Chapter 2 THE SHADOW OF THE PAST The talk did not die down in nine or even ninety-nine days. The second disappearance of Mr. Bilbo Baggins was discussed in Hobbiton, and indeed all over the Shire, for a year and a day, and was remembered much longer than that. It became a fireside-story for young hobbits; and eventually Mad Baggins, who used to vanish with a bang and a flash and reappear with bags of jewels and gold, became a favourite character of legend and lived on long after all the true events were forgotten. But in the meantime, the general opinion in the neighbourhood was that Bilbo, who had always been rather cracked, had at last gone quite mad, and had run off into the Blue. There he had undoubtedly fallen into a pool or a river and come to a tragic, but hardly an untimely, end. The blame was mostly laid on Gandalf. ‘If only that dratted wizard will leave young Frodo alone, perhaps he’ll settle down and grow some hobbit-sense,’ they said. And to all appearance the wizard did leave Frodo alone, and he did settle down, but the growth of hobbit-sense was not very noticeable. Indeed, he at once began to carry on Bilbo’s reputation for oddity. He refused to go into mourning; and the next year he gave a party in honour of Bilbo’s hundred-and-twelfth birthday, which he called a Hundredweight Feast. But that was short of the mark, for twenty guests were invited and there were several meals at which it snowed food and rained drink, as hobbits say. Some people were rather shocked; but Frodo kept up the custom of giving Bilbo’s Birthday Party year after year until they got used to it. He said that he did not think Bilbo was dead. When they asked: ‘Where is he then?’ he shrugged his shoulders. He lived alone, as Bilbo had done; but he had a good many friends, especially among the younger hobbits (mostly descendants of the Old Took) who had as children been fond of Bilbo and often in and out of Bag End. Folco Boffin and Fredegar Bolger were two of these; but his closest friends were Peregrin Took (usually called Pippin), and Merry Brandybuck (his real name was Meriadoc, but that was seldom remembered). Frodo went tramping over the Shire with them; but more often he wandered by himself, and to the amazement of sensible folk he was sometimes seen far from home walking in the hills and woods under the starlight. Merry
第二章 往日的陰影 這話題九天、甚至九十九天都未曾平息。比爾博·巴金斯先生的第二次失蹤，在哈比屯，乃至整個夏爾，被討論了一年又一天，而且被記住了更長的時間。它成了年輕哈比人的爐邊故事；最終，瘋狂巴金斯——那個總是砰地一聲、閃光一現就消失，然後帶著一袋袋珠寶黃金重新出現的人——成了傳說中受歡迎的角色，在所有真實事件被遺忘後很久，依然流傳著。但與此同時，鄰里間普遍認為，比爾博這個向來有點古怪的人，終於徹底瘋了，跑得無影無蹤了。他無疑是掉進了池塘或河流，落得悲慘的下場，但這結局卻也算不上是英年早逝。責任大多被歸咎於甘道夫。他們說：「要是那個該死的巫師能讓年輕的佛羅多一個人待著，或許他就能安定下來，長點哈比人該有的常識了。」而從表面上看，巫師確實讓佛羅多一個人待著了，他也確實安定下來了，但哈比人常識的增長卻不太明顯。事實上，他立刻就開始繼承比爾博古怪的名聲。他拒絕服喪；第二年，他舉辦了一場派對，慶祝比爾博一百一十二歲生日，他稱之為「百磅盛宴」。但這還遠遠不夠，因為邀請了二十位客人，而且有好幾頓飯，用哈比人的話說，簡直是「食物如雪，美酒如雨」。有些人相當震驚；但佛羅多年復一年地舉辦比爾博的生日派對，直到大家習以為常。他說他不認為比爾博死了。當他們問：「那他在哪裡？」他聳了聳肩。他獨自生活，就像比爾博一樣；但他有很多朋友，特別是年輕的哈比人（大多是老圖克的後代），他們小時候就喜歡比爾博，經常進出袋底洞。佛爾科·博芬和弗雷德加·博爾格是其中兩位；但他最親密的朋友是皮瑞格林·圖克（通常稱為皮聘），以及梅里·烈酒鹿（他的真名是梅利雅達克，但很少有人記得）。佛羅多和他們一起在夏爾各地跋涉；但他更常獨自漫遊，令那些明理的人驚訝的是，他有時會被看見在遠離家鄉的山丘和樹林中，在星光下行走。
