它已隨著他第一個王國的毀滅而從世上消失了。伊西爾杜拿走了它！這真是個驚人的消息。」「唉！是的，」愛隆說。「伊西爾杜拿走了它，這本不該發生。它當時就應該被投入奧洛朱因山近在咫尺的火焰中，那裡正是它被鑄造的地方。但很少有人注意到伊西爾杜做了什麼。在那場最後的生死搏鬥中，只有他站在他父親身邊；而吉爾加拉德身邊，只有瑟丹和我。但伊西爾杜不聽我們的勸告。『這將是我父親和我兄弟的血債賠償，』他說；因此，無論我們是否願意，他都將它據為己有。但很快地，他被它背叛而走向死亡；所以在北方，它被稱為伊西爾杜的禍根。然而，死亡或許比其他可能降臨在他身上的事要好。『這些消息只傳到了北方，而且只傳給了少數人。波羅莫，你沒有聽說過它們，這不足為奇。從格拉頓平原的毀滅之地，伊西爾杜在那裡殞落，經過漫長的流浪，只有三個人越過山脈回來。其中一人是奧塔，伊西爾杜的侍從，他帶著那些碎片。

244 THE LORD OF THE RINGS sword of Elendil; and he brought them to Valandil, the heir of Isildur, who being but a child had remained here in Rivendell. But Narsil was broken and its light extinguished, and it has not yet been forged again. ‘Fruitless did I call the victory of the Last Alliance? Not wholly so, yet it did not achieve its end. Sauron was diminished, but not destroyed. His Ring was lost but not unmade. The Dark Tower was broken, but its foundations were not removed; for they were made with the power of the Ring, and while it remains they will endure. Many Elves and many mighty Men, and many of their friends, had perished in the war. Anarion was slain, and Isildur was slain; and Gil-galad and Elendil were no more. Never again shall there be any such league of Elves and Men; for Men multiply and the Firstborn decrease, and the two kindreds are estranged. And ever since that day the race of Numenor has decayed, and the span of their years has lessened. ‘In the North after the war and the slaughter of the Gladden Fields the Men of Westernesse were diminished, and their city of Annuminas beside Lake Evendim fell into ruin; and the heirs of Valandil removed and dwelt at Fornost on the high North Downs, and that now too is desolate. Men call it Deadmen’s Dike, and they fear to tread there. For the folk of Arnor dwindled, and their foes devoured them, and their lordship passed, leaving only green mounds in the grassy hills. ‘In the South the realm of Gondor long endured; and for a while its splendour grew, recalling somewhat of the might of Numenor, ere it fell. High towers that people built, and strong places, and havens of many ships; and the winged crown of the Kings of Men was held in awe by folk of many tongues. Their chief city was Osgiliath, Citadel of the Stars, through the midst of which the River flowed. And Minas Ithil they built, Tower of the Rising Moon, eastward upon a shoulder of the Mountains of Shadow; and westward at the feet of the White Mountains Minas Anor they made, Tower of the Setting Sun. There in the courts of the King grew a white tree, from the seed of that tree which Isildur brought over the deep waters, and the seed of that tree before came from Eresséa, and before that out of the Uttermost West in the Day before days when the world was young. ‘But in the wearing of the swift years of Middle-earth the line of Meneldil son of Anarion failed, and the Tree withered, and the blood of the Numenoreans became mingled with that of lesser men. Then the watch upon the walls of Mordor slept, and dark things crept back to Gorgoroth. And on a time evil things came forth, and they took Minas Ithil and abode in it, and they made it into a place of dread;

244 《魔戒》 埃蘭迪爾的寶劍；他將它們帶給伊西爾杜的繼承人瓦蘭迪爾，瓦蘭迪爾當時仍是個孩子，一直留在瑞文戴爾。但納希爾聖劍已斷裂，其光芒熄滅，至今尚未重鑄。「我是否稱最後聯盟的勝利為徒勞？不完全是，但它並未達成其最終目的。」索倫的力量被削弱，但並未被摧毀。他的魔戒失落了，但並未被毀滅。黑暗塔被摧毀了，但其根基並未被移除；因為它們是以魔戒的力量所造，只要魔戒尚存，它們便會永固。許多精靈和許多強大的人類，以及他們的許多朋友，都在戰爭中喪生。安那瑞安被殺，伊西爾杜被殺；吉爾加拉德和埃蘭迪爾也已不在人世。精靈與人類之間再也不會有這樣的聯盟了；因為人類繁衍，而首生兒女卻日漸減少，兩個族群已形同陌路。自那日起，努曼諾爾人的血脈便衰落了，他們的壽命也縮短了。「在北方，戰爭和格拉頓平原的屠殺之後，西方人（努曼諾爾人）的力量衰退，他們在伊凡丁湖畔的安努米那斯城淪為廢墟；瓦蘭迪爾的繼承人遷居到北崗高地的佛諾斯特，而那裡如今也已荒涼。人們稱之為亡者堤，並不敢涉足其間。因為亞爾諾的人民日漸凋零，他們的敵人吞噬了他們，他們的統治權也隨之消逝，只留下青草山丘中的綠色土堆。「在南方，剛鐸王國長久存續；一度其輝煌壯大，令人想起努曼諾爾在傾覆之前的強盛。人們建造了高聳的塔樓、堅固的要塞和眾多船隻的港口；人類國王的飛翼王冠受到各族人民的敬畏。他們的首都是奧斯吉力亞斯，星辰之城，大河從其中心流過。他們在魔影山脈的一側東方建造了米那斯伊希爾，升月之塔；在白山山腳的西方建造了米那斯雅諾，落日之塔。在國王的庭院裡，生長著一棵白樹，它來自伊西爾杜渡過深海帶來的樹種，而那樹種之前來自艾瑞西亞，再之前則來自世界尚年輕的「諸日之前」的極西之地。「但在中土世界歲月流逝中，安那瑞安之子梅內爾迪爾的血脈斷絕了，白樹枯萎了，努曼諾爾人的血統與次等人類混雜了。於是，魔多城牆上的守衛鬆懈了，黑暗之物又潛回了戈爾格羅斯。有一次，邪惡之物現身，佔領了米那斯伊希爾並盤踞其中，將其變成了恐怖之地；

THE COUNCIL OF ELROND 245 and it is called Minas Morgul, the Tower of Sorcery. Then Minas Anor was named anew Minas Tirith, the Tower of Guard; and these two cities were ever at war, but Osgiliath which lay between was deserted and in its ruins shadows walked. ‘So it has been for many lives of men. But the Lords of Minas Tirith still fight on, defying our enemies, keeping the passage of the River from Argonath to the Sea. And now that part of the tale that I shall tell is drawn to its close. For in the days of Isildur the Ruling Ring passed out of all knowledge, and the Three were released from its dominion. But now in this latter day they are in peril once more, for to our sorrow the One has been found. Others shall speak of its finding, for in that I played small part.’ He ceased, but at once Boromir stood up, tall and proud, before them. ‘Give me leave, Master Elrond,’ said he, ‘first to say more of Gondor, for verily from the land of Gondor I am come. And it would be well for all to know what passes there. For few, I deem, know of our deeds, and therefore guess little at their peril, if we should fail at last. ‘Believe not that in the land of Gondor the blood of Numenor is spent, nor all its pride and dignity forgotten. By our valour the wild folk of the East are still restrained, and the terror of Morgul kept at bay; and thus alone are peace and freedom maintained in the lands behind us, bulwark of the West. But if the passages of the River should be won, what then? “Yet that hour, maybe, is not now far away. The Nameless Enemy has arisen again. Smoke rises once more from Orodruin that we call Mount Doom. The power of the Black Land grows and we are hard beset. When the Enemy returned our folk were driven from Ithilien, our fair domain east of the River, though we kept a foothold there and strength of arms. But this very year, in the days of June, sudden war came upon us out of Mordor, and we were swept away. We were outnumbered, for Mordor has allied itself with the Easterlings and the cruel Haradrim; but it was not by numbers that we were defeated. A power was there that we have not felt before. ‘Some said that it could be seen, like a great black horseman, a dark shadow under the moon. Wherever he came a madness filled our foes, but fear fell on our boldest, so that horse and man gave way and fled. Only a remnant of our eastern force came back, destroying the last bridge that still stood amid the ruins of Osgiliath. ‘I was in the company that held the bridge, until it was cast down behind us. Four only were saved by swimming: my brother and myself and two others. But still we fight on, holding all the west shores of Anduin; and those who shelter behind us give us praise, if ever they

愛隆會議 245。它被稱為米那斯魔窟，妖術之塔。米那斯雅諾隨後被重新命名為米那斯提力斯，守衛之塔；這兩座城市一直處於戰爭之中，而夾在中間的奧斯吉力亞斯則被廢棄，其廢墟中陰影徘徊。「人類的許多世代以來，情況一直如此。但米那斯提力斯的領主們仍在奮戰，反抗我們的敵人，守護著從亞苟那斯到大海的河道。而我將講述的這部分故事，現在也接近尾聲了。因為在伊西爾杜的時代，至尊戒從所有人的記憶中消失了，而三枚戒指也從它的支配中解放出來。然而在今日，它們再次陷入危險，因為令我們悲傷的是，魔戒已被尋獲。關於它的尋獲，自有他人講述，因為我在其中所起的作用微乎其微。」他停了下來，但波羅莫立刻站起身，高大而驕傲地站在他們面前。「請允許我，愛隆大師，」他說，「首先多說一些關於剛鐸的事，因為我確實是從剛鐸之地而來。讓所有人知道那裡發生了什麼事，對大家都有好處。因為我認為，很少有人知道我們的功績，因此也幾乎無法預料他們將面臨的危險，如果我們最終失敗的話。「不要以為在剛鐸之地，努曼諾爾的血脈已經耗盡，也不要以為它所有的驕傲和尊嚴都被遺忘了。憑藉我們的英勇，東方的野蠻民族仍被遏制，魔窟的恐怖也被阻擋在外；唯有如此，我們身後的土地才能維持和平與自由，成為西方的堡壘。但如果河道被攻破，那又會怎樣呢？「然而，那個時刻，或許已經不遠了。無名之敵再次崛起。我們稱之為末日火山的歐洛都因，再次冒出濃煙。黑之地的力量日益壯大，我們正被重重圍困。當敵人捲土重來時，我們的人民被趕出了伊西力安，那是我們河東的美麗領地，儘管我們在那裡保留了一塊立足之地和軍事力量。但就在今年，在六月之際，突如其來的戰爭從魔多降臨到我們身上，我們被擊潰了。我們寡不敵眾，因為魔多已經與東方人及殘酷的哈拉德林結盟；但我們並非因人數劣勢而戰敗。那裡有一種我們前所未見的力量。「有人說，它能被看見，像一個巨大的黑騎士，月光下的一個黑暗陰影。無論他到哪裡，瘋狂就充滿我們的敵人，但恐懼卻降臨在我們最勇敢的人身上，以至於人馬皆潰，四散奔逃。我們東方部隊只剩下殘餘部隊返回，他們摧毀了奧斯吉力亞斯廢墟中僅存的最後一座橋樑。「我當時就在守橋的隊伍中，直到那座橋在我們身後被摧毀。只有四個人靠游泳獲救：我兄弟、我自己和另外兩人。但我們仍在奮戰，守衛著安都因河的所有西岸；而那些在我們身後尋求庇護的人，如果他們曾

246 THE LORD OF THE RINGS hear our name: much praise but little help. Only from Rohan now will any men ride to us when we call. ‘In this evil hour I have come on an errand over many dangerous leagues to Elrond: a hundred and ten days I have journeyed all alone. But I do not seek allies in war. The might of Elrond is in wisdom not in weapons, it is said. I come to ask for counsel and the unravelling of hard words. For on the eve of the sudden assault a dream came to my brother in a troubled sleep; and afterwards a like dream came oft to him again, and once to me. ‘In that dream I thought the eastern sky grew dark and there was a growing thunder, but in the West a pale light lingered, and out of it I heard a voice, remote but clear, crying: Seek for the Sword that was broken: In Imladris it dwells; There shall be counsels taken Stronger than Morgul-spells. There shall be shown a token That Doom is near at hand, For Isildur’s Bane shall waken, And the Halfling forth shall stand. Of these words we could understand little, and we spoke to our father, Denethor, Lord of Minas Tirith, wise in the lore of Gondor. This only would he say, that Imladris was of old the name among the Elves of a far northern dale, where Elrond the Halfelven dwelt, greatest of lore-masters. Therefore my brother, seeing how desperate was our need, was eager to heed the dream and seek for Imladris; but since the way was full of doubt and danger, I took the journey upon myself. Loth was my father to give me leave, and long have I wandered by roads forgotten, seeking the house of Elrond, of which many had heard, but few knew where it lay.’ ‘And here in the house of Elrond more shall be made clear to you,’ said Aragorn, standing up. He cast his sword upon the table that stood before Elrond, and the blade was in two pieces. ‘Here is the Sword that was Broken!’ he said. ‘And who are you, and what have you to do with Minas Tirith?’ asked Boromir, looking in wonder at the lean face of the Ranger and his weather-stained cloak. ‘He is Aragorn son of Arathorn,’ said Elrond; ‘and he is descended through many fathers from Isildur Elendil’s son of Minas Ithil. He is the Chief of the Dunedain in the North, and few are now left of that folk.’

