Chapter 7 HELM’S DEEP The sun was already westering as they rode from Edoras, and the light of it was in their eyes, turning all the rolling fields of Rohan to a golden haze. There was a beaten way, north-westward along the foot-hills of the White Mountains, and this they followed, up and down in a green country, crossing small swift streams by many fords. Far ahead and to their right the Misty Mountains loomed; ever darker and taller they grew as the miles went by. The sun went slowly down before them. Evening came behind. The host rode on. Need drove them. Fearing to come too late, they rode with all the speed they could, pausing seldom. Swift and enduring were the steeds of Rohan, but there were many leagues to go. Forty leagues and more it was, as a bird flies, from Edoras to the fords of the Isen, where they hoped to find the king’s men that held back the hosts of Saruman. Night closed about them. At last they halted to make their camp. They had ridden for some five hours and were far out upon the western plain, yet more than half their journey lay still before them. In a great circle, under the starry sky and the waxing moon, they now made their bivouac. They lit no fires, for they were uncertain of events; but they set a ring of mounted guards about them, and scouts rode out far ahead, passing like shadows in the folds of the land. The slow night passed without tidings or alarm. At dawn the horns sounded, and within an hour they took the road again. There were no clouds overhead yet, but a heaviness was in the air; it was hot for the season of the year. The rising sun was hazy, and behind it, following it slowly up the sky, there was a growing darkness, as of a great storm moving out of the East. And away in the North-west there seemed to be another darkness brooding about the feet of the Misty Mountains, a shadow that crept down slowly from the Wizard’s Vale. Gandalf dropped back to where Legolas rode beside Eomer. ‘You have the keen eyes of your fair kindred, Legolas,’ he said; ‘and they can tell a sparrow from a finch a league off. Tell me, can you see anything away yonder towards Isengard?’ ‘Many miles lie between,’ said Legolas, gazing thither and shading his eyes with his long hand. ‘I can see a darkness. There are shapes
第七章 聖盔谷 當他們自伊多拉斯策馬而出時，太陽已然西斜，陽光直射他們眼中，將洛汗連綿起伏的田野染成一片金色的迷霧。有一條人馬踩踏出來的小路，沿著白色山脈的山麓向西北延伸，他們便循此路前行，在翠綠的鄉野間上下起伏，渡過許多淺灘，穿越一條條湍急的小溪。遙遠的前方，在他們的右側，迷霧山脈隱約聳現；隨著里程的推進，山脈顯得愈發幽暗高聳。太陽在他們面前緩緩沉落，夜幕自後方降臨。大軍繼續前行，為情勢所迫。他們唯恐遲到，竭盡所能地疾馳，鮮少停歇。洛汗的馬匹雖迅捷耐勞，但前路尚有許多里格之遙。從伊多拉斯到艾辛河渡口，直線距離便有四十里格之遙，他們期望在那裡找到國王的部隊，他們正抵禦著薩魯曼的大軍。夜色將他們團團包圍。他們終於停下紮營。他們已騎行了約五個小時，深入西部平原，但仍有過半的路程在前方。在繁星滿天的夜空與一輪漸盈的月光下，他們圍成一個大圈，就地宿營。由於前路情況未明，他們沒有生火；但他們在周圍部署了一圈騎馬的衛兵，並派出斥候遠遠地前去探路，他們的身影如幽靈般掠過起伏的地形。漫漫長夜平安無事地過去，沒有任何消息或警報。黎明時分，號角響起，不到一小時，他們便再度上路。頭頂上尚無雲朵，但空氣中卻有股沉悶之氣；對這個季節來說，天氣異常炎熱。初升的太陽朦朧不清，在其身後，一片不斷擴大的黑暗正緩緩跟著它爬上天空，宛如一場巨大的風暴正從東方移來。而在西北方的遠處，似乎有另一片黑暗籠罩在迷霧山脈的山腳下，那是一道自巫師谷緩慢爬下的陰影。甘道夫退到與伊歐墨並肩騎行的勒苟拉斯身旁。「勒苟拉斯，你擁有你那美麗族人敏銳的雙眼，」他說，「他們能在一里格之外分辨出麻雀和雀鳥。告訴我，你能在遠方艾辛格的方向看到什麼嗎？」「我們之間相隔數英里之遠，」勒苟拉斯說，他凝視著遠方，用他修長的手遮住眼睛。「我能看到一片黑暗。那裡有些形體
HELM’S DEEP 527 moving in it, great shapes far away upon the bank of the river; but what they are I cannot tell. It is not mist or cloud that defeats my eyes: there is a veiling shadow that some power lays upon the land, and it marches slowly down stream. It is as if the twilight under endless trees were flowing downwards from the hills.’ ‘And behind us comes a very storm of Mordor,’ said Gandalf. ‘It will be a black night.’ As the second day of their riding drew on, the heaviness in the air increased. In the afternoon the dark clouds began to overtake them: a sombre canopy with great billowing edges flecked with dazzling light. The sun went down, blood-red in a smoking haze. The spears of the Riders were tipped with fire as the last shafts of light kindled the steep faces of the peaks of Thrihyrne: now very near they stood on the northernmost arm of the White Mountains, three jagged horns staring at the sunset. In the last red glow men in the vanguard saw a black speck, a horseman riding back towards them. They halted awaiting him. He came, a weary man with dinted helm and cloven shield. Slowly he climbed from his horse and stood there a while gasping. At length he spoke. ‘Is Eomer here?’ he asked. ‘You come at last, but too late, and with too little strength. Things have gone evilly since Théodred fell. We were driven back yesterday over the Isen with great loss; many perished at the crossing. Then at night fresh forces came over the river against our camp. All Isengard must be emptied; and Saruman has armed the wild hillmen and herd-folk of Dunland beyond the rivers, and these also he loosed upon us. We were overmastered. The shield-wall was broken. Erkenbrand of Westfold has drawn off those men he could gather towards his fastness in Helm’s Deep. The rest are scattered. ‘Where is Eomer? Tell him there is no hope ahead. He should return to Edoras before the wolves of Isengard come there.’ Théoden had sat silent, hidden from the man’s sight behind his guards; now he urged his horse forward. ‘Come, stand before me, Ceorl!’ he said. ‘I am here. The last host of the Eorlingas has ridden forth. It will not return without battle.’ The man’s face lightened with joy and wonder. He drew himself up. Then he knelt, offering his notched sword to the king. ‘Command me, lord!’ he cried. ‘And pardon me! I thought——’ “You thought I remained in Meduseld bent like an old tree under winter snow. So it was when you rode to war. But a west wind has shaken the boughs,’ said Théoden. ‘Give this man a fresh horse! Let us ride to the help of Erkenbrand!’ * * *
「你以為我還待在梅杜西，像棵老樹在冬雪下彎了腰。」希優頓說。「你出征時確實是那樣。但西風已搖動了枝枒。給這個人一匹新馬！讓我們馳援艾森布蘭德！」
