Chapter 6 LOTHLORIEN ‘Alas! I fear we cannot stay here longer,’ said Aragorn. He looked towards the mountains and held up his sword. ‘Farewell, Gandalf!’ he cried. ‘Did I not say to you: 7f you pass the doors of Moria, beware? Alas that I spoke true! What hope have we without you?’ He turned to the Company. ‘We must do without hope,’ he said. ‘At least we may yet be avenged. Let us gird ourselves and weep no more! Come! We have a long road, and much to do.’ They rose and looked about them. Northward the dale ran up into a glen of shadows between two great arms of the mountains, above which three white peaks were shining: Celebdil, Fanuidhol, Caradhras, the Mountains of Moria. At the head of the glen a torrent flowed like a white lace over an endless ladder of short falls, and a mist of foam hung in the air about the mountains’ feet. “Yonder is the Dimrill Stair,’ said Aragorn, pointing to the falls. ‘Down the deep-cloven way that climbs beside the torrent we should have come, if fortune had been kinder.’ ‘Or Caradhras less cruel,’ said Gimli. “There he stands smiling in the sun!’ He shook his fist at the furthest of the snow-capped peaks and turned away. To the east the outflung arm of the mountains marched to a sudden end, and far lands could be descried beyond them, wide and vague. To the south the Misty Mountains receded endlessly as far as sight could reach. Less than a mile away, and a little below them, for they still stood high up on the west side of the dale, there lay a mere. It was long and oval, shaped like a great spear-head thrust deep into the northern glen; but its southern end was beyond the shadows under the sunlit sky. Yet its waters were dark: a deep blue like clear evening sky seen from a lamp-lit room. Its face was still and unruffled. About it lay a smooth sward, shelving down on all sides to its bare unbroken rim. “There lies the Mirrormere, deep Kheled-zaram!’ said Gimli sadly. ‘I remember that he said: ‘“May you have joy of the sight! But we cannot linger there.’’ Now long shall I journey ere I have joy again. It is I that must hasten away, and he that must remain.’ The Company now went down the road from the Gates. It was rough and broken, fading to a winding track between heather and whin that thrust amid the cracking stones. But still it could be seen
第六章 羅斯洛立恩 「唉！恐怕我們不能再待在這裡了。」亞拉岡說。他望向群山，舉起他的劍。「再會了，甘道夫！」他喊道。「我不是對你說過嗎：如果你通過摩瑞亞的大門，要當心？唉，我竟一語成讖！沒有你，我們還有什麼希望？」他轉向遠征隊。「我們必須在沒有希望的情況下繼續前進。」他說。「至少我們還能報仇。讓我們振作起來，別再哭泣了！來吧！我們還有很長的路要走，還有很多事要做。」他們站起身，環顧四周。往北，山谷向上延伸，形成一道陰影幽谷，夾在兩條巨大的山脈臂彎之間，其上有三座白色山峰閃耀著：凱勒布迪爾、法努伊多、卡蘭拉斯，也就是摩瑞亞山脈。在幽谷的盡頭，一道急流像白色蕾絲般流過一連串無盡的短瀑布，山腳下的空氣中懸浮著一層泡沫薄霧。「那邊就是暗影之階。」亞拉岡指著瀑布說。「如果命運仁慈一點，我們本該從那條沿著急流攀升的深邃裂道下來的。」「或者說，如果卡蘭拉斯不那麼殘酷的話。」金靂說。「瞧他，正站在陽光下微笑呢！」他對著最遠處那座白雪皚皚的山峰揮了揮拳頭，然後轉過身去。往東，伸展的山脈臂彎戛然而止，遠方遼闊而模糊的土地隱約可見。往南，迷霧山脈無盡地向後退去，直到視線的盡頭。不到一英里外，比他們所站位置稍低的地方，有一片湖泊，因為他們仍站在山谷西側的高處。湖泊狹長呈橢圓形，像一支巨大的矛頭深深刺入北邊的幽谷；但它的南端則在陰影之外，沐浴在陽光普照的天空下。然而湖水卻是深邃的：一種深藍色，就像從燈火通明的房間望出去的清澈夜空。湖面平靜無波。湖的周圍是一片平滑的草地，從四面八方緩緩傾斜至其光禿無間的湖岸。「那就是鏡湖，深邃的凱薩督姆之湖！」金靂悲傷地說。「我記得他說過：『願你欣賞此景時能感到喜悅！但我們不能在那裡逗留。』如今我不知要走多遠的路才能再有喜悅。必須匆匆離去的是我，而必須留下的卻是他。」遠征隊現在從大門沿路而下。這條路崎嶇破碎，逐漸變成一條蜿蜒小徑，在石南與荊豆之間穿行，從開裂的石頭中伸出。但它仍然依稀可辨。
334 THE LORD OF THE RINGS that once long ago a great paved way had wound upwards from the lowlands to the Dwarf-kingdom. In places there were ruined works of stone beside the path, and mounds of green topped with slender birches, or fir-trees sighing in the wind. An eastward bend led them hard by the sward of Mirrormere, and there not far from the roadside stood a single column broken at the top. “That is Durin’s Stone!’ cried Gimli. ‘I cannot pass without turning aside for a moment to look at the wonder of the dale!’ ‘Be swift then!’ said Aragorn, looking back towards the Gates. “The Sun sinks early. The Orcs will not, maybe, come out till after dusk, but we must be far away before nightfall. The Moon is almost spent, and it will be dark tonight.’ ‘Come with me, Frodo!’ cried the dwarf, springing from the road. ‘I would not have you go without seeing Kheled-zaram.’ He ran down the long green slope. Frodo followed slowly, drawn by the still blue water in spite of hurt and weariness; Sam came up behind. Beside the standing stone Gimli halted and looked up. It was cracked and weather-worn, and the faint runes upon its side could not be read. “This pillar marks the spot where Durin first looked in the Mirrormere,’ said the dwarf. ‘Let us look ourselves once, ere we go!’ They stooped over the dark water. At first they could see nothing. Then slowly they saw the forms of the encircling mountains mirrored in a profound blue, and the peaks were like plumes of white flame above them; beyond there was a space of sky. There like jewels sunk in the deep shone glinting stars, though sunlight was in the sky above. Of their own stooping forms no shadow could be seen. ‘O Kheled-zaram fair and wonderful!’ said Gimli. “There lies the Crown of Durin till he wakes. Farewell!’ He bowed, and turned away, and hastened back up the greensward to the road again. ‘What did you see?’ said Pippin to Sam, but Sam was too deep in thought to answer. The road now turned south and went quickly downwards, running out from between the arms of the dale. Some way below the mere they came on a deep well of water, clear as crystal, from which a freshet fell over a stone lip and ran glistening and gurgling down a steep rocky channel. ‘Here is the spring from which the Silverlode rises,’ said Gimli. ‘Do not drink of it! It is icy cold.’ ‘Soon it becomes a swift river, and it gathers water from many other mountain-streams,’ said Aragorn. ‘Our road leads beside it for many miles. For I shall take you by the road that Gandalf chose, and first I hope to come to the woods where the Silverlode flows into the
那裡曾有一條宏偉的石板路，在很久以前從低地蜿蜒而上，通往矮人王國。路旁有些地方散落著毀壞的石造工事，還有綠色的土丘，頂上長著纖細的樺樹，或是隨風嘆息的冷杉。一個向東的彎道將他們引至鏡影湖的草地旁，離路邊不遠處，立著一根頂部斷裂的獨立石柱。「那是都靈之石！」金靂喊道。「我不能不停下來片刻，去看看這山谷的奇景！」「那就快點！」亞拉岡說，回頭望向大門。「太陽下山得早。半獸人或許要到黃昏後才會出來，但我們必須在天黑前走遠。月亮快要沒了，今晚會很黑。」「跟我來，佛羅多！」矮人喊道，從路上跳了下來。「我不想讓你沒見到凱薩督姆就走了。」他跑下長長的綠色斜坡。佛羅多緩緩跟上，儘管傷痛疲憊，仍被那靜謐的藍色湖水吸引；山姆跟在後面。金靂在立石旁停下，抬頭仰望。石頭上滿是裂痕，飽經風霜，側面模糊的盧恩文字已無法辨讀。「這根石柱標記著都靈第一次望向鏡影湖的地方，」矮人說。「在我們走之前，也讓我們看一眼吧！」他們彎身俯瞰幽暗的湖水。起初，他們什麼也看不見。然後，他們慢慢看見環繞的群山倒映在深邃的藍色中，山峰在他們上方，如同白色火焰的羽飾；更遠處是一片天空。在那裡，閃爍的星辰像沉入深淵的寶石般發光，儘管頭頂的天空陽光普照。他們自己彎著的身影，卻看不到任何倒影。「噢，美麗而奇妙的凱薩督姆！」金靂說。「都靈的皇冠就躺在那裡，直到他甦醒。再會了！」他鞠了一躬，轉身離去，匆匆跑上草坡回到路上。「你看到了什麼？」皮聘問山姆，但山姆陷入沉思，沒有回答。道路現在轉向南方，迅速下行，從山谷的兩臂之間延伸出去。在湖下方不遠處，他們看到一口深井，水清如水晶，一股清泉從石緣溢出，閃閃發光、潺潺作響地流下一道陡峭的岩石水道。「這裡是銀脈河的源頭，」金靂說。「別喝這裡的水！它冰冷刺骨。」「它很快就會變成一條湍急的河流，並匯集許多其他山溪的水，」亞拉岡說。「我們的路將沿著它走好幾英里。因為我將帶你們走甘道夫選擇的路，我首先希望能到達銀脈河流入的森林。」
LOTHLORIEN 335 Great River — out yonder.’ They looked as he pointed, and before them they could see the stream leaping down to the trough of the valley, and then running on and away into the lower lands, until it was lost in a golden haze. “There lie the woods of Lothlorien!’ said Legolas. “That is the fairest of all the dwellings of my people. There are no trees like the trees of that land. For in the autumn their leaves fall not, but turn to gold. Not till the spring comes and the new green opens do they fall, and then the boughs are laden with yellow flowers; and the floor of the wood is golden, and golden is the roof, and its pillars are of silver, for the bark of the trees is smooth and grey. So still our songs in Mirkwood say. My heart would be glad if I were beneath the eaves of that wood, and it were springtime!’ ‘My heart will be glad, even in the winter,’ said Aragorn. ‘But it lies many miles away. Let us hasten!’ For some time Frodo and Sam managed to keep up with the others; but Aragorn was leading them at a great pace, and after a while they lagged behind. They had eaten nothing since the early morning. Sam’s cut was burning like fire, and his head felt light. In spite of the shining sun the wind seemed chill after the warm darkness of Moria. He shivered. Frodo felt every step more painful and he gasped for breath. At last Legolas turned, and seeing them now far behind, he spoke to Aragorn. The others halted, and Aragorn ran back, calling to Boromir to come with him. ‘I am sorry, Frodo!’ he cried, full of concern. ‘So much has happened this day and we have such need of haste, that I have forgotten that you were hurt; and Sam too. You should have spoken. We have done nothing to ease you, as we ought, though all the orcs of Moria were after us. Come now! A little further on there is a place where we can rest for a little. There I will do what I can for you. Come, Boromir! We will carry them.’ Soon afterwards they came upon another stream that ran down from the west, and joined its bubbling water with the hurrying Silverlode. Together they plunged over a fall of green-hued stone, and foamed down into a dell. About it stood fir-trees, short and bent, and its sides were steep and clothed with harts-tongue and shrubs of whortle-berry. At the bottom there was a level space through which the stream flowed noisily over shining pebbles. Here they rested. It was now nearly three hours after noon, and they had come only a few miles from the Gates. Already the sun was westering. While Gimli and the two younger hobbits kindled a fire of brushand fir-wood, and drew water, Aragorn tended Sam and Frodo. Sam’s