246 魔戒 聽聞我們的名聲：讚譽雖多，助益卻少。如今，只有洛汗的人民會在我們召喚時前來相助。「在這危急時刻，我獨自一人跋涉了許多危險的里格，歷經一百一十天，前來拜訪愛隆，身負重任。但我並非為尋求戰時盟友而來。據說，愛隆的力量在於智慧而非武器。我前來是為了尋求忠告，並解開那些難解的言語。因為在突襲前夕，我兄弟在不安的睡夢中做了一個夢；之後，類似的夢境又常常降臨於他，有一次也降臨於我。「在那個夢中，我看到東方的天空漸漸變暗，雷聲隆隆，但在西方，一抹蒼白的光芒徘徊不去，從中我聽到一個遙遠卻清晰的聲音在呼喊：尋找那斷裂之劍：它棲身於瑞文戴爾；那裡將有計謀被採納，比魔窟咒語更強大。那裡將顯現一個徵兆，預示厄運將近，因為伊西爾杜的禍根將會甦醒，而半身人將會挺身而出。對於這些話語，我們知之甚少，於是我們向父親迪耐瑟，米那斯提力斯的領主，一位精通剛鐸歷史的智者請教。他只說，瑞文戴爾是精靈古時對北方一個遙遠山谷的稱呼，那裡住著半精靈愛隆，他是最偉大的知識大師。因此，我兄弟見我們處境如此絕望，便渴望聽從夢境的指示，去尋找瑞文戴爾；但由於路途充滿疑慮與危險，我便獨自承擔了這趟旅程。我父親不願讓我離開，而我已在被遺忘的道路上徘徊許久，尋找愛隆的居所，許多人聽過它，但很少人知道它確切的位置。」「而在愛隆的家中，一切將會更加明朗。」亞拉岡站起身說道。他將劍擲於愛隆面前的桌上，劍刃已斷成兩截。「這就是那斷裂之劍！」他說。「你究竟是誰？你與米那斯提力斯有何干係？」波羅莫問道，他驚訝地看著遊俠那瘦削的臉龐和飽經風霜的斗篷。「他是亞拉岡，亞拉松之子，」愛隆說道；「他經由多代先祖，傳承自伊西爾杜，埃蘭迪爾之子，米那斯伊希爾的領主。他是北方登丹人的首領，如今那族人已所剩無幾了。」

THE COUNCIL OF ELROND 247 ‘Then it belongs to you, and not to me at all!’ cried Frodo in amazement, springing to his feet, as if he expected the Ring to be demanded at once. ‘It does not belong to either of us,’ said Aragorn; ‘but it has been ordained that you should hold it for a while.’ ‘Bring out the Ring, Frodo!’ said Gandalf solemnly. “The time has come. Hold it up, and then Boromir will understand the remainder of his riddle.’ There was a hush, and all turned their eyes on Frodo. He was shaken by a sudden shame and fear; and he felt a great reluctance to reveal the Ring, and a loathing of its touch. He wished he was far away. The Ring gleamed and flickered as he held it up before them in his trembling hand. ‘Behold Isildur’s Bane!’ said Elrond. Boromir’s eyes glinted as he gazed at the golden thing. “The Halfling!’ he muttered. ‘Is then the doom of Minas Tirith come at last? But why then should we seek a broken sword?’ “The words were not the doom of Minas Tinith,’ said Aragorn. ‘But doom and great deeds are indeed at hand. For the Sword that was Broken is the Sword of Elendil that broke beneath him when he fell. It has been treasured by his heirs when all other heirlooms were lost; for it was spoken of old among us that it should be made again when the Ring, Isildur’s Bane, was found. Now you have seen the sword that you have sought, what would you ask? Do you wish for the House of Elendil to return to the Land of Gondor?’ ‘I was not sent to beg any boon, but to seek only the meaning of a riddle,’ answered Boromir proudly. ‘Yet we are hard pressed, and the Sword of Elendil would be a help beyond our hope — if such a thing could indeed return out of the shadows of the past.’ He looked again at Aragorn, and doubt was in his eyes. Frodo felt Bilbo stir impatiently at his side. Evidently he was annoyed on his friend’s behalf. Standing suddenly up he burst out: All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that 1s strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken: The crownless again shall be king.

愛隆會議 「那麼它屬於你，根本不屬於我！」佛羅多驚訝地叫道，猛地站起身，彷彿他預料到魔戒會立刻被索要。「它不屬於我們任何一人，」亞拉岡說道；「但命運已註定你將暫時持有它。」「拿出魔戒，佛羅多！」甘道夫莊嚴地說。「時候到了。把它舉起來，然後波羅莫就會明白他謎語的其餘部分了。」一片寂靜，所有人的目光都轉向佛羅多。他被突如其來的羞恥和恐懼所震懾；他極不情願地展示魔戒，並厭惡它的觸感。他希望自己遠在天邊。當他用顫抖的手將魔戒舉起在眾人面前時，它閃爍著微光。「看哪，伊西爾杜的禍根！」愛隆說。波羅莫的眼睛閃爍著，他凝視著那金色的東西。「半身人！」他喃喃道。「米那斯提力斯的末日終於來了嗎？但既然如此，我們為何還要尋找一把斷劍呢？」「這些話並非米那斯提力斯的末日，」亞拉岡說。「但末日與偉大功績確實近在眼前。因為那斷裂之劍正是埃蘭迪爾之劍，在他倒下時斷裂了。當所有其他傳家寶都失落時，他的繼承者們一直珍藏著它；因為我們古老的傳說中曾說，當魔戒，即伊西爾杜的禍根被尋獲時，它將會被重新鑄造。現在你已經看到了你所尋找的劍，你還有何所求？你是否希望埃蘭迪爾家族重返剛鐸之地？」「我並非來乞求恩惠，只是來尋求一個謎語的意義，」波羅莫驕傲地回答。「然而我們處境艱難，埃蘭迪爾之劍將會是超乎我們希望的幫助——如果這樣的事物真能從過去的陰影中歸來。」他再次看向亞拉岡，眼中充滿了疑慮。佛羅多感到比爾博在他身旁不耐煩地動了一下。顯然他為他的朋友感到惱火。他突然站起身，脫口而出： 凡金不閃亮， 流浪者非皆迷途； 老而彌堅不凋零， 深根不為霜所及。 灰燼中將燃起火焰， 陰影中將迸發光明； 斷裂之刃將復原： 無冕者將再為王。

248 THE LORD OF THE RINGS ‘Not very good perhaps, but to the point — if you need more beyond the word of Elrond. If that was worth a journey of a hundred and ten days to hear, you had best listen to it.” He sat down with a snort. ‘I made that up myself,’ he whispered to Frodo, ‘for the Dunadan, a long time ago when he first told me about himself. I almost wish that my adventures were not over, and that I could go with him when his day comes.’ Aragorn smiled at him; then he turned to Boromir again. ‘For my part I forgive your doubt,’ he said. ‘Little do I resemble the figures of Elendil and Isildur as they stand carven in their majesty in the halls of Denethor. I am but the heir of Isildur, not Isildur himself. I have had a hard life and a long; and the leagues that lie between here and Gondor are a small part in the count of my journeys. I have crossed many mountains and many rivers, and trodden many plains, even into the far countries of Rhtin and Harad where the stars are strange. ‘But my home, such as I have, is in the North. For here the heirs of Valandil have ever dwelt in long line unbroken from father unto son for many generations. Our days have darkened, and we have dwindled; but ever the Sword has passed to a new keeper. And this I will say to you, Boromir, ere I end. Lonely men are we, Rangers of the wild, hunters — but hunters ever of the servants of the Enemy; for they are found in many places, not in Mordor only. ‘If Gondor, Boromir, has been a stalwart tower, we have played another part. Many evil things there are that your strong walls and bright swords do not stay. You know little of the lands beyond your bounds. Peace and freedom, do you say? The North would have known them little but for us. Fear would have destroyed them. But when dark things come from the houseless hills, or creep from sunless woods, they fly from us. What roads would any dare to tread, what safety would there be in quiet lands, or in the homes of simple men at night, if the Dunedain were asleep, or were all gone into the grave? ‘And yet less thanks have we than you. Travellers scowl at us, and countrymen give us scornful names. “‘Strider’? I am to one fat man who lives within a day’s march of foes that would freeze his heart, or lay his little town in ruin, if he were not guarded ceaselessly. Yet we would not have it otherwise. If simple folk are free from care and fear, simple they will be, and we must be secret to keep them so. That has been the task of my kindred, while the years have lengthened and the grass has grown. ‘But now the world is changing once again. A new hour comes. Isildur’s Bane is found. Battle is at hand. The Sword shall be reforged. I will come to Minas Tirith.’ ‘Isildur’s Bane is found, you say,’ said Boromir. ‘I have seen a

248 魔戒 「或許不怎麼樣，但切中要點——如果你需要比愛隆的話更多的東西。如果這句話值得你跋涉一百一十天來聽，你最好仔細聽。」他哼了一聲坐下。「這是我自己編的，」他對佛羅多耳語道，「是為那登丹人編的，很久以前他第一次告訴我他的身世時。我幾乎希望我的冒險還沒結束，希望他的時日到來時，我能與他同行。」亞拉岡對他笑了笑；然後又轉向波羅莫。「就我而言，我原諒你的疑慮，」他說，「我與伊蘭迪爾和伊西爾杜在迪耐瑟廳堂中莊嚴雕像的樣子相去甚遠。我只是伊西爾杜的繼承人，而非伊西爾杜本人。我經歷了艱苦漫長的一生；而這裡與剛鐸之間的距離，在我旅程的總數中只佔一小部分。我跨越了許多山脈和河流，踏遍了許多平原，甚至遠至瑞汀和哈拉德的異星之地。 「但我真正的家，如果我有的話，是在北方。因為瓦蘭迪爾的繼承人世世代代都在這裡居住，血脈從未斷絕。我們的時日已然黯淡，我們也已衰微；但聖劍總會傳給新的守護者。波羅莫，在我結束之前，我要對你說這些。我們是孤獨的人，荒野遊俠，獵人——但我們永遠是魔王的僕從的獵人；因為他們出現在許多地方，不只在魔多。 「如果剛鐸，波羅莫，是一座堅固的堡壘，那麼我們扮演了不同的角色。許多邪惡的事物，你的堅固城牆和明亮刀劍都無法阻止。你對你疆界之外的土地知之甚少。和平與自由，你是這麼說的嗎？如果沒有我們，北方幾乎不會知道它們。恐懼會摧毀它們。但當黑暗之物從無人居住的山丘而來，或從無陽光的森林中爬出時，它們會從我們身邊逃走。如果登丹人沉睡不醒，或都已入土為安，誰還敢踏上任何道路？在寧靜的土地上，或在夜晚簡樸人家的家中，哪裡還有安全可言？ 「然而我們得到的感謝比你們少。旅人對我們皺眉，鄉下人給我們輕蔑的稱呼。‘『神行客』？我對一個胖子來說是這樣，他住在離敵人只有一天路程的地方，那些敵人會讓他的心凍結，或讓他的小鎮化為廢墟，如果他沒有被不間斷地守護著。然而我們不希望有其他方式。如果樸實的人們免於憂慮和恐懼，他們就會保持樸實，而我們必須保持隱秘才能讓他們如此。這一直是我族人的任務，在歲月流逝、草木生長之際。 「但現在世界再次改變。新的時刻來臨了。伊西爾杜的禍根被找到了。戰鬥迫在眉睫。聖劍將會重鑄。我將前往米那斯提力斯。」「你說伊西爾杜的禍根被找到了，」波羅莫說，「我見過一個

THE COUNCIL OF ELROND 249 bright ring in the Halfling’s hand; but Isildur perished ere this age of the world began, they say. How do the Wise know that this ring is his? And how has it passed down the years, until it is brought hither by so strange a messenger?’ “That shall be told,’ said Elrond. ‘But not yet, I beg, Master!’ cried Bilbo. ‘Already the Sun is climbing to noon, and I feel the need of something to strengthen me.’ ‘I had not named you,’ said Elrond smiling. ‘But I do so now. Come! Tell us your tale. And if you have not yet cast your story into verse, you may tell it in plain words. The briefer, the sooner shall you be refreshed.’ ‘Very well,’ said Bilbo. ‘I will do as you bid. But I will now tell the true story, and if some here have heard me tell it otherwise’ — he looked sidelong at Gloin — ‘I ask them to forget it and forgive me. I only wished to claim the treasure as my very own in those days, and to be rid of the name of thief that was put on me. But perhaps I understand things a little better now. Anyway, this is what happened.’ To some there Bilbo’s tale was wholly new, and they listened with amazement while the old hobbit, actually not at all displeased, recounted his adventure with Gollum, at full length. He did not omit a single riddle. He would have given also an account of his party and disappearance from the Shire, if he had been allowed; but Elrond raised his hand. ‘Well told, my friend,’ he said, ‘but that is enough at this time. For the moment it suffices to know that the Ring passed to Frodo, your heir. Let him now speak!’ Then, less willingly than Bilbo, Frodo told of all his dealings with the Ring from the day that it passed into his keeping. Every step of his journey from Hobbiton to the Ford of Bruinen was questioned and considered, and everything that he could recall concerning the Black Riders was examined. At last he sat down again. ‘Not bad,’ Bilbo said to him. ‘You would have made a good story of it, if they hadn’t kept on interrupting. I tried to make a few notes, but we shall have to go over it all again together some time, if I am to write it up. There are whole chapters of stuff before you ever got here!’ “Yes, it made quite a long tale,’ answered Frodo. ‘But the story still does not seem complete to me. I still want to know a good deal, especially about Gandalf.’ Galdor of the Havens, who sat nearby, overheard him. ‘You speak for me also,’ he cried, and turning to Elrond he said: “The Wise may have good reason to believe that the halfling’s trove is indeed the

愛隆會議 249 「那枚明亮的戒指在哈比人的手中；但他們說，伊西爾杜在世界這個時代開始之前就已殞命。智者們如何知道這枚戒指是他的？它又是如何歷經歲月，直到被這樣一個奇怪的信使帶到這裡？」 「那將會被告知，」愛隆說。「但還不是時候，我求您了，大師！」比爾博喊道。「太陽已經爬到正午，我感覺需要一些東西來提振精神。」 「我還沒有點你的名，」愛隆微笑著說。「但我現在點了。來吧！告訴我們你的故事。如果你還沒有將你的故事編成詩歌，你可以用樸實的語言講述。越簡潔，你就能越快地恢復精神。」 「好吧，」比爾博說。「我會照你吩咐的去做。但我現在要講述真實的故事，如果這裡有些人聽我講過不同的版本——」他斜眼看了看葛羅音——「我請求他們忘記並原諒我。我當時只是想把那寶藏據為己有，並擺脫人們給我冠上的小偷之名。但或許我現在對事情有了更好的理解。總之，這就是發生的事。」 對在場的一些人來說，比爾博的故事是全新的，他們驚訝地聽著這位老哈比人，實際上他一點也不不高興，詳細地講述了他與咕嚕的冒險。他沒有遺漏任何一個謎語。如果允許的話，他也會講述他的宴會以及從夏爾消失的事情；但愛隆舉起了手。 「講得好，我的朋友，」他說，「但現在已經夠了。目前只需知道戒指傳給了佛羅多，你的繼承人。現在讓他來說！」 然後，佛羅多比比爾博更不情願地講述了他從戒指傳到他手中那天起，與戒指的所有經歷。他從哈比屯到布魯伊南渡口旅程的每一步都受到了詢問和審視，他所能回憶起的所有關於黑騎士的事情都被仔細檢查。最後他再次坐了下來。 「不錯，」比爾博對他說。「如果你們沒有一直打斷的話，你會講出一個好故事。我試著記了一些筆記，但如果我要把它寫下來，我們以後還是得一起再回顧一遍。在你來到這裡之前，還有好幾章的內容呢！」 「是的，這確實是一個很長的故事，」佛羅多回答。「但這個故事對我來說似乎還不完整。我仍然想知道很多事情，尤其是關於甘道夫的。」 坐在附近的港口高爾多聽到了他的話。「你也替我說出了心聲，」他喊道，然後轉向愛隆說：「智者們可能有充分的理由相信，哈比人的寶藏確實是…」

250 THE LORD OF THE RINGS Great Ring of long debate, unlikely though that may seem to those who know less. But may we not hear the proofs? And I would ask this also. What of Saruman? He is learned in the lore of the Rings, yet he is not among us. What is his counsel — if he knows the things that we have heard?’ “The questions that you ask, Galdor, are bound together,’ said Elrond. ‘I had not overlooked them, and they shall be answered. But these things it is the part of Gandalf to make clear; and I call upon him last, for it is the place of honour, and in all this matter he has been the chief.’ ‘Some, Galdor,’ said Gandalf, ‘would think the tidings of Gloin, and the pursuit of Frodo, proof enough that the halfling’s trove is a thing of great worth to the Enemy. Yet it is a ring. What then? The Nine the Nazgtl keep. The Seven are taken or destroyed.’ At this Gloin stirred, but did not speak. “The Three we know of. What then is this one that he desires so much? “There is indeed a wide waste of time between the River and the Mountain, between the loss and the finding. But the gap in the knowledge of the Wise has been filled at last. Yet too slowly. For the Enemy has been close behind, closer even than I feared. And well is it that not until this year, this very summer, as it seems, did he learn the full truth. ‘Some here will remember that many years ago I myself dared to pass the doors of the Necromancer in Dol Guldur, and secretly explored his ways, and found thus that our fears were true: he was none other than Sauron, our Enemy of old, at length taking shape and power again. Some, too, will remember also that Saruman dissuaded us from open deeds against him, and for long we watched him only. Yet at last, as his shadow grew, Saruman yielded, and the Council put forth its strength and drove the evil out of Mirkwood — and that was in the very year of the finding of this Ring: a strange chance, if chance it was. ‘But we were too late, as Elrond foresaw. Sauron also had watched us, and had long prepared against our stroke, governing Mordor from afar through Minas Morgul, where his Nine servants dwelt, until all was ready. Then he gave way before us, but only feigned to flee, and soon after came to the Dark Tower and openly declared himself. Then for the last time the Council met; for now we learned that he was seeking ever more eagerly for the One. We feared then that he had some news of it that we knew nothing of. But Saruman said nay, and repeated what he had said to us before: that the One would never again be found in Middle-earth. ‘At the worst,” said he, ‘‘our Enemy knows that we have it not, and that it still is lost. But what was lost may yet be found, he thinks.