528 THE LORD OF THE RINGS While Théoden was speaking, Gandalf rode a short way ahead, and he sat there alone, gazing north to Isengard and west to the setting sun. Now he came back. ‘Ride, Theoden!’ he said. ‘Ride to Helm’s Deep! Go not to the Fords of Isen, and do not tarry in the plain! I must leave you for a while. Shadowfax must bear me now on a swift errand.’ Turning to Aragorn and Eomer and the men of the king’s household, he cried: ‘Keep well the Lord of the Mark, till I return. Await me at Helm’s Gate! Farewell!’ He spoke a word to Shadowfax, and like an arrow from the bow the great horse sprang away. Even as they looked he was gone: a flash of silver in the sunset, a wind over the grass, a shadow that fled and passed from sight. Snowmane snorted and reared, eager to follow; but only a swift bird on the wing could have overtaken him. ‘What does that mean?’ said one of the guard to Hama. “That Gandalf Greyhame has need of haste,’ answered Hama. ‘Ever he goes and comes unlooked-for.’ ‘Wormtongue, were he here, would not find it hard to explain,’ said the other. “True enough,’ said Hama; ‘but for myself, I will wait until I see Gandalf again.’ ‘Maybe you will wait long,’ said the other. The host turned away now from the road to the Fords of Isen and bent their course southward. Night fell, and still they rode on. The hills drew near, but the tall peaks of Thrihyrne were already dim against the darkening sky. Still some miles away, on the far side of the Westfold Vale, a great bay in the mountains, lay a green coomb, out of which a gorge opened in the hills. Men of that land called it Helm’s Deep, after a hero of old wars who had made his refuge there. Ever steeper and narrower it wound inward from the north under the shadow of the Thrihyrne, till the crowhaunted cliffs rose like mighty towers on either side, shutting out the light. At Helm’s Gate, before the mouth of the Deep, there was a heel of rock thrust outward by the northern cliff. There upon its spur stood high walls of ancient stone, and within them was a lofty tower. Men said that in the far-off days of the glory of Gondor the sea-kings had built here this fastness with the hands of giants. The Hornburg it was called, for a trumpet sounded upon the tower echoed in the Deep behind, as if armies long-forgotten were issuing to war from caves beneath the hills. A wall, too, the men of old had made from the Hornburg to the southern cliff, barring the entrance to the gorge. Beneath it by a wide culvert the Deeping-stream passed out. About
希優頓說話時，甘道夫策馬向前一小段路，獨自坐在那裡，向北凝望著艾辛格，向西眺望著落日。現在他回來了。「快騎，希優頓！」他說。「騎往聖盔谷！不要去艾辛河渡口，也不要在平原上耽擱！我必須暫時離開你們。影疾現在必須載我執行一項緊急任務。」他轉向亞拉岡、伊歐墨和國王的侍衛們，大喊道：「在我回來之前，好好保護馬克之主。在聖盔門等我！再會！」他對影疾說了一個詞，那匹神駒便如離弦之箭般飛奔而去。眾人還在注視，他已消失無蹤：一道夕陽下的銀光，一陣拂過草地的風，一個飛逝遠去、從視線中消失的影子。雪鬃嘶鳴著人立起來，渴望跟隨；但只有翼上的飛鳥才能追得上他。「那是什麼意思？」一名衛兵問哈瑪。「意思是灰袍甘道夫有急事，」哈瑪回答。「他總是來去無蹤，出人意表。」「要是巧言在這，他肯定不難解釋，」另一人說。「確實如此，」哈瑪說；「但對我而言，我會等到再見到甘道夫為止。」「也許你要等很久了，」另一人說。大軍此時轉離了通往艾辛河渡口的道路，改向南方前進。夜幕降臨，他們仍在騎行。山丘越來越近，但斯瑞海恩的三座高峰在漸暗的天色下已顯得模糊。在幾英里之外，西谷的遠側，群山中有一個巨大的海灣，那裡躺著一個綠色的山谷，從中有一道峽谷在山間敞開。那裡的人稱之為聖盔谷，以紀念一位曾在那里避難的古代戰爭英雄。它從北方，在斯瑞海恩的陰影下，向內盤旋，愈發陡峭狹窄，直到兩側烏鴉盤據的懸崖如巨塔般聳立，遮蔽了光線。在聖盔門，深谷的入口前，有一塊由北面懸崖伸出的岩石後跟。在那塊岩刺上，矗立著古老石材砌成的高牆，牆內有一座高聳的塔樓。人們說，在遠古剛鐸輝煌的時代，航海之王們曾藉由巨人之手在此建造了這座要塞。它被稱為號角堡，因為塔上吹響的號角聲會在後方的深谷中迴盪，彷彿被遺忘已久的軍隊正從山底的洞穴中出征。古人還從號角堡到南面懸崖築起了一道牆，封鎖了峽谷的入口。牆下，深溪水通過一個寬闊的涵洞流出。
HELM’S DEEP 529 the feet of the Hornrock it wound, and flowed then in a gully through the midst of a wide green gore, sloping gently down from Helm’s Gate to Helm’s Dike. Thence it fell into the Deeping-coomb and out into the Westfold Vale. There in the Hornburg at Helm’s Gate Erkenbrand, master of Westfold on the borders of the Mark, now dwelt. As the days darkened with threat of war, being wise, he had repaired the wall and made the fastness strong. The Riders were still in the low valley before the mouth of the Coomb, when cries and hornblasts were heard from their scouts that went in front. Out of the darkness arrows whistled. Swiftly a scout rode back and reported that wolf-riders were abroad in the valley, and that a host of Orcs and wild men were hurrying southward from the Fords of Isen and seemed to be making for Helm’s Deep. ‘We have found many of our folk lying slain as they fled thither,’ said the scout. ‘And we have met scattered companies, going this way and that, leaderless. What has become of Erkenbrand none seem to know. It is likely that he will be overtaken ere he can reach Helm’s Gate, if he has not already perished.’ ‘Has aught been seen of Gandalf?’ asked Théoden. “Yes, lord. Many have seen an old man in white upon a horse, passing hither and thither over the plains like wind in the grass. Some thought he was Saruman. It is said that he went away ere nightfall towards Isengard. Some say also that Wormtongue was seen earlier, going northward with a company of Orcs.’ ‘It will go ill with Wormtongue, if Gandalf comes upon him,’ said Théoden. ‘Nonetheless I miss now both my counsellors, the old and the new. But in this need we have no better choice than to go on, as Gandalf said, to Helm’s Gate, whether Erkenbrand be there or no. Is it known how great is the host that comes from the North?’ ‘It is very great,’ said the scout. ‘He that flies counts every foeman twice, yet I have spoken to stouthearted men, and I do not doubt that the main strength of the enemy is many times as great as all that we have here.’ ‘Then let us be swift,’ said Eomer. ‘Let us drive through such foes as are already between us and the fastness. There are caves in Helm’s Deep where hundreds may lie hid; and secret ways lead thence up on to the hills.’ “Trust not to secret ways,’ said the king. ‘Saruman has long spied out this land. Still in that place our defence may last long. Let us go!’ Aragorn and Legolas went now with Eomer in the van. On through the dark night they rode, ever slower as the darkness deepened and
那條溪流蜿蜒流過號角岩的腳下，接著在一道溝壑中穿過一片寬闊的綠色三角地帶，從聖盔門緩緩地斜向聖盔防線。溪水從那裡流入深隘谷，再匯入西谷平原。在聖盔門的號角堡裡，現居者是伊肯布蘭，他是馬克邊境西谷的領主。隨著戰爭的威脅使時日漸趨黑暗，他憑著智慧修復了城牆，加固了這座要塞。當洛汗驃騎還在深隘谷口前的低谷時，他們派出的前哨斥候傳來了呼喊與號角聲。黑暗中，箭矢呼嘯而來。一名斥候迅速馳回報告，說有狼騎士在山谷中出沒，且有一大群半獸人和野蠻人正從艾辛格渡口向南急行，看來是朝著聖盔谷而來。「我們發現許多我們的人民在逃往此地的途中被殺害，」斥候說。「我們也遇到一些散亂的隊伍，漫無目的地四處遊蕩，沒有領袖。伊肯布蘭大人怎麼了，似乎沒人知道。如果他還沒遇害，也很可能在他抵達聖盔門前就被追上。」「有看到任何甘道夫的蹤跡嗎？」希優頓問。「有的，大人。許多人看到一位白衣老者騎著馬，像草原上的風一樣在平原上來回奔馳。有些人以為他是薩魯曼。據說他在天黑前就朝著艾辛格的方向去了。也有人說，早些時候看到巧言跟著一群半獸人往北走。」「如果甘道夫撞見巧言，那他可要倒大楣了，」希優頓說。「儘管如此，我現在同時想念我的新舊兩位顧問。但在這危急時刻，我們沒有更好的選擇，只能如甘道夫所說，繼續前往聖盔谷，無論伊肯布蘭在不在那裡。知道從北方來的大軍有多少人嗎？」「非常龐大，」斥候說。「俗話說，逃亡者眼中的敵人數量會加倍，但我跟一些勇敢的人談過，我毫不懷疑敵人的主力部隊是我們這裡總人數的好幾倍。」「那我們就得快點，」伊歐墨說。「讓我們衝破那些已經擋在我們和要塞之間的敵人。聖盔谷裡有洞穴，可以藏匿數百人；還有秘密通道可以通往山丘。」「別相信秘密通道，」國王說。「薩魯曼窺探這片土地很久了。不過，在那裡我們的防禦或許能撐很久。我們走吧！」亞拉岡和勒苟拉斯現在與伊歐墨一同騎在隊伍的最前鋒。他們在漆黑的夜晚中策馬前行，隨著夜色漸深，速度也越來越慢。
