Chapter 9 SHELOB’S LAIR It may indeed have been daytime now, as Gollum said, but the hobbits could see little difference, unless, perhaps, the heavy sky above was less utterly black, more like a great roof of smoke; while instead of the darkness of deep night, which lingered still in cracks and holes, a grey blurring shadow shrouded the stony world about them. They passed on, Gollum in front and the hobbits now side by side, up the long ravine between the piers and columns of torn and weathered rock, standing like huge unshapen statues on either hand. There was no sound. Some way ahead, a mile or so, perhaps, was a great grey wall, a last huge upthrusting mass of mountain-stone. Darker it loomed, and steadily it rose as they approached, until it towered up high above them, shutting out the view of all that lay beyond. Deep shadow lay before its feet. Sam sniffed the air. ‘Ugh! That smell!’ he said. ‘It’s getting stronger and stronger.’ Presently they were under the shadow, and there in the midst of it they saw the opening of a cave. “This is the way in,’ said Gollum softly. “This is the entrance to the tunnel.’ He did not speak its name: Torech Ungol, Shelob’s Lair. Out of it came a stench, not the sickly odour of decay in the meads of Morgul, but a foul reek, as if filth unnameable were piled and hoarded in the dark within. ‘Is this the only way, Sméagol?’ said Frodo. “Yes, yes,’ he answered. ‘Yes, we must go this way now.’ ‘D’you mean to say you’ve been through this hole?’ said Sam. ‘Phew! But perhaps you don’t mind bad smells.’ Gollum’s eyes glinted. ‘He doesn’t know what we minds, does he, precious? No, he doesn’t. But Sméagol can bear things. Yes. He’s been through. O yes, right through. It’s the only way.’ ‘And what makes the smell, I wonder,’ said Sam. ‘It’s like — well, I wouldn’t like to say. Some beastly hole of the Orcs, Ill warrant, with a hundred years of their filth in it.’ ‘Well,’ said Frodo, ‘Orcs or no, if it’s the only way, we must take it.’ Drawing a deep breath they passed inside. In a few steps they were in utter and impenetrable dark. Not since the lightless passages of Moria had Frodo or Sam known such darkness, and if possible here it was deeper and denser. There, there were airs moving, and echoes, and a sense of space. Here the air was still, stagnant, heavy, and
第九章 屍羅的巢穴 誠如咕嚕所言，此刻或許已是白晝，但哈比人幾乎看不出任何差別，除非說，頭頂沉重的天空不再是全然的漆黑，而更像一片巨大的燻煙屋頂；同時，取代了仍盤踞在裂縫與洞穴中的深夜黑暗，一層灰濛的陰影籠罩著他們周遭的岩石世界。他們繼續前行，咕嚕在前，哈比人此刻並肩而行，沿著長長的峽谷向上，兩旁是斷裂風化的岩石構成的墩柱，宛如巨大而未成形的雕像矗立著。四周寂靜無聲。前方約莫一英里處，聳立著一道巨大的灰色牆壁，是山岩最後一次龐大的向上隆起。他們越是靠近，它便顯得越發黑暗，並穩定地升高，直到它高聳入雲，遮蔽了所有遠方的景象。深邃的陰影躺在它的腳下。山姆嗅了嗅空氣。「噁！這味道！」他說。「越來越濃了。」不久，他們便走進了那片陰影之下，並在其中央看見一個洞穴的入口。「進去的路在這兒。」咕嚕輕聲說。「這是通往隧道的入口。」他沒有說出它的名字：蛛絲通道，屍羅的巢穴。洞口飄出一股惡臭，不是魔窟谷地那種令人作嘔的腐敗氣味，而是一股污濁的惡氣，彷彿有無以名狀的污穢在黑暗深處堆積、儲藏。「這是唯一的路嗎，史麥戈？」佛羅多問。「是的，是的，」他回答。「是的，我們現在必須走這條路。」「你的意思是，你曾經穿過這個洞？」山姆說。「呸！不過你大概不介意臭味吧。」咕嚕的眼睛閃著光。「他不知道我們介意什麼，是不是啊，寶貝？不，他不知道。但史麥戈能忍受。是的。他走過。喔，是的，一路穿過去了。這是唯一的路。」「我倒想知道是什麼發出這味道的，」山姆說。「聞起來像——嗯，我不太想說。我敢說是半獸人哪個該死的洞穴，裡面有他們一百年的髒東西。」「嗯，」佛羅多說，「不管是不是半獸人，如果這是唯一的路，我們就必須走。」他們深吸一口氣，走了進去。沒走幾步，他們就陷入了全然且無法穿透的黑暗。自從摩瑞亞那不見天日的通道以來，佛羅多或山姆從未體驗過如此的黑暗，而如果可能的話，此處的黑暗甚至更深、更濃。在那裡，尚有氣流、回音和空間感。在這裡，空氣卻是靜止、污濁、沉重，而且
718 THE LORD OF THE RINGS sound fell dead. They walked as it were in a black vapour wrought of veritable darkness itself that, as it was breathed, brought blindness not only to the eyes but to the mind, so that even the memory of colours and of forms and of any light faded out of thought. Night always had been, and always would be, and night was all. But for a while they could still feel, and indeed the senses of their feet and fingers at first seemed sharpened almost painfully. The walls felt, to their surprise, smooth, and the floor, save for a step now and again, was straight and even, going ever up at the same stiff slope. The tunnel was high and wide, so wide that, though the hobbits walked abreast, only touching the side-walls with their outstretched hands, they were separated, cut off alone in the darkness. Gollum had gone in first and seemed to be only a few steps ahead. While they were still able to give heed to such things, they could hear his breath hissing and gasping just in front of them. But after a time their senses became duller, both touch and hearing seemed to grow numb, and they kept on, groping, walking, on and on, mainly by the force of the will with which they had entered, will to go through and desire to come at last to the high gate beyond. Before they had gone very far, perhaps, but time and distance soon passed out of his reckoning, Sam on the right, feeling the wall, was aware that there was an opening at the side: for a moment he caught a faint breath of some air less heavy, and then they passed it by. “There’s more than one passage here,’ he whispered with an effort: it seemed hard to make his breath give any sound. ‘It’s as orc-like a place as ever there could be!’ After that, first he on the right, and then Frodo on the left, passed three or four such openings, some wider, some smaller; but there was as yet no doubt of the main way, for it was straight, and did not turn, and still went steadily up. But how long was it, how much more of this would they have to endure, or could they endure? The breathlessness of the air was growing as they climbed; and now they seemed often in the blind dark to sense some resistance thicker than the foul air. As they thrust forward they felt things brush against their heads, or against their hands, long tentacles, or hanging growths perhaps: they could not tell what they were. And still the stench grew. It grew, until almost it seemed to them that smell was the only clear sense left to them, and that was for their torment. One hour, two hours, three hours: how many had they passed in this lightless hole? Hours — days, weeks rather. Sam left the tunnel-side and shrank towards Frodo, and their hands met and clasped, and so together they still went on. At length Frodo, groping along the left-hand wall, came suddenly to a void. Almost he fell sideways into the emptiness. Here was some
聲音戛然而止。他們彷彿走在一團由純粹黑暗本身打造的黑色蒸氣中，那黑暗一經吸入，不僅讓雙眼失明，也讓心智盲目，於是色彩、形體、以及任何光亮的記憶都從思緒中褪去。黑夜亙古如是，也將永存如此，黑夜便是一切。但有那麼一會兒，他們仍有感覺，而且他們腳底和指尖的感官起初似乎被磨礪得近乎痛苦。他們驚訝地發現，牆壁很光滑，而地板除了偶爾有階梯外，既平直又均勻，始終以同樣的陡峭斜度向上延伸。隧道又高又寬，寬到雖然哈比人並肩而行，僅用伸出的手觸摸兩側牆壁，他們卻是分開的，孤獨地被隔絕在黑暗裡。咕嚕先進去了，似乎只在前方幾步之遙。當他們還能留意這些事時，他們能聽見他就在面前發出嘶嘶的喘氣聲。但過了一段時間，他們的感官變得遲鈍，觸覺和聽覺似乎都麻木了，他們只能繼續前進，摸索著，走著，不斷地走，主要憑藉著他們進來時的那股意志力——一股想要穿越隧道、最終抵達遠方那扇高聳大門的渴望。也許他們還沒走多遠，但時間和距離很快就超出了他的估算範圍，走在右邊的山姆摸著牆，意識到旁邊有個開口：有那麼一瞬間，他捕捉到一絲不那麼沉悶的空氣，然後他們便經過了它。「這裡不止一條通道，」他費力地低語道：似乎很難讓自己的氣息發出任何聲音。「這地方簡直再像半獸人巢穴不過了！」在那之後，先是右邊的他，然後是左邊的佛羅多，經過了三、四個這樣的開口，有的寬，有的小；但主路仍然無庸置疑， क्योंकि它筆直，沒有轉彎，並且仍然穩定地向上。但這條路有多長，他們還得忍受多久，或者說他們還能忍受多久？隨著他們攀爬，空氣越來越令人窒息；而現在，在盲目的黑暗中，他們似乎時常感覺到某種比污濁空氣更濃厚的阻力。當他們奮力前行時，感覺到有東西刷過他們的頭，或他們的手，像是長長的觸手，又或許是懸掛的增生物：他們說不出那是什麼。而惡臭依舊越來越濃。它越來越濃，直到他們幾乎覺得嗅覺是唯一還清晰的感官，而這正是為了折磨他們。一小時，兩小時，三小時：他們在這不見天日的洞穴裡度過了多少時間？幾小時——不，是幾天，甚至幾週。山姆離開了隧道邊，向佛羅多縮去，他們的手相遇並緊緊握住，就這樣他們還是一起繼續前行。終於，沿著左邊牆壁摸索的佛羅多，突然來到一處虛空。他差點就側身跌入那片空無之中。這裡有某個
SHELOB’S LAIR 719 opening in the rock far wider than any they had yet passed; and out of it came a reek so foul, and a sense of lurking malice so intense, that Frodo reeled. And at that moment Sam too lurched and fell forwards. Fighting off both the sickness and the fear, Frodo gripped Sam’s hand. ‘Up!’ he said in a hoarse breath without voice. ‘It all comes from here, the stench and the peril. Now for it! Quick!’ Calling up his remaining strength and resolution, he dragged Sam to his feet, and forced his own limbs to move. Sam stumbled beside him. One step, two steps, three steps — at last six steps. Maybe they had passed the dreadful unseen opening, but whether that was so or not, suddenly it was easier to move, as if some hostile will for the moment had released them. They struggled on, still hand in hand. But almost at once they came to a new difficulty. The tunnel forked, or so it seemed, and in the dark they could not tell which was the wider way, or which kept nearer to the straight. Which should they take, the left, or the right? They knew of nothing to guide them, yet a false choice would almost certainly be fatal. ‘Which way has Gollum gone?’ panted Sam. ‘And why didn’t he wait?’ ‘Sméagol!’ said Frodo, trying to call. ‘Sméagol!’ But his voice croaked, and the name fell dead almost as it left his lips. There was no answer, not an echo, not even a tremor of the air. ‘He’s really gone this time, I fancy,’ muttered Sam. ‘I guess this is just exactly where he meant to bring us. Gollum! If ever I lay hands on you again, you’ll be sorry for it.’ Presently, groping and fumbling in the dark, they found that the opening on the left was blocked: either it was a blind, or else some great stone had fallen in the passage. “This can’t be the way,’ Frodo whispered. ‘Right or wrong, we must take the other.’ ‘And quick!’ Sam panted. ‘There’s something worse than Gollum about. I can feel something looking at us.’ They had not gone more than a few yards when from behind them came a sound, startling and horrible in the heavy padded silence: a gurgling, bubbling noise, and a long venomous hiss. They wheeled round, but nothing could be seen. Still as stones they stood, staring, waiting for they did not know what. ‘It’s a trap!’ said Sam, and he laid his hand upon the hilt of his sword; and as he did so, he thought of the darkness of the barrow whence it came. ‘I wish old Tom was near us now!’ he thought. Then, as he stood, darkness about him and a blackness of despair and anger in his heart, it seemed to him that he saw a light: a light in his mind, almost unbearably bright at first, as a sun-ray to the eyes of one long hidden in a windowless pit. Then the light became colour:
那是一個比他們之前經過的任何一個都寬闊得多的岩石開口；從中傳出一股惡臭，以及一股如此強烈的潛伏惡意，讓佛羅多一陣踉蹌。就在那時，山姆也向前撲倒。佛羅多抵抗著噁心與恐懼，緊緊抓住山姆的手。「起來！」他用沙啞無聲的氣息說。「所有的惡臭和危險都來自這裡。就是現在！快！」他鼓起剩餘的力量與決心，把山姆拉了起來，並強迫自己的四肢移動。山姆在他身邊跌跌撞撞地走著。一步，兩步，三步——最後是六步。也許他們已經經過了那個可怕的、看不見的洞口，但無論如何，移動突然變得容易了，彷彿某個敵對的意志暫時放過了他們。他們手牽著手，繼續掙扎前行。但他們幾乎立刻就遇到了新的困難。隧道似乎分岔了，在黑暗中他們分不清哪條路更寬，或哪條路更接近直線。他們該走哪一條，左邊還是右邊？他們沒有任何指引，但一個錯誤的選擇幾乎肯定是致命的。「咕嚕走哪條路了？」山姆喘著氣問。「他為什麼不等我們？」「史麥戈！」佛羅多試著呼喊。「史麥戈！」但他的聲音沙啞，那名字幾乎一離開他的嘴唇就消失了。沒有任何回應，沒有回音，甚至連空氣的震動都沒有。「我看他這次是真的走了，」山姆咕噥道。「我猜這正是他想帶我們來的地方。咕嚕！要是我再抓到你，你可就慘了。」過了一會兒，他們在黑暗中摸索著，發現左邊的開口被堵住了：要不是一條死路，就是有塊大石頭掉下來堵住了通道。「這條路走不通，」佛羅多低聲說。「不管對錯，我們都得走另一條。」「而且要快！」山姆喘著氣說。「附近有比咕嚕更糟的東西。我能感覺到有東西在看著我們。」他們沒走幾碼遠，身後就傳來一個聲音，在這沉重而壓抑的寂靜中顯得驚悚而恐怖：一種咕嚕咕嚕、冒泡的聲音，還有一聲長長的、充滿惡意的嘶嘶聲。他們猛然轉身，但什麼也看不見。他們像石頭一樣站著不動，凝視著，等待著他們自己也不知道是什麼的東西。「這是個陷阱！」山姆說，同時把手放在劍柄上；就在那時，他想起了這把劍所來自的古塚的黑暗。「我真希望老湯姆現在在我們身邊！」他想。然後，當他站著，周圍是黑暗，心中是絕望與憤怒的黑洞時，他似乎看到了一道光：一道在他腦海中的光，起初亮得難以忍受，就像一道陽光射入一個長期被囚於無窗深坑之人的眼中。然後那光變成了色彩：
720 THE LORD OF THE RINGS green, gold, silver, white. Far off, as in a little picture drawn by elven-fingers, he saw the Lady Galadriel standing on the grass in Lorien, and gifts were in her hands. And you, Ring-bearer, he heard her say, remote but clear, for you I have prepared this. The bubbling hiss drew nearer, and there was a creaking as of some great jointed thing that moved with slow purpose in the dark. A reek came on before it. ‘Master, master!’ cried Sam, and life and urgency came back into his voice. “The Lady’s gift! The star-glass! A light to you in dark places, she said it was to be. The star-glass!’ “The star-glass?’? muttered Frodo, as one answering out of sleep, hardly comprehending. ‘Why yes! Why had I forgotten it? A light when all other lights go out! And now indeed light alone can help us.’ Slowly his hand went to his bosom, and slowly he held aloft the Phial of Galadriel. For a moment it glimmered, faint as a rising star struggling in heavy earthward mists, and then as its power waxed, and hope grew in Frodo’s mind, it began to burn, and kindled to a silver flame, a minute heart of dazzling light, as though Earendil had himself come down from the high sunset paths with the last Silmaril upon his brow. The darkness receded from it, until it seemed to shine in the centre of a globe of airy crystal, and the hand that held it sparkled with white fire. Frodo gazed in wonder at this marvellous gift that he had so long carried, not guessing its full worth and potency. Seldom had he remembered it on the road, until they came to Morgul Vale, and never had he used it for fear of its revealing light. Azya Edrendil Elenion Ancalima! he cried, and knew not what he had spoken; for it seemed that another voice spoke through his, clear, untroubled by the foul air of the pit. But other potencies there are in Middle-earth, powers of night, and they are old and strong. And She that walked in the darkness had heard the Elves cry that cry far back in the deeps of time, and she had not heeded it, and it did not daunt her now. Even as Frodo spoke he felt a great malice bent upon him, and a deadly regard considering him. Not far down the tunnel, between them and the opening where they had reeled and stumbled, he was aware of eyes growing visible, two great clusters of many-windowed eyes — the coming menace was unmasked at last. The radiance of the star-glass was broken and thrown back from their thousand facets, but behind the glitter a pale deadly fire began steadily to glow within, a flame kindled in some deep pit of evil thought. Monstrous and abominable eyes they were, bestial and yet filled with purpose and with hideous delight, gloating over their prey trapped beyond all hope of escape. BS