250 魔戒 關於這枚引發長久爭論的至尊魔戒，對於那些知之甚少的人來說，這或許難以置信。但我們難道不能聽聽證據嗎？我還要問一件事。薩魯曼呢？他精通魔戒的知識，但他卻不在我們之中。如果他知道我們所聽到的這些事，他的建議是什麼？ 「你所提出的問題，葛羅多，是環環相扣的，」愛隆說道。「我並沒有忽略它們，而且它們都將得到解答。但這些事情該由甘道夫來闡明；我最後才請他發言，因為這是榮譽的席位，而且在所有這些事情上，他一直都是主導者。」 「葛羅多，」甘道夫說，「有些人會認為葛羅音的消息，以及佛羅多被追捕的事件，足以證明哈比人的寶藏對敵人來說是極其珍貴的東西。然而它只是一枚戒指。那又如何？九戒由戒靈保管。七戒已被奪走或摧毀。」葛羅音聞言動了一下，但沒有說話。「我們知道三戒的下落。那麼，這枚他如此渴望的戒指又是什麼？」 「在河流與山脈之間，在失去與尋獲之間，確實有一段漫長的時間流逝。但智者知識中的空白終於被填補了。然而，這一切都太慢了。因為敵人一直緊追在後，甚至比我所擔心的還要近。幸好直到今年，就在這個夏天，他才似乎得知了全部真相。」 「這裡有些人會記得，許多年前我曾親自冒險闖入多爾哥多死靈法師的門戶，秘密探索他的行徑，並因此發現我們的恐懼是真的：他不是別人，正是索倫，我們昔日的敵人，終於再次成形並恢復力量。有些人也會記得，薩魯曼曾勸阻我們不要對他採取公開行動，因此我們長期以來只是監視著他。然而最終，隨著他的陰影漸長，薩魯曼妥協了，議會也集結力量將邪惡逐出幽暗密林——而那正是在發現這枚魔戒的同一年：一個奇怪的巧合，如果那真的是巧合的話。」 「但我們還是太遲了，正如愛隆所預見的。索倫也一直在監視我們，並早已為我們的打擊做好了準備，他透過米那斯魔窟從遠方統治著魔多，他的九名僕從就住在那裡，直到一切準備就緒。然後他假裝退讓，卻只是佯裝逃跑，不久之後便來到了黑塔，公開宣佈了自己的存在。然後議會最後一次召開會議；因為我們現在得知他正越來越急切地尋找至尊魔戒。我們當時擔心他掌握了一些我們一無所知的消息。但薩魯曼說不，並重複了他之前對我們說過的話：至尊魔戒將永遠不會再在中土世界被找到。『最糟糕的情況是，』他說，『我們的敵人知道我們沒有它，而且它仍然失蹤了。但他認為，失去的東西或許還能被找到。』

THE COUNCIL OF ELROND 251 Fear not! His hope will cheat him. Have I not earnestly studied this matter? Into Anduin the Great it fell; and long ago, while Sauron slept, it was rolled down the River to the Sea. There let it lie until the End.”’’ Gandalf fell silent, gazing eastward from the porch to the far peaks of the Misty Mountains, at whose great roots the peril of the world had so long lain hidden. He sighed. “There I was at fault,’ he said. ‘I was lulled by the words of Saruman the Wise; but I should have sought for the truth sooner, and our peril would now be less.’ ‘We were all at fault,’ said Elrond, ‘and but for your vigilance the Darkness, maybe, would already be upon us. But say on!’ ‘From the first my heart misgave me, against all reason that I knew,’ said Gandalf, ‘and I desired to know how this thing came to Gollum, and how long he had possessed it. So I set a watch for him, guessing that he would ere long come forth from his darkness to seek for his treasure. He came, but he escaped and was not found. And then alas! I let the matter rest, watching and waiting only, as we have too often done. “Time passed with many cares, until my doubts were awakened again to sudden fear. Whence came the hobbit’s ring? What, if my fear was true, should be done with it? Those things I must decide. But I spoke yet of my dread to none, knowing the peril of an untimely whisper, if it went astray. In all the long wars with the Dark Tower treason has ever been our greatest foe. “That was seventeen years ago. Soon I became aware that spies of many sorts, even beasts and birds, were gathered round the Shire, and my fear grew. I called for the help of the Dunedain, and their watch was doubled; and I opened my heart to Aragorn, the heir of Isildur.’ ‘And I,’ said Aragorn, ‘counselled that we should hunt for Gollum, too late though it may seem. And since it seemed fit that Isildur’s heir should labour to repair Isildur’s fault, I went with Gandalf on the long and hopeless search.’ Then Gandalf told how they had explored the whole length of Wilderland, down even to the Mountains of Shadow and the fences of Mordor. ‘There we had rumour of him, and we guess that he dwelt there long in the dark hills; but we never found him, and at last I despaired. And then in my despair I thought again of a test that might make the finding of Gollum unneeded. The ring itself might tell if it were the One. The memory of words at the Council came back to me: words of Saruman, half-heeded at the time. I heard them now clearly in my heart.

愛隆會議 251 「別怕！他的希望會欺騙他。我難道沒有認真研究過這件事嗎？它落入了安都因大河；很久以前，當索倫沉睡時，它被河水沖刷著，一路流向大海。就讓它在那裡躺著，直到末日吧！」甘道夫沉默了，他從門廊向東凝視著迷霧山脈遙遠的山峰，世界的危機曾在那山脈的巨大根基處隱藏了如此之久。他嘆了口氣。「那時我犯了錯，」他說，「我被薩魯曼智者的話語所迷惑；但我本該更早地尋求真相，那麼我們的危險現在就會小一些。」「我們都犯了錯，」愛隆說，「如果不是你的警惕，黑暗也許早已降臨到我們身上了。不過，請繼續說下去吧！」 「從一開始我的心就感到不安，儘管我所知的一切都與此相悖，」甘道夫說，「我渴望知道這東西是如何落到咕嚕手裡的，以及他擁有它多久了。於是我派人監視他，猜想他不久就會從他的黑暗中出來尋找他的寶藏。他來了，但他逃脫了，沒有被找到。然後，唉！我讓這件事擱置了，只是觀望和等待，就像我們經常做的那樣。 歲月在諸多憂慮中流逝，直到我的疑慮再次被突如其來的恐懼喚醒。哈比人的戒指從何而來？如果我的恐懼是真的，該如何處理它？這些事情我必須決定。但我仍未向任何人提及我的恐懼，深知不合時宜的耳語若傳播開來會帶來危險。在與黑暗塔的所有漫長戰爭中，叛變一直是我們最大的敵人。 「那是十七年前的事了。很快我便意識到，各種各樣的間諜，甚至野獸和飛鳥，都聚集在夏爾周圍，我的恐懼與日俱增。我請求了登丹人的幫助，他們的監視力量也加倍了；我向亞拉岡，伊西爾杜的繼承人，敞開了心扉。」「而我，」亞拉岡說，「建議我們也去追捕咕嚕，儘管這可能看起來為時已晚。既然伊西爾杜的繼承人理應努力彌補伊西爾杜的過失，我便與甘道夫一同踏上了漫長而無望的搜尋之旅。」接著甘道夫講述了他們如何探索了荒野之地（Wilderland）的整個長度，甚至遠至陰影山脈和魔多邊界。 「在那裡我們聽到了關於他的傳聞，我們猜測他長期居住在那些黑暗的山丘中；但我們從未找到他，最終我絕望了。然後在我的絕望中，我再次想到了一個測試，也許能讓尋找咕嚕變得不必要。戒指本身或許能說明它是否就是至尊戒。會議上那些話語的記憶又回到了我的腦海：薩魯曼的話，當時我只是一知半解。現在我心中清晰地聽到了它們。

252 THE LORD OF THE RINGS ‘

252 魔戒

THE COUNCIL OF ELROND 253 even as I write it ts cooled, and it seemeth to shrink, though it loseth neither its beauty nor its shape. Already the writing upon it, which at first was as clear as red flame, fadeth and is now only barely to be read. It is fashioned in an elven-script of Eregion, for they have no letters in Mordor for such subtle work; but the language is unknown to me. I deem it to be a tongue of the Black Land, since it 1s foul and uncouth. What evil it saith I do not know; but I trace here a copy of it, lest it fade beyond recall. The Ring misseth, maybe, the heat of Sauron’s hand, which was black and yet burned lItke fire, and so Gil-galad was destroyed; and maybe were the gold made hot again, the writing would be refreshed. But for my part I will risk no hurt to this thing: of all the works of Sauron the only fair. It is precious to me, though I buy it with great pain. ‘When I read these words, my quest was ended. For the traced writing was indeed as Isildur guessed, in the tongue of Mordor and the servants of the Tower. And what was said therein was already known. For in the day that Sauron first put on the One, Celebrimbor, maker of the Three, was aware of him, and from afar he heard him speak these words, and so his evil purposes were revealed. ‘At once I took my leave of Denethor, but even as I went northwards, messages came to me out of Lorien that Aragorn had passed that way, and that he had found the creature called Gollum. Therefore I went first to meet him and hear his tale. Into what deadly perils he had gone alone I dared not guess.’ ‘There is little need to tell of them,’ said Aragorn. ‘If a man must needs walk in sight of the Black Gate, or tread the deadly flowers of Morgul Vale, then perils he will have. I, too, despaired at last, and I began my homeward journey. And then, by fortune, I came suddenly on what I sought: the marks of soft feet beside a muddy pool. But now the trail was fresh and swift, and it led not to Mordor but away. Along the skirts of the Dead Marshes I followed it, and then I had him. Lurking by a stagnant mere, peering in the water as the dark eve fell, I caught him, Gollum. He was covered with green slime. He will never love me, I fear; for he bit me, and I was not gentle. Nothing more did I ever get from his mouth than the marks of his teeth. I deemed it the worst part of all my journey, the road back, watching him day and night, making him walk before me with a halter on his neck, gagged, until he was tamed by lack of drink and food, driving him ever towards Mirkwood. I brought him there at last and gave him to the Elves, for we had agreed that this should be done; and I was glad to be rid of his company, for he stank. For my part I hope never to look upon him again; but Gandalf came and endured long speech with him.’ “Yes, long and weary,’ said Gandalf, ‘but not without profit. For

愛隆會議 253 即使我寫下這段文字時，它也已冷卻，似乎正在縮小，儘管它既沒有失去美麗也沒有失去形狀。上面的文字，起初像紅色的火焰般清晰，現在已經褪色，幾乎無法辨認。它是以伊瑞詹的精靈文字寫成的，因為魔多沒有適合這種精巧工作的文字；但這種語言我卻不認識。我認為它是黑土的語言，因為它既污穢又粗鄙。它說了什麼邪惡之事我不知道；但我在此描摹一份副本，以免它褪色到無法辨認。這戒指或許是想念索倫之手的熱度，那隻手雖然漆黑卻像火一樣燃燒，因此吉爾加拉德被毀滅了；或許如果黃金再次被加熱，上面的文字就會重新顯現。但就我而言，我不會讓這東西受到任何傷害：它是索倫所有作品中唯一美麗的。它對我來說彌足珍貴，儘管我為它付出了巨大的痛苦。「當我讀到這些文字時，我的任務就結束了。因為這描摹的文字確實如伊西爾杜所猜測，是魔多和高塔僕從的語言。而其中所說的內容早已為人所知。」「因為在索倫第一次戴上至尊戒的那一天，三戒的鑄造者凱勒布理鵬就察覺到了他，並從遠處聽到他說出這些話，於是他的邪惡目的便被揭露了。」「我立刻向迪耐瑟告辭，但就在我北行之際，羅斯洛立安傳來消息，說亞拉岡已經經過那裡，並且找到了那個名叫咕嚕的生物。因此我先去見他，聽他的故事。他獨自經歷了怎樣的致命危險，我不敢猜測。」「『沒有必要細說那些事，』亞拉岡說。『如果一個人必須在黑門的視線下行走，或是踏過魔窟谷的致命花朵，那麼他就會遇到危險。我也終於絕望了，開始了回家的旅程。然後，幸運地，我突然發現了我所尋找的東西：泥濘水池旁柔軟的腳印。但現在蹤跡是新鮮而迅速的，它沒有通往魔多，而是離開了。我沿著亡者沼澤的邊緣追蹤，然後我抓住了他。他潛伏在一個死水潭邊，在夜幕降臨時窺視著水面，我抓住了他，咕嚕。他身上覆蓋著綠色的黏液。我擔心他永遠不會愛我；因為他咬了我，而我對他也不溫柔。除了他的牙印，我從他嘴裡什麼也沒得到。我認為那是我整個旅程中最糟糕的部分，回程的路上，日夜看守著他，讓他戴著籠頭走在我前面，嘴巴被堵住，直到他因缺乏飲食而被馴服，一直把他趕向幽暗密林。我最終把他帶到那裡，交給了精靈，因為我們已經同意這樣做；我很高興擺脫他的陪伴，因為他很臭。就我而言，我希望永遠不要再見到他；但甘道夫來了，並忍受了與他長時間的談話。』」「『是的，漫長而疲憊，』甘道夫說，『但並非毫無收穫。因為』

254 THE LORD OF THE RINGS one thing, the tale he told of his loss agreed with that which Bilbo has now told openly for the first time; but that mattered little, since I had already guessed it. But I learned then first that Gollum’s ring came out of the Great River nigh to the Gladden Fields. And I learned also that he had possessed it long. Many lives of his small kind. The power of the ring had lengthened his years far beyond their span; but that power only the Great Rings wield. ‘And if that is not proof enough, Galdor, there is the other test that I spoke of. Upon this very ring which you have here seen held aloft, round and unadorned, the letters that Isildur reported may still be read, if one has the strength of will to set the golden thing in the fire a while. That I have done, and this I have read: Ash nazg durbatuliik, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulik agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.’ The change in the wizard’s voice was astounding. Suddenly it became menacing, powerful, harsh as stone. A shadow seemed to pass over the high sun, and the porch for a moment grew dark. All trembled, and the Elves stopped their ears. ‘Never before has any voice dared to utter words of that tongue in Imladris, Gandalf the Grey,’ said Elrond, as the shadow passed and the company breathed once more. ‘And let us hope that none will ever speak it here again,’ answered Gandalf. ‘Nonetheless I do not ask your pardon, Master Elrond. For if that tongue is not soon to be heard in every corner of the West, then let all put doubt aside that this thing is indeed what the Wise have declared: the treasure of the Enemy, fraught with all his malice; and in it lies a great part of his strength of old. Out of the Black Years come the words that the Smiths of Eregion heard, and knew that they had been betrayed: One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the Darkness bind them. ‘Know also, my friends, that I learned more yet from Gollum. He was loth to speak and his tale was unclear, but it is beyond all doubt that he went to Mordor, and there all that he knew was forced from him. Thus the Enemy knows now that the One is found, that it was long in the Shire; and since his servants have pursued it almost to our door, he soon will know, already he may know, even as I speak, that we have it here.’