他們順著他指的方向望去，眼前可見溪流躍下谷底，接著奔流遠去，進入低地，直到消失在一片金色的迷霧中。「羅斯洛利安的森林就在那裡！」勒苟拉斯說。「那是我族人所有居所中最美麗的一處。那片土地上的樹木無與倫比。因為在秋天，它們的葉子不會掉落，而是會變成金色。直到春天來臨，新綠綻放，它們才會落下，那時樹枝上會掛滿黃色的花朵；林間的地面是金色的，屋頂是金色的，柱子則是銀色的，因為樹皮光滑而呈灰色。我們在幽暗密林的歌謠至今仍是這麼唱的。要是我能在那片森林的屋簷下，而且時值春天，我的心會多麼歡喜啊！」「即使在冬天，我的心也會歡喜的，」亞拉岡說。「但它在許多英里之外。我們得趕快！」有段時間，佛羅多和山姆還能跟上其他人；但亞拉岡帶領他們的速度非常快，過了一會兒，他們就落後了。他們從清晨起就沒吃過任何東西。山姆的傷口像火燒一樣灼痛，頭也感到昏沉。儘管陽光普照，但在摩瑞亞溫暖的黑暗之後，風似乎顯得寒冷。他打了個哆嗦。佛羅多覺得每一步都更加痛苦，他喘不過氣來。最後勒苟拉斯轉過身，看到他們遠遠落在後頭，便對亞拉岡說了話。其他人停了下來，亞拉岡跑了回來，呼喚波羅莫跟他一起來。「我很抱歉，佛羅多！」他滿懷關切地喊道。「今天發生了太多事，我們又急著趕路，以致於我忘了你受了傷；山姆也是。你應該說出來的。我們沒有為你們舒緩痛苦，儘管我們本應如此，即使摩瑞亞所有的半獸人都在追趕我們。來吧！再往前一點有個地方我們可以稍作休息。到那裡我會盡我所能幫助你們。來，波羅莫！我們來背他們。」不久之後，他們來到另一條從西邊流下的溪流，它冒著泡泡的溪水匯入了奔流的銀脈河。兩條溪流一起衝下一座綠色岩石的瀑布，泛著泡沫流入一個小山谷。山谷周圍長著矮小彎曲的冷杉，陡峭的谷壁上覆蓋著鹿舌蕨和越橘灌木。谷底有一片平地，溪流喧鬧地流過閃亮的鵝卵石。他們就在這裡休息。此時已是午後近三小時，他們離大門僅走了幾英里。太陽已經開始西沉。當金靂和兩位年輕的哈比人點燃一堆由灌木和冷杉木組成的火，並取水時，亞拉岡則照料著山姆和佛羅多。山姆的
336 THE LORD OF THE RINGS wound was not deep, but it looked ugly, and Aragorn’s face was grave as he examined it. After a moment he looked up with relief. ‘Good luck, Sam!’ he said. ‘Many have received worse than this in payment for the slaying of their first orc. The cut is not poisoned, as the wounds of orc-blades too often are. It should heal well when I have tended it. Bathe it when Gimli has heated water.’ He opened his pouch and drew out some withered leaves. “They are dry, and some of their virtue has gone,’ he said, ‘but here I have still some of the leaves of athelas that I gathered near Weathertop. Crush one in the water, and wash the wound clean, and I will bind it. Now it is your turn, Frodo!’ ‘I am all right,’ said Frodo, reluctant to have his garments touched. ‘All I needed was some food and a little rest.’ ‘No!’ said Aragorn. ‘We must have a look and see what the hammer and the anvil have done to you. I still marvel that you are alive at all.’ Gently he stripped off Frodo’s old jacket and worn tunic, and gave a gasp of wonder. Then he laughed. The silver corslet shimmered before his eyes like the light upon a rippling sea. Carefully he took it off and held it up, and the gems on it glittered like stars, and the sound of the shaken rings was like the tinkle of rain in a pool. ‘Look, my friends!’ he called. ‘Here’s a pretty hobbit-skin to wrap an elven-princeling in! If it were known that hobbits had such hides, all the hunters of Middle-earth would be riding to the Shire.’ ‘And all the arrows of all the hunters in the world would be in vain,’ said Gimli, gazing at the mail in wonder. ‘It is a mithril-coat. Mithril! I have never seen or heard tell of one so fair. Is this the coat that Gandalf spoke of? Then he undervalued it. But it was well given!’ ‘I have often wondered what you and Bilbo were doing, so close in his little room,’ said Merry. ‘Bless the old hobbit! I love him more than ever. I hope we get a chance of telling him about it!’ There was a dark and blackened bruise on Frodo’s right side and breast. Under the mail there was a shirt of soft leather, but at one point the rings had been driven through it into the flesh. Frodo’s left side also was scored and bruised where he had been hurled against the wall. While the others set the food ready, Aragorn bathed the hurts with water in which athelas was steeped. The pungent fragrance filled the dell, and all those who stooped over the steaming water felt refreshed and strengthened. Soon Frodo felt the pain leave him, and his breath grew easy: though he was stiff and sore to the touch for many days. Aragorn bound some soft pads of cloth at his side. “The mail is marvellously light,’ he said. ‘Put it on again, if you can bear it. My heart is glad to know that you have such a coat. Do
《魔戒》336頁 傷口不深，但看起來很嚇人，亞拉岡檢查時臉色凝重。過了一會兒，他如釋重負地抬起頭。「山姆，你運氣很好！」他說。「許多人殺了第一隻半獸人後，付出的代價可比這嚴重多了。這傷口沒有中毒，不像半獸人刀劍的傷口常常帶毒。等我處理過後，它應該會順利癒合。金靂燒好水後，你用來清洗傷口。」他打開自己的小袋，拿出一些枯萎的葉子。「它們乾了，有些藥效已經流失了，」他說，「但我這裡還有一些我在風雲頂附近採集的阿夕拉斯葉。在水裡壓碎一片，把傷口洗乾淨，然後我會為你包紮。現在輪到你了，佛羅多！」「我沒事，」佛羅多說，不情願地讓人碰他的衣服。「我只需要一些食物和一點休息。」「不！」亞拉岡說。「我們必須看看鐵鎚和鐵砧對你做了什麼。我到現在還驚訝你竟然還活著。」他溫柔地脫下佛羅多舊的外套和磨損的束腰外衣，發出一聲驚奇的倒抽氣聲。然後他笑了。那件銀色胸甲在他眼前閃爍，如同蕩漾海面上的光芒。他小心翼翼地將它取下並舉起，上面的寶石像星星一樣閃閃發光，晃動的環甲聲聽起來像雨點滴入水池的叮咚聲。「看啊，我的朋友們！」他喊道。「這有一件漂亮的哈比人皮，可以拿來包裹一位精靈小王子！要是大家都知道哈比人有這樣的皮，中土大陸所有的獵人都會騎馬奔向夏爾了。」「那全世界所有獵人的箭也都會是徒勞的，」金靂凝視著那件鎖子甲，驚嘆地說。「這是一件秘銀甲。秘銀！我從未見過或聽說過如此精美的。這就是甘道夫提到的那件嗎？那他可真是低估它了。但這禮物送得真好！」「我常常好奇你和比爾博在他的小房間裡那麼親近地在做什麼，」梅里說。「祝福那老哈比人！我比以前更愛他了。希望我們有機會告訴他這件事！」佛羅多的右側和胸口有一塊又黑又暗的瘀傷。在鎖子甲下面是一件軟皮襯衫，但在某一點，甲環被撞穿了襯衫，刺入了肉裡。佛羅多的左側也因被猛撞到牆上而滿是刮痕和瘀傷。在其他人準備食物的時候，亞拉岡用浸泡了阿夕拉斯的水清洗他的傷口。那辛辣的香氣充滿了整個小谷地，所有彎腰靠近那蒸騰熱水的人都感到精神一振、力量倍增。很快，佛羅多感到疼痛離他而去，呼吸也變得順暢了：雖然接下來很多天他碰一下都覺得僵硬和痠痛。亞拉岡用一些柔軟的布墊綁在他的身側。「這件鎖子甲輕得不可思議，」他說。「如果你能承受，就再穿上它。知道你有這樣一件護甲，我心裡真高興。去吧！
LOTHLORIEN 337 not lay it aside, even in sleep, unless fortune brings you where you are safe for a while; and that will seldom chance while your quest lasts.’ When they had eaten, the Company got ready to go on. They put out the fire and hid all traces of it. Then climbing out of the dell they took to the road again. They had not gone far before the sun sank behind the westward heights and great shadows crept down the mountain-sides. Dusk veiled their feet, and mist rose in the hollows. Away in the east the evening light lay pale upon the dim lands of distant plain and wood. Sam and Frodo now feeling eased and greatly refreshed were able to go at a fair pace, and with only one brief halt Aragorn led the Company on for nearly three more hours. It was dark. Deep night had fallen. There were many clear stars, but the fast-waning moon would not be seen till late. Gimli and Frodo were at the rear, walking softly and not speaking, listening for any sound upon the road behind. At length Gimli broke the silence. ‘Not a sound but the wind,’ he said. “There are no goblins near, or my ears are made of wood. It is to be hoped that the Orcs will be content with driving us from Moria. And maybe that was all their purpose, and they had nothing else to do with us — with the Ring. Though Orcs will often pursue foes for many leagues into the plain, if they have a fallen captain to avenge.’ Frodo did not answer. He looked at Sting, and the blade was dull. Yet he had heard something, or thought he had. As soon as the shadows had fallen about them and the road behind was dim, he had heard again the quick patter of feet. Even now he heard it. He turned swiftly. There were two tiny gleams of light behind, or for a moment he thought he saw them, but at once they slipped aside and vanished. ‘What is it?’ said the dwarf. ‘I don’t know,’ answered Frodo. ‘I thought I heard feet, and I thought I saw a light — like eyes. I have thought so often, since we first entered Moria.’ Gimli halted and stooped to the ground. ‘I hear nothing but the night-speech of plant and stone,’ he said. ‘Come! Let us hurry! The others are out of sight.’ The night-wind blew chill up the valley to meet them. Before them a wide grey shadow loomed, and they heard an endless rustle of leaves like poplars in the breeze. ‘Lothlorien!’ cried Legolas. ‘Lothlorien! We have come to the eaves of the Golden Wood. Alas that it is winter!’ Under the night the trees stood tall before them, arched over the road and stream that ran suddenly beneath their spreading boughs.