530 THE LORD OF THE RINGS their way climbed southward, higher and higher into the dim folds about the mountains’ feet. They found few of the enemy before them. Here and there they came upon roving bands of Orcs; but they fled ere the Riders could take or slay them. ‘It will not be long I fear,’ said Eomer, ‘ere the coming of the king’s host will be known to the leader of our enemies, Saruman or whatever captain he has sent forth.’ The rumour of war grew behind them. Now they could hear, borne over the dark, the sound of harsh singing. They had climbed far up into the Deeping-coomb when they looked back. Then they saw torches, countless points of fiery light upon the black fields behind, scattered like red flowers, or winding up from the lowlands in long flickering lines. Here and there a larger blaze leapt up. ‘It is a great host and follows us hard,’ said Aragorn. “They bring fire,’ said Théoden, ‘and they are burning as they come, rick, cot, and tree. This was a rich vale and had many homesteads. Alas for my folk!’ ‘Would that day was here and we might ride down upon them like a storm out of the mountains!’ said Aragorn. ‘It grieves me to fly before them.’ ‘We need not fly much further,’ said Eomer. ‘Not far ahead now lies Helm’s Dike, an ancient trench and rampart scored across the coomb, two furlongs below Helm’s Gate. There we can turn and give battle.’ ‘Nay, we are too few to defend the Dike,’ said Théoden. ‘It is a mile long or more, and the breach in it is wide.’ ‘At the breach our rearguard must stand, if we are pressed,’ said Eomer. There was neither star nor moon when the Riders came to the breach in the Dike, where the stream from above passed out, and the road beside it ran down from the Hornburg. The rampart loomed suddenly before them, a high shadow beyond a dark pit. As they rode up a sentinel challenged them. ‘The Lord of the Mark rides to Helm’s Gate,’ Eomer answered. ‘I, Eomer son of Eomund, speak.’ ‘This is good tidings beyond hope,’ said the sentinel. ‘Hasten! The enemy is on your heels.’ The host passed through the breach and halted on the sloping sward above. They now learned to their joy that Erkenbrand had left many men to hold Helm’s Gate, and more had since escaped thither. ‘Maybe, we have a thousand fit to fight on foot,’ said Gamling, an old man, the leader of those that watched the Dike. ‘But most of them have seen too many winters, as I have, or too few, as my son’s
他們一路向南攀登，越爬越高，進入山腳下昏暗的褶皺地帶。他們面前幾乎沒遇到敵人。偶爾會碰上幾隊遊蕩的半獸人；但還不等騎士們追上或斬殺，他們就逃之夭夭了。「恐怕用不了多久，」伊歐墨說，「我們敵人的首領，無論是薩魯曼還是他派出的任何將領，都會知道國王大軍的到來。」身後的戰爭聲浪越來越大。此刻，他們能聽見刺耳的歌聲劃破黑暗傳來。他們已深入深谷，爬得很高了，回頭望去，只見火把點點，無數火光在身後漆黑的田野上閃爍，像散落的紅花，或像一條條閃爍的長線從低地蜿蜒而上。這裡那裡，還會竄起更大的火焰。「敵軍數量龐大，正緊追不捨。」亞拉岡說。「他們帶來了火，」希優頓說，「他們邊走邊燒，草堆、小屋和樹木無一倖免。這曾是富饒的山谷，有許多農莊。唉，我的人民！」「但願白晝降臨，我們便能如山中風暴般衝下，殺向他們！」亞拉岡說。「在他們面前逃跑，令我痛心。」「我們不必再逃多遠了。」伊歐墨說。「前面不遠就是聖盔渠，那是一道古老的壕溝和壁壘，橫亙在深谷之中，位於聖盔谷下方兩弗隆處。我們可以在那裡轉身迎戰。」「不，我們人太少，守不住聖盔渠。」希優頓說。「它長達一英里多，而且缺口很寬。」「如果情勢緊迫，我們的後衛必須守住缺口。」伊歐墨說。當騎士們抵達聖盔渠的缺口時，天上既無星也無月。溪流從上方穿過缺口流出，旁邊的道路則從號角堡一路向下延伸。壁壘在他們面前赫然聳現，像一道高大的陰影，橫在一個黑暗的深坑之後。他們騎馬上前時，一名哨兵喝問他們。「驃騎王正前往聖盔谷。」伊歐墨回答。「我是伊歐蒙之子伊歐墨。」「這真是出乎意料的好消息。」哨兵說。「快！敵人就在你們身後。」大軍穿過缺口，在上方傾斜的草坡上停下。他們欣喜地得知，鄂肯布蘭德留下了許多人守衛聖盔谷，後來又有更多人逃到此地。「也許，我們有一千名適合步戰的士兵。」一位名叫甘姆林的老人說，他是守衛聖盔渠的領袖。「但他們大多數人，要嘛像我一樣見過太多寒冬，要嘛就像我兒子一樣，見過的太少。
HELM’S DEEP 531 son here. What news of Erkenbrand? Word came yesterday that he was retreating hither with all that is left of the best Riders of Westfold. But he has not come.’ ‘I fear that he will not come now,’ said Eomer. ‘Our scouts have gained no news of him, and the enemy fills all the valley behind us.’ ‘I would that he had escaped,’ said Théoden. ‘He was a mighty man. In him lived again the valour of Helm the Hammerhand. But we cannot await him here. We must draw all our forces now behind the walls. Are you well stored? We bring little provision, for we rode forth to open battle, not to a siege.’ ‘Behind us in the caves of the Deep are three parts of the folk of Westfold, old and young, children and women,’ said Gamling. ‘But great store of food, and many beasts and their fodder, have also been gathered there.’ ‘That is well,’ said Eomer. ‘They are burning or despoiling all that is left in the vale.’ ‘If they come to bargain for our goods at Helm’s Gate, they will pay a high price,’ said Gamling. The king and his Riders passed on. Before the causeway that crossed the stream they dismounted. In a long file they led their horses up the ramp and passed within the gates of the Hornburg. There they were welcomed again with joy and renewed hope; for now there were men enough to man both the burg and the barrier wall. Quickly Eomer set his men in readiness. The king and the men of his household were in the Hornburg, and there also were many of the Westfold-men. But on the Deeping Wall and its tower, and behind it, Eomer arrayed most of the strength that he had, for here the defence seemed more doubtful, if the assault were determined and in great force. The horses were led far up the Deep under such guard as could be spared. The Deeping Wall was twenty feet high, and so thick that four men could walk abreast along the top, sheltered by a parapet over which only a tall man could look. Here and there were clefts in the stone through which men could shoot. This battlement could be reached by a stair running down from a door in the outer court of the Hornburg; three flights of steps led also up on to the wall from the Deep behind; but in front it was smooth, and the great stones of it were set with such skill that no foothold could be found at their joints, and at the top they hung over like a sea-delved cliff. Gimli stood leaning against the breastwork upon the wall. Legolas sat above on the parapet, fingering his bow, and peering out into the gloom.