254 《魔戒》 有一件事，他講述自己失去魔戒的故事，與比爾博現在首次公開講述的內容相符；但這無關緊要，因為我早已猜到了。但我當時首次得知，咕嚕的魔戒是從大河，靠近格拉頓平原的地方來的。我也得知他擁有它很久了。他那渺小族類的好幾輩子。魔戒的力量延長了他的壽命，遠遠超出了他們應有的年限；但那種力量只有那些偉大的魔戒才能施展。「如果這還不足以證明，加爾多，還有我提過的另一項測試。在這枚你們曾見過高舉、圓潤無飾的魔戒上，伊西爾杜報告的文字仍然可以讀到，如果有人有足夠的意志力將這黃金之物放入火中片刻。」「我已經這麼做了，我讀到的是：Ash nazg durbatuliik, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulik agh burzum-ishi krimpatul。」巫師聲音的變化令人震驚。它突然變得充滿威脅、強大有力，如石頭般粗礪。一道陰影似乎掠過高懸的太陽，門廊瞬間變得昏暗。所有人都顫抖著，精靈們摀住了耳朵。「灰袍甘道夫，從未有任何聲音膽敢在瑞文戴爾說出那種語言的詞句。」當陰影消散，眾人再次呼吸時，愛隆說道。「我們也希望這裡再也沒有人會說它了。」甘道夫回答。「儘管如此，愛隆大人，我並不請求您的原諒。因為如果那種語言不久後不會在西方的每個角落被聽到，那麼就讓所有人打消疑慮，這東西確實是智者們所宣稱的：敵人的寶藏，充滿了他所有的惡意；其中蘊藏著他昔日力量的很大一部分。這些話語來自黑暗年代，伊瑞詹的鐵匠們聽到了，並知道他們被背叛了：「至尊戒，馭眾戒；尋眾戒，聚眾戒；魔戒至尊引眾戒，禁錮眾戒入黑暗。」「我的朋友們，還要知道，我從咕嚕那裡學到了更多。他不願開口，他的故事也不清楚，但毫無疑問他去了魔多，在那裡他所知道的一切都被逼問出來了。因此，敵人現在知道至尊戒被找到了，它在夏爾待了很久；既然他的僕從幾乎追到了我們的門口，他很快就會知道，甚至在我說話的時候，他可能已經知道，我們把它帶到這裡了。」

THE COUNCIL OF ELROND 255 All sat silent for a while, until at length Boromir spoke. ‘He is a small thing, you say, this Gollum? Small, but great in mischief. What became of him? To what doom did you put him?’ ‘He is in prison, but no worse,’ said Aragorn. ‘He had suffered much. There is no doubt that he was tormented, and the fear of Sauron lies black on his heart. Still I for one am glad that he is safely kept by the watchful Elves of Mirkwood. His malice is great and gives him a strength hardly to be believed in one so lean and withered. He could work much mischief still, if he were free. And I do not doubt that he was allowed to leave Mordor on some evil errand.’ ‘Alas! alas!’ cried Legolas, and in his fair Elvish face there was great distress. “The tidings that I was sent to bring must now be told. They are not good, but only here have I learned how evil they may seem to this company. Sméagol, who is now called Gollum, has escaped.’ ‘Escaped?’ cried Aragorn. “That is ill news indeed. We shall all rue it bitterly, I fear. How came the folk of Thranduil to fail in their trust?’ ‘Not through lack of watchfulness,’ said Legolas; ‘but perhaps through over-kindliness. And we fear that the prisoner had aid from others, and that more is known of our doings than we could wish. We guarded this creature day and night, at Gandalf’s bidding, much though we wearied of the task. But Gandalf bade us hope still for his cure, and we had not the heart to keep him ever in dungeons under the earth, where he would fall back into his old black thoughts.’ “You were less tender to me,’ said Gldin with a flash of his eyes, as old memories were stirred of his imprisonment in the deep places of the Elven-king’s halls. ‘Now come!’ said Gandalf. ‘Pray, do not interrupt, my good Gloin. That was a regrettable misunderstanding, long set right. If all the grievances that stand between Elves and Dwarves are to be brought up here, we may as well abandon this Council.’ Gloin rose and bowed, and Legolas continued. ‘In the days of fair weather we led Gollum through the woods; and there was a high tree standing alone far from the others which he liked to climb. Often we let him mount up to the highest branches, until he felt the free wind; but we set a guard at the tree’s foot. One day he refused to come down, and the guards had no mind to climb after him: he had learned the trick of clinging to boughs with his feet as well as with his hands; so they sat by the tree far into the night. ‘It was that very night of summer, yet moonless and starless, that Orcs came on us at unawares. We drove them off after some time; they were many and fierce, but they came from over the mountains,

愛隆會議 255 眾人靜默片刻，直到波羅莫終於開口。「你說，這咕嚕是個小東西？小，卻極其惡毒。他後來怎麼樣了？你把他置於何種命運？」亞拉岡說：「他被關在牢裡，但情況沒有更糟。他受了很多苦。毫無疑問，他曾受盡折磨，索倫的恐懼如黑影般籠罩著他的心。但我個人很高興他被幽暗密林的警惕精靈們安全看管著。他的惡意深重，賦予他一種難以置信的力量，對於一個如此瘦弱枯槁的生物而言。如果他自由了，他仍能造成許多禍害。我毫不懷疑他被允許離開魔多，是為了某種邪惡的差事。」「唉！唉！」勒苟拉斯喊道，他那俊美的精靈臉龐上滿是痛苦。「我奉命帶來的消息現在必須說了。它們並不好，但我直到此刻才明白它們對這隊伍來說可能有多麼邪惡。史麥戈，現在被稱為咕嚕的，逃走了。」「逃走了？」亞拉岡喊道。「這確實是個壞消息。恐怕我們都會為此深感後悔。瑟蘭督伊的人民為何會失信？」勒苟拉斯說：「並非因為疏於看守；但或許是因為過於仁慈。我們擔心囚犯得到了他人的幫助，而且我們的行動被知曉的程度超出了我們的期望。我們日夜看守這個生物，奉甘道夫之命，儘管我們對這任務感到厭倦。但甘道夫命令我們仍要抱持他能被治癒的希望，我們也不忍心永遠把他關在地下牢房裡，那裡他會再次陷入他那些黑暗的舊思想中。」「你對我可沒那麼溫柔。」葛羅音說，眼中閃過一絲光芒，舊日的記憶被喚起，關於他被囚禁在精靈王大廳深處的經歷。「現在，過來！」甘道夫說。「請不要打斷，我親愛的葛羅音。那是一個令人遺憾的誤會，早已糾正。如果精靈和矮人之間所有的不滿都要在這裡提出，我們不如就此放棄這次會議。」葛羅音起身鞠躬，勒苟拉斯繼續說道。「在天氣晴朗的日子裡，我們帶著咕嚕穿過樹林；有一棵高大的樹獨自矗立，遠離其他樹木，他喜歡爬那棵樹。我們經常讓他爬到最高的樹枝上，直到他感受到自由的風；但我們在樹腳下設了守衛。有一天他拒絕下來，守衛們也不想爬上去追他：他學會了用腳和手攀附樹枝的技巧；於是他們坐在樹旁，直到深夜。那正是那個夏夜，卻無月無星，半獸人趁我們不備襲擊了我們。我們在一段時間後將他們擊退；他們數量眾多且兇猛，但他們是從山那邊來的，

256 THE LORD OF THE RINGS and were unused to the woods. When the battle was over, we found that Gollum was gone, and his guards were slain or taken. It then seemed plain to us that the attack had been made for his rescue, and that he knew of it beforehand. How that was contrived we cannot guess; but Gollum is cunning, and the spies of the Enemy are many. The dark things that were driven out in the year of the Dragon’s fall have returned in greater numbers, and Mirkwood is again an evil place, save where our realm is maintained. ‘We have failed to recapture Gollum. We came on his trail among those of many Orcs, and it plunged deep into the Forest, going south. But ere long it escaped our skill, and we dared not continue the hunt; for we were drawing nigh to Dol Guldur, and that is still a very evil place; we do not go that way.’ ‘Well, well, he is gone,’ said Gandalf. ‘We have no time to seek for him again. He must do what he will. But he may play a part yet that neither he nor Sauron have foreseen. ‘And now I will answer Galdor’s other questions. What of Saruman? What are his counsels to us in this need? This tale I must tell in full, for only Elrond has heard it yet, and that in brief; but it will bear on all that we must resolve. It is the last chapter in the Tale of the Ring, so far as it has yet gone. ‘At the end of June I was in the Shire, but a cloud of anxiety was on my mind, and I rode to the southern borders of the little land; for I had a foreboding of some danger, still hidden from me but drawing near. There messages reached me telling me of war and defeat in Gondor, and when I heard of the Black Shadow a chill smote my heart. But I found nothing save a few fugitives from the South; yet it seemed to me that on them sat a fear of which they would not speak. I turned then east and north and journeyed along the Greenway; and not far from Bree I came upon a traveller sitting on a bank beside the road with his grazing horse beside him. It was Radagast the Brown, who at one time dwelt at Rhosgobel, near the borders of Mirkwood. He is one of my order, but I had not seen him for many a year. “**Gandalf!”’ he cried. “‘I was seeking you. But I am a stranger in these parts. All I knew was that you might be found in a wild region with the uncouth name of Shire.” “**Your information was correct,’’ I said. “But do not put it that way, if you meet any of the inhabitants. You are near the borders of the Shire now. And what do you want with me? It must be pressing. You were never a traveller, unless driven by great need.” ‘“T have an urgent errand,” he said. ‘““My news is evil.’’ Then he looked about him, as if the hedges might have ears. ‘‘Nazgtl,’’ he

256 魔戒之主 且不習慣森林。戰鬥結束後，我們發現咕嚕不見了，他的守衛不是被殺就是被俘。我們當時很清楚，這次襲擊是為了營救他，而且他事先就知道了。我們無法猜測這是如何策劃的；但咕嚕很狡猾，而且敵人的間諜很多。那些在惡龍墜落之年被驅逐的黑暗生物，如今數量更多地回來了，幽暗密林再次成為一個邪惡之地，除了我們領地所維護的地方。 「我們未能重新抓獲咕嚕。我們在許多半獸人的蹤跡中發現了他的蹤跡，它深入森林，向南而去。但不久之後，它就超出了我們的追蹤能力，我們不敢繼續追捕；因為我們正接近多爾哥多，那仍然是一個非常邪惡的地方；我們不會走那條路。」 「好吧，好吧，他走了。」甘道夫說。「我們沒有時間再去找他了。他必須做他想做的事。但他可能會扮演一個連他自己和索倫都未曾預料到的角色。」 「現在我來回答加爾多爾的其他問題。薩魯曼怎麼樣了？在我們這個困境中，他給了我們什麼建議？這個故事我必須完整地講述，因為只有愛隆聽過，而且只是簡短地聽過；但它將影響我們必須解決的一切。這是魔戒故事的最後一章，就目前而言。」 「六月底我在夏爾，但我的心頭籠罩著一片焦慮的烏雲，我騎馬前往這片小土地的南部邊界；因為我預感到某種危險，它仍然對我隱藏，但正在逼近。在那裡我收到了消息，告訴我剛鐸的戰爭和失敗，當我聽到黑影時，一股寒意刺痛了我的心。但我除了幾個來自南方的逃亡者之外什麼也沒發現；然而在我看來，他們身上籠罩著一種他們不願談論的恐懼。然後我轉向東方和北方，沿著綠道旅行；在離布理不遠的地方，我遇到了一位旅行者，他坐在路邊的土堤上，身旁是他正在吃草的馬。那是褐袍瑞達加斯特，他曾一度住在羅斯哥貝爾，靠近幽暗密林的邊界。他是我的同伴之一，但我已經很多年沒有見過他了。」 「『甘道夫！』他喊道。『我一直在找你。但我對這裡很陌生。我只知道你可能會在一個名字粗俗的荒野地區——夏爾——被找到。』」 「『你的情報是正確的，』我說。『但如果你遇到任何居民，不要那樣說。你現在已經接近夏爾的邊界了。你找我有什麼事？一定很緊急。你從來都不是個旅行者，除非是被巨大的需求所驅使。』」 「『我有一個緊急的任務，』他說。『我的消息很糟糕。』然後他環顧四周，彷彿牆壁有耳朵似的。『戒靈，』他

THE COUNCIL OF ELROND 257 whispered. ‘“The Nine are abroad again. They have crossed the River secretly and are moving westward. They have taken the guise of riders in black.” ‘I knew then what I had dreaded without knowing it. ‘*“The Enemy must have some great need or purpose,” said Radagast; ““but what it is that makes him look to these distant and desolate parts, I cannot guess.” “*“What do you mean?”’ said I. ‘“T have been told that wherever they go the Riders ask for news of a land called Shire.”’ ‘

愛隆會議 257 頁低聲說道：「『九戒靈又出來了。他們秘密地渡過了河，正往西方移動。他們喬裝成黑衣騎士的模樣。』」我當時才知道我一直無意識地恐懼著什麼。「『敵人一定有什麼重大的需求或目的，』瑞達加斯特說道；『但究竟是什麼讓他關注這些遙遠而荒涼的地方，我就猜不到了。』」「『你這是什麼意思？』我說。『我聽說，無論他們走到哪裡，那些騎士都會打聽一個叫做「夏爾」的地方的消息。』」

258 THE LORD OF THE RINGS ‘However, I wrote a message to Frodo, and trusted to my friend the innkeeper to send it to him. I rode away at dawn; and I came at long last to the dwelling of Saruman. That is far south in Isengard, in the end of the Misty Mountains, not far from the Gap of Rohan. And Boromir will tell you that that is a great open vale that lies between the Misty Mountains and the northmost foothills of Ered Nimrais, the White Mountains of his home. But Isengard is a circle of sheer rocks that enclose a valley as with a wall, and in the midst of that valley is a tower of stone called Orthanc. It was not made by Saruman, but by the Men of Numenor long ago; and it is very tall and has many secrets; yet it looks not to be a work of craft. It cannot be reached save by passing the circle of Isengard; and in that circle there is only one gate. ‘Late one evening I came to the gate, like a great arch in the wall of rock; and it was strongly guarded. But the keepers of the gate were on the watch for me and told me that Saruman awaited me. I rode under the arch, and the gate closed silently behind me, and suddenly I was afraid, though I knew no reason for it. ‘But I rode to the foot of Orthanc, and came to the stair of Saruman; and there he met me and led me up to his high chamber. He wore a ring on his finger. “**So you have come, Gandalf,’’ he said to me gravely; but in his eyes there seemed to be a white light, as if a cold laughter was in his heart. ““*Yes, I have come,” I said. “I have come for your aid, Saruman the White.” And that title seemed to anger him. “*“Have you indeed, Gandalf the Grey!’ he scoffed. “‘For aid? It has seldom been heard of that Gandalf the Grey sought for aid, one so cunning and so wise, wandering about the lands, and concerning himself in every business, whether it belongs to him or not.” ‘I looked at him and wondered. ‘“‘But if I am not deceived,”’ said I, “things are now moving which will require the union of all our strength.” ‘**That may be so,” he said, “‘but the thought is late in coming to you. How long, I wonder, have you concealed from me, the head of the Council, a matter of greatest import? What brings you now from your lurking-place in the Shire?’’ “**The Nine have come forth again,”’ I answered. ““They have crossed the River. So Radagast said to me.” “**Radagast the Brown!”’ laughed Saruman, and he no longer concealed his scorn. ‘‘Radagast the Bird-tamer! Radagast the Simple! Radagast the Fool! Yet he had just the wit to play the part that I set him. For you have come, and that was all the purpose of my message. And here you will stay, Gandalf the Grey, and rest from journeys.

