Chapter 8 THE STAIRS OF CIRITH UNGOL Gollum was tugging at Frodo’s cloak and hissing with fear and impatience. ‘We must go,’ he said. ‘We mustn’t stand here. Make haste!’ Reluctantly Frodo turned his back on the West and followed as his guide led him, out into the darkness of the East. They left the ring of trees and crept along the road towards the mountains. This road, too, ran straight for a while, but soon it began to bend away southwards, until it came right under the great shoulder of rock that they had seen from the distance. Black and forbidding it loomed above them, darker than the dark sky behind. Crawling under its shadow the road went on, and rounding it sprang east again and began to climb steeply. Frodo and Sam were plodding along with heavy hearts, no longer able to care greatly about their peril. Frodo’s head was bowed; his burden was dragging him down again. As soon as the great Crossroads had been passed, the weight of it, almost forgotten in Ithilien, had begun to grow once more. Now, feeling the way become steep before his feet, he looked wearily up; and then he saw it, even as Gollum had said that he would: the city of the Ringwraiths. He cowered against the stony bank. A long-tilted valley, a deep gulf of shadow, ran back far into the mountains. Upon the further side, some way within the valley’s arms, high on a rocky seat upon the black knees of the Ephel Duath, stood the walls and tower of Minas Morgul. All was dark about it, earth and sky, but it was lit with light. Not the imprisoned moonlight welling through the marble walls of Minas Ithil long ago, Tower of the Moon, fair and radiant in the hollow of the hills. Paler indeed than the moon ailing in some slow eclipse was the light of it now, wavering and blowing like a noisome exhalation of decay, a corpse-light, a light that illuminated nothing. In the walls and tower windows showed, like countless black holes looking inward into emptiness; but the topmost course of the tower revolved slowly, first one way and then another, a huge ghostly head leering into the night. For a moment the three companions stood there, shrinking, staring up with unwilling eyes. Gollum was the first to recover. Again he pulled at their cloaks urgently, but he spoke no word. Almost he dragged them forward. Every step was reluctant, and time seemed to slow its pace, so that between the raising of a foot and the setting of it down minutes of loathing passed.
第八章 西里斯昂哥的階梯 咕嚕拉著佛羅多的斗篷，因恐懼和不耐煩而發出嘶嘶聲。「我們必須走了，」他說。「我們不能站在這裡。快點！」佛羅多不情願地轉身背對西方，跟隨著他的嚮導，走入東方的黑暗之中。他們離開了環狀的樹林，沿著朝向山脈的道路潛行。這條路起初也是筆直的，但很快就開始向南彎曲，直到來到他們從遠處看到的那片巨大岩石的肩部下方。它黝黑而險惡地聳立在他們上方，比背後的黑暗天空還要深沉。道路在它的陰影下蜿蜒前行，繞過它後又猛然轉向東方，開始陡峭地攀升。佛羅多和山姆心情沉重地緩慢前行，已無暇多顧自身的危險。佛羅多的頭低垂著；他的重擔再次將他往下拖。一過大十字路口，那在伊西力安幾乎被遺忘的重擔，又開始加重了。此刻，感覺到腳下的路變得陡峭，他疲憊地抬起頭；然後他看見了，正如咕嚕所說的那樣：戒靈之城。他畏縮地靠在石頭坡岸上。一個狹長傾斜的山谷，一道深邃的陰影峽灣，遠遠地延伸回山脈深處。在山谷的另一側，深入其臂彎之處，高高地坐落在埃斐爾．度奧斯黑色膝蓋上的一個岩石寶座上，矗立著米那斯魔窟的城牆與高塔。它周遭一切，無論大地或天空，都一片黑暗，但它本身卻被光所照亮。那並非許久以前，月升之塔米那斯伊希爾，那座美麗而光輝地座落在山谷凹地中的大理石牆垣所湧出的、被囚禁的月光。此刻它的光芒，比緩慢月蝕中憔悴的月亮還要蒼白，搖曳不定，像腐敗散發出的惡臭氣息，一盞屍光，一盞無法照亮任何事物的光。城牆與高塔上的窗戶顯現出來，如同無數個望向虛空的黑洞；但塔的最高層緩慢地旋轉著，先是朝一個方向，然後又轉向另一個方向，像一顆巨大的鬼頭，不懷好意地窺視著黑夜。有那麼一刻，三個同伴站在那裡，畏縮著，用不情願的眼睛向上凝視。咕嚕是第一個恢復過來的。他又急切地拉扯他們的斗篷，但沒有說話。他幾乎是將他們向前拖去。每一步都充滿了抗拒，時間似乎也放慢了腳步，以至於在抬起一隻腳與放下它的間隙中，流逝了數分鐘的憎惡。
7O4 THE LORD OF THE RINGS So they came slowly to the white bridge. Here the road, gleaming faintly, passed over the stream in the midst of the valley, and went on, winding deviously up towards the city’s gate: a black mouth opening in the outer circle of the northward walls. Wide flats lay on either bank, shadowy meads filled with pale white flowers. Luminous these were too, beautiful and yet horrible of shape, like the demented forms in an uneasy dream; and they gave forth a faint sickening charnel-smell; an odour of rottenness filled the air. From mead to mead the bridge sprang. Figures stood there at its head, carven with cunning in forms human and bestial, but all corrupt and loathsome. The water flowing beneath was silent, and it steamed, but the vapour that rose from it, curling and twisting about the bridge, was deadly cold. Frodo felt his senses reeling and his mind darkening. Then suddenly, as if some force were at work other than his own will, he began to hurry, tottering forward, his groping hands held out, his head lolling from side to side. Both Sam and Gollum ran after him. Sam caught his master in his arms, as he stumbled and almost fell, right on the threshold of the bridge. ‘Not that way! No, not that way!’ whispered Gollum, but the breath between his teeth seemed to tear the heavy stillness like a whistle, and he cowered to the ground in terror. ‘Hold up, Mr. Frodo!’ muttered Sam in Frodo’s ear. ‘Come back! Not that way. Gollum says not, and for once I agree with him.’ Frodo passed his hand over his brow and wrenched his eyes away from the city on the hill. The luminous tower fascinated him, and he fought the desire that was on him to run up the gleaming road towards its gate. At last with an effort he turned back, and as he did so, he felt the Ring resisting him, dragging at the chain about his neck; and his eyes too, as he looked away, seemed for the moment to have been blinded. The darkness before him was impenetrable. Gollum, crawling on the ground like a frightened animal, was already vanishing into the gloom. Sam, supporting and guiding his stumbling master, followed after him as quickly as he could. Not far from the near bank of the stream there was a gap in the stone-wall beside the road. Through this they passed, and Sam saw that they were on a narrow path that gleamed faintly at first, as the main road did, until climbing above the meads of deadly flowers it faded and went dark, winding its crooked way up into the northern sides of the valley. Along this path the hobbits trudged, side by side, unable to see Gollum in front of them, except when he turned back to beckon them on. Then his eyes shone with a green-white light, reflecting the noisome Morgul-sheen perhaps, or kindled by some answering mood within. Of that deadly gleam and of the dark eyeholes Frodo and