羅斯洛利安 337 除非幸運之神帶你到安全之處，否則即使睡覺也別放下它；而在你的任務期間，這種機會很少。』吃完東西後，遠征隊準備繼續前行。他們熄滅了火，並藏起了所有痕跡。然後他們爬出小山谷，再次踏上路途。他們沒走多遠，太陽就沉入西邊的高地後方，巨大的陰影爬下山坡。暮色遮蔽了他們的腳步，霧氣在窪地中升起。在遙遠的東方，晚霞的微光蒼白地灑在遠方平原和樹林的昏暗土地上。山姆和佛羅多現在感到輕鬆且精神大振，能夠以不錯的速度前進，亞拉岡只短暫休息了一次，就帶領遠征隊又走了將近三個小時。天黑了，深夜降臨。天上繁星點點，但那殘月要到很晚才會出現。金靂和佛羅多走在隊伍最後，輕手輕腳地走著，沒有說話，專心聽著身後路上的任何聲響。終於，金靂打破了沉默。『除了風聲什麼都沒有，』他說。『附近沒有哥布林，不然我的耳朵就是木頭做的。希望那些半獸人把我們趕出摩瑞亞就滿足了。也許這就是他們的全部目的，他們跟我們——跟魔戒——沒有別的關係。不過，如果有陣亡的隊長要報仇，半獸人常常會追擊敵人到平原上好幾里格遠。』佛羅多沒有回答。他看著刺針，劍刃是暗淡的。然而他聽到了什麼，或者說他以為自己聽到了。當陰影籠罩他們、身後的路變得昏暗時，他又聽到了那陣急促的腳步聲。即使現在他也聽到了。他迅速轉身。後面有兩點微弱的光芒，或者說有那麼一瞬間他以為看到了，但它們立刻就溜到一旁消失了。『是什麼？』矮人說。『我不知道，』佛羅多回答。『我以為我聽到了腳步聲，還看到了一道光——像眼睛。自從我們初次進入摩瑞亞以來，我常常有這種感覺。』金靂停下腳步，彎腰貼近地面。『我只聽到植物和石頭的夜語，』他說。『來吧！我們快點！其他人已經看不見了。』夜風沿著山谷吹來，寒意迎面撲來。他們面前，一個寬闊的灰色陰影赫然聳現，他們聽到無盡的樹葉沙沙聲，像微風中的白楊樹。『羅斯洛利安！』勒苟拉斯喊道。『羅斯洛利安！我們來到黃金森林的邊緣了。可惜現在是冬天！』夜幕下，樹木高聳在他們面前，枝幹伸展，拱衛著道路和突然從其下流過的小溪。
338 THE LORD OF THE RINGS In the dim light of the stars their stems were grey, and their quivering leaves a hint of fallow gold. ‘Lothlorien!’ said Aragorn. ‘Glad I am to hear again the wind in the trees! We are still little more than five leagues from the Gates, but we can go no further. Here let us hope that the virtue of the Elves will keep us tonight from the peril that comes behind.’ ‘If Elves indeed still dwell here in the darkening world,’ said Gimli. ‘It is long since any of my own folk journeyed hither back to the land whence we wandered in ages long ago,’ said Legolas, ‘but we hear that Lorien is not yet deserted, for there is a secret power here that holds evil from the land. Nevertheless its folk are seldom seen, and maybe they dwell now deep in the woods and far from the northern border.’ ‘Indeed deep in the wood they dwell,’ said Aragorn, and sighed as if some memory stirred in him. ‘We must fend for ourselves tonight. We will go forward a short way, until the trees are all about us, and then we will turn aside from the path and seek a place to rest in.’ He stepped forward; but Boromir stood irresolute and did not follow. ‘Is there no other way?’ he said. ‘What other fairer way would you desire?’ said Aragorn. ‘A plain road, though it led through a hedge of swords,’ said Boromir. ‘By strange paths has this Company been led, and so far to evil fortune. Against my will we passed under the shades of Moria, to our loss. And now we must enter the Golden Wood, you say. But of that perilous land we have heard in Gondor, and it is said that few come out who once go in; and of that few none have escaped unscathed.’ ‘Say not unscathed, but if you say unchanged, then maybe you will speak the truth,’ said Aragorn. ‘But lore wanes in Gondor, Boromir, if in the city of those who once were wise they now speak evil of Lothlorien. Believe what you will, there is no other way for us — unless you would go back to Moria-gate, or scale the pathless mountains, or swim the Great River all alone.’ “Then lead on!’ said Boromir. ‘But it is perilous.’ ‘Perilous indeed,’ said Aragorn, ‘fair and perilous; but only evil need fear it, or those who bring some evil with them. Follow me!’ They had gone little more than a mile into the forest when they came upon another stream flowing down swiftly from the tree-clad slopes that climbed back westward towards the mountains. They heard it splashing over a fall away among the shadows on their right. Its dark hurrying waters ran across the path before them, and joined the Silverlode in a swirl of dim pools among the roots of trees. ‘Here is Nimrodel!’ said Legolas. ‘Of this stream the Silvan Elves
在星辰的微光下，樹幹呈灰色，顫動的葉子暗示著休耕地的金色。「羅斯洛立安！」亞拉岡說。「真高興能再次聽見林中風聲！我們離大門還不過五里格多一點，但不能再前進了。今晚，讓我們寄望精靈們的力量能保護我們，免於身後的危險。」 「如果在這日益黑暗的世界裡，精靈真的還住在這裡的話。」金靂說。 「我族人上次來到這片我們先前流浪的故土，已是許久以前的事了，」勒苟拉斯說，「但我們聽說羅瑞安並未被遺棄，因為這裡有一股神秘的力量，能使邪惡遠離此地。然而，這裡的居民極少露面，或許他們現在住在森林深處，遠離北方邊界。」 「他們確實住在森林深處，」亞拉岡說，嘆了口氣，彷彿勾起了某些回憶。「今晚我們必須自己想辦法了。我們會再往前走一小段路，直到被樹木完全環繞，然後我們會離開小徑，找個地方休息。」 他向前走去；但波羅莫卻猶豫不決地站著，沒有跟上。「沒有別的路了嗎？」他說。 「你還想要什麼更好的路？」亞拉岡說。 「一條平坦大道，即使它穿過劍刃組成的圍籬，」波羅莫說。「這支隊伍被引領著走了許多奇特的道路，至今厄運連連。我們違背我的意願，穿過摩瑞亞的陰影，付出了代價。而現在你說，我們必須進入黃金森林。但我們在剛鐸聽說過那片險惡之地，據說進去的人很少能出來；而那少數出來的人中，沒有一個能毫髮無傷地逃脫。」 「別說毫髮無傷，但如果你說『沒被改變』，那或許你說的是實話，」亞拉岡說。「波羅莫，如果那些曾經充滿智慧的城市的子民，現在竟說羅斯洛立安的壞話，那剛鐸的古老智慧正在衰退。信不信由你，我們沒有別的路可走——除非你想回到摩瑞亞大門，或攀登無路的山脈，或獨自游過大河。」 「那就帶路吧！」波羅莫說。「但這很危險。」 「確實危險，」亞拉岡說，「既美麗又危險；但只有邪惡需要懼怕它，或是那些自身帶來邪惡的人。跟我來！」 他們進入森林不過一英里多，就遇到另一條溪流，從西面朝向山脈攀升、林木覆蓋的斜坡上迅速流下。他們聽到溪水在右邊的陰影中濺過一處瀑布。它那黑暗而湍急的溪水橫過他們面前的小徑，在樹根間形成一圈圈昏暗的漩渦，匯入了銀脈河。 「這裡是寧若戴爾！」勒苟拉斯說。「關於這條溪流，森林精靈們……」
LOTHLORIEN 339 made many songs long ago, and still we sing them in the North, remembering the rainbow on its falls, and the golden flowers that floated in its foam. All is dark now and the Bridge of Nimrodel is broken down. I will bathe my feet, for it is said that the water is healing to the weary.’ He went forward and climbed down the deepcloven bank and stepped into the stream. ‘Follow me!’ he cried. “The water is not deep. Let us wade across! On the further bank we can rest, and the sound of the falling water may bring us sleep and forgetfulness of grief.’ One by one they climbed down and followed Legolas. For a moment Frodo stood near the brink and let the water flow over his tired feet. It was cold but its touch was clean, and as he went on and it mounted to his knees, he felt that the stain of travel and all weariness was washed from his limbs. When all the Company had crossed, they sat and rested and ate a little food; and Legolas told them tales of Lothldorien that the Elves of Mirkwood still kept in their hearts, of sunlight and starlight upon the meadows by the Great River before the world was grey. At length a silence fell, and they heard the music of the waterfall running sweetly in the shadows. Almost Frodo fancied that he could hear a voice singing, mingled with the sound of the water. ‘Do you hear the voice of Nimrodel?’ asked Legolas. ‘I will sing you a song of the maiden Nimrodel, who bore the same name as the stream beside which she lived long ago. It is a fair song in our woodland tongue; but this is how it runs in the Westron Speech, as some in Rivendell now sing it.’ In a soft voice hardly to be heard amid the rustle of the leaves above them he began: An Elven-maid there was of old, A shining star by day: Her mantle white was hemmed with gold, Her shoes of silver-grey. A star was bound upon her brows, A light was on her hair As sun upon the golden boughs In Lorien the fair. Her hair was long, her limbs were white, And fair she was and free; And in the wind she went as light As leaf of linden-tree.
羅斯洛立恩 339，許久以前，我們為它譜寫了許多歌曲，至今仍在北方傳唱，懷念著它瀑布上的彩虹，以及漂浮在水沫中的金色花朵。如今一切都暗淡了，寧若戴爾橋也已斷裂。我要去泡泡我的腳，因為據說這裡的水能療癒疲憊之人。」他向前走去，爬下深裂的河岸，踏入溪流中。「跟著我！」他喊道。「水不深。我們涉水過去吧！到對岸我們可以休息，瀑布的聲音或許能帶給我們睡眠，忘卻悲傷。」他們一個接一個地爬下河岸，跟著勒苟拉斯。佛羅多在岸邊站了一會兒，讓溪水流過他疲憊的雙腳。水很冷，但觸感潔淨，當他繼續前行，水淹至膝蓋時，他感覺旅途的污穢與所有的疲憊都從他的四肢上被洗去了。當所有遠征隊員都過了河，他們坐下休息，吃了一點食物；勒苟拉斯告訴他們幽暗密林精靈們仍銘記在心的關於羅斯洛立恩的傳說，關於在世界變得灰暗之前，大河沿岸草地上灑落的陽光與星光。最終，一片寂靜降臨，他們聽見瀑布的樂音在陰影中悅耳地流淌。佛羅多幾乎以為自己聽見了歌聲，與水聲交織在一起。「你聽到寧若戴爾的聲音了嗎？」勒苟拉斯問道。「我要為你們唱一首關於寧若戴爾少女的歌，她的名字與她許久以前居住的溪流相同。用我們的林地語言唱，這是一首優美的歌；但這是它在西方語中的樣子，就像瑞文戴爾的一些人現在唱的那樣。」他用幾乎聽不見的輕柔聲音，在上方樹葉的沙沙聲中開始唱道：古時有位精靈少女，是白日閃耀的星辰：她的白袍鑲著金邊，她的鞋是銀灰色。星辰繫於她額上，光芒在她髮間閃亮，如同陽光灑在美麗羅瑞恩的金枝上。她長髮飄飄，四肢潔白，她美麗而自由；她在風中行走，輕盈如椴樹之葉。
340 THE LORD OF THE RINGS Beside the falls of Nimrodel, By water clear and cool, Her voice as falling silver fell Into the shining pool. Where now she wanders none can tell, In sunlight or in shade; For lost of yore was Nimrodel And in the mountains strayed. The elven-ship in haven grey Beneath the mountain-lee Awaited her for many a day Beside the roaring sea. A wind by night in Northern lands Arose, and loud it cried, And drove the ship from elven-strands Across the streaming tide. When dawn came dim the land was lost, The mountains sinking grey Beyond the heaving waves that tossed Their plumes of blinding spray. Amroth beheld the fading shore Now low beyond the swell, And cursed the faithless ship that bore Him far from Nimrodel. Of old he was an Elven-king, A lord of tree and glen, When golden were the boughs in spring In fair Lothlorien. From helm to sea they saw him leap, As arrow from the string, And dive into the water deep, As mew upon the wing. The wind was in his flowing hair, The foam about him shone; Afar they saw him strong and fair Go riding like a swan.