258 魔戒 「然而，我寫了一封信給佛羅多，並託付給我的朋友，那位旅店老闆，請他轉交。我在黎明時分騎馬離開；最終，我終於抵達了薩魯曼的居所。那裡位於艾辛格的南方深處，在迷霧山脈的盡頭，離洛汗隘口不遠。波羅莫會告訴你，那是一個巨大的開闊山谷，介於迷霧山脈和他家鄉的白山——伊瑞德尼姆拉斯山脈——最北端的山麓之間。但艾辛格是由一圈陡峭的岩石構成，像一道牆一樣圍繞著一個山谷，而山谷中央則矗立著一座名為歐散克的石塔。它並非薩魯曼所建，而是很久以前由努曼諾爾人所造；它非常高聳，藏有許多秘密；然而，它看起來卻不像是一件工藝品。除了穿過艾辛格的環形岩壁，否則無法抵達；而那環形岩壁中只有一道門。 「一天傍晚，我來到那道門前，它就像岩壁上的一個巨大拱門；那裡守衛森嚴。但守門人一直在等我，並告訴我薩魯曼正在等我。我騎馬穿過拱門，門在我身後悄無聲息地關上，我突然感到害怕，儘管我不知道原因。 「但我騎馬來到歐散克塔腳下，抵達薩魯曼的階梯；他在那裡迎接我，並引我上到他的高塔密室。他手上戴著一枚戒指。 「『甘道夫，你終於來了，』他嚴肅地對我說；但他的眼中似乎閃爍著一道白光，彷彿他心中藏著一絲冷笑。 「『是的，我來了，』我說。『我來尋求你的幫助，白袍薩魯曼。』而這個稱謂似乎激怒了他。 「『你真的來了，灰袍甘道夫！』他嘲笑道。『尋求幫助？灰袍甘道夫尋求幫助，這可是聞所未聞啊，你如此狡猾又如此睿智，四處遊蕩，事事插手，無論是否與你相關。』 「我望著他，感到疑惑。 「『但如果我沒有看錯，』我說，『現在情勢正在發展，需要我們所有力量的聯合。』 「『或許如此，』他說，『但這個想法對你來說來得太遲了。我不知道，你身為議會之首，隱瞞我這件極其重要的事情多久了？現在是什麼把你從夏爾的藏身之處帶出來的？』 「『九戒靈再次現身了，』我回答。『他們已經渡過了河。拉達加斯特是這麼告訴我的。』 「『褐袍拉達加斯特！』薩魯曼大笑道，他不再掩飾自己的輕蔑。『馴鳥者拉達加斯特！愚笨的拉達加斯特！傻瓜拉達加斯特！然而他卻有足夠的機智來扮演我為他設定的角色。因為你已經來了，這就是我傳遞訊息的全部目的。而你將會留在這裡，灰袍甘道夫，從此不再遠行。

THE COUNCIL OF ELROND 259 For Iam Saruman the Wise, Saruman Ring-maker, Saruman of Many Colours!” ‘I looked then and saw that his robes, which had seemed white, were not so, but were woven of all colours, and if he moved they shimmered and changed hue so that the eye was bewildered. ‘

愛隆會議 259 「因為我是薩魯曼智者，薩魯曼造戒者，多色薩魯曼！」 「我當時看去，發現他的長袍，原本看似白色，卻並非如此，而是由所有顏色編織而成，當他移動時，長袍閃爍變幻色彩，令人眼花繚亂。」

260 THE LORD OF THE RINGS Gandalf?” he whispered. ‘“‘Why not? The Ruling Ring? If we could command that, then the Power would pass to us. That is in truth why I brought you here. For I have many eyes in my service, and I believe that you know where this precious thing now lies. Is it not so? Or why do the Nine ask for the Shire, and what is your business there?”’? As he said this a lust which he could not conceal shone suddenly in his eyes. “**Saruman,”’ I said, standing away from him, ‘‘only one hand at a time can wield the One, and you know that well, so do not trouble to say we! But I would not give it, nay, I would not give even news of it to you, now that I learn your mind. You were head of the Council, but you have unmasked yourself at last. Well, the choices are, it seems, to submit to Sauron, or to yourself. I will take neither. Have you others to offer?” “He was cold now and perilous. “‘Yes,’’ he said. “‘I did not expect you to show wisdom, even in your own behalf; but I gave you the chance of aiding me willingly, and so saving yourself much trouble and pain. The third choice is to stay here, until the end.” **Until what end?” ‘**Until you reveal to me where the One may be found. I may find means to persuade you. Or until it is found in your despite, and the Ruler has time to turn to lighter matters: to devise, say, a fitting reward for the hindrance and insolence of Gandalf the Grey.” ‘**That may not prove to be one of the lighter matters,”’ said I. He laughed at me, for my words were empty, and he knew it. “They took me and they set me alone on the pinnacle of Orthanc, in the place where Saruman was accustomed to watch the stars. There is no descent save by a narrow stair of many thousand steps, and the valley below seems far away. I looked on it and saw that, whereas it had once been green and fair, it was now filled with pits and forges. Wolves and orcs were housed in Isengard, for Saruman was mustering a great force on his own account, in rivalry of Sauron and not in his service, yet. Over all his works a dark smoke hung and wrapped itself about the sides of Orthanc. I stood alone on an island in the clouds; and I had no chance of escape, and my days were bitter. I was pierced with cold, and I had but little room in which to pace to and fro, brooding on the coming of the Riders to the North. “That the Nine had indeed arisen I felt assured, apart from the words of Saruman which might be lies. Long ere I came to Isengard I had heard tidings by the way that could not be mistaken. Fear was ever in my heart for my friends in the Shire; but still I had some hope. I hoped that Frodo had set forth at once, as my letter had urged, and that he had reached Rivendell before the deadly pursuit

260 魔戒 剛鐸夫？」他低聲說。「為什麼不呢？那至尊魔戒？如果我們能掌控它，那麼力量就會歸於我們。這確實是我帶你來這裡的原因。因為我手下有許多耳目，我相信你知道這件珍貴的東西現在在哪裡。不是嗎？不然那九個戒靈為何要尋找夏爾，你在那裡有什麼事？」他說這話時，眼中突然閃爍著他無法掩飾的慾望。「薩魯曼，」我說，站得離他遠一些，「一次只能有一隻手能掌控魔戒，你很清楚這一點，所以別費心說『我們』了！但我不會把它給你，不，我甚至不會把它的消息告訴你，既然我已經看清你的心思。你曾是議會的首領，但你終於暴露了自己。好吧，看來選擇只有臣服於索倫，或是臣服於你自己。我兩者都不會選。你還有別的選擇可以提供嗎？」他現在變得冷酷而危險。「是的，」他說，「我沒指望你會表現出智慧，即使是為了你自己；但我給了你自願幫助我的機會，這樣可以省去你許多麻煩和痛苦。第三個選擇是待在這裡，直到終結。」「直到什麼終結？」「直到你向我揭示魔戒可能在哪裡被找到。我可能會找到辦法說服你。或者直到它在你不情願的情況下被找到，而那統治者有時間處理一些輕鬆的事情：比如說，為灰袍甘道夫的阻撓和傲慢設計一個合適的獎賞。」「那可能不會是輕鬆的事情之一。」我說。他嘲笑我，因為我的話語空洞，他知道這一點。「他們把我帶走，把我獨自一人安置在歐散克塔的頂端，那是薩魯曼過去常觀星的地方。除了那條數千級的狹窄階梯，沒有其他下山的路，下面的山谷看起來遙遠。我望著它，看到它曾經綠意盎然、景色宜人，現在卻滿是坑洞和熔爐。狼群和半獸人被安置在艾辛格，因為薩魯曼正在為自己集結一支大軍，與索倫抗衡，而不是為他服務。在他所有的工程上空，濃煙瀰漫，纏繞著歐散克塔的側面。我獨自站在雲中的孤島上；我沒有逃脫的機會，我的日子苦不堪言。我被寒冷刺穿，只有很小的空間可以來回踱步，思索著北方騎士的到來。「我確信那九個戒靈確實已經崛起，這與薩魯曼可能說謊的話無關。在我來到艾辛格之前很久，我就在路上聽到了無法誤解的消息。我心中一直為夏爾的朋友們感到恐懼；但我仍抱有一絲希望。我希望佛羅多已經按照我的信件敦促，立即出發，並在致命的追擊之前到達瑞文戴爾。

THE COUNCIL OF ELROND 261 began. And both my fear and my hope proved ill-founded. For my hope was founded on a fat man in Bree; and my fear was founded on the cunning of Sauron. But fat men who sell ale have many calls to answer; and the power of Sauron is still less than fear makes it. But in the circle of Isengard, trapped and alone, it was not easy to think that the hunters before whom all have fled or fallen would falter in the Shire far away.’ ‘I saw you!’ cried Frodo. ‘You were walking backwards and forwards. The moon shone in your hair.’ Gandalf paused astonished and looked at him. ‘It was only a dream,’ said Frodo, ‘but it suddenly came back to me. I had quite forgotten it. It came some time ago; after I left the Shire, I think.’ “Then it was late in coming,’ said Gandalf, ‘as you will see. I was in an evil plight. And those who know me will agree that I have seldom been in such need, and do not bear such misfortune well. Gandalf the Grey caught like a fly in a spider’s treacherous web! Yet even the most subtle spiders may leave a weak thread. ‘At first I feared, as Saruman no doubt intended, that Radagast had also fallen. Yet I had caught no hint of anything wrong in his voice or in his eye at our meeting. If I had, I should never have gone to Isengard, or I should have gone more warily. So Saruman guessed, and he had concealed his mind and deceived his messenger. It would have been useless in any case to try and win over the honest Radagast to treachery. He sought me in good faith, and so persuaded me. “That was the undoing of Saruman’s plot. For Radagast knew no reason why he should not do as I asked; and he rode away towards Mirkwood where he had many friends of old. And the Eagles of the Mountains went far and wide, and they saw many things: the gathering of wolves and the mustering of Orcs; and the Nine Riders going hither and thither in the lands; and they heard news of the escape of Gollum. And they sent a messenger to bring these tidings to me. ‘So it was that when summer waned, there came a night of moon, and Gwaihir the Windlord, swiftest of the Great Eagles, came unlooked-for to Orthanc; and he found me standing on the pinnacle. Then I spoke to him and he bore me away, before Saruman was aware. I was far from Isengard, ere the wolves and orcs issued from the gate to pursue me. ‘**How far can you bear me?” I said to Gwaihir. “**Many leagues,”’ said he, “‘but not to the ends of the earth. I was sent to bear tidings not burdens.”’ ‘““Then I must have a steed on land,” I said, “cand a steed surpassingly swift, for I have never had such need of haste before.”’ ‘**Then I will bear you to Edoras, where the Lord of Rohan sits in his halls,’’ he said; ‘‘for that is not very far off.’’ And I was glad,

愛隆會議261開始了。我的恐懼和希望都證明是沒有根據的。因為我的希望寄託在布理的一個胖子身上；而我的恐懼則源於索倫的狡猾。但賣啤酒的胖子有許多事情要應付；而索倫的力量仍然不及恐懼所誇大的。然而，在艾森加德的圓環中，被困且孤獨，要相信那些讓所有人都逃亡或倒下、追捕者不會在遙遠的夏爾動搖，並不容易。’ ‘我看到你了！’佛羅多喊道。‘你當時正來回踱步。月光照在你的頭髮上。’甘道夫驚訝地停了下來，看著他。‘那只是一個夢，’佛羅多說，‘但它突然又浮現在我腦海裡。我完全忘記了。那是很久以前的事了；我想是在我離開夏爾之後。’ ‘那麼它來得太晚了，’甘道夫說，‘你會明白的。我當時處境非常糟糕。認識我的人都會同意，我很少如此困窘，也無法很好地承受這種不幸。灰袍甘道夫像一隻蒼蠅一樣被困在蜘蛛的險惡網中！然而，即使是最狡猾的蜘蛛也可能留下薄弱的絲線。 ‘起初我擔心，薩魯曼無疑是這樣打算的，瑞達加斯特也已經淪陷了。然而，在我們見面時，我沒有從他的聲音或眼神中察覺到任何不對勁。如果我察覺到了，我絕不會去艾森加德，或者我會更加謹慎。薩魯曼猜到了這一點，他隱藏了自己的心思，欺騙了他的信使。無論如何，試圖說服正直的瑞達加斯特背叛都是徒勞的。他真誠地尋找我，並說服了我。 ‘那就是薩魯曼陰謀的破壞點。因為瑞達加斯特沒有理由不照我說的去做；他騎馬前往幽暗密林，那裡有他許多老朋友。而山脈之鷹則飛向遠方，牠們看到了許多事情：狼群的聚集和半獸人的集結；以及九名戒靈在各地來回遊蕩；牠們也聽到了咕嚕逃脫的消息。牠們派了一名信使把這些消息帶給我。 ‘因此，當夏日漸逝，一個月夜降臨，風王關海爾，最快的巨鷹，不期而至地來到歐散克塔；牠發現我正站在塔尖上。然後我對牠說話，牠便載著我飛走了，在薩魯曼察覺之前。我已經遠離艾森加德，在狼群和半獸人從大門衝出來追捕我之前。 ‘“你能載我多遠？”我對關海爾說。‘“許多里格，”牠說，“但不能到天涯海角。我被派來傳遞消息，而不是載運重擔。”’ ‘“那麼我必須在陸地上找一匹馬，”我說，“而且是一匹快得驚人的馬，因為我從未如此需要趕時間。”’ ‘“那麼我會載你到伊多拉斯，羅翰之主正在那裡的廳堂裡，”牠說；“因為那裡不是很遠。”我很高興，