THE STAIRS OF CIRITH UNGOL 7O5 Sam were always conscious, ever glancing fearfully over their shoulders, and ever dragging their eyes back to find the darkening path. Slowly they laboured on. As they rose above the stench and vapours of the poisonous stream their breath became easier and their heads clearer; but now their limbs were deadly tired, as if they had walked all night under a burden, or had been swimming long against a heavy tide of water. At last they could go no further without a halt. Frodo stopped and sat down on a stone. They had now climbed up to the top of a great hump of bare rock. Ahead of them there was a bay in the valley-side, and round the head of this the path went on, no more than a wide ledge with a chasm on the right; across the sheer southward face of the mountain it crawled upwards, until it disappeared into the blackness above. ‘I must rest a while, Sam,’ whispered Frodo. ‘It’s heavy on me, Sam lad, very heavy. I wonder how far I can carry it? Anyway I must rest before we venture on to that.’ He pointed to the narrow way ahead. ‘Sssh! ssh!’ hissed Gollum hurrying back to them. ‘Sssh!’ His fingers were on his lips and he shook his head urgently. Tugging at Frodo’s sleeve, he pointed towards the path; but Frodo would not move. ‘Not yet,’ he said, ‘not yet.” Weariness and more than weariness oppressed him; it seemed as if a heavy spell was laid on his mind and body. ‘I must rest,’ he muttered. At this Gollum’s fear and agitation became so great that he spoke again, hissing behind his hand, as if to keep the sound from unseen listeners in the air. ‘Not here, no. Not rest here. Fools! Eyes can see us. When they come to the bridge they will see us. Come away! Climb, climb! Come!’ ‘Come, Mr. Frodo,’ said Sam. ‘He’s right again. We can’t stay here.’ ‘All right,’ said Frodo in a remote voice, as of one speaking half asleep. ‘I will try.” Wearily he got to his feet. But it was too late. At that moment the rock quivered and trembled beneath them. The great rumbling noise, louder than ever before, rolled in the ground and echoed in the mountains. Then with searing suddenness there came a great red flash. Far beyond the eastern mountains it leapt into the sky and splashed the lowering clouds with crimson. In that valley of shadow and cold deathly light it seemed unbearably violent and fierce. Peaks of stone and ridges like notched knives sprang out in staring black against the uprushing flame in Gorgoroth. Then came a great crack of thunder. And Minas Morgul answered. There was a flare of livid lightnings:
山姆一直保持警覺，總是恐懼地瞥向身後，又總是把目光拉回來尋找那條愈發昏暗的小徑。他們緩慢而艱辛地繼續前行。當他們攀升到那條毒溪的惡臭與蒸汽之上時，他們的呼吸變得順暢，頭腦也清晰了些；但現在他們的四肢卻疲憊欲死，彷彿已背負重擔走了一整夜，或是在沉重的水流中游了很久。最後，他們再也無法不停下來休息。佛羅多停下腳步，坐在一塊石頭上。他們現在已爬到一大塊光禿禿的岩石堆頂部。在他們前方，山谷側面有個凹處，小徑繞過這凹處的頂端繼續延伸，不過是條寬闊的岩架，右邊就是萬丈深淵；它沿著山脈南面陡峭的岩壁向上爬行，直到消失在上方的一片漆黑之中。「我得休息一會兒，山姆，」佛羅多輕聲說。「它在我身上很沉重，山姆小弟，非常沉重。我不知道我還能帶著它走多遠？無論如何，在我們冒險走上那條路之前，我必須休息一下。」他指向前方那條狹窄的路。「噓！噓！」咕嚕嘶嘶地說，急忙跑回他們身邊。「噓！」他的手指放在唇上，急切地搖著頭。他拉著佛羅多的袖子，指向那條小徑；但佛羅多不肯動。「還不行，」他說，「還不行。」疲憊，以及不僅僅是疲憊，壓迫著他；彷彿一個沉重的魔咒施加在他的心靈和身體上。「我必須休息，」他喃喃自語。這時，咕嚕的恐懼和焦躁變得如此強烈，以至於他又開口說話了，用手摀著嘴嘶嘶地說，彷彿要防止聲音被空中看不見的聽眾聽到。「不是這裡，不。不在這裡休息。傻瓜！有眼睛能看見我們。當他們來到橋上時，他們會看見我們。快走！爬，爬！來吧！」「來吧，佛羅多先生，」山姆說。「他又說對了。我們不能待在這裡。」「好吧，」佛羅多用一種遙遠的聲音說，彷彿一個半睡半醒的人在說話。「我會試試。」他疲憊地站了起來。但為時已晚。就在那一刻，他們腳下的岩石顫動搖晃起來。那巨大的轟鳴聲，比以往任何時候都響亮，在地面滾動，並在山間迴響。接著，伴隨著灼人的突然，一道巨大的紅光閃現。在遙遠的東方山脈之外，它躍入天空，將低垂的雲層染成深紅。在那個充滿陰影和冰冷死寂光芒的山谷裡，這道光顯得無比狂暴和兇猛。石頭的山峰和鋸齒刀般的山脊，在戈哥洛斯升騰的火焰映襯下，突兀地顯現出駭人的黑色輪廓。接著是一聲巨大的雷鳴。而米那斯魔窟做出了回應。一道慘白的閃電亮起：
706 THE LORD OF THE RINGS forks of blue flame springing up from the tower and from the encircling hills into the sullen clouds. The earth groaned; and out of the city there came a cry. Mingled with harsh high voices as of birds of prey, and the shrill neighing of horses wild with rage and fear, there came a rending screech, shivering, rising swiftly to a piercing pitch beyond the range of hearing. The hobbits wheeled round towards it, and cast themselves down, holding their hands upon their ears. As the terrible cry ended, falling back through a long sickening wail to silence, Frodo slowly raised his head. Across the narrow valley, now almost on a level with his eyes, the walls of the evil city stood, and its cavernous gate, shaped like an open mouth with gleaming teeth, was gaping wide. And out of the gate an army came. All that host was clad in sable, dark as the night. Against the wan walls and the luminous pavement of the road Frodo could see them, small black figures in rank upon rank, marching swiftly and silently, passing outwards in an endless stream. Before them went a great cavalry of horsemen moving like ordered shadows, and at their head was one greater than all the rest: a Rider, all black, save that on his hooded head he had a helm like a crown that flickered with a perilous light. Now he was drawing near the bridge below, and Frodo’s staring eyes followed him, unable to wink or to withdraw. Surely there was the Lord of the Nine Riders returned to earth to lead his ghastly host to battle? Here, yes here indeed was the haggard king whose cold hand had smitten down the Ring-bearer with his deadly knife. The old wound throbbed with pain and a great chill spread towards Frodo’s heart. Even as these thoughts pierced him with dread and held him bound as with a spell, the Rider halted suddenly, right before the entrance of the bridge, and behind him all the host stood still. There was a pause, a dead silence. Maybe it was the Ring that called to the Wraith-lord, and for a moment he was troubled, sensing some other power within his valley. This way and that turned the dark head helmed and crowned with fear, sweeping the shadows with its unseen eyes. Frodo waited, like a bird at the approach of a snake, unable to move. And as he waited, he felt, more urgent than ever before, the command that he should put on the Ring. But great as the pressure was, he felt no inclination now to yield to it. He knew that the Ring would only betray him, and that he had not, even if he put it on, the power to face the Morgul-king — not yet. There was no longer any answer to that command in his own will, dismayed by terror though it was, and he felt only the beating upon him of a great power from outside. It took his hand, and as Frodo watched with his mind, not willing it but in suspense (as if he looked on some old story far away),