聖盔谷531頁。鄂肯布蘭德有什麼消息？昨天傳來消息，說他正率領西谷僅存的精銳騎士撤退到這裡。但他還沒到。」「恐怕他現在來不了了，」伊歐墨說。「我們的斥候沒有探到他的任何消息，而且敵人已經佔滿了我們身後的整個山谷。」「我真希望他能逃出來，」希優頓說。「他是個了不起的人。他身上重現了『鎚手』聖盔的勇氣。但我們不能在這裡等他了。我們現在必須把所有部隊撤到城牆後面。你們儲備充足嗎？我們沒帶多少糧草，因為我們是出來打野戰的，不是來守城的。」「在我們身後深淵的洞穴裡，有西谷大部分的百姓，男女老幼都在，」葛姆林說。「那裡也聚集了大量的食物，還有許多牲畜和牠們的飼料。」「那很好，」伊歐墨說。「他們正在燒毀或掠奪山谷裡剩下的一切。」「如果他們想在聖盔門跟我們討價還價，他們會付出高昂的代價。」葛姆林說。國王和他的騎士們繼續前行。在橫跨溪流的堤道前，他們下了馬。他們排成一列長隊，牽著馬走上坡道，進入了號角堡的大門。在那裡，他們再次受到充滿喜悅和重燃希望的歡迎；因為現在有足夠的人手來防守城堡和外圍的防禦牆了。伊歐墨迅速讓他的部下各就各位。國王和他王室的衛隊駐守在號角堡，許多西谷的戰士也在那裡。但在深淵之牆及其箭塔上和後方，伊歐墨部署了他大部分的兵力，因為如果敵人下定決心以強大兵力猛攻，這裡的防禦似乎更不穩固。馬匹在盡可能抽調出的守衛護送下，被帶到了深淵遠處。深淵之牆高二十英尺，厚得足以讓四個人在頂上並肩行走，並有胸牆保護，只有高個子才能從牆上望出去。石頭上到處都有可供射擊的裂縫。從號角堡外院的一扇門，有階梯可以通往這段城牆；從後方的深淵也有三段台階可以登上牆頂；但在正面，牆面光滑，巨大的石塊砌得如此巧妙，接縫處找不到任何踏腳點，而牆頂則像被海水侵蝕的懸崖一樣向外突出。金靂倚靠在牆上的胸牆。勒苟拉斯坐在上方的胸牆邊緣，手指撫著他的弓，凝視著外面的黑暗。
532 THE LORD OF THE RINGS “This is more to my liking,’ said the dwarf, stamping on the stones. ‘Ever my heart rises as we draw near the mountains. There is good rock here. This country has tough bones. I felt them in my feet as we came up from the dike. Give me a year and a hundred of my kin and I would make this a place that armies would break upon like water.’ ‘I do not doubt it,’ said Legolas. ‘But you are a dwarf, and dwarves are strange folk. I do not like this place, and I shall like it no more by the light of day. But you comfort me, Gimli, and I am glad to have you standing nigh with your stout legs and your hard axe. I wish there were more of your kin among us. But even more would I give for a hundred good archers of Mirkwood. We shall need them. The Rohirrim have good bowmen after their fashion, but there are too few here, too few.’ ‘It is dark for archery,’ said Gimli. ‘Indeed it is time for sleep. Sleep! I feel the need of it, as never I thought any dwarf could. Riding is tiring work. Yet my axe is restless in my hand. Give me a row of orc-necks and room to swing and all weariness will fall from me!’ A slow time passed. Far down in the valley scattered fires still burned. The hosts of Isengard were advancing in silence now. Their torches could be seen winding up the coomb in many lines. Suddenly from the Dike yells and screams, and the fierce battlecries of men broke out. Flaming brands appeared over the brink and clustered thickly at the breach. Then they scattered and vanished. Men came galloping back over the field and up the ramp to the gate of the Hornburg. The rearguard of the Westfolders had been driven in. “The enemy is at hand!’ they said. ‘We loosed every arrow that we had, and filled the Dike with Orcs. But it will not halt them long. Already they are scaling the bank at many points, thick as marching ants. But we have taught them not to carry torches.’ It was now past midnight. The sky was utterly dark, and the stillness of the heavy air foreboded storm. Suddenly the clouds were seared by a blinding flash. Branched lightning smote down upon the eastward hills. For a staring moment the watchers on the walls saw all the space between them and the Dike lit with white light: it was boiling and crawling with black shapes, some squat and broad, some tall and grim, with high helms and sable shields. Hundreds and hundreds more were pouring over the Dike and through the breach. The dark tide flowed up to the walls from cliff to cliff. Thunder rolled in the valley. Rain came lashing down. Arrows thick as the rain came whistling over the battlements, and
「這才比較合我的意。」矮人說，一邊用腳踩著石頭。「每當我們靠近山脈，我的心就振奮起來。這裡有上好的岩石。這片土地有著堅硬的骨骼。我們從堤壩上來時，我的腳就感覺到了。給我一年和一百個我的族人，我就能把這裡打造成一個能讓軍隊像水一樣撞得粉碎的地方。」「我毫不懷疑。」勒苟拉斯說。「但你是個矮人，而矮人是奇特的種族。我不喜歡這個地方，白天時我也不會更喜歡它。不過，金靂，你安慰了我，我很高興有你和你的粗壯雙腿及堅硬斧頭站在身旁。我希望我們之中有更多你的族人。但我更願意用任何代價換來一百名幽暗密林的優秀弓箭手。我們會需要他們的。洛汗人有他們自己風格的好弓箭手，但在這裡的太少了，太少了。」「天太黑，不適合射箭。」金靂說。「的確是該睡覺的時候了。睡覺！我從未想過任何矮人會如此需要睡眠。騎馬真是累人的活。然而我的斧頭在我手中蠢蠢欲動。給我一排半獸人的脖子和揮舞的空間，所有疲憊都會從我身上消失！」一段緩慢的時間過去了。遠處山谷下方，零星的火光仍在燃燒。艾辛格的大軍正悄然推進。他們的火把可以看到在山谷中排成多條線蜿蜒而上。突然，從堤壩處爆發出喊叫聲、尖叫聲，以及人們兇猛的戰吼。燃燒的火把出現在堤壩邊緣，密集地聚集在缺口處。然後它們四散消失。人們騎馬奔回平原，衝上通往號角堡大門的坡道。西谷人的後衛部隊已經被擊退了。「敵人近在眼前了！」他們說。「我們射光了所有的箭，用半獸人填滿了堤壩。但那擋不了他們多久。他們已經在許多地點攀爬堤岸，密集得像行軍的螞蟻。但我們教會了他們不要舉火把。」此時已過午夜。天空一片漆黑，沉重的空氣中的寂靜預示著暴風雨的來臨。突然，一道炫目的閃光劃破雲層。分岔的閃電猛擊在東邊的山丘上。在令人瞠目的一瞬間，城牆上的守望者看到他們與堤壩之間的所有空間都被白光照亮：那裡充滿了沸騰爬行的黑色形體，有些矮壯寬闊，有些高大猙獰，戴著高高的頭盔和黑色的盾牌。成百上千更多的敵人正越過堤壩、穿過缺口湧入。黑色的浪潮從一邊的懸崖湧向另一邊的懸崖，直逼城牆。雷聲在山谷中滾動。大雨傾盆而下。箭矢如雨般密集，呼嘯著越過城垛而來。
HELM’S DEEP 533 fell clinking and glancing on the stones. Some found a mark. The assault on Helm’s Deep had begun, but no sound or challenge was heard within; no answering arrows came. The assailing hosts halted, foiled by the silent menace of rock and wall. Ever and again the lightning tore aside the darkness. Then the Orcs screamed, waving spear and sword, and shooting a cloud of arrows at any that stood revealed upon the battlements; and the men of the Mark amazed looked out, as it seemed to them, upon a great field of dark corn, tossed by a tempest of war, and every ear glinted with barbed light. Brazen trumpets sounded. The enemy surged forward, some against the Deeping Wall, others towards the causeway and the ramp that led up to the Hornburg-gates. There the hugest Orcs were mustered, and the wild men of the Dunland fells. A moment they hesitated and then on they came. The lightning flashed, and blazoned upon every helm and shield the ghastly hand of Isengard was seen. They reached the summit of the rock; they drove towards the gates. Then at last an answer came: a storm of arrows met them, and a hail of stones. They wavered, broke, and fled back; and then charged again, broke and charged again; and each time, like the incoming sea, they halted at a higher point. Again trumpets rang, and a press of roaring men leaped forth. They held their great shields above them like a roof, while in their midst they bore two trunks of mighty trees. Behind them orc-archers crowded, sending a hail of darts against the bowmen on the walls. They gained the gates. The trees, swung by strong arms, smote the timbers with a rending boom. If any man fell, crushed by a stone hurtling from above, two others sprang to take his place. Again and again the great rams swung and crashed. Eomer and Aragorn stood together on the Deeping Wall. They heard the roar of voices and the thudding of the rams; and then in a sudden flash of light they beheld the peril of the gates. ‘Come!’ said Aragorn. “This is the hour when we draw swords together!’ Running like fire, they sped along the wall, and up the steps, and passed into the outer court upon the Rock. As they ran they gathered a handful of stout swordsmen. There was a small postern-door that opened in an angle of the burg-wall on the west, where the cliff stretched out to meet it. On that side a narrow path ran round towards the great gate, between the wall and the sheer brink of the Rock. Together Eomer and Aragorn sprang through the door, their men close behind. The two swords flashed from the sheath as one. ‘Guthwiné!’ cried Eomer. ‘Guthwiné for the Mark!’ ‘Anduril!’ cried Aragorn. ‘Anduril for the Dunedain!’