寧若戴爾瀑布旁，流水清澈又冰涼， 她歌聲如落銀，墜入閃亮水塘。 如今她何處徜徉，無人能講， 無論在陽光下或蔭影裡； 因寧若戴爾早已於往昔失蹤，迷途於群山裡。 精靈船在灰色港灣，在山脈的背風處， 日復一日將她等待，在咆哮的大海邊。 一夜北境風起，高聲哭喊， 將船吹離精靈岸，越過奔騰浪潮。 當黎明昏暗降臨，陸地已失， 群山沉入灰色，在翻騰的波濤之外， 那波濤拋起遮蔽視線的羽狀浪花。 安羅斯望著漸遠的海岸，如今已低於浪頭， 他詛咒那無信的船，將他帶離寧若戴爾。 古時他是一位精靈王，樹與谷的主人， 當春天枝枒金黃，在美麗的羅斯洛利安。 人們見他從船頭躍向大海，如離弦之箭， 他縱身潛入深水，如展翼之鷗。 風在他飄逸的髮間，泡沫在他身邊閃耀； 遠遠地，他們看見他矯健而俊美，如天鵝般游去。
LOTHLORIEN 341 But from the West has come no word, And on the Hither Shore No tidings Elven-folk have heard Of Amroth evermore. The voice of Legolas faltered, and the song ceased. ‘I cannot sing any more,’ he said. “That is but a part, for I have forgotten much. It is long and sad, for it tells how sorrow came upon Lothlorien, Lorien of the Blossom, when the Dwarves awakened evil in the mountains.’ ‘But the Dwarves did not make the evil,’ said Gimli. ‘I said not so; yet evil came,’ answered Legolas sadly. “Then many of the Elves of Nimrodel’s kindred left their dwellings and departed, and she was lost far in the South, in the passes of the White Mountains; and she came not to the ship where Amroth her lover waited for her. But in the spring when the wind is in the new leaves the echo of her voice may still be heard by the falls that bear her name. And when the wind is in the South the voice of Amroth comes up from the sea; for Nimrodel flows into Silverlode, that Elves call Celebrant, and Celebrant into Anduin the Great, and Anduin flows into the Bay of Belfalas whence the Elves of Lorien set sail. But neither Nimrodel nor Amroth came ever back. ‘It is told that she had a house built in the branches of a tree that grew near the falls; for that was the custom of the Elves of Lorien, to dwell in the trees, and maybe it is so still. Therefore they were called the Galadhrim, the Tree-people. Deep in their forest the trees are very great. The people of the woods did not delve in the ground like Dwarves, nor build strong places of stone before the Shadow came.’ ‘And even in these latter days dwelling in the trees might be thought safer than sitting on the ground,’ said Gimli. He looked across the stream to the road that led back to Dimrill Dale, and then up into the roof of dark boughs above. “Your words bring good counsel, Gimli,’ said Aragorn. ‘We cannot build a house, but tonight we will do as the Galadhrim and seek refuge in the tree-tops, if we can. We have sat here beside the road already longer than was wise.’ The Company now turned aside from the path, and went into the shadow of the deeper woods, westward along the mountain-stream away from Silverlode. Not far from the falls of Nimrodel they found a cluster of trees, some of which overhung the stream. Their great grey trunks were of mighty girth, but their height could not be guessed. ‘I will climb up,’ said Legolas. ‘I am at home among trees, by root or bough, though these trees are of a kind strange to me, save as a
羅斯洛利安 341 但西方杳無音信，此岸亦無回音，精靈未曾再聽聞，安羅斯的任何蹤影。勒苟拉斯的聲音顫抖了，歌聲也隨之中止。「我唱不下去了，」他說。「這只是一部分，因為我忘了大半。這首歌很長，也很悲傷，它訴說著悲傷如何降臨在羅斯洛利安，那繁花盛開的羅瑞安，當矮人在山中喚醒了邪惡之時。」「但那邪惡不是矮人製造的，」金靂說。「我沒這麼說；但邪惡確實降臨了，」勒苟拉斯悲傷地回答。「於是，許多寧若戴爾的族人離開了他們的家園遠去，而她在遙遠的南方，在白色山脈的隘口中迷失了；她沒能到達她的愛人安羅斯等著她的那艘船上。但在春天，當風吹拂新葉時，在以她為名的瀑布旁，仍可能聽見她聲音的回響。而當南風吹起時，安羅斯的聲音會從海上傳來；因為寧若戴爾河流入銀脈河，精靈稱之為凱勒布蘭特河，凱勒布蘭特河再匯入安都因大河，而安都因河流入貝爾法拉斯灣，羅瑞安的精靈們就是從那裡啟航的。但寧若戴爾和安羅斯都再也沒有回來。「據說她在瀑布附近一棵樹的枝幹上蓋了一棟房子；因為那是羅瑞安精靈的習俗，居住在樹上，或許至今依然如此。因此他們被稱為加拉德蘭民，也就是樹民。在他們森林深處，樹木都非常巨大。在闇影降臨之前，這些林地居民不像矮人那樣挖掘地底，也不會用石頭建造堅固的堡壘。」「即使在現今，住在樹上也比坐在地上安全些，」金靂說。他望向溪流對岸那條通回黯溪谷的路上，然後抬頭看著上方由漆黑樹枝構成的頂篷。「金靂，你的話是個好建議，」亞拉岡說。「我們無法蓋房子，但今晚我們要效法加拉德蘭民，如果可以的話，到樹頂上尋求庇護。我們在路邊坐得太久了，這並不聰明。」遠征隊一行人於是離開小徑，走進更深邃的林影中，沿著山溪朝西，遠離銀脈河。在離寧若戴爾瀑布不遠處，他們找到了一叢樹木，其中幾棵懸在溪流之上。它們巨大的灰色樹幹有著驚人的圍度，但高度卻無法估量。「我來爬上去，」勒苟拉斯說。「我在樹林裡如魚得水，無論是樹根還是樹枝，雖然這些樹的種類對我來說很陌生，除了……
342 THE LORD OF THE RINGS name in song. Mellyrn they are called, and are those that bear the yellow blossom, but I have never climbed in one. I will see now what is their shape and way of growth.’ ‘Whatever it may be,’ said Pippin, ‘they will be marvellous trees indeed if they can offer any rest at night, except to birds. I cannot sleep on a perch!’ “Then dig a hole in the ground,’ said Legolas, ‘if that is more after the fashion of your kind. But you must dig swift and deep, if you wish to hide from Orcs.’ He sprang lightly up from the ground and caught a branch that grew from the trunk high above his head. But even as he swung there for a moment, a voice spoke suddenly from the tree-shadows above him. ‘Daro! it said in commanding tone, and Legolas dropped back to earth in surprise and fear. He shrank against the bole of the tree. ‘Stand still!’ he whispered to the others. ‘Do not move or speak!’ There was a sound of soft laughter over their heads, and then another clear voice spoke in an elven-tongue. Frodo could understand little of what was said, for the speech that the Silvan folk east of the mountains used among themselves was unlike that of the West. Legolas looked up and answered in the same language.* ‘Who are they, and what do they say?’ asked Merry. “They’re Elves,’ said Sam. ‘Can’t you hear their voices?’ “Yes, they are Elves,’ said Legolas; ‘and they say that you breathe so loud that they could shoot you in the dark.’ Sam hastily put his hand over his mouth. ‘But they say also that you need have no fear. They have been aware of us for a long while. They heard my voice across the Nimrodel, and knew that I was one of their Northern kindred, and therefore they did not hinder our crossing; and afterwards they heard my song. Now they bid me climb up with Frodo; for they seem to have had some tidings of him and of our journey. The others they ask to wait a little, and to keep watch at the foot of the tree, until they have decided what is to be done.’ Out of the shadows a ladder was let down: it was made of rope, silver-grey and glimmering in the dark, and though it looked slender it proved strong enough to bear many men. Legolas ran lightly up, and Frodo followed slowly; behind came Sam trying not to breathe loudly. The branches of the mallorn-tree grew out nearly straight from the trunk, and then swept upward; but near the top the main stem divided into a crown of many boughs, and among these they found that there had been built a wooden platform, or flet as such things were called in those days: the Elves called it a talan. It was * See note in Appendix F: Of the Elves.