藍色火焰的岔舌從高塔和環繞的山丘上竄起，直入陰沉的雲層。大地呻吟著；城裡傳來一聲哭喊。其中混雜著猛禽般刺耳的高亢嗓音，以及因狂怒和恐懼而瘋狂的馬匹發出的尖銳嘶鳴，接著是一聲撕裂般的尖嘯，令人不寒而慄，迅速拔高到聽力無法企及的刺耳音高。哈比人們轉身朝向那聲音，撲倒在地，用手摀住耳朵。當那可怕的哭喊結束，化為一長串令人作嘔的哀嚎後歸於沉寂時，佛羅多緩緩抬起頭。橫跨狹窄的山谷，如今幾乎與他的視線齊平的，是那座邪惡之城的城牆，以及它那洞穴般的大門，形狀宛如一張張開的嘴，露出閃閃發光的牙齒，正大張著。一支軍隊從門中湧出。那整支軍隊都穿著黑貂般的暗色，如黑夜一般。映襯著蒼白的城牆和發光的路面，佛羅多能看見他們，一個個渺小的黑色身影，一排接著一排，迅速而無聲地前進，如無盡的溪流般向外流去。在他們前方，是一支龐大的騎兵隊，行動如同整齊的影子，而在隊伍最前頭的，是一個比所有人都更巨大的身影：一名騎士，全身漆黑，唯有在他那兜帽覆蓋的頭上，戴著一頂如王冠般的頭盔，閃爍著危險的光芒。此刻他正靠近下方的橋樑，佛羅多瞪大的雙眼緊隨著他，無法眨眼，也無法移開。那想必就是九戒靈之首重返人間，率領他那恐怖大軍走向戰場了吧？是的，這裡，確實就是這裡，就是那位憔悴的國王，他那冰冷的手曾用致命的刀刃重創了持戒人。舊傷口抽痛起來，一股巨大的寒意朝佛羅多心頭蔓延。就在這些思緒以恐懼刺穿他，如魔咒般將他束縛之時，那名騎士突然停了下來，就在橋的入口前，他身後的大軍也全都靜止不動。一陣停頓，一片死寂。或許是魔戒在呼喚戒靈之王，讓他一時之間感到困惑，感覺到他的山谷中存在著某種其他的力量。那戴著頭盔、以恐懼為冠的黑暗頭顱轉來轉去，用其無形的雙眼掃視著陰影。佛羅多等待著，像一隻在蛇靠近時的鳥，無法動彈。在他等待之時，他感覺到一股比以往任何時候都更急迫的命令，要他戴上魔戒。但儘管壓力巨大，他此刻卻沒有屈服的念頭。他知道魔戒只會背叛他，而且即使戴上它，他也沒有力量去面對魔窟之王——還沒有。對於那道命令，他的意志中再也沒有任何回應，儘管意志已因恐懼而沮喪，他只感覺到一股來自外界的巨大力量在衝擊著他。它抓住了他的手，佛羅多用心靈看著這一切，並非出於自願，而是懸著一顆心（彷彿在觀看一個遙遠的古老故事），
THE STAIRS OF CIRITH UNGOL JOT it moved the hand inch by inch towards the chain upon his neck. Then his own will stirred; slowly it forced the hand back and set it to find another thing, a thing lying hidden near his breast. Cold and hard it seemed as his grip closed on it: the phial of Galadriel, so long treasured, and almost forgotten till that hour. As he touched it, for a while all thought of the Ring was banished from his mind. He sighed and bent his head. At that moment the Wraith-king turned and spurred his horse and rode across the bridge, and all his dark host followed him. Maybe the elven-hoods defied his unseen eyes, and the mind of his small enemy, being strengthened, had turned aside his thought. But he was in haste. Already the hour had struck, and at his great Master’s bidding he must march with war into the West. Soon he had passed, like a shadow into shadow, down the winding road, and behind him still the black ranks crossed the bridge. So great an army had never issued from that vale since the days of Isildur’s might; no host so fell and strong in arms had yet assailed the fords of Anduin; and yet it was but one and not the greatest of the hosts that Mordor now sent forth. Frodo stirred. And suddenly his heart went out to Faramir. “The storm has burst at last,’ he thought. “This great array of spears and swords is going to Osgiliath. Will Faramir get across in time? He guessed it, but did he know the hour? And who can now hold the fords when the King of the Nine Riders comes? And other armies will come. I am too late. All is lost. I tarried on the way. All is lost. Even if my errand is performed, no one will ever know. There will be no one I can tell. It will be in vain.” Overcome with weakness he wept. And still the host of Morgul crossed the bridge. Then at a great distance, as if it came out of memories of the Shire, some sunlit early morning, when the day called and doors were opening, he heard Sam’s voice speaking. ‘Wake up, Mr. Frodo! Wake up!’ Had the voice added: ‘Your breakfast is ready,’ he would hardly have been surprised. Certainly Sam was urgent. ‘Wake up, Mr. Frodo! They’re gone,’ he said. There was a dull clang. The gates of Minas Morgul had closed. The last rank of spears had vanished down the road. The tower still grinned across the valley, but the light was fading in it. The whole city was falling back into a dark brooding shade, and silence. Yet still it was filled with watchfulness. ‘Wake up, Mr. Frodo! They’re gone, and we’d better go too. There’s something still alive in that place, something with eyes, or a seeing mind, if you take me; and the longer we stay in one spot, the sooner it will get on to us. Come on, Mr. Frodo!’
那隻手一寸寸地移向他頸上的鎖鏈。然後，他自己的意志甦醒了；它緩緩地迫使那隻手收回，轉而去尋找另一樣東西，一個藏在他胸口附近的物品。當他的手掌握住它時，只感覺到冰冷與堅硬：那是凱蘭崔爾的水晶瓶，被珍藏已久，直到此刻卻幾乎被遺忘。一觸碰到它，所有關於魔戒的念頭暫時從他腦中被驅逐。他嘆了口氣，低下頭。就在那一刻，戒靈王轉身策馬，疾馳過橋，他所有的黑暗大軍都跟隨著他。也許是精靈的斗篷騙過了他無形的雙眼，又或許是他那渺小敵人的心智因被強化而轉移了他的思緒。但他行色匆匆。時刻已到，奉其偉大主人的命令，他必須向西方發動戰爭。很快地，他像一道影子融入另一道影子般，消失在蜿蜒的道路盡頭，而在他身後，黑壓壓的隊伍仍在渡橋。自埃西鐸強盛的時代以來，從未有如此龐大的軍隊從那山谷中湧出；從未有如此兇猛善戰的軍隊攻擊過安都因的渡口；然而，這只不過是魔多現在派出的其中一支軍隊，而且還不是最強大的。佛羅多動了一下。突然間，他對法拉墨充滿了同情。「暴風雨終究是爆發了，」他想。「這支由長矛和利劍組成的龐大陣容正前往奧斯吉力亞斯。法拉墨來得及渡河嗎？他猜到了，但他知道確切的時刻嗎？當九戒靈之王到來時，現在還有誰能守住渡口？而且還會有其他軍隊前來。我太遲了。一切都完了。我在路上耽擱了。一切都完了。即使我的任務完成了，也永遠不會有人知道。我將無人可訴說。一切都將是徒勞。」他因虛弱而不支，哭了起來。而魔窟的大軍仍在渡橋。然後，在遙遠的遠方，彷彿來自夏爾的記憶，來自某個陽光明媚的清晨，當白日呼喚、門扉敞開之時，他聽到了山姆的說話聲。「醒醒，佛羅多先生！醒醒！」如果那聲音多加一句：「您的早餐準備好了」，他大概也不會感到驚訝。山姆確實很急切。「醒醒，佛羅多先生！他們走了，」他說。一聲沉悶的鏗鏘聲響起。米那斯魔窟的大門已經關閉。最後一排長矛已消失在道路的盡頭。那座高塔依舊對著山谷獰笑，但其中的光芒正在消逝。整座城市正退回一片陰沉的暗影與寂靜之中。然而，它依然充滿了戒備。「醒醒，佛羅多先生！他們走了，我們最好也該走了。那地方還有活物，有眼睛的東西，或是有洞察力的心智，如果您明白我的意思；我們在一個地方待得越久，它就越快會發現我們。快點，佛羅多先生！」