534 THE LORD OF THE RINGS Charging from the side, they hurled themselves upon the wild men. Anduril rose and fell, gleaming with white fire. A shout went up from wall and tower: ‘Anduril! Anduril goes to war. The Blade that was Broken shines again!’ Dismayed the rammers let fall the trees and turned to fight; but the wall of their shields was broken as by a lightning-stroke, and they were swept away, hewn down, or cast over the Rock into the stony stream below. The orc-archers shot wildly and then fled. For a moment Eomer and Aragorn halted before the gates. The thunder was rumbling in the distance now. The lightning flickered still, far off among the mountains in the South. A keen wind was blowing from the North again. The clouds were torn and drifting, and stars peeped out; and above the hills of the Coomb-side the westering moon rode, glimmering yellow in the storm-wrack. ‘We did not come too soon,’ said Aragorn, looking at the gates. Their great hinges and iron bars were wrenched and bent; many of their timbers were cracked. “The doors will not withstand another such battering.’ “Yet we cannot stay here beyond the walls to defend them,’ said Eomer. ‘Look!’ He pointed to the causeway. Already a great press of Orcs and Men were gathering again beyond the stream. Arrows whined, and skipped on the stones about them. ‘Come! We must get back and see what we can do to pile stone and beam across the gates within. Come now!’ They turned and ran. At that moment some dozen Orcs that had lain motionless among the slain leaped to their feet, and came silently and swiftly behind. Two flung themselves to the ground at Eomer’s heels, tripped him, and in a moment they were on top of him. But a small dark figure that none had observed sprang out of the shadows and gave a hoarse shout: Baruk Khazdd! Khazdd ai-ménu! An axe swung and swept back. Two Orcs fell headless. The rest fled. Eomer struggled to his feet, even as Aragorn ran back to his aid. The postern was closed again, the iron door was barred and piled inside with stones. When all were safe within, Eomer turned: ‘I thank you, Gimli son of Gloin!’ he said. ‘I did not know that you were with us in the sortie. But oft the unbidden guest proves the best company. How came you there?’ ‘I followed you to shake off sleep,’ said Gimli; ‘but I looked on the hillmen and they seemed over large for me, so I sat beside a stone to see your sword-play.’ ‘I shall not find it easy to repay you,’ said Eomer. “There may be many a chance ere the night is over,’ laughed the
從側翼衝鋒，他們猛撲向那些野人。安都瑞爾聖劍起落揮舞，閃耀著白色的火焰。城牆與塔樓上爆發出吶喊：「安都瑞爾！安都瑞爾參戰了。那折斷的聖劍再次閃耀！」攻城槌手們驚慌失措，扔下撞門的樹木，轉身應戰；但他們的盾牆卻像被閃電擊中般摧毀，他們被一掃而空，或被砍倒，或被拋下巨岩，墜入下方滿是石塊的溪流中。半獸人弓箭手胡亂射擊，然後逃之夭夭。伊歐墨和亞拉岡在門前停了片刻。此時，遠方雷聲隆隆。南方的群山之間，閃電依舊閃爍。一股刺骨的寒風再次從北方吹來。雲層被撕裂、漂移，星辰探出頭來；在深谷山丘之上，西沉的月亮高懸，在暴雨後的亂雲中閃爍著黃色的微光。「我們來得不算太早。」亞拉岡看著大門說。門上巨大的鉸鏈和鐵條被扭曲扳彎，許多木料也已裂開。「這門經不起再一次這樣的撞擊了。」「但我們不能待在牆外守護它們。」伊歐墨說。「看！」他指向堤道。溪流對岸，大批的半獸人和人類已經再次集結。箭矢呼嘯而來，在他們周圍的石頭上彈跳。「來！我們必須回去，看看能做些什麼，在門內用石頭和樑木把它堵起來。快來！」他們轉身就跑。就在那時，十幾個原本在死者堆中裝死的半獸人一躍而起，悄無聲聲地迅速跟在他們身後。其中兩個撲倒在伊歐墨的腳跟處，絆倒了他，瞬間就壓在了他身上。但一個無人注意到的矮小黑色身影從陰影中躍出，發出一聲沙啞的吶喊：「Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!」一把斧頭揮出又收回。兩個半獸人身首異處。其餘的半獸人逃走了。伊歐墨掙扎著站起來，亞拉岡也正跑回來援助他。後門再次關上，鐵門被門閂鎖住，並在內部堆滿了石頭。當所有人都安全進入後，伊歐墨轉身說：「我感謝你，葛羅因之子金靂！」「我不知道你也跟我們一起出來突擊。但不請自來的客人，往往是最好的夥伴。你怎麼會在那裡？」「我跟著你們出來是為了趕走睡意，」金靂說，「但我看了看那些山地人，覺得他們對我來說太高大了，所以我就坐在一塊石頭旁看你們的劍術表演。」「我恐怕很難報答你。」伊歐墨說。「在今晚結束前，可能還有很多機會呢。」金靂笑了。
HELM’S DEEP 535 Dwarf. ‘But I am content. Till now I have hewn naught but wood since I left Moria.’ ‘Two!’ said Gimli, patting his axe. He had returned to his place on the wall. “Two?” said Legolas. ‘I have done better, though now I must grope for spent arrows; all mine are gone. Yet I make my tale twenty at the least. But that is only a few leaves in a forest.’ The sky now was quickly clearing and the sinking moon was shining brightly. But the light brought little hope to the Riders of the Mark. The enemy before them seemed to have grown rather than diminished, and still more were pressing up from the valley through the breach. The sortie upon the Rock gained only a brief respite. The assault on the gates was redoubled. Against the Deeping Wall the hosts of Isengard roared like a sea. Orcs and hillmen swarmed about its feet from end to end. Ropes with grappling hooks were hurled over the parapet faster than men could cut them or fling them back. Hundreds of long ladders were lifted up. Many were cast down in ruin, but many more replaced them, and Orcs sprang up them like apes in the dark forests of the South. Before the wall’s foot the dead and broken were piled like shingle in a storm; ever higher rose the hideous mounds, and still the enemy came on. The men of Rohan grew weary. All their arrows were spent, and every shaft was shot; their swords were notched, and their shields were riven. Three times Aragorn and Eomer rallied them, and three times Anduril flamed in a desperate charge that drove the enemy from the wall. Then a clamour arose in the Deep behind. Orcs had crept like rats through the culvert through which the stream flowed out. There they had gathered in the shadow of the cliffs, until the assault above was hottest and nearly all the men of the defence had rushed to the wall’s top. Then they sprang out. Already some had passed into the jaws of the Deep and were among the horses, fighting with the guards. Down from the wall leapt Gimli with a fierce cry that echoed in the cliffs. ‘Khazad! Khazad? He soon had work enough. ‘Ai-oi!’ he shouted. “The Orcs are behind the wall. Ai-oi! Come, Legolas! There are enough for us both. Khazdd ai-ménu!’ Gamling the Old looked down from the Hornburg, hearing the great voice of the dwarf above all the tumult. “The Orcs are in the Deep!’ he cried. ‘Helm! Helm! Forth Helmingas!’ he shouted as he leaped down the stair from the Rock with many men of Westfold at his back. Their onset was fierce and sudden, and the Orcs gave way before
「兩個！」金靂說，拍了拍他的斧頭。他已回到牆上的崗位。「兩個？」勒苟拉斯說。「我戰果更好，雖然現在得摸索著找用過的箭了；我的箭都射光了。即便如此，我估計至少殺了二十個。但那也不過是森林裡的幾片葉子罷了。」天空此刻正迅速放晴，下沉的月亮發出明亮的光芒。但這光芒幾乎沒給驃騎國的騎士們帶來希望。他們面前的敵人似乎有增無減，而且還有更多敵人從山谷的缺口處蜂擁而上。對聖盔岩的突襲只換來短暫的喘息。對大門的攻擊加倍猛烈。在深淵之牆前，艾辛格的大軍如怒海狂嘯。半獸人和山地人從一端到另一端，黑壓壓地聚集在牆腳下。帶有抓鉤的繩索被拋上城垛，速度之快，守軍根本來不及砍斷或扔回去。數百架長梯被豎起。許多梯子被推倒摧毀，但更多梯子又補了上來，半獸人像南方黑暗森林中的猿猴一樣向上猛竄。牆腳下，戰死和殘缺的屍體像風暴中的鵝卵石一樣堆積；駭人的屍堆越疊越高，而敵人仍不斷湧來。洛汗的戰士們已筋疲力竭。他們的箭矢已盡，無一倖免；他們的劍刃缺口，盾牌破裂。亞拉岡和伊歐墨三次重整他們的隊伍，安都瑞爾聖劍三次在絕望的衝鋒中閃耀，將敵人從牆邊驅離。此時，深淵後方傳來一陣騷動。半獸人像老鼠一樣，從溪流穿過的涵洞裡爬了進來。他們在懸崖的陰影下集結，直到上方的攻勢最為猛烈、幾乎所有守軍都衝上牆頂時，他們才猛然竄出。已經有一些半獸人進入了深淵的咽喉地帶，混進了馬群中，與守衛打了起來。金靂發出一聲在懸崖間迴響的兇猛吶喊，從牆上跳了下來。「卡薩德！卡薩德？」他很快就找到了夠他忙的活。「哎唷！」他大喊。「半獸人到牆後頭了！哎唷！來啊，勒苟拉斯！這兒的敵人夠我們倆殺的了。卡薩德-艾-梅努！」老將加姆林從號角堡上俯瞰，在所有騷亂聲中聽到了矮人宏亮的聲音。「半獸人進到深淵裡了！」他大喊。「海爾姆！海爾姆！海爾姆的子民，前進！」他一邊呼喊，一邊從聖盔岩的階梯上躍下，身後跟著許多西谷的戰士。他們的攻勢猛烈而突然，半獸人在他們面前紛紛退讓。