262 THE LORD OF THE RINGS for in the Riddermark of Rohan the Rohirrim, the Horse-lords, dwell, and there are no horses like those that are bred in that great vale between the Misty Mountains and the White. “**Are the Men of Rohan still to be trusted, do you think?”’ I said to Gwaihir, for the treason of Saruman had shaken my faith. “*“They pay a tribute of horses,’’ he answered, “cand send many yearly to Mordor, or so it is said; but they are not yet under the yoke. But if Saruman has become evil, as you say, then their doom cannot be long delayed.” ‘He set me down in the land of Rohan ere dawn; and now I have lengthened my tale over long. The rest must be more brief. In Rohan I found evil already at work: the lies of Saruman; and the king of the land would not listen to my warnings. He bade me take a horse and be gone; and I chose one much to my liking, but little to his. I took the best horse in his land, and I have never seen the like of him.’ ‘Then he must be a noble beast indeed,’ said Aragorn; ‘and it grieves me more than many tidings that might seem worse to learn that Sauron levies such tribute. It was not so when last I was in that land.’ ‘Nor is it now, I will swear,’ said Boromir. ‘It is a lie that comes from the Enemy. I know the Men of Rohan, true and valiant, our allies, dwelling still in the lands that we gave them long ago.’ “The shadow of Mordor lies on distant lands,’ answered Aragorn. ‘Saruman has fallen under it. Rohan is beset. Who knows what you will find there, if ever you return?’ ‘Not this at least,’ said Boromir, ‘that they will buy their lives with horses. They love their horses next to their kin. And not without reason, for the horses of the Riddermark come from the fields of the North, far from the Shadow, and their race, as that of their masters, is descended from the free days of old.’ “True indeed!’ said Gandalf. ‘And there is one among them that might have been foaled in the morning of the world. The horses of the Nine cannot vie with him; tireless, swift as the flowing wind. Shadowfax they called him. By day his coat glistens like silver; and by night it is like a shade, and he passes unseen. Light is his footfall! Never before had any man mounted him, but I took him and I tamed him, and so speedily he bore me that I reached the Shire when Frodo was on the Barrow-downs, though I set out from Rohan only when he set out from Hobbiton. ‘But fear grew in me as I rode. Ever as I came north I heard tidings of the Riders, and though I gained on them day by day, they were ever before me. They had divided their forces, I learned: some

262 《魔戒》 因為在洛汗的瑞德馬克，住著洛希爾人，那些馭馬者，那裡所培育的馬匹，沒有任何地方能與之媲美，牠們生長在迷霧山脈與白山之間那片廣闊的山谷中。「你認為洛汗人還值得信任嗎？」我對關赫說，因為薩魯曼的背叛已動搖了我的信念。「『他們每年都向魔多進貢馬匹，』他回答說，『或者至少是這麼說的；但他們尚未完全屈服。不過，如果薩魯曼真如你所說的變得邪惡，那麼他們的厄運也將不遠了。』他將我在黎明前放下在洛汗的土地上；而現在我把故事說得太長了。剩下的必須簡短些。在洛汗，我發現邪惡已然作祟：薩魯曼的謊言；而那裡的國王不願聽取我的警告。他命我牽馬離去；我選了一匹我很喜歡的，但他卻不怎麼樂意。我牽走了他領地裡最好的馬，而且我從未見過像牠一樣的馬。」「那麼牠一定是一匹高貴的駿馬，」亞拉岡說，「得知索倫徵收這樣的貢品，這比許多看似更糟的消息更令我悲傷。我上次去那片土地時並非如此。」「現在也不是，我敢發誓！」波羅莫說，「這是來自敵人的謊言。我了解洛汗人，他們忠誠而英勇，是我們的盟友，至今仍居住在我們很久以前賜予他們的土地上。」「魔多的陰影籠罩著遠方的大地，」亞拉岡回答，「薩魯曼已墮落其中。洛汗正被圍困。如果你回去，誰知道你會在那裡發現什麼？」「至少不會是這個，」波羅莫說，「他們不會用馬匹換取性命。他們愛馬僅次於愛他們的親人。這並非沒有道理，因為瑞德馬克的馬匹來自北方平原，遠離陰影，牠們的血統，就像牠們的主人一樣，源自古老的自由歲月。」「確實如此！」甘道夫說，「他們之中有一匹馬，或許是在世界初生之時降生的。九戒靈的坐騎也無法與牠匹敵；牠不知疲倦，迅疾如風。他們稱牠為影疾。白天，牠的毛皮閃耀如銀；夜晚，牠如同陰影，無聲無息地經過。牠的腳步輕盈！從未有人騎過牠，但我騎上並馴服了牠，牠載著我如此迅速，以至於當佛羅多在塚丘時，我便抵達了夏爾，儘管我從洛汗出發時，佛羅多才剛從哈比屯出發。『但我騎行時，恐懼在我心中滋長。每當我向北行進，我都會聽到關於戒靈的消息，儘管我日復一日地追趕上他們，他們卻總是在我前面。我得知他們已分散了兵力：有些」

THE COUNCIL OF ELROND 263 remained on the eastern borders, not far from the Greenway, and some invaded the Shire from the south. I came to Hobbiton and Frodo had gone; but I had words with old Gamgee. Many words and few to the point. He had much to say about the shortcomings of the new owners of Bag End. ‘“T can’t abide changes,” said he, ‘‘not at my time of life, and least of all changes for the worst.’ ‘“Changes for the worst,’’ he repeated many times. “Worst is a bad word,” I said to him, ‘‘and I hope you do not live to see it.” But amidst his talk I gathered at last that Frodo had left Hobbiton less than a week before, and that a black horseman had come to the Hill the same evening. Then I rode on in fear. I came to Buckland and found it in uproar, as busy as a hive of ants that has been stirred with a stick. I came to the house at Crickhollow, and it was broken open and empty; but on the threshold there lay a cloak that had been Frodo’s. Then for a while hope left me, and I did not wait to gather news, or I might have been comforted; but I rode on the trail of the Riders. It was hard to follow, for it went many ways, and I was at a loss. But it seemed to me that one or two had ridden towards Bree; and that way I went, for I thought of words that might be said to the innkeeper. ‘**Butterbur they call him,” thought I. “‘If this delay was his fault, I will melt all the butter in him. I will roast the old fool over a slow fire.”” He expected no less, and when he saw my face he fell down flat and began to melt on the spot.’ ‘What did you do to him?’ cried Frodo in alarm. ‘He was really very kind to us and did all that he could.’ Gandalf laughed. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I did not bite, and I barked very little. So overjoyed was I by the news that I got out of him, when he stopped quaking, that I embraced the old fellow. How it had happened I could not then guess, but I learned that you had been in Bree the night before, and had gone off that morning with Strider. “**Strider!”’ I cried, shouting for joy. ‘Yes, sir, I am afraid so, sir,” said Butterbur, mistaking me. ‘““He got at them, in spite of all that I could do, and they took up with him. They behaved very queer all the time they were here: wilful, you might say.” “**Ass! Fool! Thrice worthy and beloved Barliman!”’ said I. “‘It’s the best news I have had since Midsummer; it’s worth a gold piece at the least. May your beer be laid under an enchantment of surpassing excellence for seven years!’ said I. ““Now I can take a night’s rest, the first since I have forgotten when.”’ ok

埃爾隆議會263號仍留在東部邊界，離綠徑不遠，有些則從南方入侵夏爾。我來到哈比屯時佛羅多已經離開了；但我與老甘吉說了幾句話。說了很多，但沒幾句切中要點。他對袋底洞新主人的缺點說了很多。「我受不了改變，」他說，「在我這把年紀，尤其受不了變得更糟。」「變得更糟，」他重複了許多次。「『最糟』是個不好的詞，」我對他說，「我希望你不會活著看到它發生。」但在他的談話中，我最終得知佛羅多在一週前離開了哈比屯，而且當晚有一名黑騎士來到了山丘。於是我就帶著恐懼繼續前行。我來到布克蘭，發現那裡一片混亂，就像被棍子攪動的蟻窩一樣忙碌。我來到克里克霍爾的房子，它被撬開了，空無一人；但在門檻上放著一件曾屬於佛羅多的斗篷。於是希望暫時離我而去，我沒有等待收集消息，否則我可能會得到安慰；但我循著騎士們的蹤跡繼續前行。蹤跡很難追尋，因為它分岔多端，我感到不知所措。但在我看來，有一兩個騎手朝著布理去了；我就往那個方向走，因為我想到了可以對旅館老闆說的話。「他們叫他巴利曼，」我想，「如果這次延誤是他的錯，我會把他體內的黃油都融化掉。我會用慢火烤這個老傻瓜。」他也料到了，當他看到我的臉時，他立刻倒了下去，當場就開始融化了。「你對他做了什麼？」佛羅多驚恐地喊道。「他對我們真的很好，盡力而為。」甘道夫笑了。「別害怕！」他說，「我沒有咬人，也沒怎麼吠叫。」當他停止顫抖後，我從他那裡得到的消息讓我欣喜若狂，我擁抱了那個老傢伙。當時我無法猜到事情是如何發生的，但我得知你們前一晚在布理，並在那天早上與亞拉岡一起離開了。「亞拉岡！」我高興地喊道。「是的，先生，恐怕是這樣，先生，」巴利曼誤以為我生氣地說。「他接近了他們，儘管我盡力了，他們還是跟他走了。他們在這裡的時候表現得很奇怪：你可以說他們很任性。」「蠢驢！傻瓜！三倍值得敬愛和親愛的巴利曼！」我說。「這是我自仲夏以來聽到的最好消息；至少值一枚金幣。願你的啤酒在七年內受到超越卓越的魔法加持！」我說。「現在我終於可以好好睡一晚了，這是自從我忘記是何時以來的第一晚。」

264 THE LORD OF THE RINGS ‘So I stayed there that night, wondering much what had become of the Riders; for only of two had there yet been any news in Bree, it seemed. But in the night we heard more. Five at least came from the west, and they threw down the gates and passed through Bree like a howling wind; and the Bree-folk are still shivering and expecting the end of the world. I got up before dawn and went after them. ‘I do not know, but it seems clear to me that this is what happened. Their Captain remained in secret away south of Bree, while two rode ahead through the village, and four more invaded the Shire. But when these were foiled in Bree and at Crickhollow, they returned to their Captain with tidings, and so left the Road unguarded for a while, except by their spies. The Captain then sent some eastward straight across country, and he himself with the rest rode along the Road in great wrath. ‘I galloped to Weathertop like a gale, and I reached it before sundown on my second day from Bree — and they were there before me. They drew away from me, for they felt the coming of my anger and they dared not face it while the Sun was in the sky. But they closed round at night, and I was besieged on the hill-top, in the old ring of Amon Stl. I was hard put to it indeed: such light and flame cannot have been seen on Weathertop since the war-beacons of old. ‘At sunrise I escaped and fled towards the north. I could not hope to do more. It was impossible to find you, Frodo, in the wilderness, and it would have been folly to try with all the Nine at my heels. So I had to trust to Aragorn. But I hoped to draw some of them off, and yet reach Rivendell ahead of you and send out help. Four Riders did indeed follow me, but they turned back after a while and made for the Ford, it seems. That helped a little, for there were only five, not nine, when your camp was attacked. ‘I reached here at last by a long hard road, up the Hoarwell and through the Ettenmoors, and down from the north. It took me nearly fifteen days from Weathertop, for I could not ride among the rocks of the troll-fells, and Shadowfax departed. I sent him back to his master; but a great friendship has grown between us, and if I have need he will come at my call. But so it was that I came to Rivendell only two days before the Ring, and news of its peril had already been brought here — which proved well indeed. ‘And that, Frodo, is the end of my account. May Elrond and the others forgive the length of it. But such a thing has not happened before, that Gandalf broke tryst and did not come when he promised. An account to the Ring-bearer of so strange an event was required, I think. ‘Well, the Tale is now told, from first to last. Here we all are, and

「264 魔戒『那天晚上我就待在那裡，很想知道那些戒靈怎麼了；因為看來，布理那邊只傳來了其中兩位的消息。但到了晚上，我們聽到了更多消息。至少有五個從西方而來，他們衝破了城門，像一陣狂風般穿過布理；布理的居民至今仍在顫抖，以為世界末日到了。我天亮前就起身去追他們了。 『我不知道，但對我來說，事情似乎是這樣發生的。他們的隊長秘密地留在布理以南，而兩名戒靈先行穿過村莊，另外四名則入侵了夏爾。但當他們在布理和溪谷地受挫後，便帶著消息回到他們的隊長那裡，因此那條路暫時無人看守，除了他們的間諜。隊長隨後派了一些人徑直向東穿越鄉野，而他自己則帶著其餘的戒靈沿著那條路，怒氣沖沖地騎行。 『我像一陣狂風般馳向風雲頂，在離開布理的第二天日落前抵達——而他們已經在我之前到了。他們避開了我，因為他們感受到了我的怒氣，在太陽還在天上時，他們不敢面對。但到了晚上，他們將我包圍，我被困在山頂上，在亞蒙蘇爾的古老環形工事中。我確實處境艱難：自古老的烽火台以來，風雲頂上就未曾見過如此的光芒與火焰了。 『日出時我逃脫了，向北逃去。我無法奢望做得更多。在荒野中找到你，佛羅多，是不可能的，而且在九戒靈緊追不捨的情況下嘗試，將是愚蠢的。所以我不得不信任亞拉岡。但我希望能引開他們一些，並在你之前抵達瑞文戴爾，然後派出援兵。確實有四名戒靈跟著我，但過了一會兒他們就折返，似乎是前往渡口了。這多少有些幫助，因為當你的營地被襲擊時，只有五個，而不是九個。 『我最終經過一條漫長艱難的路才抵達這裡，沿著灰水河而上，穿過埃滕荒原，再從北方下來。從風雲頂算起，我花了將近十五天，因為我無法在食人妖荒地的岩石間騎行，而且影疾也離開了。我把他送回給他的主人；但我們之間已建立了深厚的友誼，如果我有需要，他會隨傳隨到。但就這樣，我只比魔戒早兩天抵達瑞文戴爾，而魔戒的危險消息也已經傳到這裡了——這確實是好事。 『佛羅多，這就是我的敘述的結尾了。願愛隆和其他人原諒我說了這麼久。但這樣的事情以前從未發生過，甘道夫竟然失約，沒有如期而至。我認為，向魔戒持有者講述如此奇特的事件是必要的。 『好了，故事從頭到尾都說完了。我們都在這裡了，而且