708 THE LORD OF THE RINGS Frodo raised his head, and then stood up. Despair had not left him, but the weakness had passed. He even smiled grimly, feeling now as clearly as a moment before he had felt the opposite, that what he had to do, he had to do, if he could, and that whether Faramir or Aragorn or Elrond or Galadriel or Gandalf or anyone else ever knew about it was beside the purpose. He took his staff in one hand and the phial in his other. When he saw that the clear light was already welling through his fingers, he thrust it into his bosom and held it against his heart. Then turning from the city of Morgul, now no more than a grey glimmer across a dark gulf, he prepared to take the upward road. Gollum, it seemed, had crawled off along the ledge into the darkness beyond, when the gates of Minas Morgul opened, leaving the hobbits where they lay. He now came creeping back, his teeth chattering and his fingers snapping. ‘Foolish! Silly!’ he hissed. ‘Make haste! They mustn’t think danger has passed. It hasn’t. Make haste!’ They did not answer, but they followed him on to the climbing ledge. It was little to the liking of either of them, not even after facing so many other perils; but it did not last long. Soon the path reached a rounded angle where the mountain-side swelled out again, and there it suddenly entered a narrow opening in the rock. They had come to the first stair that Gollum had spoken of. The darkness was almost complete, and they could see nothing much beyond their hands’ stretch; but Gollum’s eyes shone pale, several feet above, as he turned back towards them. ‘Careful!’ he whispered. ‘Steps. Lots of steps. Must be careful!’ Care was certainly needed. Frodo and Sam at first felt easier, having now a wall on either side, but the stairway was almost as steep as a ladder, and as they climbed up and up, they became more and more aware of the long black fall behind them. And the steps were narrow, spaced unevenly, and often treacherous: they were worn and smooth at the edges, and some were broken, and some cracked as foot was set upon them. The hobbits struggled on, until at last they were clinging with desperate fingers to the steps ahead, and forcing their aching knees to bend and straighten; and ever as the stair cut its way deeper into the sheer mountain the rocky walls rose higher and higher above their heads. At length, just as they felt that they could endure no more, they saw Gollum’s eyes peering down at them again. ‘We’re up,’ he whispered. ‘First stair’s past. Clever hobbits to climb so high, very clever hobbits. Just a few more little steps and that’s all, yes.’ Dizzy and very tired Sam, and Frodo following him, crawled up the last step, and sat down rubbing their legs and knees. They were
THE STAIRS OF CIRITH UNGOL 7O9 in a deep dark passage that seemed still to go up before them, though at a gentler slope and without steps. Gollum did not let them rest long. “There’s another stair still,’ he said. ‘Much longer stair. Rest when we get to the top of next stair. Not yet.’ Sam groaned. ‘Longer, did you say?’ he asked. “Yes, yess, longer,’ said Gollum. ‘But not so difficult. Hobbits have climbed the Straight Stair. Next comes the Winding Stair.’ ‘And what after that?’ said Sam. ‘We shall see,’ said Gollum softly. ‘O yes, we shall see!’ ‘I thought you said there was a tunnel,’ said Sam. ‘Isn’t there a tunnel or something to go through?’ ‘O yes, there’s a tunnel,’ said Gollum. ‘But hobbits can rest before they try that. If they get through that, they’ll be nearly at the top. Very nearly, if they get through. O yes!’ Frodo shivered. The climb had made him sweat, but now he felt cold and clammy, and there was a chill draught in the dark passage, blowing down from the invisible heights above. He got up and shook himself. ‘Well, let’s go on!’ he said. “This is no place to sit in.’ The passage seemed to go on for miles, and always the chill air flowed over them, rising as they went on to a bitter wind. The mountains seemed to be trying with their deadly breath to daunt them, to turn them back from the secrets of the high places, or to blow them away into the darkness behind. They only knew that they had come to the end, when suddenly they felt no wall at their right hand. They could see very little. Great black shapeless masses and deep grey shadows loomed above them and about them, but now and again a dull red light flickered up under the lowering clouds, and for a moment they were aware of tall peaks, in front and on either side, like pillars holding up a vast sagging roof. They seemed to have climbed up many hundreds of feet, on to a wide shelf. A cliff was on their left and a chasm on their right. Gollum led the way close under the cliff. For the present they were no longer climbing, but the ground was now more broken and dangerous in the dark, and there were blocks and lumps of fallen stone in the way. Their going was slow and cautious. How many hours had passed since they had entered the Morgul Vale neither Sam nor Frodo could any longer guess. The night seemed endless. At length they were once more aware of a wall looming up, and once more a stairway opened before them. Again they halted, and again they began to climb. It was a long and weary ascent; but this stairway did not delve into the mountain-side. Here the huge cliff-face sloped backwards, and the path like a snake wound to and fro across
他們身處一條又深又暗的通道，感覺仍在向上延伸，只是坡度較緩，也沒有了階梯。咕嚕沒讓他們休息太久。「還有另一段樓梯，」他說。「更長的樓梯。等我們到了下一段樓梯頂端再休息。還沒到。」山姆呻吟了一聲。「你說……更長？」他問。「是，是的，更長，」咕嚕說。「但沒那麼難走。哈比人爬完了『筆直階梯』，接下來是『蜿蜒階梯』。」「那之後呢？」山姆問。「我們到時候就知道了，」咕嚕輕聲說。「哦，是的，我們到時候就知道了！」「我以為你說有條隧道，」山姆說。「不是有條隧道之類的要穿過嗎？」「哦，是的，有隧道，」咕嚕說。「不過哈比人可以在嘗試之前休息。如果他們能穿過去，就差不多到頂了。真的差不多了，如果他們能穿過去的話。哦，是的！」佛羅多打了個寒顫。攀爬讓他滿身是汗，但此刻他卻感到冰冷濕黏，黑暗的通道裡有一股寒冷的氣流，從上方看不見的高處吹拂而下。他站起來，抖了抖身子。「好吧，我們繼續走！」他說。「這裡不是久坐的地方。」通道似乎綿延數里，寒氣始終流淌在他們身上，隨著他們前行，逐漸增強為刺骨的寒風。群山彷彿正用其致命的氣息試圖威嚇他們，想逼他們從高處的秘密前轉身退回，或將他們吹入身後的黑暗之中。當他們突然感覺右手邊再也摸不到牆壁時，他們才意識到已經走到了盡頭。他們幾乎什麼也看不見。巨大、漆黑、沒有形狀的物體和深灰色的陰影在他們上方和周圍若隱若現，但時不時地，一抹暗紅色的光在低垂的烏雲下閃爍，讓他們一時之間意識到前方和兩側聳立著高聳的山峰，宛如支撐著一片巨大下陷屋頂的柱子。他們似乎已攀登了數百英尺，來到一處寬闊的岩架上。左邊是懸崖，右邊是深淵。咕嚕緊貼著懸崖壁帶路。目前他們不再向上攀爬，但地面在黑暗中變得更加崎嶇危險，路上滿是大小不一的落石。他們走得緩慢而謹慎。自從進入魔窟谷以來過了多少個小時，佛羅多和山姆都已無從猜測。夜晚似乎沒有盡頭。終於，他們再次意識到一堵牆壁逼近，又一段階梯在眼前展開。他們再次停下，又再次開始攀爬。這是一段漫長而疲憊的攀登；但這段階梯並未深入山壁。在這裡，巨大的崖面向後傾斜，小徑如蛇一般來回蜿蜒而上。