SHELOB’S LAIR 721 Frodo and Sam, horror-stricken, began slowly to back away, their own gaze held by the dreadful stare of those baleful eyes; but as they backed so the eyes advanced. Frodo’s hand wavered, and slowly the Phial drooped. Then suddenly, released from the holding spell to run a little while in vain panic for the amusement of the eyes, they both turned and fled together; but even as they ran Frodo looked back and saw with terror that at once the eyes came leaping up behind. The stench of death was like a cloud about him. ‘Stand! stand!’ he cried desperately. ‘Running is no use.’ Slowly the eyes crept nearer. ‘Galadriel!’ he called, and gathering his courage he lifted up the Phial once more. The eyes halted. For a moment their regard relaxed, as if some hint of doubt troubled them. Then Frodo’s heart flamed within him, and without thinking what he did, whether it was folly or despair or courage, he took the Phial in his left hand, and with his right hand drew his sword. Sting flashed out, and the sharp elvenblade sparkled in the silver light, but at its edges a blue fire flickered. Then holding the star aloft and the bright sword advanced, Frodo, hobbit of the Shire, walked steadily down to meet the eyes. They wavered. Doubt came into them as the light approached. One by one they dimmed, and slowly they drew back. No brightness so deadly had ever afflicted them before. From sun and moon and star they had been safe underground, but now a star had descended into the very earth. Still it approached, and the eyes began to quail. One by one they all went dark; they turned away, and a great bulk, beyond the light’s reach, heaved its huge shadow in between. They were gone. ‘Master, master!’ cried Sam. He was close behind, his own sword drawn and ready. ‘Stars and glory! But the Elves would make a song of that, if ever they heard of it! And may I live to tell them and hear them sing. But don’t go on, master! Don’t go down to that den! Now’s our only chance. Now let’s get out of this foul hole!’ And so back they turned once more, first walking and then running; for as they went the floor of the tunnel rose steeply, and with every stride they climbed higher above the stenches of the unseen lair, and strength returned to limb and heart. But still the hatred of the Watcher lurked behind them, blind for a while, perhaps, but undefeated, still bent on death. And now there came a flow of air to meet them, cold and thin. The opening, the tunnel’s end, at last it was before them. Panting, yearning for a roofless place, they flung themselves forward; and then in amazement they staggered, tumbling back. The outlet was blocked with some barrier, but not of stone: soft and a little yielding it seemed, and yet strong and impervious;
佛羅多和山姆嚇得魂飛魄散，開始緩緩後退，他們的目光被那雙凶惡眼睛的可怕凝視給攫住了；但他們越是後退，那雙眼睛就越是逼近。佛羅多手一軟，水晶瓶也慢慢垂了下去。突然間，他們彷彿從定身咒中解脫，徒勞地驚慌失措跑了一小段，只為博那雙眼睛一笑，兩人轉身拔腿就跑；但即使在奔跑中，佛羅多回頭一看，驚恐地發現那雙眼睛立刻在後方跳躍著追了上來。死亡的惡臭如雲霧般籠罩著他。「站住！站住！」他絕望地喊道。「跑是沒用的。」那雙眼睛慢慢地爬得更近了。「凱蘭崔爾！」他呼喊著，鼓起勇氣，再次舉起了水晶瓶。那雙眼睛停住了。有那麼一瞬間，它們的目光放鬆了，彷彿一絲疑慮困擾著它們。接著，佛羅多的心在他體內燃燒起來，也不去想自己所做的是愚蠢、絕望還是勇氣，他左手拿起水晶瓶，右手拔出了他的劍。刺針劃出一道閃光，鋒利的精靈之刃在銀光中閃耀，劍刃邊緣卻閃爍著藍色的火焰。然後，佛羅多，這位來自夏爾的哈比人，高舉著星光，亮劍前指，穩步走下，迎向那雙眼睛。它們動搖了。隨著光芒的靠近，它們眼中出現了懷疑。它們一顆接一顆地黯淡下去，然後慢慢地退後。從未有如此致命的光亮折磨過它們。它們在地下得以避開太陽、月亮和星辰，但現在，一顆星星降臨到了大地深處。它仍在靠近，那雙眼睛開始畏縮。它們一顆接一顆地全都暗了下去；它們轉身離去，一個在光線無法觸及之處的巨大身軀，將其龐大的影子橫亙在中間。它們消失了。「主人，主人！」山姆喊道。他緊隨其後，也拔出了自己的劍，準備戰鬥。「星辰與榮光！要是精靈們聽說了這件事，他們肯定會為此譜寫一首歌！願我能活著告訴他們，並聽到他們的歌聲。但別再往前走了，主人！別下到那個巢穴裡去！現在是我們唯一的機會。我們快離開這個污穢的洞穴吧！」於是他們再次轉身，先是走，然後跑起來；因為他們走著走著，隧道的地面陡然升高，每跨一步，他們就攀得更高，遠離了那看不見的巢穴的惡臭，力量也回到了四肢與心中。但那監視者的仇恨仍潛伏在他們身後，暫時盲目，或許吧，但並未被擊敗，仍一心要致人於死地。此刻，一股氣流迎面而來，又冷又稀薄。出口，隧道的盡頭，終於在他們面前了。他們氣喘吁吁，渴望著一個沒有屋頂的地方，奮力向前撲去；然後他們驚愕地踉蹌後退，摔倒在地。出口被某種障礙物堵住了，但不是石頭：它似乎柔軟且稍有彈性，卻又堅固且無法穿透。