THE SHADOW OF THE PAST 43 and Pippin suspected that he visited the Elves at times, as Bilbo had done. As time went on, people began to notice that Frodo also showed signs of good ‘preservation’: outwardly he retained the appearance of a robust and energetic hobbit just out of his tweens. ‘Some folk have all the luck,’ they said; but it was not until Frodo approached the usually more sober age of fifty that they began to think it queer. Frodo himself, after the first shock, found that being his own master and the Mr. Baggins of Bag End was rather pleasant. For some years he was quite happy and did not worry much about the future. But half unknown to himself the regret that he had not gone with Bilbo was steadily growing. He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came into his dreams. He began to say to himself: ‘Perhaps I shall cross the River myself one day.’ To which the other half of his mind always replied: ‘Not yet.’ So it went on, until his forties were running out, and his fiftieth birthday was drawing near: fifty was a number that he felt was somehow significant (or ominous); it was at any rate at that age that adventure had suddenly befallen Bilbo. Frodo began to feel restless, and the old paths seemed too well-trodden. He looked at maps, and wondered what lay beyond their edges: maps made in the Shire showed mostly white spaces beyond its borders. He took to wandering further afield and more often by himself; and Merry and his other friends watched him anxiously. Often he was seen walking and talking with the strange wayfarers that began at this time to appear in the Shire. There were rumours of strange things happening in the world outside; and as Gandalf had not at that time appeared or sent any message for several years, Frodo gathered all the news he could. Elves, who seldom walked in the Shire, could now be seen passing westward through the woods in the evening, passing and not returning; but they were leaving Middle-earth and were no longer concerned with its troubles. There were, however, dwarves on the road in unusual numbers. The ancient East-West Road ran through the Shire to its end at the Grey Havens, and dwarves had always used it on their way to their mines in the Blue Mountains. They were the hobbits’ chief source of news from distant parts — if they wanted any: as a rule dwarves said little and hobbits asked no more. But now Frodo often met strange dwarves of far countries, seeking refuge in the West. They were troubled, and some spoke in whispers of the Enemy and of the Land of Mordor.
過去的陰影 43。皮聘懷疑他有時會去拜訪精靈，就像比爾博以前那樣。隨著時間推移，人們開始注意到佛羅多也展現出「保養得宜」的跡象：外表上，他仍保持著一個剛過青春期、健壯而精力充沛的哈比人模樣。「有些人運氣真好啊，」他們說；但直到佛羅多接近通常更為穩重的五十歲時，他們才開始覺得這很奇怪。佛羅多本人，在最初的震驚過後，發現成為自己的主人，以及袋底洞的巴金斯先生，是相當愉快的事。有幾年他過得很開心，對未來沒有太多憂慮。但他自己卻半點不知情，他沒有和比爾博一起走的遺憾卻在穩步增長。他有時會發現自己在思索，尤其是在秋天，關於那些荒野之地，以及他從未見過的山脈的奇異景象會進入他的夢中。他開始自言自語：「也許有一天我會自己渡過那條河。」而他心裡的另一半總是回答：「還不是時候。」日子就這樣過去，直到他四十多歲的時光即將結束，他的五十歲生日也日益臨近：五十歲這個數字，他覺得不知怎地具有某種意義（或是不祥之兆）；無論如何，比爾博的冒險正是在那個年紀突然降臨的。佛羅多開始感到焦躁不安，那些舊路似乎也太過於熟悉了。他看著地圖，想知道地圖邊緣之外有什麼：夏爾製作的地圖，其邊界之外大多顯示為空白區域。他開始獨自一人走得更遠、更頻繁；而梅里和他的其他朋友則焦慮地看著他。人們經常看到他與那些此時開始出現在夏爾的陌生旅人同行並交談。外面世界發生奇異事件的傳聞四起；由於甘道夫當時已有好幾年沒有現身或傳來任何訊息，佛羅多便盡可能地收集所有消息。精靈，這些鮮少在夏爾行走的身影，此時卻能在傍晚時分被看見向西穿過樹林，一去不返；他們正在離開中土世界，不再關心它的紛擾。然而，路上卻有數量異常多的矮人。古老的東西大道穿過夏爾，一直延伸到灰港岸的盡頭，矮人總是在前往藍山礦坑的路上使用這條路。他們是哈比人從遠方獲取消息的主要來源——如果他們想要的話：通常矮人話不多，哈比人也不再多問。但現在佛羅多經常遇到來自遙遠國度的陌生矮人，他們正在西方尋求庇護。他們心事重重，有些人低聲談論著魔影和魔多之地。