536 THE LORD OF THE RINGS them. Ere long they were hemmed in in the narrows of the gorge, and all were slain or driven shrieking into the chasm of the Deep to fall before the guardians of the hidden caves. “Twenty-one!” cried Gimli. He hewed a two-handed stroke and laid the last Orc before his feet. ‘Now my count passes Master Legolas again.’ ‘We must stop this rat-hole,’ said Gamling. ‘Dwarves are said to be cunning folk with stone. Lend us your aid, master!’ ‘We do not shape stone with battle-axes, nor with our finger-nails,’ said Gimli. ‘But I will help as I may.’ They gathered such small boulders and broken stones as they could find to hand, and under Gimli’s direction the Westfold-men blocked up the inner end of the culvert, until only a narrow outlet remained. Then the Deeping-stream, swollen by the rain, churned and fretted in its choked path, and spread slowly in cold pools from cliff to cliff. ‘It will be drier above,’ said Gimli. ‘Come, Gamling, let us see how things go on the wall!’ He climbed up and found Legolas beside Aragorn and Eomer. The elf was whetting his long knife. There was for a while a lull in the assault, since the attempt to break in through the culvert had been foiled. ‘Twenty-one!’ said Gimli. ‘Good!’ said Legolas. ‘But my count is now two dozen. It has been knife-work up here.’ Eomer and Aragorn leant wearily on their swords. Away on the left the crash and clamour of the battle on the Rock rose loud again. But the Hornburg still held fast, like an island in the sea. Its gates lay in ruin; but over the barricade of beams and stones within no enemy as yet had passed. Aragorn looked at the pale stars, and at the moon, now sloping behind the western hills that enclosed the valley. “This is a night as long as years,’ he said. ‘How long will the day tarry?’ ‘Dawn is not far off,’ said Gamling, who had now climbed up beside him. ‘But dawn will not help us, I fear.’ “Yet dawn is ever the hope of men,’ said Aragorn. ‘But these creatures of Isengard, these half-orcs and goblin-men that the foul craft of Saruman has bred, they will not quail at the sun,’ said Gamling. ‘And neither will the wild men of the hills. Do you not hear their voices?’ ‘I hear them,’ said Eomer; ‘but they are only the scream of birds and the bellowing of beasts to my ears.’ “Yet there are many that cry in the Dunland tongue,’ said Gamling.
HELM’S DEEP 537 ‘I know that tongue. It is an ancient speech of men, and once was spoken in many western valleys of the Mark. Hark! They hate us, and they are glad; for our doom seems certain to them. ““The king, the king!”’ they cry. ““We will take their king. Death to the Forgoil! Death to the Strawheads! Death to the robbers of the North!”? Such names they have for us. Not in half a thousand years have they forgotten their grievance that the lords of Gondor gave the Mark to Eorl the Young and made alliance with him. That old hatred Saruman has inflamed. They are fierce folk when roused. They will not give way now for dusk or dawn, until Théoden is taken, or they themselves are slain.’ ‘Nonetheless day will bring hope to me,’ said Aragorn. ‘Is it not said that no foe has ever taken the Hornburg, if men defended it?’ ‘So the minstrels say,’ said Eomer. “Then let us defend it, and hope!’ said Aragorn. Even as they spoke there came a blare of trumpets. Then there was a crash and a flash of flame and smoke. The waters of the Deeping-stream poured out hissing and foaming: they were choked no longer, a gaping hole was blasted in the wall. A host of dark shapes poured in. ‘Devilry of Saruman!’ cried Aragorn. “They have crept in the culvert again, while we talked, and they have lit the fire of Orthanc beneath our feet. Elendil, Elendil!’ he shouted, as he leaped down into the breach; but even as he did so a hundred ladders were raised against the battlements. Over the wall and under the wall the last assault came sweeping like a dark wave upon a hill of sand. The defence was swept away. Some of the Riders were driven back, further and further into the Deep, falling and fighting as they gave way, step by step, towards the caves. Others cut their way back towards the citadel. A broad stairway climbed from the Deep up to the Rock and the rear-gate of the Hornburg. Near the bottom stood Aragorn. In his hand still Anduril gleamed, and the terror of the sword for a while held back the enemy, as one by one all who could gain the stair passed up towards the gate. Behind on the upper steps knelt Legolas. His bow was bent, but one gleaned arrow was all that he had left, and he peered out now, ready to shoot the first Orc that should dare to approach the stair. ‘All who can have now got safe within, Aragorn,’ he called. ‘Come back!’ Aragorn turned and sped up the stair; but as he ran he stumbled in his weariness. At once his enemies leapt forward. Up came the Orcs, yelling, with their long arms stretched out to seize him. The
「我知道那種語言。那是古代人類的語言，曾經在馬克國西邊的許多山谷中使用。聽！他們恨我們，而且他們很高興；因為在他們看來，我們的末日似乎已成定局。『國王，國王！』他們叫喊著。『我們要抓住他們的國王。殺死弗苟！殺死稻草頭！殺死北方的強盜！』他們就是這樣稱呼我們的。五百年來，他們從未忘記他們的怨恨，只因剛鐸的宰相將馬克國賜予年輕的伊歐，並與他結盟。薩魯曼煽動了那古老的仇恨。他們一旦被激怒，就是兇猛的民族。無論黃昏或黎明，他們現在都不會退讓，直到希優頓被俘，或者他們自己被殺。」 「儘管如此，白晝會為我帶來希望，」亞拉岡說。「不是有句話說，只要有人防守，從沒有敵人能攻下號角堡嗎？」 「吟遊詩人是這麼說的，」伊歐墨說。 「那就讓我們守護它，並懷抱希望！」亞拉岡說。 他們說話之際，傳來一陣刺耳的喇叭聲。接著是一聲巨響，伴隨著火焰與濃煙的閃光。深溪之水嘶嘶作響、泡沫翻騰地湧出：它不再被堵塞，一道巨大的缺口在牆上被炸開。一大群黑暗的身影湧了進來。 「薩魯曼的鬼計！」亞拉岡大喊。「我們說話的時候，他們又從排水溝裡爬進來了，還在我們腳下點燃了歐散克之火。伊蘭迪爾，伊蘭迪爾！」他大吼著，跳入缺口；但就在他這麼做的同時，上百架梯子已經搭上了城牆。牆上牆下，最後的猛攻如同一道黑色的波浪，席捲這座沙丘般的小山。防線被沖垮了。一些騎士被迫後退，越來越深入深淵，他們邊打邊退，一步步朝洞穴退去。其他人則殺出一條血路，退向城堡主樓。 一道寬闊的階梯從深淵向上延伸，直達巨巖和號角堡的後門。亞拉岡站在階梯底部附近。他手中，安都瑞爾聖劍依然閃爍著光芒，劍的威勢暫時逼退了敵人，讓所有能爬上階梯的人一個接一個地朝大門退去。在後方較高的階梯上，勒苟拉斯跪著。他的弓已經拉開，但只剩下一支撿拾來的箭，他凝神向外窺視，準備射殺第一個膽敢靠近階梯的半獸人。「所有能進來的人都安全了，亞拉岡，」他喊道。「快回來！」 亞拉岡轉身飛速跑上階梯；但奔跑中，他因疲憊而踉蹌了一下。他的敵人立刻向前撲來。半獸人尖叫著衝上來，伸出長臂想要抓住他。
538 THE LORD OF THE RINGS foremost fell with Legolas’ last arrow in his throat, but the rest sprang over him. Then a great boulder, cast from the outer wall above, crashed down upon the stair, and hurled them back into the Deep. Aragorn gained the door, and swiftly it clanged to behind him. “Things go ill, my friends,’ he said, wiping the sweat from his brow with his arm. ‘Ill enough,’ said Legolas, ‘but not yet hopeless, while we have you with us. Where is Gimli?’ ‘I do not know,’ said Aragorn. ‘I last saw him fighting on the ground behind the wall, but the enemy swept us apart.’ ‘Alas! That is evil news,’ said Legolas. ‘He is stout and strong,’ said Aragorn. ‘Let us hope that he will escape back to the caves. There he would be safe for a while. Safer than we. Such a refuge would be to the liking of a dwarf.’ “That must be my hope,’ said Legolas. ‘But I wish that he had come this way. I desired to tell Master Gimli that my tale is now thirty-nine.’ ‘If he wins back to the caves, he will pass your count again,’ laughed Aragorn. ‘Never did I see an axe so wielded.’ ‘I must go and seek some arrows,’ said Legolas. ‘Would that this night would end, and I could have better light for shooting.’ Aragorn now passed into the citadel. There to his dismay he learned that Eomer had not reached the Hornburg. ‘Nay, he did not come to the Rock,’ said one of the Westfold-men. ‘I last saw him gathering men about him and fighting in the mouth of the Deep. Gamling was with him, and the dwarf; but I could not come to them.’ Aragorn strode on through the inner court, and mounted to a high chamber in the tower. There stood the king, dark against a narrow window, looking out upon the vale. ‘What is the news, Aragorn?’ he said. “The Deeping Wall is taken, lord, and all the defence swept away; but many have escaped hither to the Rock.’ ‘Is Eomer here?’ ‘No, lord. But many of your men retreated into the Deep; and some say that Eomer was amongst them. In the narrows they may hold back the enemy and come within the caves. What hope they may have then I do not know.’ ‘More than we. Good provision, it is said. And the air is wholesome there because of the outlets through fissures in the rock far above. None can force an entrance against determined men. They may hold out long.’ ‘But the Orcs have brought a devilry from Orthanc,’ said Aragorn.