722 THE LORD OF THE RINGS air filtered through, but not a glimmer of any light. Once more they charged and were hurled back. Holding aloft the Phial Frodo looked and before him he saw a greyness which the radiance of the star-glass did not pierce and did not illuminate, as if it were a shadow that being cast by no light, no light could dissipate. Across the width and height of the tunnel a vast web was spun, orderly as the web of some huge spider, but denser-woven and far greater, and each thread was as thick as rope. Sam laughed grimly. ‘Cobwebs!’ he said. ‘Is that all? Cobwebs! But what a spider! Have at ’em, down with ’em!’ In a fury he hewed at them with his sword, but the thread that he struck did not break. It gave a little and then sprang back like a plucked bowstring, turning the blade and tossing up both sword and arm. Three times Sam struck with all his force, and at last one single cord of all the countless cords snapped and twisted, curling and whipping through the air. One end of it lashed Sam’s hand, and he cried out in pain, starting back and drawing his hand across his mouth. ‘It will take days to clear the road like this,’ he said. ‘What’s to be done? Have those eyes come back?’ ‘No, not to be seen,’ said Frodo. ‘But I still feel that they are looking at me, or thinking about me: making some other plan, perhaps. If this light were lowered, or if it failed, they would quickly come again.’ “Trapped in the end!’ said Sam bitterly, his anger rising again above weariness and despair. ‘Gnats in a net. May the curse of Faramir bite that Gollum and bite him quick!’ “That would not help us now,’ said Frodo. ‘Come! Let us see what Sting can do. It is an elven-blade. There were webs of horror in the dark ravines of Beleriand where it was forged. But you must be the guard and hold back the eyes. Here, take the star-glass. Do not be afraid. Hold it up and watch!’ Then Frodo stepped up to the great grey net, and hewed it with a wide sweeping stroke, drawing the bitter edge swiftly across a ladder of close-strung cords, and at once springing away. The blue-gleaming blade shore through them like a scythe through grass, and they leaped and writhed and then hung loose. A great rent was made. Stroke after stroke he dealt, until at last all the web within his reach was shattered, and the upper portion blew and swayed like a loose veil in the incoming wind. The trap was broken. ‘Come!’ cried Frodo. ‘On! On!’ Wild joy at their escape from the very mouth of despair suddenly filled all his mind. His head whirled as with a draught of potent wine. He sprang out, shouting as he came.
空氣從中滲入，卻沒有一絲光亮。他們再次衝鋒，又被彈了回來。佛羅多高舉著水晶瓶，看見眼前一片灰暗，星光寶瓶的光輝既無法穿透，也無法照亮，彷彿那是一個並非由光所投射的影子，任何光線都無法將其驅散。一張巨大的網橫亙在隧道的寬度和高度上，井然有序，如同某種巨型蜘蛛的網，但編織得更密集、也更巨大，每一根絲線都像繩索一樣粗。山姆冷酷地笑了。「蜘蛛網！」他說。「就這樣？蜘蛛網！但這是什麼樣的蜘蛛啊！來吧，砍斷它們！」他狂怒地用劍劈砍，但他砍中的絲線並未斷裂。它稍微凹陷了一下，然後像被撥動的弓弦一樣彈回，轉開了劍刃，將劍和手臂都向上彈起。山姆用盡全力砍了三次，終於，在無數絲線中，只有一根斷裂扭曲，在空中捲曲抽打。它的一端抽中了山姆的手，他痛得大叫一聲，向後退去，用手摀住嘴。「這樣要清理出道路得花上好幾天，」他說。「該怎麼辦？那些眼睛回來了嗎？」「不，沒看見，」佛羅多說。「但我仍然感覺到它們在看著我，或是在想著我：或許在策劃別的計謀。如果這光線減弱，或是失效，它們會很快再回來的。」「結果還是被困住了！」山姆痛苦地說，他的怒火再次壓過了疲憊和絕望。「網中之蟲。願法拉墨的詛咒咬中那咕嚕，而且快點咬死他！」「那對我們現在沒有幫助，」佛羅多說。「來！讓我們看看刺針能做什麼。它是一把精靈之刃。在它被鍛造的貝爾蘭的黑暗峽谷裡，也曾有過恐怖的蛛網。但你必須擔任守衛，擋住那些眼睛。來，拿著星光寶瓶。不要害怕。舉起它，注意看！」然後佛羅多走到那張巨大的灰網前，用一記大範圍的橫掃劈去，讓鋒利的劍刃迅速劃過一排排緊繃的絲線，隨即立刻跳開。那閃著藍光的劍刃像鐮刀割草般切斷了它們，那些絲線跳躍、扭動，然後鬆散地垂下。一個巨大的缺口出現了。他一劍接一劍地劈砍，直到最後他所能及的範圍內的網全被摧毀，上半部分在吹入的風中像鬆脫的面紗般飄動搖曳。陷阱被打破了。「來！」佛羅多喊道。「前進！前進！」從絕望之口逃脫的狂喜突然充滿了他的整個心靈。他的腦袋天旋地轉，彷彿喝下了一口烈酒。他跳了出去，一邊大喊著。
SHELOB’S LAIR 723 It seemed light in that dark land to his eyes that had passed through the den of night. The great smokes had risen and grown thinner, and the last hours of a sombre day were passing; the red glare of Mordor had died away in sullen gloom. Yet it seemed to Frodo that he looked upon a morning of sudden hope. Almost he had reached the summit of the wall. Only a little higher now. The Cleft, Cirith Ungol, was before him, a dim notch in the black ridge, and the horns of rock darkling in the sky on either side. A short race, a sprinter’s course, and he would be through! “The pass, Sam!’ he cried, not heeding the shrillness of his voice, that released from the choking airs of the tunnel rang out now high and wild. ‘The pass! Run, run, and we’ll be through — through before anyone can stop us!’ Sam came up behind as fast as he could urge his legs; but glad as he was to be free, he was uneasy, and as he ran, he kept on glancing back at the dark arch of the tunnel, fearing to see eyes, or some shape beyond his imagining, spring out in pursuit. Too little did he or his master know of the craft of Shelob. She had many exits from her lair. There agelong she had dwelt, an evil thing in spider-form, even such as once of old had lived in the Land of the Elves in the West that is now under the Sea, such as Beren fought in the Mountains of Terror in Doriath, and so came to Luthien upon the green sward amid the hemlocks in the moonlight long ago. How Shelob came there, flying from ruin, no tale tells, for out of the Dark Years few tales have come. But still she was there, who was there before Sauron, and before the first stone of Barad-dir; and she served none but herself, drinking the blood of Elves and Men, bloated and grown fat with endless brooding on her feasts, weaving webs of shadow; for all living things were her food, and her vomit darkness. Far and wide her lesser broods, bastards of the miserable mates, her own offspring, that she slew, spread from glen to glen, from the Ephel Duath to the eastern hills, to Dol Guldur and the fastnesses of Mirkwood. But none could rival her, Shelob the Great, last child of Ungoliant to trouble the unhappy world. Already, years before, Gollum had beheld her, Sméagol who pried into all dark holes, and in past days he had bowed and worshipped her, and the darkness of her evil will walked through all the ways of his weariness beside him, cutting him off from light and from regret. And he had promised to bring her food. But her lust was not his lust. Little she knew of or cared for towers, or rings, or anything devised by mind or hand, who only desired death for all others, mind and body, and for herself a glut of life, alone, swollen till the
在那黑暗的國度裡，對於他那雙剛穿過黑夜巢穴的眼睛來說，周遭似乎一片光明。巨大的濃煙已經升起並變得稀薄，一個陰沉白晝的最後時刻正在流逝；魔多的紅光已消逝在陰鬱的昏暗之中。然而，在佛羅多看來，他彷彿見到了一個充滿突來希望的清晨。他幾乎已到達高牆的頂峰。只差一點點就更高了。那道裂口，西力斯昂哥，就在他面前，是黑色山脊上一個模糊的凹口，兩側的岩角在天空中變得昏暗。一小段衝刺，短跑選手的賽程，他就能通過了！「那隘口，山姆！」他喊道，沒留意自己聲音的尖銳，那聲音從隧道裡令人窒息的空氣中解放出來，此刻響亮而狂野。「那隘口！跑，快跑，我們就能通過了——在任何人能阻止我們之前通過！」山姆用盡全力跟在後面；但儘管他為重獲自由而高興，心中卻感到不安，他一邊跑，一邊不斷回頭瞥向隧道那黑暗的拱門，害怕看到眼睛，或某些超乎想像的形體，會跳出來追趕。他與他的主人對屍羅的狡詐所知甚少。牠的巢穴有許多出口。牠在此居住了亙古的歲月，一個蜘蛛形態的邪惡之物，就像古時曾居住在西方精靈之地（如今已沉入海底）的那些生物一樣，也像貝倫在多瑞亞斯的恐怖山脈中奮戰過的那種，並因此在許久以前的月光下，於鐵杉林間的綠色草地上遇見了露西安。屍羅是如何從毀滅中飛來此地，沒有任何故事記載，因為自黑暗年代流傳下來的故事寥寥無幾。但她仍在那裡，在索倫之前，在巴拉多第一塊基石奠下之前，她就已在那裡；她不為任何人效勞，只為自己，吸食精靈與人類的血液，因無盡地回味她的盛宴而變得臃腫肥胖，編織著陰影之網；因為所有活物都是她的食物，而她的嘔吐物便是黑暗。牠那些較小的後代，是牠與那些被牠殺死的悲慘配偶所生的雜種，從這條山谷蔓延到那條山谷，從伊菲爾杜斯到東邊的山丘，再到多爾哥多與幽暗密林的要塞。但沒有誰能與牠匹敵，偉大的屍羅，昂哥立安擾亂這不幸世界的最後一個子嗣。許多年以前，咕嚕就已見過牠，那個窺探所有黑暗洞穴的史麥戈，在過去的日子裡，他曾向牠屈膝膜拜，而牠邪惡意志的黑暗，在他所有疲憊的道路上與他同行，將他與光明和悔恨隔絕。他曾承諾要帶食物給牠。但牠的慾望並非他的慾望。牠對高塔、戒指或任何由心靈或巧手設計之物知之甚少，也不在乎，牠唯一渴望的，是所有他者的身心俱滅，並為自己囤積過量的生命，獨自存在，腫脹直到
724 THE LORD OF THE RINGS mountains could no longer hold her up and the darkness could not contain her. But that desire was yet far away, and long now had she been hungry, lurking in her den, while the power of Sauron grew, and light and living things forsook his borders; and the city in the valley was dead, and no Elf or Man came near, only the unhappy Orcs. Poor food and wary. But she must eat, and however busily they delved new winding passages from the pass and from their tower, ever she found some way to snare them. But she lusted for sweeter meat. And Gollum had brought it to her. ‘We’ll see, we’ll see,’ he said often to himself, when the evil mood was on him, as he walked the dangerous road from Emyn Muil to Morgul Vale, ‘we'll see. It may well be, O yes, it may well be that when She throws away the bones and the empty garments, we shall find it, we shall get it, the Precious, a reward for poor Sméagol who brings nice food. And we’ll save the Precious, as we promised. O yes. And when we’ve got it safe, then She’ll know it, O yes, then we'll pay Her back, my precious. Then we’ll pay everyone back!’ So he thought in an inner chamber of his cunning, which he still hoped to hide from her, even when he had come to her again and had bowed low before her while his companions slept. And as for Sauron: he knew where she lurked. It pleased him that she should dwell there hungry but unabated in malice, a more sure watch upon that ancient path into his land than any other that his skill could have devised. And Orcs, they were useful slaves, but he had them in plenty. If now and again Shelob caught them to stay her appetite, she was welcome: he could spare them. And sometimes as a man may cast a dainty to his cat (Mis cat he calls her, but she owns him not) Sauron would send her prisoners that he had no better uses for: he would have them