44 THE LORD OF THE RINGS That name the hobbits only knew in legends of the dark past, like a shadow in the background of their memories; but it was ominous and disquieting. It seemed that the evil power in Mirkwood had been driven out by the White Council only to reappear in greater strength in the old strongholds of Mordor. The Dark Tower had been rebuilt, it was said. From there the power was spreading far and wide, and away far east and south there were wars and growing fear. Orcs were multiplying again in the mountains. Trolls were abroad, no longer dull-witted, but cunning and armed with dreadful weapons. And there were murmured hints of creatures more terrible than all these, but they had no name. Little of all this, of course, reached the ears of ordinary hobbits. But even the deafest and most stay-at-home began to hear queer tales; and those whose business took them to the borders saw strange things. The conversation in The Green Dragon at Bywater, one evening in the spring of Frodo’s fiftieth year, showed that even in the comfortable heart of the Shire rumours had been heard, though most hobbits still laughed at them. Sam Gamgee was sitting in one corner near the fire, and opposite him was Ted Sandyman, the miller’s son; and there were various other rustic hobbits listening to their talk. ‘Queer things you do hear these days, to be sure,’ said Sam. ‘Ah,’ said Ted, ‘you do, if you listen. But I can hear fireside-tales and children’s stories at home, if I want to.’ ‘No doubt you can,’ retorted Sam, ‘and I daresay there’s more truth in some of them than you reckon. Who invented the stories anyway? Take dragons now.’ ‘No thank ’ee,’ said Ted, ‘I won’t. I heard tell of them when I was a youngster, but there’s no call to believe in them now. There’s only one Dragon in Bywater, and that’s Green,’ he said, getting a general laugh. ‘All right,’ said Sam, laughing with the rest. ‘But what about these Tree-men, these giants, as you might call them? They do say that one bigger than a tree was seen up away beyond the North Moors not long back.’ ‘Who’s they?’ ‘My cousin Hal for one. He works for Mr. Boffin at Overhill and goes up to the Northfarthing for the hunting. He saw one.’ ‘Says he did, perhaps. Your Hal’s always saying he’s seen things; and maybe he sees things that ain’t there.’ ‘But this one was as big as an elm tree, and walking — walking seven yards to a stride, if it was an inch.’ “Then I bet it wasn’t an inch. What he saw was an elm tree, as like as not.’
44 魔戒聖戰 (THE LORD OF THE RINGS) 那個名字，哈比人只在黑暗過去的傳說中聽過，就像他們記憶背景中的一道陰影；但它卻是個不祥且令人不安的存在。米爾伍德的邪惡勢力似乎被白道會驅逐後，卻又在魔多的古老據點以更強大的力量重新出現。據說，黑暗塔已被重建。從那裡，力量正廣泛蔓延，遠至東方和南方，戰火四起，恐懼日增。半獸人又在山區繁殖。食人妖四處遊蕩，不再愚笨，反而狡猾且配備了可怕的武器。還有一些比這些更可怕的生物，人們低聲耳語著，但它們沒有名字。當然，所有這些事情，很少傳到普通哈比人的耳中。但即使是最耳背、最不愛出門的哈比人，也開始聽到一些奇異的故事；而那些因公務前往邊境的人，則看到了奇怪的事物。在佛羅多五十歲生日那年春天的一個傍晚，在水邊的綠龍客棧裡，一場對話顯示，即使在夏爾舒適的中心地帶，謠言也已傳開，儘管大多數哈比人仍對此嗤之以鼻。山姆·詹吉坐在爐火旁的一個角落，對面是磨坊主之子泰德·桑迪曼；還有其他幾位鄉村哈比人正在聽他們談話。「這些日子你確實會聽到一些奇怪的事情，真的。」山姆說。「啊，」泰德說，「如果你願意聽，當然會。但如果我想，我可以在家裡聽爐邊故事和兒童故事。」「你當然可以，」山姆反駁道，「而且我敢說，有些故事比你想像的更真實。這些故事到底是誰編的？就拿龍來說吧。」「不，謝謝你，」泰德說，「我不會。我小時候聽過它們的故事，但現在沒必要相信它們。水邊只有一條龍，那就是綠龍。」他說，引來一陣哄堂大笑。「好吧，」山姆笑著和大家一起說，「但這些樹人，這些巨人，你可能會怎麼稱呼它們呢？他們說，不久前在北荒地以外的地方，有人看到一個比樹還大的東西。」「他們是誰？」「我表弟哈爾就是其中一個。他在奧弗希爾為波芬先生工作，並去北區打獵。他看到了一個。」「他說他看到了，也許吧。你的哈爾總是說他看到了東西；也許他看到的東西根本不存在。」「但這個東西像一棵榆樹那麼大，而且在走路——如果它真的走了一英寸，那一步就有七碼。」「那我敢打賭它沒有走一英寸。他看到的，八成就是一棵榆樹。」