帶頭的那個被勒苟拉斯最後一箭射穿喉嚨倒下，其餘的則從他身上跳過。接著，一塊從上方外牆投下的大石砸在階梯上，將他們擊退回深淵之中。亞拉岡趕到門口，門在他身後迅速地鏗鏘關上。「情況不妙，我的朋友們，」他用手臂擦去額上的汗水說。「是夠糟了，」勒苟拉斯說，「但只要有你在，就還不到絕望的時候。金靂在哪？」「我不知道，」亞拉岡說。「我最後看到他在牆後地面上戰鬥，但敵人把我們沖散了。」「唉！這真是壞消息，」勒苟拉斯說。「他很結實強壯，」亞拉岡說。「我們寄望他能逃回洞穴裡。在那裡他暫時是安全的。比我們安全。那樣的避難所會很合矮人的胃口。」「我只能這麼希望了，」勒苟拉斯說。「但我真希望他走這邊來。我本想告訴金靂大師，我的擊殺數現在是三十九了。」「如果他能回到洞穴，他的擊殺數會再次超過你的，」亞拉岡笑道。「我從未見過斧頭能被揮舞得如此出神入化。」「我得去找些箭來，」勒苟拉斯說。「但願這夜晚能結束，我才能有更好的光線來射擊。」亞拉岡現在走進了堡壘。他沮喪地得知伊歐墨並未抵達號角堡。「不，他沒到聖盔岩來，」一位西谷的士兵說。「我最後看到他在深淵口集結人馬奮戰。葛姆林和那個矮人跟他在一起；但我沒辦法靠近他們。」亞拉岡大步穿過內院，登上了高塔中的一個房間。國王站在那裡，他的身影在窄窗前顯得黝黑，正眺望著山谷。「有什麼消息，亞拉岡？」他說。「深淵之牆被攻陷了，大人，所有防禦都被掃蕩一空；但許多人逃到了聖盔岩這裡。」「伊歐墨在這裡嗎？」「不在，大人。但您有許多部下撤退進了深淵；有人說伊歐墨也在其中。在狹窄處他們或許能擋住敵人，退入洞穴裡。他們到時還有什麼希望，我就不知道了。」「比我們多。據說那裡有充足的補給。而且空氣因為遠高處岩石裂縫的通風口而很清新。沒有人能強行攻破意志堅定的人守衛的入口。他們可以撐很久。」「但是半獸人從歐散克帶來了一種邪惡的玩意兒，」亞拉岡說。
HELM’S DEEP 539 “They have a blasting fire, and with it they took the Wall. If they cannot come in the caves, they may seal up those that are inside. But now we must turn all our thought to our own defence.’ ‘I fret in this prison,’ said Théoden. ‘If I could have set a spear in rest, riding before my men upon the field, maybe I could have felt again the joy of battle, and so ended. But I serve little purpose here.’ ‘Here at least you are guarded in the strongest fastness of the Mark,’ said Aragorn. ‘More hope we have to defend you in the Hornburg than in Edoras, or even at Dunharrow in the mountains.’ ‘It is said that the Hornburg has never fallen to assault,’ said Theoden; ‘but now my heart is doubtful. The world changes, and all that once was strong now proves unsure. How shall any tower withstand such numbers and such reckless hate? Had I known that the strength of Isengard was grown so great, maybe I should not so rashly have ridden forth to meet it, for all the arts of Gandalf. His counsel seems not now so good as it did under the morning sun.’ ‘Do not judge the counsel of Gandalf, until all is over, lord,’ said Aragorn. “The end will not be long,’ said the king. ‘But I will not end here, taken like an old badger in a trap. Snowmane and Hasufel and the horses of my guard are in the inner court. When dawn comes, I will bid men sound Helm’s horn, and I will ride forth. Will you ride with me then, son of Arathorn? Maybe we shall cleave a road, or make such an end as will be worth a song — if any be left to sing of us hereafter.’ ‘I will ride with you,’ said Aragorn. Taking his leave, he returned to the walls, and passed round all their circuit, enheartening the men, and lending aid wherever the assault was hot. Legolas went with him. Blasts of fire leaped up from below shaking the stones. Grappling-hooks were hurled, and ladders raised. Again and again the Orcs gained the summit of the outer wall, and again the defenders cast them down. At last Aragorn stood above the great gates, heedless of the darts of the enemy. As he looked forth he saw the eastern sky grow pale. Then he raised his empty hand, palm outward in token of parley. The Orcs yelled and jeered. ‘Come down! Come down!’ they cried. ‘If you wish to speak to us, come down! Bring out your king! We are the fighting Uruk-hai. We will fetch him from his hole, if he does not come. Bring out your skulking king!’ “The king stays or comes at his own will,’ said Aragorn. “Then what are you doing here?’ they answered. ‘Why do you look out? Do you wish to see the greatness of our army? We are the fighting Uruk-hai.’