driven to her hole, and report brought back to him of the play she made. So they both lived, delighting in their own devices, and feared no assault, nor wrath, nor any end of their wickedness. Never yet had any fly escaped from Shelob’s webs, and the greater now was her rage and hunger. But nothing of this evil which they had stirred up against them did poor Sam know, except that a fear was growing on him, a menace which he could not see; and such a weight did it become that it was a burden to him to run, and his feet seemed leaden. Dread was round him, and enemies before him in the pass, and his master was in a fey mood running heedlessly to meet them. Turning his eyes away from the shadow behind and the deep gloom beneath the cliff upon his left, he looked ahead, and he saw two
群山再也無法支撐她，黑暗也無法將她禁錮。但那份慾望仍遙不可及，長久以來，她飢腸轆轆地潛伏在巢穴中，而索倫的力量日益增長，光明與生靈都離棄了他的疆界；山谷中的城市早已死寂，沒有任何精靈或人類靠近，只有那些不幸的半獸人。既是劣質的食物，又充滿戒心。但她必須進食，無論他們多麼忙碌地從隘口和他們的塔樓挖掘新的蜿蜒通道，她總能找到方法誘捕他們。但她渴望更甜美的肉。而咕嚕已將它帶給了她。「我們會看到的，我們會看到的，」當他走在從艾明莫爾到魔窟谷的危險道路上，邪惡的情緒籠罩他時，他時常對自己這麼說，「我們會看到的。很可能，哦是的，很可能當她扔掉骨頭和空衣服時，我們就能找到它，我們就能得到它，那『寶貝』，作為給可憐的史麥戈帶來美味食物的獎勵。而且我們會像承諾的那樣，保管好『寶abe』。哦是的。當我們把它安全拿到手後，她就會知道了，哦是的，到時候我們就會回報她，我的寶貝。然後我們會回報每一個人！」在他狡猾內心的密室裡，他如此盤算著，即使在他再次來到她面前，趁同伴熟睡時向她深深鞠躬之際，他仍希望對她隱瞞這一切。至於索倫：他知道她潛伏在哪裡。他樂於讓她在那裡飢餓地居住，但惡意未減，作為一條通往他領地的古老小徑上，比他任何技藝所能設計的都更可靠的監視。而半獸人，他們是好用的奴隸，但他多的是。如果屍羅偶爾抓走他們來暫時果腹，他很歡迎：他損失得起。有時，就像一個人會扔點心給他的貓（他稱她為『我的貓』，但她並不屬於他），索倫會把一些他沒有更好用處的囚犯送給她：他會讓人把他們趕到她的洞穴，然後聽取她如何玩弄他們的報告。他們倆就這樣活著，各自沉醉於自己的計謀中，不懼任何攻擊、憤怒，也不怕他們的邪惡會有終結。從未有任何蒼蠅能逃出屍羅的蛛網，而此刻她的狂怒與飢餓更勝以往。但可憐的山姆對他們所激起的這一切邪惡毫無所知，只感覺到一股恐懼在他心中滋長，一種他看不見的威脅；這股恐懼變得如此沉重，以至於奔跑對他來說都成了一種負擔，他的雙腳彷彿灌了鉛。恐懼環繞著他，隘口前有敵人，而他的主人正處於一種奇異的狂熱心境中，不顧一切地跑去迎向他們。他把目光從身後的陰影和左邊懸崖下的深邃黑暗中移開，向前望去，他看到了兩個
SHELOB’S LAIR 725 things that increased his dismay. He saw that the sword which Frodo still held unsheathed was glittering with blue flame; and he saw that though the sky behind was now dark, still the window in the tower was glowing red. ‘Orcs!’ he muttered. ‘We’ll never rush it like this. There’s Orcs about, and worse than Orcs.’ Then returning quickly to his long habit of secrecy, he closed his hand about the precious Phial which he still bore. Red with his own living blood his hand shone for a moment, and then he thrust the revealing light deep into a pocket near his breast and drew his elven-cloak about him. Now he tried to quicken his pace. His master was gaining on him; already he was some twenty strides ahead, flitting on like a shadow; soon he would be lost to sight in that grey world. Hardly had Sam hidden the light of the star-glass when she came. A little way ahead and to his left he saw suddenly, issuing from a black hole of shadow under the cliff, the most loathly shape that he had ever beheld, horrible beyond the horror of an evil dream. Most like a spider she was, but huger than the great hunting beasts, and more terrible than they because of the evil purpose in her remorseless eyes. Those same eyes that he had thought daunted and defeated, there they were lit with a fell light again, clustering in her out-thrust head. Great horns she had, and behind her short stalk-like neck was her huge swollen body, a vast bloated bag, swaying and sagging between her legs; its great bulk was black, blotched with livid marks, but the belly underneath was pale and luminous and gave forth a stench. Her legs were bent, with great knobbed joints high above her back, and hairs that stuck out like steel spines, and at each leg’s end there was a claw. As soon as she had squeezed her soft squelching body and its folded limbs out of the upper exit from her lair, she moved with a horrible speed, now running on her creaking legs, now making a sudden bound. She was between Sam and his master. Either she did not see Sam, or she avoided him for the moment as the bearer of the light, and fixed all her intent upon one prey, upon Frodo, bereft of his Phial, running heedless up the path, unaware yet of his peril. Swiftly he ran, but Shelob was swifter; in a few leaps she would have him. Sam gasped and gathered all his remaining breath to shout. ‘Look out behind!’ he yelled. ‘Look out, master! I’m’ — but suddenly his cry was stifled. A long clammy hand went over his mouth and another caught him by the neck, while something wrapped itself about his leg. Taken off his guard he toppled backwards into the arms of his attacker.