THE COUNCIL OF ELROND 265 here is the Ring. But we have not yet come any nearer to our purpose. What shall we do with it?’ There was a silence. At last Elrond spoke again. ‘This is grievous news concerning Saruman,’ he said; ‘for we trusted him and he is deep in all our counsels. It is perilous to study too deeply the arts of the Enemy, for good or for ill. But such falls and betrayals, alas, have happened before. Of the tales that we have heard this day the tale of Frodo was most strange to me. I have known few hobbits, save Bilbo here; and it seems to me that he is perhaps not so alone and singular as I had thought him. The world has changed much since I last was on the westward roads. ‘The Barrow-wights we know by many names; and of the Old Forest many tales have been told: all that now remains is but an outlier of its northern march. Time was when a squirrel could go from tree to tree from what is now the Shire to Dunland west of Isengard. In those lands I journeyed once, and many things wild and strange I knew. But I had forgotten Bombadil, if indeed this is still the same that walked the woods and hills long ago, and even then was older than the old. That was not then his name. Iarwain Ben-adar we called him, oldest and fatherless. But many another name he has since been given by other folk: Forn by the Dwarves, Orald by Northern Men, and other names beside. He is a strange creature, but maybe I should have summoned him to our Council.’ ‘He would not have come,’ said Gandalf. ‘Could we not still send messages to him and obtain his help?’ asked Erestor. ‘It seems that he has a power even over the Ring.’ ‘No, I should not put it so,’ said Gandalf. ‘Say rather that the Ring has no power over him. He is his own master. But he cannot alter the Ring itself, nor break its power over others. And now he is withdrawn into a little land, within bounds that he has set, though none can see them, waiting perhaps for a change of days, and he will not step beyond them.’ ‘But within those bounds nothing seems to dismay him,’ said Erestor. ‘Would he not take the Ring and keep it there, for ever harmless?’ ‘No,’ said Gandalf, ‘not willingly. He might do so, if all the free folk of the world begged him, but he would not understand the need. And if he were given the Ring, he would soon forget it, or most likely throw it away. Such things have no hold on his mind. He would be a most unsafe guardian; and that alone is answer enough.’ ‘But in any case,’ said Glorfindel, ‘to send the Ring to him would only postpone the day of evil. He is far away. We could not now take it back to him, unguessed, unmarked by any spy. And even if we

愛隆會議 265 魔戒就在這裡。但我們尚未更接近我們的目標。我們該怎麼辦？’ 一片寂靜。最後愛隆再次開口。他說：‘這是關於薩魯曼的令人悲痛的消息；因為我們信任他，而他深知我們所有的謀劃。過於深入研究敵人的技藝是危險的，無論是為了善還是為了惡。但這樣的墮落和背叛，唉，以前也發生過。在我們今天聽到的故事中，佛羅多的故事對我來說最為奇特。我認識的哈比人很少，除了這裡的比爾博；在我看來，他或許不像我原以為的那樣孤單和獨特。自從我上次走上西行之路以來，世界已經改變了許多。’ ‘塚屍我們以許多名字稱呼；關於老林，也有許多故事流傳：現在剩下的不過是其北方邊境的一個外圍地區。曾幾何時，松鼠可以從現在的夏爾一路從樹上跳到樹上，直到伊森加德以西的登蘭德。我曾在那片土地上旅行，知道許多狂野而奇異的事物。但我已經忘記了湯姆·邦巴迪爾，如果他確實還是那個很久以前在樹林和山丘間漫步，甚至比古老還要古老的存在。那時他還不叫這個名字。我們稱他為伊亞溫·班-亞達，最古老且無父。但後來他被其他民族賦予了許多別的名字：矮人稱他為佛恩，北方人稱他為歐拉德，還有其他名字。他是一個奇怪的生物，但或許我應該把他召來我們的會議。’ ‘他不會來的，’甘道夫說。‘我們難道不能派人去聯絡他並獲得他的幫助嗎？’ 埃雷斯特問道。‘他似乎對魔戒也擁有力量。’ ‘不，我不該這麼說，’甘道夫說。‘不如說魔戒對他沒有力量。他是自己的主人。但他無法改變魔戒本身，也無法打破它對他人的力量。現在他退隱到一片小小的土地上，在他自己設定的界限之內，儘管無人能看見這些界限，或許是在等待時日的變遷，他也不會跨越這些界限。’ ‘但在這些界限之內，似乎沒有什麼能讓他感到沮喪，’埃雷斯特說。‘他難道不會拿走魔戒並將其永遠無害地保存在那裡嗎？’ ‘不，’甘道夫說，‘他不會自願這麼做。如果世界上所有自由民族都懇求他，他或許會這麼做，但他不會理解這種必要性。如果魔戒交給他，他很快就會忘記它，或者很可能會把它扔掉。這些東西對他的思想沒有任何影響。他會是一個最不安全的守護者；僅此一點就足以作為答案了。’ ‘但在任何情況下，’葛羅芬戴爾說，‘把魔戒送給他只會推遲邪惡降臨的日子。他遠在天邊。我們現在無法將它帶回他那裡，不被任何間諜察覺，不留下任何痕跡。即使我們

266 THE LORD OF THE RINGS could, soon or late the Lord of the Rings would learn of its hiding place and would bend all his power towards it. Could that power be defied by Bombadil alone? I think not. I think that in the end, if all else is conquered, Bombadil will fall, Last as he was First; and then Night will come.’ ‘I know little of Iarwain save the name,’ said Galdor; ‘but Glorfindel, I think, is right. Power to defy our Enemy is not in him, unless such power is in the earth itself. And yet we see that Sauron can torture and destroy the very hills. What power still remains lies with us, here in Imladris, or with Cirdan at the Havens, or in Lorien. But have they the strength, have we here the strength to withstand the Enemy, the coming of Sauron at the last, when all else is overthrown?’ ‘I have not the strength,’ said Elrond; ‘neither have they.’ “Then if the Ring cannot be kept from him for ever by strength,’ said Glorfindel, ‘two things only remain for us to attempt: to send it over the Sea, or to destroy it.’ ‘But Gandalf has revealed to us that we cannot destroy it by any craft that we here possess,’ said Elrond. ‘And they who dwell beyond the Sea would not receive it: for good or ill it belongs to Middle-earth; it is for us who still dwell here to deal with it.’ ‘Then,’ said Glorfindel, ‘let us cast it into the deeps, and so make the lies of Saruman come true. For it is clear now that even at the Council his feet were already on a crooked path. He knew that the Ring was not lost for ever, but wished us to think so; for he began to lust for it for himself. Yet oft in lies truth is hidden: in the Sea it would be safe.’ ‘Not safe for ever,’ said Gandalf. “There are many things in the deep waters; and seas and lands may change. And it is not our part here to take thought only for a season, or for a few lives of Men, or for a passing age of the world. We should seek a final end of this menace, even if we do not hope to make one.’ ‘And that we shall not find on the roads to the Sea,’ said Galdor. ‘If the return to Iarwain be thought too dangerous, then flight to the Sea is now fraught with gravest peril. My heart tells me that Sauron will expect us to take the western way, when he learns what has befallen. He soon will. The Nine have been unhorsed indeed, but that is but a respite, ere they find new steeds and swifter. Only the waning might of Gondor stands now between him and a march in power along the coasts into the North; and if he comes, assailing the White Towers and the Havens, hereafter the Elves may have no escape from the lengthening shadows of Middle-earth.’ ‘Long yet will that march be delayed,’ said Boromir. ‘Gondor wanes, you say. But Gondor stands, and even the end of its strength is still very strong.’

266 魔戒之主遲早會得知它的藏身之處，並將傾盡全力追尋。那股力量能僅憑邦巴迪爾一人之力抵擋嗎？我認為不能。我想，最終，如果所有其他一切都被征服，邦巴迪爾也會倒下，他雖為始，亦將為終；然後，黑夜便會降臨。 「我對亞爾溫所知甚少，除了他的名字。」葛爾多說道：「但我認為葛羅芬戴爾說得對。他身上沒有抵禦我們敵人的力量，除非那樣的力量存在於大地本身。然而我們看到索倫能折磨並摧毀群山。僅存的力量在我們這裡，在伊姆拉崔，或在瑟丹的港口，或在羅斯洛立安。但他們有那樣的力量嗎？我們這裡有那樣的力量來抵抗敵人，抵抗索倫最終的降臨，當所有一切都被推翻之時？」 「我沒有那樣的力量。」愛隆說：「他們也沒有。」「那麼，如果魔戒無法永遠憑藉力量不落入他手，」葛羅芬戴爾說：「我們只剩下兩件事可以嘗試：將它送過大海，或者摧毀它。」「但甘道夫已經向我們揭示，我們無法憑藉我們這裡擁有的任何技藝來摧毀它。」愛隆說：「而那些居住在海外的人也不會接受它：無論好壞，它都屬於中土世界；我們這些仍居住在這裡的人必須處理它。」 「那麼，」葛羅芬戴爾說：「讓我們將它投入深淵，如此一來，薩魯曼的謊言便會成真。因為現在很清楚，即使在會議上，他的腳步也早已踏上了一條歪曲的道路。他知道魔戒並非永遠失落，卻希望我們這麼認為；因為他開始為自己渴望它。然而，謊言中往往隱藏著真相：在大海中它會是安全的。」 「並非永遠安全。」甘道夫說：「深水中有很多東西；海洋和陸地都可能改變。我們在這裡的職責，不應只為一時一季，或為人類的幾代生命，或為世界的一個短暫時代而考慮。我們應該尋求徹底終結這個威脅，即使我們不指望能做到。」 「而那條路我們不會在通往大海的路上找到。」葛爾多說：「如果回到亞爾溫那裡被認為太過危險，那麼逃往大海現在也充滿了最嚴重的危險。我的心告訴我，當索倫得知發生了什麼事時，他會預料我們會走西邊的路。他很快就會知道。九戒靈確實已被擊落馬下，但那只不過是暫時的喘息，直到他們找到新的、更快的坐騎。現在，只有剛鐸衰落的力量擋在他和沿著海岸向北進軍之間；如果他來了，襲擊白塔和港口，此後精靈們可能就無法逃脫中土世界日益增長的陰影了。」 「那次進軍還會被拖延很久。」波羅莫說：「你說剛鐸衰落了。但剛鐸依然屹立，即使其力量的盡頭也依然非常強大。」

THE COUNCIL OF ELROND 267 ‘And yet its vigilance can no longer keep back the Nine,’ said Galdor. ‘And other roads he may find that Gondor does not guard.’ ‘Then,’ said Erestor, ‘there are but two courses, as Glorfindel already has declared: to hide the Ring for ever; or to unmake it. But both are beyond our power. Who will read this riddle for us?’ ‘None here can do so,’ said Elrond gravely. ‘At least none can foretell what will come to pass, if we take this road or that. But it seems to me now clear which is the road that we must take. The westward road seems easiest. Therefore it must be shunned. It will be watched. Too often the Elves have fled that way. Now at this last we must take a hard road, a road unforeseen. There lies our hope, if hope it be. To walk into peril — to Mordor. We must send the Ring to the Fire.’ Silence fell again. Frodo, even in that fair house, looking out upon a sunlit valley filled with the noise of clear waters, felt a dead darkness in his heart. Boromir stirred, and Frodo looked at him. He was fingering his great horn and frowning. At length he spoke. ‘I do not understand all this,’ he said. ‘Saruman is a traitor, but did he not have a glimpse of wisdom? Why do you speak ever of hiding and destroying? Why should we not think that the Great Ring has come into our hands to serve us in the very hour of need? Wielding it the Free Lords of the Free may surely defeat the Enemy. That is what he most fears, I deem. “The Men of Gondor are valiant, and they will never submit; but they may be beaten down. Valour needs first strength, and then a weapon. Let the Ring be your weapon, if it has such power as you say. Take it and go forth to victory!’ ‘Alas, no,’ said Elrond. ‘We cannot use the Ruling Ring. That we now know too well. It belongs to Sauron and was made by him alone, and is altogether evil. Its strength, Boromir, is too great for anyone to wield at will, save only those who have already a great power of their own. But for them it holds an even deadlier peril. The very desire of it corrupts the heart. Consider Saruman. If any of the Wise should with this Ring overthrow the Lord of Mordor, using his own arts, he would then set himself on Sauron’s throne, and yet another Dark Lord would appear. And that is another reason why the Ring should be destroyed: as long as it is in the world it will be a danger even to the Wise. For nothing is evil in the beginning. Even Sauron was not so. I fear to take the Ring to hide it. I will not take the Ring to wield it.’ ‘Nor I,’ said Gandalf. Boromir looked at them doubtfully, but he bowed his head. ‘So be it,’ he said. “Then in Gondor we must trust to such weapons as

愛隆會議 267 「然而，它的警惕已無法再擋住九戒靈了，」葛爾多說。「而且他可能會找到剛鐸沒有防守的其他道路。」 「那麼，」艾瑞斯特說，「正如葛羅芬戴爾已經聲明過的，只有兩條路可走：永遠藏匿魔戒；或是毀滅它。但這兩者都超出了我們的能力。誰能為我們解開這個謎團呢？」 「這裡沒有人能做到，」愛隆嚴肅地說。「至少沒有人能預言，如果我們走這條路或那條路，將會發生什麼。但現在對我來說，我們必須走哪條路已經很清楚了。西行的道路看似最容易。因此必須避開它。它將會被監視。精靈們太常逃往那條路了。現在，到了最後關頭，我們必須走一條艱難的、未曾預料的道路。我們的希望就在那裡，如果這也算希望的話。走入險境——前往魔多。我們必須將魔戒送入烈焰。」 寂靜再次降臨。佛羅多，即使身處那美麗的屋子，望著陽光普照、充滿清澈水聲的山谷，心中仍感到一片死寂的黑暗。波羅莫動了一下，佛羅多望向他。他正撫摸著他的大號角，眉頭深鎖。最後他開口了。 「我不明白這一切，」他說。「薩魯曼是個叛徒，但他難道沒有一絲智慧的閃現嗎？你們為何總是談論藏匿和毀滅？我們為何不認為至尊魔戒落入我們手中，是為了在最需要的時候為我們服務呢？揮舞它，自由之民的自由領主們或許就能擊敗敵人。我認為，那正是他最害怕的。『剛鐸的子民英勇無畏，他們永不屈服；但他們可能會被擊敗。勇氣首先需要力量，然後是武器。如果魔戒真如你們所說有那樣的力量，就讓它成為你們的武器吧。拿起它，走向勝利！』」 「唉，不，」愛隆說。「我們不能使用至尊魔戒。這一點我們現在太清楚了。它屬於索倫，由他獨自鑄造，而且完全邪惡。它的力量，波羅莫，對任何人來說都太強大，無法隨心所欲地揮舞，除了那些本身已經擁有強大力量的人。但對他們來說，它卻帶來更致命的危險。對它的渴望本身就會腐蝕人心。想想薩魯曼吧。如果任何智者用這枚魔戒推翻了魔多之主，使用他自己的技藝，他就會登上索倫的王座，然後另一個黑暗魔君就會出現。這也是魔戒應該被摧毀的另一個原因：只要它還在世上，它對智者來說都將是一個危險。因為萬物之初皆無邪惡。即使索倫也不是如此。我害怕拿起魔戒去藏匿它。我也不會拿起魔戒去揮舞它。」 「我也不會，」甘道夫說。波羅莫懷疑地看著他們，但他垂下了頭。「就這樣吧，」他說。「那麼在剛鐸，我們必須依靠這樣的武器，例如……