「他們有那種爆破火藥，用它攻下了外牆。如果他們進不了洞穴，可能會把裡面的人封死。但現在我們必須全心專注於自身的防禦。」「我在這座監獄裡焦躁不安，」希優頓說。「如果我能橫持長矛，在戰場上率領我的部下衝鋒，或許還能再次感受戰鬥的喜悅，然後就此了結。但我在這裡幾乎派不上用場。」「至少在這裡，您身處洛汗國最堅固的要塞中，」亞拉岡說。「我們在號角堡保護您的希望，比在伊多拉斯，甚至在山中的登哈洛都大。」「據說號角堡從未被攻陷過，」希優頓說；「但我現在心裡充滿了懷疑。世界變了，所有曾經強大的事物如今都變得不可靠。任何高塔如何能抵擋如此龐大的數量和如此不顧一切的仇恨？要是我早知道艾辛格的力量已增長到如此地步，或許我就不會那麼魯莽地出兵迎戰了，儘管有甘道夫的百般計謀。他的建議現在看來，不像在晨光下那樣好了。」「國王，在一切結束之前，請不要評判甘道夫的建議，」亞拉岡說。「結局不遠了，」國王說。「但我不會在這裡了結，像隻困在陷阱裡的老獾一樣。雪鬃、捷影和我衛隊的馬匹都在內院。黎明到來時，我會命令吹響聖盔的號角，然後我將策馬出擊。屆時你願意與我同行嗎，亞拉松之子？或許我們能殺出一條血路，或者締造一個值得傳唱的結局——如果日後還有人為我們歌唱的話。」「我會與您同行，」亞拉岡說。他告辭後，回到城牆上，繞行了一圈，鼓舞士兵們的士氣，並在攻勢最猛烈的地方提供援助。勒苟拉斯與他同行。爆破的火焰從下方竄升，震動著石塊。抓鉤被拋上來，梯子也架了起來。半獸人一次又一次地攻上外牆頂端，守軍又一次又一次地將他們擊退。最後，亞拉岡站在大門上方，不顧敵人的箭矢。他向外望去，看見東方的天空漸漸泛白。然後他舉起空著的手，掌心向外，作為談判的信號。半獸人們大聲吼叫和嘲笑。「下來！下來！」他們喊道。「想跟我們說話就下來！把你們的國王帶出來！我們是驍勇善戰的強獸人。如果他不出來，我們就把他從洞裡抓出來。把你們那躲躲藏藏的國王帶出來！」「國王要留要來，全憑他自己的意願，」亞拉岡說。「那你來這裡做什麼？」他們回答。「你為什麼要探頭出來？想見識我們大軍的雄偉嗎？我們是驍勇善戰的強獸人。」
540 THE LORD OF THE RINGS ‘I looked out to see the dawn,’ said Aragorn. ‘What of the dawn?’ they jeered. ‘We are the Uruk-hai: we do not stop the fight for night or day, for fair weather or for storm. We come to kill, by sun or moon. What of the dawn?’ ‘None knows what the new day shall bring him,’ said Aragorn. ‘Get you gone, ere it turn to your evil.’ ‘Get down or we will shoot you from the wall,’ they cried. “This is no parley. You have nothing to say.’ ‘I have still this to say,’ answered Aragorn. ‘No enemy has yet taken the Hornburg. Depart, or not one of you will be spared. Not one will be left alive to take back tidings to the North. You do not know your peril.’ So great a power and royalty was revealed in Aragorn, as he stood there alone above the ruined gates before the host of his enemies, that many of the wild men paused, and looked back over their shoulders to the valley, and some looked up doubtfully at the sky. But the Orcs laughed with loud voices; and a hail of darts and arrows whistled over the wall, as Aragorn leaped down. There was a roar and a blast of fire. The archway of the gate above which he had stood a moment before crumbled and crashed in smoke and dust. The barricade was scattered as if by a thunderbolt. Aragorn ran to the king’s tower. But even as the gate fell, and the Orcs about it yelled, preparing to charge, a murmur arose behind them, like a wind in the distance, and it grew to a clamour of many voices crying strange news in the dawn. The Orcs upon the Rock, hearing the rumour of dismay, wavered and looked back. And then, sudden and terrible, from the tower above, the sound of the great horn of Helm rang out. All that heard that sound trembled. Many of the Orcs cast themselves on their faces and covered their ears with their claws. Back from the Deep the echoes came, blast upon blast, as if on every cliff and hill a mighty herald stood. But on the walls men looked up, listening with wonder; for the echoes did not die. Ever the hornblasts wound on among the hills; nearer now and louder they answered one to another, blowing fierce and free. ‘Helm! Helm!’ the Riders shouted. ‘Helm is arisen and comes back to war. Helm for Theoden King!’ And with that shout the king came. His horse was white as snow, golden was his shield, and his spear was long. At his right hand was Aragorn, Elendil’s heir, behind him rode the lords of the House of Eorl the Young. Light sprang in the sky. Night departed. ‘Forth Eorlingas!’ With a cry and a great noise they charged. Down from the gates they roared, over the causeway they swept, and they
HELM’S DEEP 541 drove through the hosts of Isengard as a wind among grass. Behind them from the Deep came the stern cries of men issuing from the caves, driving forth the enemy. Out poured all the men that were left upon the Rock. And ever the sound of blowing horns echoed in the hills. On they rode, the king and his companions. Captains and champions fell or fled before them. Neither orc nor man withstood them. Their backs were to the swords and spears of the Riders, and their faces to the valley. They cried and wailed, for fear and great wonder had come upon them with the rising of the day. So King Théoden rode from Helm’s Gate and clove his path to the great Dike. There the company halted. Light grew bright about them. Shafts of the sun flared above the eastern hills and glimmered on their spears. But they sat silent on their horses, and they gazed down upon the Deeping-coomb. The land had changed. Where before the green dale had lain, its grassy slopes lapping the ever-mounting hills, there now a forest loomed. Great trees, bare and silent, stood, rank on rank, with tangled bough and hoary head; their twisted roots were buried in the long green grass. Darkness was under them. Between the Dike and the eaves of that nameless wood only two open furlongs lay. There now cowered the proud hosts of Saruman, in terror of the king and in terror of the trees. They streamed down from Helm’s Gate until all above the Dike was empty of them, but below it they were packed like swarming flies. Vainly they crawled and clambered about the walls of the coomb, seeking to escape. Upon the east too sheer and stony was the valley’s side; upon the left, from the west, their final doom approached. There suddenly upon a ridge appeared a rider, clad in white, shining in the rising sun. Over the low hills the horns were sounding. Behind him, hastening down the long slopes, were a thousand men on foot; their swords were in their hands. Amid them strode a man tall and strong. His shield was red. As he came to the valley’s brink, he set to his lips a great black horn and blew a ringing blast. ‘Erkenbrand!’ the Riders shouted. ‘Erkenbrand!’ ‘Behold the White Rider!’ cried Aragorn. ‘Gandalf is come again!’ ‘Mithrandir, Mithrandir!’ said Legolas. “This is wizardry indeed! Come! I would look on this forest, ere the spell changes.’ The hosts of Isengard roared, swaying this way and that, turning from fear to fear. Again the horn sounded from the tower. Down through the breach of the Dike charged the king’s company. Down from the hills leaped Erkenbrand, lord of Westfold. Down leaped
希優頓王衝入艾辛格大軍，如疾風掃過草原。他們身後，從深淵中傳來人們嚴厲的吶喊，他們從洞穴中湧出，驅趕著敵人。所有留在號角堡岩上的人都傾巢而出。號角聲不斷在山丘間迴盪。國王與他的同伴們繼續向前馳騁。敵方的將領與勇士在他們面前紛紛倒下或逃竄。無論是半獸人還是人類都無法抵擋他們。他們背對著洛汗騎士的刀劍與長矛，臉朝著山谷。他們哭喊哀嚎，因為隨著白晝降臨，恐懼與巨大的驚奇攫住了他們。於是，希優頓王從聖盔門騎出，一路劈開血路，直達那道巨大的長堤。在那裡，隊伍停了下來。光芒在他們周圍變得明亮。陽光從東邊的山丘上射下，在他們的矛尖上閃爍。但他們靜靜地坐在馬背上，凝視著下方的深溪谷。土地變了樣。先前那片青翠的山谷，草坡輕拂著不斷升高的山丘，如今卻矗立著一片森林。巨大的樹木，光禿而沉寂，一排排地站立著，枝枒糾結，樹頂灰白；它們扭曲的樹根埋在長長的綠草中。樹下是一片黑暗。在長堤與那無名森林的邊緣之間，只有兩弗隆的開闊地。薩魯曼驕傲的大軍此刻正畏縮在那裡，既恐懼國王，也恐懼那些樹木。他們從聖盔門如潮水般湧下，直到長堤上方空無一人，但在長堤下方，他們卻像成群的蒼蠅一樣擠成一團。他們徒勞地在深谷的峭壁上爬行攀登，試圖逃跑。東邊的山谷側面太過陡峭多石；而在左邊，從西方，他們最終的命運降臨了。突然，在山脊上出現了一位騎士，身穿白衣，在朝陽中閃閃發光。號角聲越過低矮的山丘響起。在他身後，一千名步兵正沿著長長的斜坡疾行而下，手中握著劍。他們中間大步走著一個高大強壯的男人。他的盾牌是紅色的。當他來到山谷邊緣時，他將一支巨大的黑角放到唇邊，吹出一聲響亮的號音。「鄂肯布蘭德！」洛汗騎士們大喊。「鄂肯布蘭德！」「看那白袍騎士！」亞拉岡喊道。「甘道夫回來了！」「米斯蘭達，米斯蘭達！」勒苟拉斯說。「這真是巫師的傑作！來！我想看看這片森林，在魔法改變之前。」艾辛格的大軍咆哮著，來回搖擺，從一個恐懼轉向另一個恐-懼。號角聲再次從塔樓響起。國王的隊伍衝下長堤的缺口。西谷領主鄂肯布蘭德從山丘上躍下。躍下
542 THE LORD OF THE RINGS Shadowfax, like a deer that runs surefooted in the mountains. The White Rider was upon them, and the terror of his coming filled the enemy with madness. The wild men fell on their faces before him. The Orcs reeled and screamed and cast aside both sword and spear. Like a black smoke driven by a mounting wind they fled. Wailing they passed under the waiting shadow of the trees; and from that shadow none ever came again.
影疾，如同一頭在山中步履穩健的鹿。白袍騎士已然逼近，他降臨的恐懼使敵人陷入瘋狂。那些野人在他面前俯伏於地。半獸人踉蹌尖叫，拋棄了刀劍與長矛。他們像被漸強的風吹散的黑煙一般逃竄。他們哀號著穿過樹林那等待的陰影；而從那陰影中，再也無人歸來。