屍羅的巢穴 725 幾件事物加深了他的沮喪。他看見佛羅多仍握在手中、尚未歸鞘的劍正閃爍著藍色火焰；他也看見，雖然背後的天空已然漆黑，但那高塔上的窗戶依舊泛著紅光。「半獸人！」他咕噥道。「我們絕不能這樣硬闖。附近有半獸人，還有比半獸人更糟的東西。」接著，他迅速回到長久以來的保密習慣，將仍攜帶著的珍貴水晶瓶握在手心。他的手因自己鮮活的血液而短暫地泛起紅光，然後他將那洩露行蹤的光芒深深塞進胸前的一個口袋，並拉緊身上的精靈斗篷。現在他試圖加快腳步。他的主人正逐漸拉開與他的距離；佛羅多已在他前方約二十步遠，如影子般輕快地飄移；很快，他就會消失在那片灰色的世界中。山姆剛把星光寶瓶的光藏好，她就來了。在他前方偏左不遠處，他突然看見，從懸崖下一個漆黑的陰影洞口中，冒出了一個他畢生所見過最令人憎惡的形體，其恐怖超越了惡夢的驚駭。她最像一隻蜘蛛，但比巨大的狩獵野獸還要龐大，又因其冷酷無情的雙眼中那邪惡的意圖而比牠們更加駭人。正是他原以為已受挫敗退的那雙眼睛，此刻又重新燃起兇惡的光芒，叢聚在她那向前伸出的頭上。她長著巨大的角，短而如莖的脖子後面是她龐大腫脹的身軀，一個巨大的、鼓脹的囊袋，在她的腿間搖晃下垂；她巨大的身軀是黑色的，上面佈滿了青紫色的斑點，但下方的腹部卻是蒼白且會發光，並散發出一股惡臭。她的腿彎曲著，巨大的球狀關節高聳於背後，腿毛像鋼刺般突出，每條腿的末端都有一個爪子。她一將自己柔軟濕黏的身體和收攏的肢體從巢穴的上層出口擠出來，便以一種可怕的速度移動，時而用她那嘎吱作響的腿奔跑，時而猛然一躍。她正好在山姆和他主人之間。她要麼沒看見山姆，要麼因為他是持光者而暫時避開他，並將所有意圖都鎖定在一個獵物上——佛羅多，他失去了水晶瓶的庇護，正毫無戒備地沿著小徑奔跑，尚未意識到自己的危險。他跑得飛快，但屍羅更快；再跳幾下她就能抓住他了。山姆倒抽一口氣，用盡所有剩餘的力氣大喊。「小心後面！」他吼道。「小心，主人！我——」但他的呼喊聲突然被悶住了。一隻濕冷黏滑的手摀住了他的嘴，另一隻手抓住了他的脖子，同時有樣東西纏住了他的腿。他一時不備，向後倒去，落入攻擊者的懷中。
726 THE LORD OF THE RINGS ‘Got him!’ hissed Gollum in his ear. ‘At last, my precious, we’ve got him, yes, the nassty hobbit. We takes this one. She’l!l get the other. O yes, Shelob will get him, not Sméagol: he promised; he won’t hurt Master at all. But he’s got you, you nassty filthy little sneak!’ He spat on Sam’s neck. Fury at the treachery, and desperation at the delay when his master was in deadly peril, gave to Sam a sudden violence and strength that was far beyond anything that Gollum had expected from this slow stupid hobbit, as he thought him. Not Gollum himself could have twisted more quickly or more fiercely. His hold on Sam’s mouth slipped, and Sam ducked and lunged forward again, trying to tear away from the grip on his neck. His sword was still in his hand, and on his left arm, hanging by its thong, was Faramir’s staff. Desperately he tried to turn and stab his enemy. But Gollum was too quick. His long right arm shot out, and he grabbed Sam’s wrist: his fingers were like a vice; slowly and relentlessly he bent the hand down and forward, till with a cry of pain Sam released the sword and it fell to the ground; and all the while Gollum’s other hand was tightening on Sam’s throat. Then Sam played his last trick. With all his strength he pulled away and got his feet firmly planted; then suddenly he drove his legs against the ground and with his whole force hurled himself backwards. Not expecting even this simple trick from Sam, Gollum fell over with Sam on top, and he received the weight of the sturdy hobbit in his stomach. A sharp hiss came out of him, and for a second his hand upon Sam’s throat loosened; but his fingers still gripped the sword-hand. Sam tore himself forward and away, and stood up, and then quickly he wheeled away to his right, pivoted on the wrist held by Gollum. Laying hold of the staff with his left hand, Sam swung it up, and down it came with a whistling crack on Gollum’s outstretched arm, just below the elbow. With a squeal Gollum let go. Then Sam waded in; not waiting to change the staff from left to right he dealt another savage blow. Quick as a snake Gollum slithered aside, and the stroke aimed at his head fell across his back. The staff cracked and broke. That was enough for him. Grabbing from behind was an old game of his, and seldom had he failed in it. But this time, misled by spite, he had made the mistake of speaking and gloating before he had both hands on his victim’s neck. Everything had gone wrong with his beautiful plan, since that horrible light had so unexpectedly appeared in the darkness. And now he was face to face with a furious enemy, little less than his own size. This fight was not for him. Sam swept up his sword from the ground and raised it. Gollum squealed, and springing aside on to all fours, he jumped away in one big bound like a frog. Before
SHELOB’S LAIR 727 Sam could reach him, he was off, running with amazing speed back towards the tunnel. Sword in hand Sam went after him. For the moment he had forgotten everything else but the red fury in his brain and the desire to kill Gollum. But before he could overtake him, Gollum was gone. Then as the dark hole stood before him and the stench came out to meet him, like a clap of thunder the thought of Frodo and the monster smote upon Sam’s mind. He spun round, and rushed wildly up the path, calling and calling his master’s name. He was too late. So far Gollum’s plot had succeeded.
山姆還來不及抓住他，咕嚕就已經拔腿就跑，以驚人的速度奔回隧道。山姆手持寶劍追了上去。那一刻，他腦中只剩下熊熊怒火和殺死咕嚕的慾望，其他一切都忘了。但在他追上之前，咕嚕就不見了。然後，當那黑暗的洞口矗立在他面前，惡臭撲鼻而來時，關於佛羅多和那隻怪物的念頭如晴天霹靂般擊中山姆的腦海。他猛然轉身，發狂似地衝上小徑，不斷呼喊著主人的名字。他來得太遲了。至此，咕嚕的陰謀得逞了。