wa te) THE LORD OF THE RINGS it. At one point it crawled sideways right to the edge of the dark chasm, and Frodo glancing down saw below him as a vast deep pit the great ravine at the head of the Morgul Valley. Down in its depths glimmered like a glow-worm thread the wraith-road from the dead city to the Nameless Pass. He turned hastily away. Still on and up the stairway bent and crawled, until at last with a final flight, short and straight, it climbed out again on to another level. The path had veered away from the main pass in the great ravine, and it now followed its own perilous course at the bottom of a lesser cleft among the higher regions of the Ephel Duath. Dimly the hobbits could discern tall piers and jagged pinnacles of stone on either side, between which were great crevices and fissures blacker than the night, where forgotten winters had gnawed and carved the sunless stone. And now the red light in the sky seemed stronger; though they could not tell whether a dreadful morning were indeed coming to this place of shadow, or whether they saw only the flame of some great violence of Sauron in the torment of Gorgoroth beyond. Still far ahead, and still high above, Frodo, looking up, saw, as he guessed, the very crown of this bitter road. Against the sullen redness of the eastern sky a cleft was outlined in the topmost ridge, narrow, deep-cloven between two black shoulders; and on either shoulder was a horn of stone. He paused and looked more attentively. The horn upon the left was tall and slender; and in it burned a red light, or else the red light in the land beyond was shining through a hole. He saw now: it was a black tower poised above the outer pass. He touched Sam’s arm and pointed. ‘I don’t like the look of that!’ said Sam. ‘So this secret way of yours is guarded after all,’ he growled, turning to Gollum. ‘As you knew all along, I suppose?’ ‘All ways are watched, yes,’ said Gollum. ‘Of course they are. But hobbits must try some way. This may be least watched. Perhaps they’ve all gone away to big battle, perhaps!’ ‘Perhaps,’ grunted Sam. ‘Well, it still seems a long way off, and a long way up before we get there. And there’s still the tunnel. I think you ought to rest now, Mr. Frodo. I don’t know what time of day or night it is, but we’ve kept going for hours and hours.’ “Yes, we must rest,’ said Frodo. ‘Let us find some corner out of the wind, and gather our strength — for the last lap.’ For so he felt it to be. The terrors of the land beyond, and the deed to be done there, seemed remote, too far off yet to trouble him. All his mind was bent on getting through or over this impenetrable wall and guard. If once he could do that impossible thing, then somehow the
有一次，它橫向爬行，一直爬到黑暗深淵的邊緣，佛羅多往下瞥了一眼，看到下方是一個巨大深坑，正是魔窟谷盡頭的大峽谷。在峽谷深處，從亡者之城通往無名隘口的亡靈之路，像一條螢火蟲的細絲般閃爍著微光。他趕緊轉過頭去。階梯仍然蜿蜒向上爬升，最後一段又短又直，終於又爬到另一個平面。小徑已經偏離了大峽谷中的主要通道，現在沿著伊菲爾杜斯更高區域中一個較小裂縫的底部，走上自己的險惡路線。哈比人們隱約能分辨出兩側高聳的石柱和鋸齒狀的尖峰，其間有著比黑夜更深的巨大裂縫與罅隙，被遺忘的冬天在那裡啃噬和雕刻著不見天日的石頭。此刻，天空中的紅光似乎更強烈了；但他們分不清是可怕的黎明真的要降臨到這片陰影之地，還是他們只看到了索倫在遠方葛哥洛斯受苦之地施展某種巨大暴力的火焰。佛羅多抬頭望去，看到遠方高處，正是他所猜測的，這條苦路的頂點。在東方天空陰沉的紅色映襯下，最高山脊上勾勒出一道裂縫的輪廓，它狹窄而深邃，劈開在兩個黑色的山肩之間；每個山肩上都有一隻石角。他停下腳步，更專注地看著。左邊的石角又高又細；裡面燃燒著一道紅光，要不然就是遠方土地上的紅光透過一個洞口照了進來。他現在看清楚了：那是一座黑塔，矗立在外圍的隘口之上。他碰了碰山姆的手臂，指了指。「我不喜歡那東西的樣子！」山姆說。「所以你這條秘密通道終究還是有人看守的嘛，」他對咕嚕咆哮道。「我猜你早就知道了？」「所有路都有人看守，是的，」咕嚕說。「當然有。但哈比人總得試一條路。這條可能是看守最少的。也許他們都去打大仗了，也許！」「也許吧，」山姆咕噥道。「嗯，看來在我們到那裡之前，還有很長的路要走，很高的地方要爬。而且還有隧道。我想您現在該休息了，佛羅多先生。我不知道現在是白天還是晚上，但我們已經連續走了好幾個小時了。」「是的，我們必須休息，」佛羅多說。「讓我們找個避風的角落，養精蓄銳——為了最後一程。」因為他感覺就是如此。遠方土地的恐怖，以及在那裡要完成的使命，似乎都還很遙遠，遠得還不足以困擾他。他所有的心神都專注於穿過或越過這道無法穿透的牆壁和守衛。一旦他能完成那件不可能的事，那麼不知怎地……
THE STAIRS OF CIRITH UNGOL Fil errand would be accomplished, or so it seemed to him in that dark hour of weariness, still labouring in the stony shadows under Cirith Ungol. In a dark crevice between two great piers of rock they sat down: Frodo and Sam a little way within, and Gollum crouched upon the ground near the opening. There the hobbits took what they expected would be their last meal before they went down into the Nameless Land, maybe the last meal they would ever eat together. Some of the food of Gondor they ate, and wafers of the waybread of the Elves, and they drank a little. But of their water they were sparing and took only enough to moisten their dry mouths. ‘I wonder when we’ll find water again?’ said Sam. ‘But I suppose even over there they drink? Orcs drink, don’t they?’ “Yes, they drink,’ said Frodo. ‘But do not let us speak of that. Such drink is not for us.’ “Then all the more need to fill our bottles,’ said Sam. ‘But there isn’t any water up here: not a sound or a trickle have I heard. And anyway Faramir said we were not to drink any water in Morgul.’ ‘No water flowing out of Imlad Morgul, were his words,’ said Frodo. ‘We are not in that valley now, and if we came on a spring it would be flowing into it and not out of it.’ ‘I wouldn’t trust it,’ said Sam, ‘not till I was dying of thirst. There’s a wicked feeling about this place.’ He sniffed. ‘And a smell, I fancy. Do you notice it? A queer kind of a smell, stuffy. I don’t like it.’ ‘I don’t like anything here at all,’ said Frodo, ‘step or stone, breath or bone. Earth, air and water all seem accursed. But so our path is laid.’ “Yes, that’s so,’ said Sam. ‘And we shouldn’t be here at all, if we’d known more about it before we started. But I suppose it’s often that way. The brave things in the old tales and songs, Mr. Frodo: adventures, as I used to call them. I used to think that they were things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of a sport, as you might say. But that’s not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind. Folk seem to have been just landed in them, usually — their paths were laid that way, as you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn’t. And if they had, we shouldn’t know, because they’d have been forgotten. We hear about those as just went on — and not all to a good end, mind you; at least not to what folk inside a story and not outside it call a good end. You know, coming home, and finding things all right, though not quite the same — like old Mr. Bilbo. But those aren’t always the