THE SHADOW OF THE PAST 45 ‘But this one was walking, I tell you; and there ain’t no elm tree on the North Moors.’ “Then Hal can’t have seen one,’ said Ted. There was some laughing and clapping: the audience seemed to think that Ted had scored a point. ‘All the same,’ said Sam, ‘you can’t deny that others besides our Halfast have seen queer folk crossing the Shire — crossing it, mind you: there are more that are turned back at the borders. The Bounders have never been so busy before. ‘And I’ve heard tell that Elves are moving west. They do say they are going to the harbours, out away beyond the White Towers.’ Sam waved his arm vaguely: neither he nor any of them knew how far it was to the Sea, past the old towers beyond the western borders of the Shire. But it was an old tradition that away over there stood the Grey Havens, from which at times elven-ships set sail, never to return. “They are sailing, sailing, sailing over the Sea, they are going into the West and leaving us,’ said Sam, half chanting the words, shaking his head sadly and solemnly. But Ted laughed. ‘Well, that isn’t anything new, if you believe the old tales. And I don’t see what it matters to me or you. Let them sail! But I warrant you haven’t seen them doing it; nor anyone else in the Shire.’ ‘Well, I don’t know,’ said Sam thoughtfully. He believed he had once seen an Elf in the woods, and still hoped to see more one day. Of all the legends that he had heard in his early years such fragments of tales and half-remembered stories about the Elves as the hobbits knew, had always moved him most deeply. “There are some, even in these parts, as know the Fair Folk and get news of them,’ he said. “There’s Mr. Baggins now, that I work for. He told me that they were sailing and he knows a bit about Elves. And old Mr. Bilbo knew more: many’s the talk I had with him when I was a little lad.’ ‘Oh, they’re both cracked,’ said Ted. ‘Leastways old Bilbo was cracked, and Frodo’s cracking. If that’s where you get your news from, you’ll never want for moonshine. Well, friends, I’m off home. Your good health!’ He drained his mug and went out noisily. Sam sat silent and said no more. He had a good deal to think about. For one thing, there was a lot to do up in the Bag End garden, and he would have a busy day tomorrow, if the weather cleared. The grass was growing fast. But Sam had more on his mind than gardening. After a while he sighed, and got up and went out. It was early April and the sky was now clearing after heavy rain. The sun was down, and a cool pale evening was quietly fading into night. He walked home under the early stars through Hobbiton and up the Hill, whistling softly and thoughtfully. DS BS