在歌謠中聽過其名。它們被稱為梅隆樹，是那種會開黃色花朵的樹，但我從未爬過。我現在倒要看看它們的形狀和生長方式。」「不管怎樣，」皮聘說，「如果它們晚上能提供任何休息之處——除了給鳥兒以外——那它們肯定是神奇的樹。我可沒辦法棲在樹枝上睡覺！」「那就往地上挖個洞，」勒苟拉斯說，「如果那比較合你們那族的習慣。但你得挖得又快又深，如果你想躲開半獸人的話。」他輕巧地從地上一躍而起，抓住一根從頭頂高處樹幹伸出的樹枝。但就在他懸在那兒的片刻，一個聲音突然從他上方的樹影中說話了。「達羅！」那聲音以命令的口吻說道，勒苟拉斯驚懼交加地落回地面。他緊縮著身子靠在樹幹上。「站著別動！」他對其他人低語道。「不要動也不要說話！」他們頭頂傳來一陣輕柔的笑聲，接著另一個清晰的聲音用精靈語說起話來。佛羅多聽不太懂說了些什麼，因為山脈以東的西爾凡精靈之間使用的語言與西方的不同。勒苟拉斯抬頭用同樣的語言回答。*「他們是誰？他們在說什麼？」梅里問。「他們是精靈，」山姆說。「你聽不出他們的聲音嗎？」「是的，他們是精靈，」勒苟拉斯說；「他們說你們呼吸聲大到他們在暗處也能射中你。」山姆趕緊用手摀住嘴巴。「但他們也說你們不必害怕。他們已經察覺我們很久了。他們在寧若戴爾河對岸就聽到了我的聲音，知道我是他們的北方同族，所以沒有阻止我們渡河；後來他們又聽到了我的歌。現在他們叫我跟佛羅多一起爬上去；因為他們似乎已經得知一些關於他和我們旅程的消息。他們要其他人稍等片刻，在樹下守望，直到他們決定該怎麼辦。」一架梯子從陰影中放了下來：那是用繩索製成的，銀灰色，在黑暗中閃爍微光，雖然看起來纖細，卻證明足以承受許多人。勒苟拉斯輕快地跑了上去，佛羅多緩緩跟在後面；山姆在最後，努力不大聲呼吸。梅隆樹的樹枝幾乎是筆直地從樹幹長出，然後向上彎曲；但在靠近頂端處，主幹分岔成一頂由許多大枝條組成的樹冠，他們發現在這些枝條之間搭建了一個木製平台，在當時那樣的東西被稱為「費雷特」(flet)：精靈們則稱之為「塔蘭」(talan)。 *見附錄F：關於精靈。
LOTHLORIEN 343 reached by a round hole in the centre through which the ladder passed. When Frodo came at last up on to the flet he found Legolas seated with three other Elves. They were clad in shadowy-grey, and could not be seen among the tree-stems, unless they moved suddenly. They stood up, and one of them uncovered a small lamp that gave out a slender silver beam. He held it up, looking at Frodo’s face, and Sam’s. Then he shut off the light again, and spoke words of welcome in his elven-tongue. Frodo spoke haltingly in return. ‘Welcome!’ the Elf then said again in the Common Language, speaking slowly. ‘We seldom use any tongue but our own; for we dwell now in the heart of the forest, and do not willingly have dealings with any other folk. Even our own kindred in the North are sundered from us. But there are some of us still who go abroad for the gathering of news and the watching of our enemies, and they speak the languages of other lands. I am one. Haldir is my name. My brothers, Rumil and Orophin, speak little of your tongue. ‘But we have heard rumours of your coming, for the messengers of Elrond passed by Lorien on their way home up the Dimrill Stair. We had not heard of — hobbits, of halflings, for many a long year, and did not know that any yet dwelt in Middle-earth. You do not look evil! And since you come with an Elf of our kindred, we are willing to befriend you, as Elrond asked; though it is not our custom to lead strangers through our land. But you must stay here tonight. How many are you?’ ‘Eight,’ said Legolas. ‘Myself, four hobbits; and two men, one of whom, Aragorn, is an Elf-friend of the folk of Westernesse.’ “The name of Aragorn son of Arathorn is known in Lorien,’ said Haldir, ‘and he has the favour of the Lady. All then is well. But you have yet spoken only of seven.’ “The eighth is a dwarf,’ said Legolas. ‘A dwarf!’ said Haldir. “That is not well. We have not had dealings with the Dwarves since the Dark Days. They are not permitted in our land. I cannot allow him to pass.’ ‘But he is from the Lonely Mountain, one of Dain’s trusty people, and friendly to Elrond,’ said Frodo. ‘Elrond himself chose him to be one of our companions, and he has been brave and faithful.’ The Elves spoke together in soft voices, and questioned Legolas in their own tongue. ‘Very good,’ said Haldir at last. ‘We will do this, though it is against our liking. If Aragorn and Legolas will guard him, and answer for him, he shall pass; but he must go blindfold through Lothlorien. ‘But now we must debate no longer. Your folk must not remain on the ground. We have been keeping watch on the rivers, ever since
……從中間一個圓洞抵達，梯子就是從那裡穿過的。當佛羅多終於爬上樹台時，他發現勒苟拉斯和另外三位精靈坐在一起。他們身穿暗灰色的衣服，除非突然移動，否則在樹幹間幾乎看不見。他們站起身，其中一位揭開一盞小燈，發出纖細的銀色光束。他舉起燈，照看佛羅多和山姆的臉。然後他又關掉了燈，用他的精靈語說了些歡迎的話。佛羅多也結結巴巴地回了話。「歡迎！」那位精靈接著用通用語再次說道，說得很慢。「我們很少使用我們自己的語言以外的任何語言；因為我們現在居住在森林的中心，不願意與任何其他民族打交道。就連我們在北方的同族也與我們分離了。但我們當中仍有一些人會外出，為了蒐集消息和監視我們的敵人，他們會說其他土地的語言。我就是其中之一。我的名字是哈迪爾。我的兄弟，盧米爾和歐洛芬，不太會說你們的語言。「但我們聽說了你們要來的傳聞，因為愛隆的信使在返回丁瑞爾階梯的路上經過了羅瑞安。我們已經很多很多年沒有聽說過——哈比人，或半身人了，也不知道中土大陸上還有任何哈比人居住。你們看起來不像壞人！而且既然你們是和我們同族的精靈一起來的，我們願意像愛隆所要求的那樣，與你們交朋友；雖然帶領陌生人穿越我們的土地並非我們的習俗。但你們今晚必須待在這裡。你們有多少人？」「八位，」勒苟拉斯說。「我自己，四位哈比人；還有兩位人類，其中一位是亞拉岡，他是西方皇族的精靈之友。」「亞拉松之子亞拉岡的名字在羅瑞安是響亮的，」哈迪爾說，「而且他深受女王的眷顧。那麼一切都好。但你目前只說了七位。」「第八位是個矮人，」勒苟拉斯說。「一個矮人！」哈迪爾說。「那可不好。自從黑暗時期以來，我們就沒跟矮人打過交道了。他們不被允許進入我們的土地。我不能讓他通過。」「但他來自孤山，是丹恩的忠誠子民之一，而且對愛隆很友好，」佛羅多說。「愛隆親自選他作為我們的同伴之一，他一直很勇敢和忠誠。」精靈們用輕柔的聲音交談著，並用他們自己的語言向勒苟拉斯提問。「很好，」哈迪爾最後說。「我們會這麼做，儘管這違背我們的意願。如果亞拉岡和勒苟拉斯願意看守他，並為他擔保，他就可以通過；但他必須蒙著眼睛穿過羅斯洛立安。「但現在我們不能再爭論了。你們的人不能待在地面上。自從……我們就一直在監視著河流。
344 THE LORD OF THE RINGS we saw a great troop of Orcs going north towards Moria, along the skirts of the mountains, many days ago. Wolves are howling on the wood’s borders. If you have indeed come from Moria, the peril cannot be far behind. Tomorrow early you must go on. “The four hobbits shall climb up here and stay with us — we do not fear them! There is another talan in the next tree. There the others must take refuge. You, Legolas, must answer to us for them. Call us, if anything is amiss! And have an eye on that dwarf!’ Legolas at once went down the ladder to take Haldir’s message; and soon afterwards Merry and Pippin clambered up on to the high flet. They were out of breath and seemed rather scared. ‘There!’ said Merry panting. ‘We have lugged up your blankets as well as our own. Strider has hidden all the rest of our baggage in a deep drift of leaves.’ “You had no need of your burdens,’ said Haldir. ‘It is cold in the tree-tops in winter, though the wind tonight is in the South; but we have food and drink to give you that will drive away the night-chill, and we have skins and cloaks to spare.’ The hobbits accepted this second (and far better) supper very gladly. Then they wrapped themselves warmly, not only in the furcloaks of the Elves, but in their own blankets as well, and tried to go to sleep. But weary as they were only Sam found that easy to do. Hobbits do not like heights, and do not sleep upstairs, even when they have any stairs. The flet was not at all to their liking as a bedroom. It had no walls, not even a rail; only on one side was there a light plaited screen, which could be moved and fixed in different places according to the wind. Pippin went on talking for a while. ‘I hope, if I do go to sleep in this bird-loft, that I shan’t roll off,’ he said. ‘Once I do get to sleep,’ said Sam, ‘I shall go on sleeping, whether T roll off or no. And the less said, the sooner I’ll drop off, if you take my meaning.’ Frodo lay for some time awake, and looked up at the stars glinting through the pale roof of quivering leaves. Sam was snoring at his side long before he himself closed his eyes. He could dimly see the grey forms of two elves sitting motionless with their arms about their knees, speaking in whispers. The other had gone down to take up his watch on one of the lower branches. At last lulled by the wind in the boughs above, and the sweet murmur of the falls of Nimrodel below, Frodo fell asleep with the song of Legolas running in his mind. Late in the night he woke. The other hobbits were asleep. The Elves were gone. The sickle Moon was gleaming dimly among the
我們在許多天前，看到一大群半獸人沿著山麓往摩瑞亞的方向北上。狼群正在森林邊界嚎叫。如果你們確實是從摩瑞亞來的，那危險肯定不遠了。你們明天一早就得繼續上路。『四個哈比人可以爬上來和我們待在一起——我們不怕他們！旁邊的樹上還有另一個泰南。其他人必須到那裡避難。勒苟拉斯，你必須為他們向我們負責。有任何不對勁就呼叫我們！還有，看好那個矮人！』勒苟拉斯立刻走下梯子去傳達哈爾達的訊息；不久後，梅里和皮聘也爬上了高高的費雷特。他們氣喘吁吁，看起來相當害怕。『嘿！』梅里喘著氣說。『我們把你的毯子和我們的一起拖上來了。神行客把我們其餘的行李都藏在一個很深的落葉堆裡了。』『你們不需要帶那些重擔的，』哈爾達說。『雖然今晚的風是南風，但冬天的樹頂還是很冷；不過我們有食物和飲料給你們，可以驅走夜晚的寒氣，我們也有多餘的皮毛和斗篷。』哈比人們非常高興地接受了這第二頓（而且好得多的）晚餐。然後他們把自己緊緊地裹暖，不僅穿上了精靈的毛皮斗篷，也蓋上了自己的毯子，試著入睡。但儘管他們疲憊不堪，只有山姆覺得這很容易。哈比人討厭高處，也不睡在樓上，即使他們有樓梯。他們一點也不喜歡把這個費雷特當作臥室。它沒有牆，連個欄杆都沒有；只有一側有個輕巧的編織屏風，可以根據風向移動並固定在不同位置。皮聘繼續說了一會兒話。『我希望，如果我真的在這個鳥窩裡睡著了，我不會滾下去。』他說。『我一旦睡著，』山姆說，『我就會一直睡，不管我滾不滾下去。而且，話說得越少，我睡著得越快，如果你懂我的意思。』佛羅多醒著躺了一會兒，望著星光從搖曳樹葉構成的蒼白穹頂間閃爍。他身旁的山姆早已鼾聲大作，他自己才閉上眼睛。他能模糊地看見兩個精靈灰色的身影一動不動地坐著，雙臂抱膝，低聲交談。另一個已經下去到較低的樹枝上守夜了。最後，在上方樹枝間的風聲和下方寧若戴爾瀑布的甜美呢喃聲的撫慰下，佛羅多伴隨著勒苟拉斯的歌聲在腦海中迴響，沉沉睡去。深夜，他醒了過來。其他哈比人都睡著了。精靈們不見了。一彎鐮刀般的月亮在……
LOTHLORIEN 345 leaves. The wind was still. A little way off he heard a harsh laugh and the tread of many feet on the ground below. There was a ring of metal. The sounds died slowly away, and seemed to go southward, on into the wood. A head appeared suddenly through the hole in the flet. Frodo sat up in alarm and saw that it was a grey-hooded Elf. He looked towards the hobbits. ‘What is it?’ said Frodo. ‘Yrch? said the Elf in a hissing whisper, and cast on to the flet the rope-ladder rolled up. ‘Orcs!’ said Frodo. ‘What are they doing?’ But the Elf had gone. There were no more sounds. Even the leaves were silent, and the very falls seemed to be hushed. Frodo sat and shivered in his wraps. He was thankful that they had not been caught on the ground; but he felt that the trees offered little protection, except concealment. Orcs were as keen as hounds on a scent, it was said, but they could also climb. He drew out Sting: it flashed and glittered like a blue flame; and then slowly faded again and grew dull. In spite of the fading of his sword the feeling of immediate danger did not leave Frodo, rather it grew stronger. He got up and crawled to the opening and peered down. He was almost certain that he could hear stealthy movements at the tree’s foot far below. Not Elves; for the woodland folk were altogether noiseless in their movements. Then he heard faintly a sound like sniffing; and something seemed to be scrabbling on the bark of the tree-trunk. He stared down into the dark, holding his breath. Something was now climbing slowly, and its breath came like a soft hissing through closed teeth. Then coming up, close to the stem, Frodo saw two pale eyes. They stopped and gazed upward unwinking. Suddenly they turned away, and a shadowy figure slipped round the trunk of the tree and vanished. Immediately afterwards Haldir came climbing swiftly up through the branches. “There was something in this tree that I have never seen before,’ he said. ‘It was not an orc. It fled as soon as I touched the tree-stem. It seemed to be wary, and to have some skill in trees, or I might have thought that it was one of you hobbits. ‘I did not shoot, for I dared not arouse any cries: we cannot risk battle. A strong company of Orcs has passed. They crossed the Nimrodel — curse their foul feet in its clean water! — and went on down the old road beside the river. They seemed to pick up some scent, and they searched the ground for a while near the place where you halted. The three of us could not challenge a hundred, so we went ahead and spoke with feigned voices, leading them on into the wood.