西力斯昂哥的階梯。他的任務即將完成，或至少在那疲憊的黑暗時刻，當他仍在西力斯昂哥的石影下艱苦跋涉時，他是這麼覺得的。在兩座巨大石墩間的黑暗裂縫中，他們坐了下來：佛羅多和山姆在裡面一點，咕嚕則蹲在洞口附近的地上。哈比人們在那裡吃了他們預計是進入無名之地前的最後一餐，或許也是他們能一起吃的最後一餐。他們吃了一些剛鐸的食物，以及精靈蘭巴斯口糧的薄片，也喝了一點水。但他們很省著用水，只喝了足以濕潤乾渴嘴唇的量。「不知道我們什麼時候才能再找到水？」山姆說。「不過我想，就算在那邊他們也喝水吧？半獸人也喝水，不是嗎？」「是的，他們喝水，」佛羅多說。「但我們別談這個了。那種水不是給我們喝的。」「那我們就更需要把水瓶裝滿了，」山姆說。「但這上面沒有水，我連一點聲音或水滴聲都沒聽到。而且法拉墨也說了，我們不能喝任何魔窟的水。」「他的原話是『從伊姆拉魔窟流出來的水』，」佛羅多說。「我們現在不在那個山谷裡，如果我們遇到一個泉水，那水應該是流進去而不是流出來的。」「我可不信，」山姆說，「除非我渴到快死了。這地方有種邪惡的感覺。」他吸了吸鼻子。「而且有股味道，我想。你注意到了嗎？一種奇怪的、悶悶的味道。我不喜歡。」「我一點也不喜歡這裡的任何東西，」佛羅多說，「無論是步伐或石頭，氣息或骨骸。土地、空氣和水似乎都受到了詛咒。但我們的路就是這麼鋪成的。」「是啊，沒錯，」山姆說。「而且如果我們出發前多知道一點，我們根本就不該來這裡。不過我想事情常常就是這樣。那些古老傳說和歌謠裡的英勇事蹟，佛羅多先生：我以前稱之為冒險。我以前總以為，那些是故事裡了不起的人物自己出門尋找的，因為他們想要，因為那很刺激，而生活有點無聊，算是一種消遣，你可以這麼說。但對於那些真正重要的、或讓人銘記在心的故事來說，情況並非如此。故事裡的人們似乎通常只是碰巧遇上了——就像你說的，他們的道路就是那樣鋪成的。但我猜他們跟我們一樣，有很多機會可以回頭，只是他們沒有。而如果他們回頭了，我們也就不會知道，因為他們會被遺忘。我們聽到的都是那些堅持下去的人——而且，請注意，不是每個都有好結局；至少不是故事裡的人，而非故事外的人，所說的好結局。你知道的，像是回家，發現一切安好，雖然不盡相同——就像老比爾博先生那樣。但那些並不總是
712 THE LORD OF THE RINGS best tales to hear, though they may be the best tales to get landed in! I wonder what sort of a tale we’ve fallen into?’ ‘I wonder,’ said Frodo. ‘But I don’t know. And that’s the way of a real tale. Take any one that you’re fond of. You may know, or guess, what kind of a tale it is, happy-ending or sad-ending, but the people in it don’t know. And you don’t want them to.’ ‘No, sir, of course not. Beren now, he never thought he was going to get that Silmaril from the Iron Crown in Thangorodrim, and yet he did, and that was a worse place and a blacker danger than ours. But that’s a long tale, of course, and goes on past the happiness and into grief and beyond it — and the Silmaril went on and came to Earendil. And why, sir, I never thought of that before! We’ve got — you’ve got some of the light of it in that star-glass that the Lady gave you! Why, to think of it, we’re in the same tale still! It’s going on. Don’t the great tales never end?’ ‘No, they never end as tales,’ said Frodo. ‘But the people in them come, and go when their part’s ended. Our part will end later — or sooner.’ ‘And then we can have some rest and some sleep,’ said Sam. He laughed grimly. ‘And I mean just that, Mr. Frodo. I mean plain ordinary rest, and sleep, and waking up to a morning’s work in the garden. I’m afraid that’s all I’m hoping for all the time. All the big important plans are not for my sort. Still, I wonder if we shall ever be put into songs or tales. We’re in one, of course; but I mean: put into words, you know, told by the fireside, or read out of a great big book with red and black letters, years and years afterwards. And people will say: ““Let’s hear about Frodo and the Ring!’’ And they’ll say: “‘Yes, that’s one of my favourite stories. Frodo was very brave, wasn’t he, dad?” ““Yes, my boy, the famousest of the hobbits, and that’s saying a lot.”’’ ‘It’s saying a lot too much,’ said Frodo, and he laughed, a long clear laugh from his heart. Such a sound had not been heard in those places since Sauron came to Middle-earth. To Sam suddenly it seemed as if all the stones were listening and the tall rocks leaning over them. But Frodo did not heed them; he laughed again. ‘Why, Sam,’ he said, ‘to hear you somehow makes me as merry as if the story was already written. But you’ve left out one of the chief characters: Samwise the stouthearted. ‘‘I want to hear more about Sam, dad. Why didn’t they put in more of his talk, dad? That’s what I like, it makes me laugh. And Frodo wouldn’t have got far without Sam, would he, dad?’’’ ‘Now, Mr. Frodo,’ said Sam, ‘you shouldn’t make fun. I was serious.’ ‘So was I,’ said Frodo, ‘and so I am. We’re going on a bit too
《魔戒》712頁 聽起來最棒的故事，雖然也可能是最糟的、會讓人深陷其中的故事！真不知道我們掉進了什麼樣的故事裡？」「我也想知道，」佛羅多說。「但我不知道。而這就是一個真實故事的樣貌。就拿任何一個你喜歡的故事來說吧。你可能知道，或猜到，它是個什麼樣的故事，是快樂結局還是悲傷結局，但身在其中的人並不知道。而你也不希望他們知道。」「是的，先生，當然不希望。就說貝倫吧，他從沒想過自己能從安戈洛墜姆的鐵王冠上拿到那顆精靈寶鑽，但他卻做到了，而那地方比我們這兒更糟，危險也更黑暗。不過，那當然是個很長的故事了，它的發展越過了幸福，進入悲傷，然後又超越了悲傷——而那顆精靈寶鑽繼續流傳，到了埃蘭迪爾手中。哎呀，先生，我以前從沒想過這點！我們有——您有——它的一些光芒，就在女主人給您的那只星光寶瓶裡！哎呀，想想看，我們還在同一個故事裡呢！它還在繼續。偉大的故事是不是永遠不會結束？」「不，作為故事，它們永遠不會結束，」佛羅多說。「但故事裡的人們會來，當他們的戲份結束時，便會離去。我們的戲份會晚點結束——或者早點。」「然後我們就可以好好休息、好好睡一覺了，」山姆說。他苦笑了一下。「我的意思就是那樣，佛羅多先生。我指的是普普通通的休息、睡覺，然後醒來在花園裡做一個早上的活。恐怕這就是我一直以來所盼望的一切。所有那些宏偉重大的計畫都不是為我這種人準備的。不過，我還是會想，我們將來會不會被寫進歌謠或故事裡。我們當然正在一個故事裡；但我的意思是：被寫成文字，你知道，在火爐邊講述，或是在很多很多年後，從一本有著紅色和黑色字母的厚厚大書裡讀出來。然後人們會說：『讓我們聽聽佛羅多和魔戒的故事！』他們還會說：『好啊，那是我最喜歡的故事之一。佛羅多非常勇敢，對吧，爸爸？』『是的，我的孩子，他是哈比人中最有名的，這可不是簡單的讚美。』」「這讚美得太過頭了，」佛羅多說著，發自內心地笑了起來，笑聲悠長而清朗。自從索倫來到中土大陸後，這樣清朗的笑聲就未曾在此地響起過。山姆突然覺得，彷彿所有的石頭都在傾聽，高聳的岩石也向他們俯身。但佛羅多沒有理會這些；他又笑了起來。「哎呀，山姆，」他說，「聽你這麼說，不知怎地讓我高興得好像故事已經寫好了一樣。但你漏掉了一個主要角色：勇敢堅定的山姆衛斯。『我想聽更多關於山姆的事，爸爸。他們為什麼不多寫一點他說的話呢，爸爸？我就喜歡聽他說話，那讓我發笑。而且沒有山姆，佛羅多也走不了多遠，對吧，爸爸？』」「好了，佛羅多先生，」山姆說，「您不該開玩笑。我是認真的。」「我也是認真的，」佛羅多說，「現在也是。我們有點太……