268 THE LORD OF THE RINGS we have. And at the least, while the Wise ones guard this Ring, we will fight on. Mayhap the Sword-that-was-Broken may still stem the tide — if the hand that wields it has inherited not an heirloom only, but the sinews of the Kings of Men.’ ‘Who can tell?’ said Aragorn. ‘But we will put it to the test one day.’ ‘May the day not be too long delayed,’ said Boromir. ‘For though I do not ask for aid, we need it. It would comfort us to know that others fought also with all the means that they have.’ “Then be comforted,’ said Elrond. ‘For there are other powers and realms that you know not, and they are hidden from you. Anduin the Great flows past many shores, ere it comes to Argonath and the Gates of Gondor.’ ‘Still it might be well for all,’ said Gloin the Dwarf, ‘if all these strengths were joined, and the powers of each were used in league. Other rings there may be, less treacherous, that might be used in our need. The Seven are lost to us — if Balin has not found the ring of Thror, which was the last; naught has been heard of it since Thror perished in Moria. Indeed I may now reveal that it was partly in hope to find that ring that Balin went away.’ ‘Balin will find no ring in Moria,’ said Gandalf. “Thror gave it to Thrain his son, but not Thrain to Thorin. It was taken with torment from Thrain in the dungeons of Dol Guldur. I came too late.’ ‘Ah, alas!’ cried Gloin. ‘When will the day come of our revenge? But still there are the Three. What of the Three Rings of the Elves? Very mighty Rings, it is said. Do not the Elf-lords keep them? Yet they too were made by the Dark Lord long ago. Are they idle? I see Elf-lords here. Will they not say?’ The Elves returned no answer. ‘Did you not hear me, Gloin?’ said Elrond. “The Three were not made by Sauron, nor did he ever touch them. But of them it is not permitted to speak. So much only in this hour of doubt I may now say. They are not idle. But they were not made as weapons of war or conquest: that is not their power. Those who made them did not desire strength or domination or hoarded wealth, but understanding, making, and healing, to preserve all things unstained. These things the Elves of Middle-earth have in some measure gained, though with sorrow. But all that has been wrought by those who wield the Three will turn to their undoing, and their minds and hearts will become revealed to Sauron, if he regains the One. It would be better if the Three had never been. That is his purpose.’ ‘But what then would happen, if the Ruling Ring were destroyed, as you counsel?’ asked Gloin. ‘We know not for certain,’ answered Elrond sadly. ‘Some hope

268 魔戒 我們擁有。至少，只要智者們守護著這枚戒指，我們就會繼續奮戰。或許那「斷裂之劍」仍能扭轉局勢——如果揮舞它的人繼承的不僅是傳家寶，還有王者們的筋骨。」「誰能說得準呢？」亞拉岡說。「但總有一天我們會去驗證的。」「願那一天不要拖延太久。」波羅莫說。「因為雖然我沒有請求援助，但我們確實需要它。如果知道其他人也盡其所能地奮戰，我們會感到安慰。」「那麼，請安心吧。」愛隆說。「因為還有其他你們不知道的力量和領域，它們對你們隱藏著。大河安都因流經許多海岸，然後才抵達亞苟那斯和剛鐸之門。」「對所有人來說，如果這些力量都能聯合起來，並且各方的力量都能結盟運用，那或許會更好。」矮人葛羅音說。「可能還有其他戒指，沒那麼陰險，可以在我們需要時使用。七枚戒指對我們來說已經失落了——如果巴林沒有找到索爾的戒指，那是最後一枚；自從索爾在摩瑞亞殞落後，就再也沒有它的消息了。事實上，我現在可以透露，巴林之所以離開，部分原因就是希望能找到那枚戒指。」「巴林在摩瑞亞找不到任何戒指。」甘道夫說。「索爾把它傳給了他的兒子索恩，但索恩沒有傳給索林。它是在多爾哥多地牢中，從索恩那裡被折磨奪走的。我來得太晚了。」「啊，唉！」葛羅音喊道。「我們復仇的日子何時才會到來？但還有三枚戒指。精靈的三枚戒指呢？據說它們非常強大。精靈領主們不是保管著它們嗎？然而它們也是很久以前由黑暗魔君製造的。它們閒置著嗎？我看到這裡有精靈領主。他們不說些什麼嗎？」精靈們沒有回答。「葛羅音，你沒聽到我說話嗎？」愛隆說。「三枚戒指並非索倫所造，他也從未觸碰過它們。但關於它們，是不允許談論的。在這充滿疑慮的時刻，我只能說這麼多。它們並非閒置。但它們並非作為戰爭或征服的武器而造：那不是它們的力量。製造它們的人不渴望力量、統治或積聚財富，而是理解、創造和治癒，以保持萬物純潔無瑕。中土世界的精靈們在某種程度上獲得了這些，儘管伴隨著悲傷。但所有那些揮舞三枚戒指的人所創造的一切，如果索倫重新獲得至尊戒，都將走向毀滅，他們的思想和心靈也將暴露給索倫。如果三枚戒指從未存在過，那會更好。那是他的目的。」「但是，如果至尊戒像你建議的那樣被摧毀，那會發生什麼呢？」葛羅音問道。「我們無法確定。」愛隆悲傷地回答。「有些人希望

THE COUNCIL OF ELROND 269 that the Three Rings, which Sauron has never touched, would then become free, and their rulers might heal the hurts of the world that he has wrought. But maybe when the One has gone, the Three will fail, and many fair things will fade and be forgotten. That is my belief.’ “Yet all the Elves are willing to endure this chance,’ said Glorfindel, “if by it the power of Sauron may be broken, and the fear of his dominion be taken away for ever.’ “Thus we return once more to the destroying of the Ring,’ said Erestor, ‘and yet we come no nearer. What strength have we for the finding of the Fire in which it was made? That is the path of despair. Of folly I would say, if the long wisdom of Elrond did not forbid me.’ ‘Despair, or folly?’ said Gandalf. ‘It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not. It is wisdom to recognize necessity, when all other courses have been weighed, though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope. Well, let folly be our cloak, a veil before the eyes of the Enemy! For he is very wise, and weighs all things to a nicety in the scales of his malice. But the only measure that he knows is desire, desire for power; and so he judges all hearts. Into his heart the thought will not enter that any will refuse it, that having the Ring we may seek to destroy it. If we seek this, we shall put him out of reckoning.’ ‘At least for a while,’ said Elrond. “The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.’ ‘Very well, very well, Master Elrond!’ said Bilbo suddenly. ‘Say no more! It is plain enough what you are pointing at. Bilbo the silly hobbit started this affair, and Bilbo had better finish it, or himself. I was very comfortable here, and getting on with my book. If you want to know, I am just writing an ending for it. I had thought of putting: and he lived happily ever afterwards to the end of his days. It is a good ending, and none the worse for having been used before. Now I shall have to alter that: it does not look like coming true; and anyway there will evidently have to be several more chapters, if I live to write them. It is a frightful nuisance. When ought I to start?’ Boromir looked in surprise at Bilbo, but the laughter died on his lips when he saw that all the others regarded the old hobbit with grave respect. Only Gloin smiled, but his smile came from old memories. ‘Of course, my dear Bilbo,’ said Gandalf. ‘If you had really started

愛隆會議 269 那些索倫從未觸碰過的三枚戒指，將會因此獲得自由，而它們的持有者或許能治癒他所造成的世間創傷。但或許當至尊戒消失後，三枚戒指也會失效，許多美好的事物將會消逝並被遺忘。這是我的信念。』「然而，所有精靈都願意承受這個風險，」葛羅芬戴爾說道，「如果這樣能摧毀索倫的力量，並永遠消除他統治的恐懼。」「因此，我們再次回到了摧毀魔戒的議題上，」愛瑞斯特說，「然而我們卻沒有更接近目標。我們有什麼力量能找到鑄造它的火焰呢？那是一條絕望之路。如果不是愛隆的長遠智慧阻止了我，我會說那是愚蠢之舉。」「絕望，還是愚蠢？」甘道夫說。「這不是絕望，因為絕望只屬於那些毫無疑問地看到結局的人。我們沒有。當所有其他方案都已被權衡過後，認識到必然性是智慧之舉，儘管在那些抱持虛假希望的人看來，這可能顯得愚蠢。好吧，讓愚蠢成為我們的斗篷，成為敵人眼前的一道面紗吧！因為他非常聰明，會用他的惡意之秤精確地衡量一切。但他唯一知道的衡量標準是慾望，對權力的慾望；因此他以此判斷所有的心靈。他心中不會產生這樣的念頭：會有人拒絕它，會有人在擁有魔戒後試圖摧毀它。如果我們這樣做，我們將會讓他措手不及。」「至少暫時如此，」愛隆說。「這條路必須走，但它會非常艱難。無論是力量還是智慧都無法讓我們在這條路上走得太遠。這項任務，弱者與強者一樣有希望嘗試。然而，世事往往如此：推動世界轉動的偉大事業，是由弱小的手完成的，因為他們不得不如此，而偉大者的目光卻在別處。」「很好，很好，愛隆大人！」比爾博突然說。「別再說了！你指的是什麼已經很清楚了。比爾博這個傻乎乎的哈比人開始了這件事，比爾博最好把它了結，或者了結自己。我本來在這裡過得很舒服，正忙著寫我的書。如果你想知道，我正在為它寫一個結局。我曾想過寫：從此以後，他們過著幸福快樂的日子，直到生命的盡頭。這是一個很好的結局，而且因為以前用過而沒有任何不好。現在我必須改變它了：它看起來不太可能實現；而且無論如何，如果我能活著寫完，顯然還會有好幾章。這真是個討厭的麻煩。我什麼時候該開始呢？」波羅莫驚訝地看著比爾博，但當他看到其他人都以嚴肅的敬意看著這位老哈比人時，笑聲從他唇邊消失了。只有葛羅音笑了，但他的笑容來自於舊日的回憶。「當然，我親愛的比爾博，」甘道夫說，「如果你真的開始了

270 THE LORD OF THE RINGS this affair, you might be expected to finish it. But you know well enough now that starting is too great a claim for any, and that only a small part is played in great deeds by any hero. You need not bow! Though the word was meant, and we do not doubt that under jest you are making a valiant offer. But one beyond your strength, Bilbo. You cannot take this thing back. It has passed on. If you need my advice any longer, I should say that your part is ended, unless as a recorder. Finish your book, and leave the ending unaltered! There is still hope for it. But get ready to write a sequel, when they come back.’ Bilbo laughed. ‘I have never known you give me pleasant advice before,’ he said. ‘As all your unpleasant advice has been good, I wonder if this advice is not bad. Still, I don’t suppose I have the strength or luck left to deal with the Ring. It has grown, and I have not. But tell me: what do you mean by they?’ “The messengers who are sent with the Ring.’ ‘Exactly! And who are they to be? That seems to me what this Council has to decide, and all that it has to decide. Elves may thrive on speech alone, and Dwarves endure great weariness; but I am only an old hobbit, and I miss my meal at noon. Can’t we think of some names now? Or put it off till after dinner?’ No one answered. The noon-bell rang. Still no one spoke. Frodo glanced at all the faces, but they were not turned to him. All the Council sat with downcast eyes, as if in deep thought. A great dread fell on him, as if he was awaiting the pronouncement of some doom that he had long foreseen and vainly hoped might after all never be spoken. An overwhelming longing to rest and remain at peace by Bilbo’s side in Rivendell filled all his heart. At last with an effort he spoke, and wondered to hear his own words, as if some other will was using his small voice. ‘I will take the Ring,’ he said, ‘though I do not know the way.’ Elrond raised his eyes and looked at him, and Frodo felt his heart pierced by the sudden keenness of the glance. ‘If I understand aright all that I have heard,’ he said, ‘I think that this task is appointed for you, Frodo; and that if you do not find a way, no one will. This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they arise from their quiet fields to shake the towers and counsels of the Great. Who of all the Wise could have foreseen it? Or, if they are wise, why should they expect to know it, until the hour has struck? ‘But it is a heavy burden. So heavy that none could lay it on another. I do not lay it on you. But if you take it freely, I will say that your choice is right; and though all the mighty Elf-friends of old,

270 《魔戒》這件事，你或許會被期望去完成它。但你現在很清楚，開始這件事對任何人來說都太過沉重，而且任何英雄在偉大事業中都只扮演一小部分。你無需鞠躬！儘管這話是認真的，我們也不懷疑你是在開玩笑地提出一個英勇的提議。但這超出了你的能力，比爾博。你無法將這東西帶回去。它已經過去了。如果你還需要我的建議，我會說你的任務已經結束了，除非是作為一個記錄者。完成你的書，讓結局保持不變！它仍有希望。但準備好寫續集吧，等他們回來的時候。比爾博笑了。「我從未聽你給過我愉快的建議，」他說。「既然你所有不愉快的建議都很好，我不知道這個建議是不是不好。不過，我想我已經沒有力氣或運氣來處理魔戒了。它成長了，而我沒有。但告訴我：你說的『他們』是什麼意思？」 「那些被派去攜帶魔戒的使者。」 「正是！那他們會是誰呢？在我看來，這就是這個會議必須決定的，也是它所有必須決定的。精靈或許光靠言語就能生存，矮人也能忍受巨大的疲憊；但我只是一個老哈比人，我錯過了我的午餐。我們現在不能想出一些名字嗎？還是把它推遲到晚餐後？」沒有人回答。午鐘響了。依然沒有人說話。佛羅多掃視了所有人的臉，但他們的目光都沒有轉向他。所有議會成員都垂下眼睛，彷彿陷入沉思。一股巨大的恐懼籠罩了他，彷彿他正在等待某種他早已預見卻又徒勞地希望永遠不會被說出的厄運的宣判。一種壓倒性的渴望，想在瑞文戴爾比爾博身邊安靜地休息，充滿了他的心。最後，他費力地開口說話，驚訝於聽到自己的聲音，彷彿有另一種意志正在使用他微弱的聲音。「我會帶走魔戒，」他說，「儘管我不知道路。」愛隆抬起眼睛看著他，佛羅多感到自己的心被那目光突如其來的銳利所刺穿。「如果我理解我所聽到的一切都沒錯的話，」他說，「我認為這項任務是為你而定的，佛羅多；如果你找不到路，就沒有人能找到。這是夏爾人的時刻，當他們從寧靜的田野中崛起，撼動大人物的權勢與謀劃。所有智者中，誰能預見這一切呢？或者，如果他們是智者，為什麼他們會期望在時機未到之前就知道呢？「但這是一個沉重的負擔。沉重到沒有人能將它加諸於他人。我不會將它加諸於你。但如果你是自願承擔，我會說你的選擇是正確的；儘管所有古老的強大精靈之友，

THE COUNCIL OF ELROND 271 Hador, and Hurin, and Turin, and Beren himself were assembled together, your seat should be among them.’ ‘But you won’t send him off alone surely, Master?’ cried Sam, unable to contain himself any longer, and jumping up from the corner where he had been quietly sitting on the floor. ‘No indeed!’ said Elrond, turning towards him with a smile. “You at least shall go with him. It is hardly possible to separate you from him, even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not.’ Sam sat down, blushing and muttering. ‘A nice pickle we have landed ourselves in, Mr. Frodo!’ he said, shaking his head.

愛隆會議 271 哈多、胡林、圖林和貝倫本人都齊聚一堂，你的席位也該在他們之中。’ ‘但您肯定不會讓他一個人去吧，大人？’山姆再也忍不住了，從他一直安靜地坐在地板上的角落裡跳起來，大聲喊道。‘當然不會！’愛隆說道，轉過身來，對他微笑。‘你至少會和他一起去。要將你們分開幾乎是不可能的，即使他被召去參加秘密會議，而你沒有。’山姆坐了下來，臉紅地咕噥著。‘佛羅多先生，我們可真是陷入了個大麻煩！’他搖著頭說。