羅斯洛立安 345 葉。風靜止了。不遠處，他聽到刺耳的笑聲和許多腳步踩在下面地上的聲音。有金屬碰撞的聲音。聲音慢慢消失，似乎是往南邊去了，進了森林裡。一個頭突然從平台上的洞口冒出來。佛羅多驚坐起來，看到那是一個戴著灰色兜帽的精靈。他望向哈比人。「那是什麼？」佛羅多問。「是『Yrch』嗎？」那精靈嘶嘶地低語著，並將捲好的繩梯扔上平台。「是半獸人！」佛羅多說。「他們在做什麼？」但那精靈已經走了。再也沒有任何聲音了。連樹葉都靜默了，甚至瀑布聲似乎也變得寂靜。佛羅多裹著毯子坐著發抖。他很慶幸他們沒有在地面上被逮到；但他覺得樹木除了能隱蔽身形外，幾乎提供不了什麼保護。據說，半獸人嗅覺像獵犬一樣敏銳，而且他們也會爬樹。他拔出刺針：它像藍色火焰般閃爍發光；然後又慢慢黯淡下去，變得無光。儘管他的劍光芒漸失，但迫在眉睫的危險感並未離開佛羅多，反而更加強烈。他站起來，爬到洞口往下窺看。他幾乎可以肯定，他聽見遠在下方的樹腳下有鬼祟的動靜。不是精靈；因為林地居民的行動是完全無聲的。然後他隱約聽到類似嗅聞的聲音；有東西似乎在樹幹的表皮上抓扒。他屏住呼吸，凝視著下方的黑暗。有個東西正緩緩地爬上來，它的呼吸聲像是從緊閉的牙縫中發出的輕微嘶嘶聲。然後，靠近樹幹，佛羅多看見兩隻蒼白的眼睛。它們停下來，一眨不眨地向上凝視。突然，它們轉開了，一個黑影繞過樹幹消失了。緊接著，哈爾達迅速地從樹枝間爬了上來。「這棵樹上有個我從未見過的生物，」他說。「那不是半獸人。我一碰到樹幹，它就逃走了。它似乎很警覺，而且有些爬樹的技巧，不然我可能會以為是你們哈比人中的一個。「我沒有射箭，因為我不敢引發任何叫喊：我們不能冒險開戰。一大隊半獸人剛經過。他們渡過了寧若戴爾河——詛咒他們那骯髒的腳踏入它潔淨的河水！——然後沿著河邊的舊路繼續前進。他們似乎聞到了什麼氣味，在你們停下來的地方附近搜索了一陣子。我們三個人無法對抗一百個，所以我們先走一步，用偽裝的聲音，把他們引到森林深處去了。
346 THE LORD OF THE RINGS ‘Orophin has now gone in haste back to our dwellings to warn our people. None of the Orcs will ever return out of Lorien. And there will be many Elves hidden on the northern border before another night falls. But you must take the road south as soon as it is fully light.’ Day came pale from the East. As the light grew it filtered through the yellow leaves of the mallorn, and it seemed to the hobbits that the early sun of a cool summer’s morning was shining. Pale-blue sky peeped among the moving branches. Looking through an opening on the south side of the flet Frodo saw all the valley of the Silverlode lying like a sea of fallow gold tossing gently in the breeze. The morning was still young and cold when the Company set out again, guided now by Haldir and his brother Rumil. ‘Farewell, sweet Nimrodel!’ cried Legolas. Frodo looked back and caught a gleam of white foam among the grey tree-stems. ‘Farewell,’ he said. It seemed to him that he would never hear again a running water so beautiful, for ever blending its innumerable notes in an endless changeful music. They went back to the path that still went on along the west side of the Silverlode, and for some way they followed it southward. There were the prints of orc-feet in the earth. But soon Haldir turned aside into the trees and halted on the bank of the river under their shadows. “There is one of my people yonder across the stream,’ he said, ‘though you may not see him.’ He gave a call like the low whistle of a bird, and out of a thicket of young trees an Elf stepped, clad in grey, but with his hood thrown back; his hair glinted like gold in the morning sun. Haldir skilfully cast over the stream a coil of grey rope, and he caught it and bound the end about a tree near the bank. ‘Celebrant is already a strong stream here, as you see,’ said Haldir, ‘and it runs both swift and deep, and is very cold. We do not set foot in it so far north, unless we must. But in these days of watchfulness we do not make bridges. This is how we cross! Follow me!’ He made his end of the rope fast about another tree, and then ran lightly along it, over the river and back again, as if he were on a road. ‘I can walk this path,’ said Legolas; ‘but the others have not this skill. Must they swim?’ ‘No!’ said Haldir. ‘We have two more ropes. We will fasten them above the other, one shoulder-high, and another half-high, and holding these the strangers should be able to cross with care.’ When this slender bridge had been made, the Company passed over, some cautiously and slowly, others more easily. Of the hobbits Pippin proved the best for he was sure-footed, and he walked over quickly, holding only with one hand; but he kept his eyes on the bank ahead and did not look down. Sam shuffled along, clutching
「歐洛芬已匆忙趕回我們的居所去警告族人。任何半獸人休想活著離開羅瑞安。在下一個夜晚降臨前，會有許多精靈隱藏在北邊的邊界上。但天一全亮，你們就必須走南邊的路。」黎明蒼白地從東方升起。光線漸強，穿透梅隆樹的金黃葉片，在哈比人看來，彷彿是涼爽夏日清晨的陽光正在照耀。淡藍色的天空在搖曳的樹枝間窺探。佛羅多從樹台南側的一個開口望去，看見整個銀脈河谷像一片休耕地的金色海洋，在微風中輕輕起伏。當遠征隊再次出發時，早晨仍顯年輕而寒冷，現在由哈迪爾和他的兄弟盧米爾帶路。「再會了，甜美的寧若戴爾！」勒苟拉斯喊道。佛羅多回頭望去，瞥見灰色樹幹間一抹白色的水花。「再會了，」他說。他覺得自己再也聽不到如此美麗的流水聲了，那聲音永遠將其無數的音符融合成一首無盡變幻的樂曲。他們回到沿著銀脈河西岸繼續延伸的小徑上，往南走了一段路。地上有半獸人的腳印。但很快地，哈迪爾轉身走進樹林，在河岸邊的樹蔭下停了下來。「河對岸有我的一個族人，」他說，「雖然你們可能看不見他。」他發出像鳥兒低鳴般的叫聲，一位精靈從一片小樹叢中走出，身穿灰衣，但兜帽已向後掀開；他的頭髮在晨光中閃爍如金。哈迪爾熟練地將一捆灰色繩索拋過溪流，對方接住並將繩尾綁在岸邊的一棵樹上。「如你們所見，凱勒布蘭特河在這裡已經是條強勁的溪流了，」哈迪爾說，「它既湍急又深，而且非常寒冷。除非必要，我們在這麼北邊的地方是不會踏進河裡的。但在這些需要警戒的日子裡，我們不造橋。這就是我們過河的方式！跟我來！」他將自己這邊的繩尾緊緊綁在另一棵樹上，然後輕快地沿著繩索跑過去，越過河流再跑回來，彷彿走在路上一般。「這條路我能走，」勒苟拉斯說，「但其他人沒有這種技巧。他們必須游泳嗎？」「不！」哈迪爾說。「我們還有兩條繩子。我們會把它們固定在另一條繩子的上方，一條與肩同高，另一條半高，抓住這兩條繩子，陌生人應該就能小心地過河了。」當這座纖細的橋搭好後，遠征隊員們便開始過河，有些人小心翼翼、緩慢前行，有些人則比較輕鬆。哈比人之中，皮聘表現得最好，因為他腳步穩健，只用一隻手扶著就迅速走過去；但他眼睛一直看著前方的河岸，沒有往下看。山姆則緊抓著繩子，拖著腳步慢慢走。
LOTHLORIEN 347 hard, and looking down into the pale eddying water as if it was a chasm in the mountains. He breathed with relief when he was safely across. ‘Live and learn! as my gaffer used to say. Though he was thinking of gardening, not of roosting like a bird, nor of trying to walk like a spider. Not even my uncle Andy ever did a trick like that!’ When at length all the Company was gathered on the east bank of the Silverlode, the Elves untied the ropes and coiled two of them. Rumil, who had remained on the other side, drew back the last one, slung it on his shoulder, and with a wave of his hand went away, back to Nimrodel to keep watch. ‘Now, friends,’ said Haldir, ‘you have entered the Naith of Lorien, or the Gore, as you would say, for it is the land that lies like a spearhead between the arms of Silverlode and Anduin the Great. We allow no strangers to spy out the secrets of the Naith. Few indeed are permitted even to set foot there. ‘As was agreed, I shall here blindfold the eyes of Gimli the Dwarf. The others may walk free for a while, until we come nearer to our dwellings, down in Egladil, in the Angle between the waters.’ This was not at all to the liking of Gimli. “The agreement was made without my consent,’ he said. ‘I will not walk blindfold, like a beggar or a prisoner. And I am no spy. My folk have never had dealings with any of the servants of the Enemy. Neither have we done harm to the Elves. I am no more likely to betray you than Legolas, or any other of my companions.’ ‘I do not doubt you,’ said Haldir. ‘Yet this is our law. I am not the master of the law, and cannot set it aside. I have done much in letting you set foot over Celebrant.’ Gimli was obstinate. He planted his feet firmly apart, and laid his hand upon the haft of his axe. ‘I will go forward free,’ he said, ‘or I will go back and seek my own land, where I am known to be true of word, though I perish alone in the wilderness.’ “You cannot go back,’ said Haldir sternly. ‘Now you have come thus far, you must be brought before the Lord and the Lady. They shall judge you, to hold you or to give you leave, as they will. You cannot cross the rivers again, and behind you there are now secret sentinels that you cannot pass. You would be slain before you saw them.’ Gimli drew his axe from his belt. Haldir and his companion bent their bows. ‘A plague on Dwarves and their stiff necks!’ said Legolas. ‘Come!’ said Aragorn. ‘If I am still to lead this Company, you must do as I bid. It is hard upon the Dwarf to be thus singled out. We will all be blindfold, even Legolas. That will be best, though it will make the journey slow and dull.’