過去的陰影 45 「可是這個東西是走路的，我跟你說；而且北荒根本沒有榆樹。」 「那麼哈爾就不可能看見過。」泰德說。現場傳來一些笑聲和掌聲：聽眾似乎覺得泰德佔了上風。 「話雖如此，」山姆說，「你不能否認，除了我們的哈爾法斯特之外，還有其他人也看見過奇怪的異族穿越夏爾——穿越它，你可要知道：還有更多的人在邊界就被擋了回去。邊界巡邏隊從來沒有這麼忙過。」 「而且我聽說精靈們正在往西遷徙。他們都說他們正前往港口，遠在白塔之外的港口。」山姆模糊地揮了揮手臂：他自己和他們之中任何人都不知道，越過夏爾西部邊界之外的那些古老塔樓，到大海究竟有多遠。但有個古老的傳說，說在那遙遠的地方矗立著灰港，精靈船隻有時會從那裡啟航，一去不返。 「他們正在航行，航行，航越大海，他們正前往西方，離開我們而去。」山姆半唱半說地說道，悲傷而莊重地搖著頭。但泰德笑了。「嗯，如果你相信那些古老的故事，這就沒什麼新鮮的。而且我不覺得這對你我來說有什麼關係。讓他們去航行吧！但我敢保證你沒見過他們這麼做；夏爾裡也沒有其他人見過。」 「嗯，我不知道。」山姆若有所思地說。他相信自己曾在樹林裡見過一個精靈，而且仍然希望有一天能再見到更多。在他早年聽過的所有傳說中，那些哈比人所知的關於精靈的零星故事和半記憶的傳說片段，總是讓他深受感動。 「即使在我們這裡，也有一些人認識精靈族（Fair Folk），並能得到他們的消息。」他說。「現在有我為他工作的巴金斯先生。他告訴我他們正在航行，而且他對精靈略知一二。還有老比爾博先生知道得更多：我小時候跟他聊過很多次。」 「噢，他們兩個都瘋了。」泰德說。「至少老比爾博是瘋了，而佛羅多也快瘋了。如果你是從那裡得到消息的，那你永遠不會缺少胡言亂語。好了，朋友們，我要回家了。祝你們健康！」他喝光了杯子，然後吵鬧地走了出去。 山姆靜靜地坐著，不再說話。他有很多事情要思考。首先，袋底洞的花園裡有很多活要幹，如果天氣放晴，他明天會很忙。草長得很快。但山姆心裡想的不只是園藝。過了一會兒，他嘆了口氣，站起來走了出去。那是四月初，大雨過後天空正在放晴。太陽已經下山，一個涼爽蒼白的夜晚正悄悄地融入夜色。他走在初升的星光下，穿過哈比屯，爬上山丘，輕柔而若有所思地吹著口哨。
46 THE LORD OF THE RINGS It was just at this time that Gandalf reappeared after his long absence. For three years after the Party he had been away. Then he paid Frodo a brief visit, and after taking a good look at him he went off again. During the next year or two he had turned up fairly often, coming unexpectedly after dusk, and going off without warning before sunrise. He would not discuss his own business and journeys, and seemed chiefly interested in small news about Frodo’s health and doings. Then suddenly his visits had ceased. It was over nine years since Frodo had seen or heard of him, and he had begun to think that the wizard would never return and had given up all interest in hobbits. But that evening, as Sam was walking home and twilight was fading, there came the once familiar tap on the study window. Frodo welcomed his old friend with surprise and great delight. They looked hard at one another. ‘All well eh?’ said Gandalf. ‘You look the same as ever, Frodo!’ ‘So do you,’ Frodo replied; but secretly he thought that Gandalf looked older and more careworn. He pressed him for news of himself and of the wide world, and soon they were deep in talk, and they stayed up far into the night. Next morning after a late breakfast, the wizard was sitting with Frodo by the open window of the study. A bright fire was on the hearth, but the sun was warm, and the wind was in the South. Everything looked fresh, and the new green of spring was shimmering in the fields and on the tips of the trees’ fingers. Gandalf was thinking of a spring, nearly eighty years before, when Bilbo had run out of Bag End without a handkerchief. His hair was perhaps whiter than it had been then, and his beard and eyebrows were perhaps longer, and his face more lined with care and wisdom; but his eyes were as bright as ever, and he smoked and blew smokerings with the same vigour and delight. He was smoking now in silence, for Frodo was sitting still, deep in thought. Even in the light of morning he felt the dark shadow of the tidings that Gandalf had brought. At last he broke the silence. ‘Last night you began to tell me strange things about my ring, Gandalf,’ he said. ‘And then you stopped, because you said that such matters were best left until daylight. Don’t you think you had better finish now? You say the ring is dangerous, far more dangerous than I guess. In what way?’ ‘In many ways,’ answered the wizard. ‘It is far more powerful than I ever dared to think at first, so powerful that in the end it would utterly overcome anyone of mortal race who possessed it. It would possess him.