THE STAIRS OF CIRITH UNGOL 713 fast. You and I, Sam, are still stuck in the worst places of the story, and it is all too likely that some will say at this point: ‘‘Shut the book now, dad; we don’t want to read any more.’’’ ‘Maybe,’ said Sam, ‘but I wouldn’t be one to say that. Things done and over and made into part of the great tales are different. Why, even Gollum might be good in a tale, better than he is to have by you, anyway. And he used to like tales himself once, by his own account. I wonder if he thinks he’s the hero or the villain? ‘Gollum!’ he called. ‘Would you like to be the hero — now where’s he got to again?’ There was no sign of him at the mouth of their shelter nor in the shadows near. He had refused their food, though he had, as usual, accepted a mouthful of water; and then he had seemed to curl up for a sleep. They had supposed that one at any rate of his objects in his long absence the day before had been to hunt for food to his own liking; and now he had evidently slipped off again while they talked. But what for this time? ‘I don’t like his sneaking off without saying,’ said Sam. ‘And least of all now. He can’t be looking for food up here, not unless there’s some kind of rock he fancies. Why, there isn’t even a bit of moss!’ ‘It’s no good worrying about him now,’ said Frodo. ‘We couldn’t have got so far, not even within sight of the pass, without him, and so we’ll have to put up with his ways. If he’s false, he’s false.’ ‘All the same, I’d rather have him under my eye,’ said Sam. ‘All the more so, if he’s false. Do you remember he never would say if this pass was guarded or no? And now we see a tower there — and it may be deserted, and it may not. Do you think he’s gone to fetch them, Orcs or whatever they are?’ ‘No, I don’t think so,’ answered Frodo. ‘Even if he’s up to some wickedness, and I suppose that’s not unlikely. I don’t think it’s that: not to fetch Orcs, or any servants of the Enemy. Why wait till now, and go through all the labour of the climb, and come so near the land he fears? He could probably have betrayed us to Orcs many times since we met him. No, if it’s anything, it will be some little private trick of his own that he thinks is quite secret.’ ‘Well, I suppose you’re right, Mr. Frodo,’ said Sam. ‘Not that it comforts me mightily. I don’t make no mistake: I don’t doubt he’d hand me over to Orcs as gladly as kiss his hand. But I was forgetting — his Precious. No, I suppose the whole time it’s been The Precious for poor Sméagol. That’s the one idea in all his little schemes, if he has any. But how bringing us up here will help him in that is more than I can guess.’ ‘Very likely he can’t guess himself,’ said Frodo. ‘And I don’t think he’s got just one plain scheme in his muddled head. I think he really
「快。你和我，山姆，還卡在故事最糟糕的地方，而且很有可能，有些人讀到這裡會說：『爸爸，把書合上吧；我們不想再讀下去了。』」「也許吧，」山姆說，「但我可不會這麼說。那些已經做完、結束、並成為偉大傳說一部分的事情是不一樣的。哎呀，就連咕嚕在故事裡可能都不錯，無論如何，總比待在你身邊好。而且據他自己說，他以前也喜歡聽故事。我不知道他覺得自己是英雄還是惡棍？」「咕嚕！」他喊道。「你想當英雄嗎——他又跑到哪裡去了？」他們藏身處的入口和附近的陰影裡都沒有他的蹤影。他拒絕了他們的食物，雖然像往常一樣喝了一口水；然後他似乎就蜷縮起來睡覺了。他們猜想，他前一天長時間不見，至少有一個目的就是去尋找自己喜歡的食物；而現在，趁他們說話的時候，他顯然又溜走了。但這次是為了什麼？「我不喜歡他一聲不響就偷溜走，」山姆說。「尤其是在這個時候。他不可能在這種地方找食物，除非有什麼他特別喜歡的石頭。哎呀，這裡連一點苔蘚都沒有！」「現在為他擔心也沒用，」佛羅多說。「沒有他，我們走不了這麼遠，連隘口的邊都看不到，所以我們只好忍受他的行徑了。如果他心懷不軌，那就隨他去吧。」「即便如此，我還是寧願把他放在眼皮底下，」山姆說。「如果他心懷不軌，那就更應該如此。你還記得嗎？他從來不肯說這個隘口有沒有人看守。現在我們看到那裡有座塔——可能廢棄了，也可能沒有。你覺得他是去叫他們，半獸人或不管是什麼東西來了嗎？」「不，我不這麼認為，」佛羅多回答。「即便他正在圖謀不軌，而我想這也並非不可能。我不認為是那樣：不是去叫半獸人，或任何敵人的僕從。為什麼要等到現在，費盡力氣爬上來，來到他如此害怕的地方？自從我們遇見他以來，他大概有很多次機會可以把我們出賣給半獸人。不，如果真有什麼，那會是他自以為神不知鬼不覺的私人小伎倆。」「嗯，我想您說得對，佛羅多先生，」山姆說。「那也沒讓我寬心多少。我可不會搞錯：我毫不懷疑他會很樂意把我交給半獸人，就像親吻自己的手一樣。但我忘了——他的寶貝。不，我想對可憐的史麥戈來說，一直以來都只有『那個寶貝』。如果他有任何小計謀，那這就是他所有計謀中唯一的念頭。但是把我們帶到這裡來對那件事有什麼幫助，我就猜不透了。」「很可能他自己也猜不透，」佛羅多說。「而且我不認為他那混亂的腦袋裡只有一個單純的計畫。我想他真的
714 THE LORD OF THE RINGS is in part trying to save the Precious from the Enemy, as long as he can. For that would be the last disaster for himself too, if the Enemy got it. And in the other part, perhaps, he’s just biding his time and waiting on chance.’ ‘Yes, Slinker and Stinker, as I’ve said before,’ said Sam. ‘But the nearer they get to the Enemy’s land the more like Stinker Slinker will get. Mark my words: if ever we get to the pass, he won’t let us really take the precious thing over the border without making some kind of trouble.’ ‘We haven’t got there yet,’ said Frodo. ‘No, but we’d better keep our eyes skinned till we do. If we’re caught napping, Stinker will come out on top pretty quick. Not but what it would be safe for you to have a wink now, master. Safe, if you lay close to me. I’d be dearly glad to see you have a sleep. I’d keep watch over you; and anyway, if you lay near, with my arm round you, no one could come pawing you without your Sam knowing it.’ ‘Sleep!’ said Frodo and sighed, as if out of a desert he had seen a mirage of cool green. ‘Yes, even here I could sleep.’ ‘Sleep then, master! Lay your head in my lap.’ And so Gollum found them hours later, when he returned, crawling and creeping down the path out of the gloom ahead. Sam sat propped against the stone, his head dropping sideways and his breathing heavy. In his lap lay Frodo’s head, drowned deep in sleep; upon his white forehead lay one of Sam’s brown hands, and the other lay softly upon his master’s breast. Peace was in both their faces. Gollum looked at them. A strange expression passed over his lean hungry face. The gleam faded from his eyes, and they went dim and grey, old and tired. A spasm of pain seemed to twist him, and he turned away, peering back up towards the pass, shaking his head, as if engaged in some interior debate. Then he came back, and slowly putting out a trembling hand, very cautiously he touched Frodo’s knee — but almost the touch was a caress. For a fleeting moment, could one of the sleepers have seen him, they would have thought that they beheld an old weary hobbit, shrunken by the years that had carried him far beyond his time, beyond friends and kin, and the fields and streams of youth, an old starved pitiable thing. But at that touch Frodo stirred and cried out softly in his sleep, and immediately Sam was wide awake. The first thing he saw was Gollum — ‘pawing at master,’ as he thought. ‘Hey you!’ he said roughly. ‘What are you up to?’ ‘Nothing, nothing,’ said Gollum softly. ‘Nice Master!’ ‘I daresay,’ said Sam. ‘But where have you been to — sneaking off and sneaking back, you old villain?’