困難，他低頭看著下方蒼白、打著旋渦的河水，彷彿那是山中的一道深淵。安全過河後，他鬆了一口氣。「活到老，學到老！就像我家老爹常說的。不過他想的是園藝，而不是像鳥一樣棲息，或試著像蜘蛛一樣走路。就連我安迪叔叔也沒玩過這種把戲！」終於，當所有遠征隊員都聚集在銀脈河東岸時，精靈們解開繩索，並將其中兩條盤捲起來。留在對岸的盧米爾收回最後一條繩索，將它甩到肩上，揮了揮手便轉身離去，回到寧若戴爾繼續守望。「好了，朋友們，」哈迪爾說，「你們已經進入了羅斯洛立安的奈斯，或者用你們的話說，叫『尖角地』，因為這片土地像一個矛頭，位於銀脈河與安都因大河的懷抱之間。我們不允許任何陌生人窺探奈斯的秘密。事實上，很少有人被允許踏足此地。「按照約定，我將在此蒙住矮人金靂的眼睛。其他人在我們接近水間夾角地帶的艾格拉迪爾，我們的居所之前，可以暫時自由行走。」這完全不合金靂的意。「那個約定沒有經過我的同意，」他說。「我絕不蒙著眼走路，像個乞丐或囚犯。而且我不是間諜。我的族人從未與任何索倫的僕人打過交道。我們也沒傷害過精靈。我背叛你們的可能性，不會比勒苟拉斯或我任何一位同伴更高。」「我不懷疑你，」哈迪爾說。「但這是我們的律法。我不是律法的主人，不能將它擱置一旁。能讓你們踏過凱勒布蘭特河，我已經做了很多了。」金靂很固執。他雙腳穩穩地分開站立，手按在斧柄上。「我要嘛自由地前進，」他說，「要嘛就回去尋找我自己的土地，在那裡人人都知道我言出必行，即便我會獨自喪命於荒野之中。」「你回不去了，」哈迪爾嚴厲地說。「既然你已經來到這裡，就必須被帶到領主和夫人的面前。他們將會審判你，決定要留下你還是讓你離開。你無法再渡過這條河，而且你身後現在有你無法通過的秘密哨兵。在你看到他們之前，你就會被殺死。」金靂從腰帶上抽出斧頭。哈迪爾和他的同伴拉開了弓。「矮人跟他們頑固的牛脾氣真是討厭！」勒苟拉斯說。「好了！」亞拉岡說。「如果我仍然是這支遠征隊的領袖，你們就必須照我說的做。這樣單獨針對矮人是很難為他。我們所有人都蒙上眼睛，連勒苟拉斯也一樣。這樣最好，雖然會讓旅程變得緩慢而沉悶。」
348 THE LORD OF THE RINGS Gimli laughed suddenly. ‘A merry troop of fools we shall look! Will Haldir lead us all on a string, like many blind beggars with one dog? But I will be content, if only Legolas here shares my blindness.’ ‘I am an Elf and a kinsman here,’ said Legolas, becoming angry in his turn. ‘Now let us cry: ‘“‘a plague on the stiff necks of Elves!’’’ said Aragorn. ‘But the Company shall all fare alike. Come, bind our eyes, Haldir!’ ‘I shall claim full amends for every fall and stubbed toe, if you do not lead us well,’ said Gimli as they bound a cloth about his eyes. “You will have no claim,’ said Haldir. ‘I shall lead you well, and the paths are smooth and straight.’ ‘Alas for the folly of these days!’ said Legolas. ‘Here all are enemies of the one Enemy, and yet I must walk blind, while the sun is merry in the woodland under leaves of gold!’ ‘Folly it may seem,’ said Haldir. ‘Indeed in nothing is the power of the Dark Lord more clearly shown than in the estrangement that divides all those who still oppose him. Yet so little faith and trust do we find now in the world beyond Lothlorien, unless maybe in Rivendell, that we dare not by our own trust endanger our land. We live now upon an island amid many perils, and our hands are more often upon the bowstring than upon the harp. “The rivers long defended us, but they are a sure guard no more; for the Shadow has crept northward all about us. Some speak of departing, yet for that it already seems too late. The mountains to the west are growing evil; to the east the lands are waste, and full of Sauron’s creatures; and it is rumoured that we cannot now safely pass southward through Rohan, and the mouths of the Great River are watched by the Enemy. Even if we could come to the shores of the Sea, we should find no longer any shelter there. It is said that there are still havens of the High Elves, but they are far north and west, beyond the land of the Halflings. But where that may be, though the Lord and Lady may know, I do not.’ “You ought at least to guess, since you have seen us,’ said Merry. “There are Elf-havens west of my land, the Shire, where Hobbits live.’ ‘Happy folk are Hobbits to dwell near the shores of the sea!’ said Haldir. ‘It is long indeed since any of my folk have looked on it, yet still we remember it in song. Tell me of these havens as we walk.’ ‘I cannot,’ said Merry. ‘I have never seen them. I have never been out of my own land before. And if I had known what the world outside was like, I don’t think I should have had the heart to leave it.’ ‘Not even to see fair Lothlorien?’ said Haldir. “The world is indeed
金靂突然笑了。「我們看起來會像一群快樂的傻瓜！哈迪爾會用一條繩子牽著我們所有人走嗎？就像一群瞎眼的乞丐跟著一隻狗？不過，只要這裡的勒苟拉斯也跟我一樣瞎，我就心滿意足了。」「我是精靈，也是這裡的親族。」勒苟拉斯也生氣地說。「現在讓我們大喊：『精靈們那頑固的脖子該遭天譴！』」亞拉岡說。「但遠征隊所有人都應同甘共苦。來吧，哈迪爾，把我們的眼睛蒙上！」「如果你沒把我們帶好，我會為每一次摔倒和踢到腳趾要求全額賠償。」金靂在他們用布蒙住他眼睛時說。「你不會有任何索賠的權利，」哈迪爾說。「我會好好帶領你們，而且路途平坦筆直。」「唉，這時代的愚蠢真是可悲！」勒苟拉斯說。「在這裡，我們都是同一個大敵的敵人，但我卻必須蒙眼行走，而陽光正在金葉下的林地裡歡快地灑落！」「這或許看似愚蠢，」哈迪爾說。「但事實上，黑暗魔君的力量，沒有什麼比在他所有反抗者之間製造疏離更能清楚地展現了。然而，在羅斯洛立安以外的世界，除了或許在瑞文戴爾，我們如今能找到的信念與信任已所剩無幾，以至於我們不敢因自己的信任而危及我們的土地。我們現在生活在一座被重重危險包圍的島嶼上，我們的手更常放在弓弦上，而非豎琴上。「河流長久以來保護著我們，但它們已不再是可靠的屏障；因為陰影已從四面八方朝北方蔓延。有些人談論著離開，但為時似乎已晚。西邊的山脈正變得邪惡；東邊的土地一片荒蕪，充滿了索倫的生物；而且謠傳我們現在已無法安全地向南穿過羅翰，大河的河口也被敵人監視著。即使我們能抵達大海的岸邊，我們也再也找不到任何庇護所了。據說高等精靈的港灣依然存在，但它們在遙遠的北方和西方，遠在半身人土地的另一邊。但那究竟在何處，雖然領主與夫人可能知道，我卻不知曉。」「既然你見過我們，你至少應該猜得到，」梅里說。「在我的家鄉夏爾的西邊，也就是哈比人住的地方，就有精靈的港灣。」「哈比人能住在海邊真是幸福的民族！」哈迪爾說。「我的族人確實很久沒見過大海了，但我們仍在歌謠中懷念它。在我們走的時候，跟我說說那些港灣吧。」「我沒辦法，」梅里說。「我從未見過它們。我以前從未離開過自己的土地。而且如果我早知道外面的世界是什麼樣子，我想我不會有勇氣離開的。」「即使是為了看美麗的羅斯洛立安也不願意嗎？」哈迪爾說。「這世界確實……
LOTHLORIEN 349 full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater. ‘Some there are among us who sing that the Shadow will draw back, and peace shall come again. Yet I do not believe that the world about us will ever again be as it was of old, or the light of the Sun as it was aforetime. For the Elves, I fear, it will prove at best a truce, in which they may pass to the Sea unhindered and leave the Middle-earth for ever. Alas for Lothlorien that I love! It would be a poor life in a land where no mallorn grew. But if there are mallorntrees beyond the Great Sea, none have reported it.’ As they spoke thus, the Company filed slowly along the paths in the wood, led by Haldir, while the other Elf walked behind. They felt the ground beneath their feet smooth and soft, and after a while they walked more freely, without fear of hurt or fall. Being deprived of sight, Frodo found his hearing and other senses sharpened. He could smell the trees and the trodden grass. He could hear many different notes in the rustle of the leaves overhead, the river murmuring away on his right, and the thin clear voices of birds high in the sky. He felt the sun upon his face and hands when they passed through an open glade. As soon as he set foot upon the far bank of Silverlode a strange feeling had come upon him, and it deepened as he walked on into the Naith: it seemed to him that he had stepped over a bridge of time into a corner of the Elder Days, and was now walking in a world that was no more. In Rivendell there was memory of ancient things; in Lorien the ancient things still lived on in the waking world. Evil had been seen and heard there, sorrow had been known; the Elves feared and distrusted the world outside: wolves were howling on the wood’s borders: but on the land of Lorien no shadow lay. All that day the Company marched on, until they felt the cool evening come and heard the early night-wind whispering among many leaves. Then they rested and slept without fear upon the ground; for their guides would not permit them to unbind their eyes, and they could not climb. In the morning they went on again, walking without haste. At noon they halted, and Frodo was aware that they had passed out under the shining Sun. Suddenly he heard the sound of many voices all around him. A marching host of Elves had come up silently: they were hastening towards the northern borders to guard against any attack from Moria; and they brought news, some of which Haldir reported. The marauding orcs had been waylaid and almost all destroyed; the remnant had fled westward towards the mountains, and were being pursued. A
羅斯洛立安充滿危險，其中有許多黑暗之處；但它依然有許多美好，而且儘管在所有土地上，愛如今都與悲傷交織，但或許正因如此，愛才變得更偉大。『我們之中有些人歌唱著，說魔影將會退去，和平將會再次降臨。然而，我不相信我們周遭的世界會再恢復舊時模樣，太陽的光芒也不會像從前那樣燦爛。對精靈而言，我恐怕這充其量只是一段休戰，讓他們可以不受阻礙地航向大海，永遠離開中土大陸。唉，我心愛的羅斯洛立安！在一片沒有瑁瓏樹生長的土地上，生活將會多麼貧乏。但大海彼岸是否有瑁瓏樹，從未有人回報過。』當他們如此交談時，遠征隊在哈爾迪的帶領下，緩緩地沿著林中小徑列隊前行，另一位精靈則走在隊伍後面。他們感覺腳下的地面平滑而柔軟，過了一會兒，他們走得更自在了，不再擔心會受傷或跌倒。由於被剝奪了視覺，佛羅多發現自己的聽覺和其他感官變得敏銳起來。他能聞到樹木和被踩踏的青草氣味。他能聽見頭頂樹葉沙沙作響中許多不同的音調、右邊河水潺潺的低語，以及高空中鳥兒清脆的鳴叫。當他們穿過一片開闊的林中空地時，他感覺到陽光灑在臉上和手上。一踏上銀脈河的對岸，一種奇特的感覺就攫住了他，並且隨著他走進奈斯地區而加深：他彷彿跨越了一座時間之橋，走進了上古時代的一角，正行走在一個不復存在的世界裡。在瑞文戴爾，有著對上古事物的記憶；而在羅瑞安，上古的事物依然存活於現實世界中。那裡曾見過也聽過邪惡，也知曉何為悲傷；精靈們畏懼且不信任外面的世界：惡狼在森林邊界嚎叫，但在羅瑞安的土地上，沒有任何陰影停留。整整一天，遠征隊不斷前行，直到他們感覺到涼爽的傍晚來臨，並聽見初夜的風在眾多葉片間低語。然後他們在地上歇息，毫無畏懼地睡去；因為他們的嚮導不允許他們解開眼罩，他們也無法攀爬。第二天早上，他們再次上路，不疾不徐地走著。中午時分，他們停下腳步，佛羅多意識到他們已經走到了燦爛的陽光下。突然，他聽到周圍傳來許多說話的聲音。一隊行進中的精靈悄然趕到：他們正趕往北部邊境，以防備來自摩瑞亞的任何攻擊；他們帶來了消息，哈爾迪轉述了其中一部分。四處劫掠的半獸人已遭伏擊，幾乎全被殲滅；殘餘的半獸人已向西逃往山區，正在被追擊中。
350 THE LORD OF THE RINGS strange creature also had been seen, running with bent back and with hands near the ground, like a beast and yet not of beast-shape. It had eluded capture, and they had not shot it, not knowing whether it was good or ill, and it had vanished down the Silverlode southward. ‘Also,’ said Haldir, ‘they bring me a message from the Lord and Lady of the Galadhrim. You are all to walk free, even the dwarf Gimli. It seems that the Lady knows who and what is each member of your Company. New messages have come from Rivendell perhaps.’ He removed the bandage first from Gimli’s eyes. “Your pardon!’ he said, bowing low. ‘Look on us now with friendly eyes! Look and be glad, for you are the first dwarf to behold the trees of the Naith of Lorien since Durin’s Day!’ When his eyes were in turn uncovered, Frodo looked up and caught his breath. They were standing in an open space. To the left stood a great mound, covered with a sward of grass as green as Springtime in the Elder Days. Upon it, as a double crown, grew two circles of trees: the outer had bark of snowy white, and were leafless but beautiful in their shapely nakedness; the inner were mallorn-trees of great height, still arrayed in pale gold. High amid the branches of a towering tree that stood in the centre of all there gleamed a white flet. At the feet of the trees, and all about the green hillsides the grass was studded with small golden flowers shaped like stars. Among them, nodding on slender stalks, were other flowers, white and palest green: they glimmered as a mist amid the rich hue of the grass. Over all the sky was blue, and the sun of afternoon glowed upon the hill and cast long green shadows beneath the trees. ‘Behold! You are come to Cerin Amroth,’ said Haldir. ‘For this is the heart of the ancient realm as it was long ago, and here is the mound of Amroth, where in happier days his high house was built. Here ever bloom the winter flowers in the unfading grass: the yellow elanor, and the pale niphredil. Here we will stay awhile, and come to the city of the Galadhrim at dusk.’ The others cast themselves down upon the fragrant grass, but Frodo stood awhile still lost in wonder. It seemed to him that he had stepped through a high window that looked on a vanished world. A light was upon it for which his language had no name. All that he saw was shapely, but the shapes seemed at once clear cut, as if they had been first conceived and drawn at the uncovering of his eyes, and ancient as if they had endured for ever. He saw no colour but those he knew, gold and white and blue and green, but they were fresh and poignant, as if he had at that moment first perceived them and made for them names new and wonderful. In winter here no heart could mourn for summer or for spring. No blemish or sickness
還有人看到一個奇怪的生物，彎著背，雙手靠近地面奔跑，像野獸卻又非野獸之形。牠躲過了追捕，他們也沒有射殺牠，因為不知其善惡，而後牠就沿著銀脈河南下消失了。『此外，』哈爾達說，『他們還為我帶來了蓋拉德利姆領主與夫人的口信。你們都可以自由行走，就連矮人金靂也一樣。看來夫人已經知曉你們遠征隊每位成員的身份與來歷。或許是瑞文戴爾傳來了新的消息吧。』他首先揭開金靂眼上的繃帶。『請您原諒！』他深深鞠躬說道。『請用友善的眼光看待我們！請看並歡喜吧，因為您是自都靈之日以來，第一位得見羅瑞安之角林木的矮人！』輪到佛羅多的眼罩被解開時，他抬頭一看，不禁屏住了呼吸。他們正站在一片空地上。左邊是一座巨大的土丘，覆蓋著一片草地，翠綠得宛如上古時代的春天。土丘上，如同一頂雙重皇冠，生長著兩圈樹木：外圈的樹皮雪白，雖然沒有葉子，但在其勻稱的裸露中顯得美麗；內圈則是高大的梅隆樹，依舊披著淡金色的衣裳。在一棵矗立於正中央的高聳大樹的枝幹高處，閃耀著一個白色的樹上平台。在樹腳下，以及遍布綠色山坡的草地上，點綴著星形的小金花。在它們之間，還有一些在纖細莖上搖曳的花朵，呈白色和最淡的綠色：它們在濃郁的草色中如薄霧般閃爍。頭頂上天空湛藍，午後的陽光照耀著山丘，在樹下投下長長的綠色陰影。『看啊！你們已來到凱林‧安姆羅斯，』哈爾達說。『因為這裡就是遠古王國的核心，一如往昔，這裡也是安姆羅斯的土丘，在更幸福的日子裡，他高大的屋宇曾建於此。在這裡，冬日之花在不凋的草地上永遠綻放：黃色的伊拉諾，以及淡白的妮芙瑞迪爾。我們將在此稍作停留，待黃昏時再前往蓋拉德利姆的城市。』其他人都在芬芳的草地上坐下，但佛羅多仍佇立片刻，沉浸在驚奇之中。他彷彿穿過一扇高窗，望見一個已逝的世界。那裡有一種光，他的語言中沒有任何詞彙可以名狀。他所見的一切都形態優美，但那些形狀似乎既輪廓分明，彷彿在他睜開眼的瞬間才被構思和描繪出來，又古老得像是已恆久存在。他看到的顏色不過是他所知的金、白、藍、綠，但它們卻如此清新而深刻，彷彿他在那一刻才初次感知它們，並為它們取了嶄新而奇妙的名字。在這裡的冬天，沒有心會為夏天或春天而哀悼。沒有瑕疵或病態
LOTHLORIEN 351 or deformity could be seen in anything that grew upon the earth. On the land of Lorien there was no stain. He turned and saw that Sam was now standing beside him, looking round with a puzzled expression, and rubbing his eyes as if he was not sure that he was awake. ‘It’s sunlight and bright day, right enough,’ he said. ‘I thought that Elves were all for moon and stars: but this is more Elvish than anything I ever heard tell of. I feel as if I was inside a song, if you take my meaning.’ Haldir looked at them, and he seemed indeed to take the meaning of both thought and word. He smiled. ‘You feel the power of the Lady of the Galadhrim,’ he said. ‘Would it please you to climb with me up Cerin Amroth?’ They followed him as he stepped lightly up the grass-clad slopes. Though he walked and breathed, and about him living leaves and flowers were stirred by the same cool wind as fanned his face, Frodo felt that he was in a timeless land that did not fade or change or fall into forgetfulness. When he had gone and passed again into the outer world, still Frodo the wanderer from the Shire would walk there, upon the grass among elanor and niphredil in fair Lothlorien. They entered the circle of white trees. As they did so the South Wind blew upon Cerin Amroth and sighed among the branches. Frodo stood still, hearing far off great seas upon beaches that had long ago been washed away, and sea-birds crying whose race had perished from the earth. Haldir had gone on and was now climbing to the high flet. As Frodo prepared to follow him, he laid his hand upon the tree beside the ladder: never before had he been so suddenly and so keenly aware of the feel and texture of a tree’s skin and of the life within it. He felt a delight in wood and the touch of it, neither as forester nor as carpenter; it was the delight of the living tree itself. As he stepped out at last upon the lofty platform, Haldir took his hand and turned him towards the South. ‘Look this way first!’ he said. Frodo looked and saw, still at some distance, a hill of many mighty trees, or a city of green towers: which it was he could not tell. Out of it, it seemed to him that the power and light came that held all the land in sway. He longed suddenly to fly like a bird to rest in the green city. Then he looked eastward and saw all the land of Lorien running down to the pale gleam of Anduin, the Great River. He lifted his eyes across the river and all the light went out, and he was back again in the world he knew. Beyond the river the land appeared flat and empty, formless and vague, until far away it rose again like a wall, dark and drear. The sun that lay on Lothlorien had no power to enlighten the shadow of that distant height.
352 THE LORD OF THE RINGS “There lies the fastness of Southern Mirkwood,’ said Haldir. ‘It is clad in a forest of dark fir, where the trees strive one against another and their branches rot and wither. In the midst upon a stony height stands Dol Guldur, where long the hidden Enemy had his dwelling. We fear that now it is inhabited again, and with power sevenfold. A black cloud lies often over it of late. In this high place you may see the two powers that are opposed one to another; and ever they strive now in thought, but whereas the light perceives the very heart of the darkness, its own secret has not been discovered. Not yet.’ He turned and climbed swiftly down, and they followed him. At the hill’s foot Frodo found Aragorn, standing still and silent as a tree; but in his hand was a small golden bloom of elanor, and a light was in his eyes. He was wrapped in some fair memory: and as Frodo looked at him he knew that he beheld things as they once had been in this same place. For the grim years were removed from the face of Aragorn, and he seemed clothed in white, a young lord tall and fair; and he spoke words in the Elvish tongue to one whom Frodo could not see. Arwen vanimelda, namarié! he said, and then he drew a breath, and returning out of his thought he looked at Frodo and smiled. ‘Here is the heart of Elvendom on earth,’ he said, ‘and here my heart dwells ever, unless there be a light beyond the dark roads that we still must tread, you and I. Come with me!’ And taking Frodo’s hand in his, he left the hill of Cerin Amroth and came there never again as living man.
「那裡便是南幽暗密林的要塞，」哈迪爾說。「它被一片深色的冷杉林所覆蓋，林中樹木彼此爭鬥，枝枒腐爛枯萎。在林中一座石丘高地上，矗立著多爾哥多，那隱藏的敵人曾長久居住於此。我們擔心如今它又被佔據了，而且力量增強了七倍。近來，一團烏雲時常籠罩其上。在這個高處，你們可以看到那兩個相互對立的力量；它們如今總是在意念中交鋒，然而，儘管光明能洞察黑暗的核心，它自身的秘密卻尚未被揭露。還沒有。」他轉身迅速地爬下山丘，他們跟在後頭。在山腳下，佛羅多發現了亞拉岡，他像一棵樹般靜立無聲；但他手中握著一朵小小的金色伊拉諾之花，眼中閃爍著光芒。他沉浸在一段美好的回憶中：佛羅多看著他，便知道他正看見此地過往的景象。因為嚴酷的歲月已從亞拉岡的臉上褪去，他彷彿身著白衣，是一位高大俊美的年輕領主；他對著一個佛羅多看不見的人，說著精靈語。「Arwen vanimelda, namarié!」他說道，然後深吸一口氣，從思緒中回過神來，看著佛羅多並微笑了。「這裡是精靈國度在人間的心臟，」他說，「而我的心也永遠安居於此，除非在我們倆仍須踏上的黑暗道路盡頭，還有一線光明。跟我來！」他牽起佛羅多的手，離開了凱林安羅斯之丘，此後再也沒有以生者之姿重返此地。