《魔戒》714頁，部分內容是說他想盡可能地把「寶貝」從敵人手中救出來。因為如果敵人得手，那對他自己也是最後的災難。而另一方面，或許他只是在等待時機，靜候偶然的機會。」「是啊，就像我之前說的，滑頭鬼和臭屍鬼，」山姆說。「但他們越靠近敵人的土地，滑頭鬼就會變得越像臭屍鬼。記住我的話：如果我們真的到了那隘口，他絕不會讓我們真的把那寶貝帶過邊境而不製造點麻煩。」「我們還沒到那裡呢，」佛羅多說。「不，但在我們到之前，最好還是睜大眼睛。如果我們稍有不慎，臭屍鬼很快就會佔了上風。不過話說回來，主人，您現在打個盹兒是安全的。安全，如果您緊挨著我躺下。我真心高興能看到您睡一覺。我會為您守夜；而且，如果您躺在附近，我的手臂環繞著您，沒有人能亂碰您而不讓您的山姆知道。」「睡覺！」佛羅多說，嘆了口氣，彷彿在沙漠中看到了清涼綠洲的海市蜃樓。「是啊，即使在這裡我也能睡著。」「那就睡吧，主人！把頭枕在我腿上。」於是，幾小時後，當咕嚕從前方幽暗的小徑上爬行著回來時，他發現了他們。山姆靠著石頭坐著，頭歪向一邊，呼吸沉重。他的腿上躺著佛羅多的頭，他已沉沉睡去；山姆一隻褐色的手放在他潔白的額頭上，另一隻手輕輕地放在主人的胸前。兩人的臉上都充滿了平靜。咕嚕看著他們。他那瘦削飢餓的臉上掠過一絲奇特的表情。他眼中的光芒褪去，變得暗淡灰濛，蒼老而疲憊。一陣痛苦的痙攣似乎扭曲了他，他轉過身去，回望著隘口的方向，搖著頭，彷彿在進行某種內心的掙扎。然後他又回來，慢慢伸出一隻顫抖的手，非常小心地觸碰佛羅多的膝蓋——但那觸碰幾乎像是一種愛撫。在那短暫的瞬間，如果其中一個沉睡者能看見他，他們會以為自己看到了一個年老疲憊的哈比人，被歲月所壓縮，那歲月已將他帶離他的時代、朋友與親人，以及青春的田野與溪流，成了一個飢餓、可憐的老東西。但在那觸碰之下，佛羅多在睡夢中動了一下，輕聲叫了出來，山姆立刻完全清醒。他第一眼看到的就是咕嚕——他心想，「正在亂摸主人」。「喂，你！」他粗魯地說。「你在搞什麼鬼？」「沒什麼，沒什麼，」咕嚕輕聲說。「好心的主人！」「我想也是，」山姆說。「但你剛才去哪了——偷偷溜走又偷偷溜回來，你這個老壞蛋？
THE STAIRS OF CIRITH UNGOL 715 Gollum withdrew himself, and a green glint flickered under his heavy lids. Almost spider-like he looked now, crouched back on his bent limbs, with his protruding eyes. The fleeting moment had passed, beyond recall. ‘Sneaking, sneaking!’ he hissed. ‘Hobbits always so polite, yes. O nice hobbits! Sméagol brings them up secret ways that nobody else could find. Tired he is, thirsty he is, yes thirsty; and he guides them and he searches for paths, and they say sneak, sneak. Very nice friends, O yes my precious, very nice.’ Sam felt a bit remorseful, though not more trustful. ‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry, but you startled me out of my sleep. And I shouldn’t have been sleeping, and that made me a bit sharp. But Mr. Frodo, he’s that tired, I asked him to have a wink; and well, that’s how it is. Sorry. But where have you been to?’ ‘Sneaking,’ said Gollum, and the green glint did not leave his eyes. ‘O very well,’ said Sam, ‘have it your own way! I don’t suppose it’s so far from the truth. And now we’d better all be sneaking along together. What’s the time? Is it today or tomorrow?’ ‘It’s tomorrow,’ said Gollum, ‘or this was tomorrow when hobbits went to sleep. Very foolish, very dangerous — if poor Sméagol wasn’t sneaking about to watch.’ ‘I think we shall get tired of that word soon,’ said Sam. ‘But never mind. Ill wake master up.’ Gently he smoothed the hair back from Frodo’s brow, and bending down spoke softly to him. ‘Wake up, Mr. Frodo! Wake up!’ Frodo stirred and opened his eyes, and smiled, seeing Sam’s face bending over him. ‘Calling me early aren’t you, Sam?’ he said. ‘It’s dark still!’ “Yes it’s always dark here,’ said Sam. ‘But Gollum’s come back, Mr. Frodo, and he says it’s tomorrow. So we must be walking on. The last lap.’ Frodo drew a deep breath and sat up. ‘The last lap!’ he said. ‘Hullo, Sméagol! Found any food? Have you had any rest?’ ‘No food, no rest, nothing for Sméagol,’ said Gollum. ‘He’s a sneak.’ Sam clicked his tongue, but restrained himself. ‘Don’t take names to yourself, Sméagol,’ said Frodo. ‘It’s unwise, whether they are true or false.’ ‘Sméagol has to take what’s given him,’ answered Gollum. ‘He was given that name by kind Master Samwise, the hobbit that knows so much.’ Frodo looked at Sam. ‘Yes sir,’ he said. ‘I did use the word, waking up out of my sleep sudden and all and finding him at hand. I said I was sorry, but I soon shan’t be.’ ‘Come, let it pass then,’ said Frodo. ‘But now we seem to have
咕嚕縮回身子，沉重的眼皮下閃過一絲綠光。他現在看起來幾乎像隻蜘蛛，彎曲著四肢蹲伏著，眼睛向外突出。那稍縱即逝的時刻已經過去，無法挽回。「鬼鬼祟祟，鬼鬼祟祟！」他嘶嘶地說。「哈比人總是這麼有禮貌，是啊。噢，好心的哈比人！史麥戈帶他們走沒人能找到的秘密小路。他又累又渴，是啊，口渴；他引導他們，為他們尋找路徑，他們卻說鬼鬼祟祟，鬼鬼祟祟。真是好朋友，噢，是的，我的寶貝，真是好。」山姆感到有點懊悔，但並沒有更信任他。「對不起，」他說。「我很抱歉，但你把我從睡夢中嚇醒了。而且我不該睡著的，這讓我有點尖銳。但佛羅多先生，他太累了，我請他瞇一下；嗯，事情就是這樣。對不起。但你剛去哪了？」「鬼鬼祟祟，」咕嚕說，眼中的綠光並未消失。「噢，好吧，」山姆說，「隨你便吧！我想這也離事實不遠。現在我們最好一起鬼鬼祟祟地前進。什麼時候了？是今天還是明天？」「是明天，」咕嚕說，「或者說，當哈比人睡覺時，這就是明天了。非常愚蠢，非常危險——如果可憐的史麥戈沒有鬼鬼祟祟地四處看守的話。」「我想我們很快就會聽膩那個詞了，」山姆說。「不過沒關係。我會叫醒主人的。」他溫柔地將佛羅多額前的頭髮撥開，彎下腰輕聲對他說。「醒醒，佛羅多先生！醒醒！」佛羅多動了動，睜開眼睛，看到山姆的臉俯視著他，便笑了。「你叫得真早啊，山姆？」他說。「天還黑著呢！」「是的，這裡總是黑的，」山姆說。「但咕嚕回來了，佛羅多先生，他說已經是明天了。所以我們必須繼續走了。最後一程了。」佛羅多深吸一口氣，坐了起來。「最後一程！」他說。「哈囉，史麥戈！找到食物了嗎？你有休息嗎？」「沒有食物，沒有休息，史麥戈什麼都沒有，」咕嚕說。「他是個鬼祟的傢伙。」山姆咂了咂舌，但克制住了自己。「別把這名號往自己身上攬，史麥戈，」佛羅多說。「無論是真是假，這都不明智。」「史麥戈只能接受別人給他的，」咕嚕回答。「這個名字是好心的山姆衛斯主人給的，那個懂很多的哈比人。」佛羅多看著山姆。「是的，先生，」他說。「我確實用了那個詞，突然從睡夢中醒來，發現他在旁邊。我說了對不起，但我很快就不會覺得抱歉了。」「好了，讓它過去吧，」佛羅多說。「但現在我們似乎得
716 THE LORD OF THE RINGS come to the point, you and I, Sméagol. Tell me. Can we find the rest of the way by ourselves? We’re in sight of the pass, of a way in, and if we can find it now, then I suppose our agreement can be said to be over. You have done what you promised, and you’re free: free to go back to food and rest, wherever you wish to go, except to servants of the Enemy. And one day I may reward you, I or those that remember me.’ ‘No, no, not yet,’ Gollum whined. ‘O no! They can’t find the way themselves, can they? O no indeed. There’s the tunnel coming. Sméagol must go on. No rest. No food. Not yet.’
史麥戈，我們該談重點了，你和我。告訴我，我們能自己找到剩下的路嗎？我們已經看見那隘口了，一條進去的路，如果我們現在能找到它，那麼我想我們的協議就可以算結束了。你已經履行了你的承諾，你自由了：可以自由地回去找食物和休息，去任何你想去的地方——但除了投靠魔王的僕人之外。將來有一天我也許會獎賞你，我，或是那些還記得我的人。」「不，不，還沒，」咕嚕嗚咽著說。「噢不！他們自己找不到路的，對吧？噢，那可不行。前面還有隧道。史麥戈必須繼續走。沒有休息。沒有食物。還沒。」