46 魔戒 就在這個時候，甘道夫在長期缺席後再次出現。在宴會後的三年裡，他一直不在。隨後他短暫拜訪了佛羅多，仔細打量了他一番後又離開了。接下來的一兩年裡，他經常現身，總是在黃昏後出乎意料地到來，又在日出前不告而別。他從不討論自己的事務和旅程，似乎主要關心佛羅多的健康和近況等瑣事。然後他的拜訪突然停止了。佛羅多已經九年多沒有見過或聽說過他了，他開始認為這位巫師永遠不會回來，並且已經對哈比人失去了所有興趣。但那天晚上，當山姆走回家，暮色漸濃時，書房窗戶上傳來了那曾經熟悉的敲擊聲。佛羅多驚喜萬分地歡迎了他的老朋友。他們彼此仔細端詳著。「一切都好嗎？」甘道夫說。「你還是一如既往，佛羅多！」 「你也是，」佛羅多回答；但他心裡卻覺得甘道夫看起來更老、更憔悴了。他追問甘道夫自己的消息和廣闊世界的消息，很快他們就深入交談，一直聊到深夜。第二天早上，在享用了一頓遲來的早餐後，巫師和佛羅多坐在書房的敞開窗戶旁。壁爐裡燃著熊熊爐火，但陽光溫暖，風從南方吹來。一切看起來都很清新，春天的嫩綠在田野裡和樹梢上閃爍著。甘道夫想起大約八十年前的一個春天，那時比爾博沒有帶手帕就跑出了袋底洞。他的頭髮或許比那時更白了，鬍子和眉毛或許更長了，臉上也刻畫著更多的憂慮和智慧；但他的眼睛依然像往常一樣明亮，他抽著煙，帶著同樣的活力和愉悅吹出煙圈。他現在默默地抽著煙，因為佛羅多靜靜地坐著，陷入沉思。即使在晨光中，他也感受到了甘道夫帶來消息的黑暗陰影。他終於打破了沉默。「昨晚你開始告訴我關於我的戒指的奇怪事情，甘道夫，」他說。「然後你停了下來，因為你說這些事情最好留到白天再說。你不覺得你最好現在就說完嗎？你說這戒指很危險，比我猜想的要危險得多。危險在哪裡？」 「在很多方面，」巫師回答。「它比我最初敢於想像的要強大得多，強大到最終它會徹底控制任何擁有它的凡人種族。它會佔有他。
THE SHADOW OF THE PAST 47 ‘In Eregion long ago many Elven-rings were made, magic rings as you call them, and they were, of course, of various kinds: some more potent and some less. The lesser rings were only essays in the craft before it was full-grown, and to the Elven-smiths they were but trifles — yet still to my mind dangerous for mortals. But the Great Rings, the Rings of Power, they were perilous. ‘A mortal, Frodo, who keeps one of the Great Rings, does not die, but he does not grow or obtain more life, he merely continues, until at last every minute is a weariness. And if he often uses the Ring to make himself invisible, he fades: he becomes in the end invisible permanently, and walks in the twilight under the eye of the Dark Power that rules the Rings. Yes, sooner or later — later, if he is strong or well-meaning to begin with, but neither strength nor good purpose will last — sooner or later the Dark Power will devour him.’ ‘How terrifying!’ said Frodo. There was another long silence. The sound of Sam Gamgee cutting the lawn came in from the garden. ‘How long have you known this?’ asked Frodo at length. ‘And how much did Bilbo know?’ ‘Bilbo knew no more than he told you, I am sure,’ said Gandalf. ‘He would certainly never have passed on to you anything that he thought would be a danger, even though I promised to look after you. He thought the ring was very beautiful, and very useful at need; and if anything was wrong or queer, it was himself. He said that it was “‘growing on his mind’’, and he was always worrying about it; but he did not suspect that the ring itself was to blame. Though he had found out that the thing needed looking after; it did not seem always of the same size or weight; it shrank or expanded in an odd way, and might suddenly slip off a finger where it had been tight.’ ‘Yes, he warned me of that in his last letter,’ said Frodo, ‘so I have always kept it on its chain.’ ‘Very wise,’ said Gandalf. ‘But as for his long life, Bilbo never connected it with the ring at all. He took all the credit for that to himself, and he was very proud of it. Though he was getting restless and uneasy. Thin and stretched he said. A sign that the ring was getting control.’ ‘How long have you known all this?’ asked Frodo again. ‘Known?’ said Gandalf. ‘I have known much that only the Wise know, Frodo. But if you mean “known about this ring’’, well, I still do not know, one might say. There is a last test to make. But I no longer doubt my guess. ‘When did I first begin to guess?’ he mused, searching back in memory. ‘Let me see — it was in the year that the White Council drove the Dark Power from Mirkwood, just before the Battle of Five Armies, that Bilbo found his ring. A shadow fell on my heart then,
過去的陰影 47 「很久以前，在伊瑞詹（Eregion），許多精靈戒指被打造出來，也就是你們所說的魔法戒指，它們當然種類繁多：有些更具威力，有些則較弱。那些較弱的戒指，在技藝尚未成熟時，不過是初步的嘗試，對精靈工匠而言，它們只是些小玩意——但在我看來，對凡人來說仍然很危險。然而，那些偉大的戒指，也就是魔戒（Rings of Power），它們卻是極其危險的。 「佛羅多，凡人若持有其中一枚偉大戒指，他不會死去，但他也不會成長，更不會獲得更多生命，他只是不斷延續，直到最後，每一分鐘都成了折磨。如果他經常使用戒指讓自己隱形，他就會逐漸消逝：最終他會永久隱形，在統治魔戒的黑暗勢力（Dark Power）的注視下，遊蕩於幽冥之中。是的，遲早——如果他一開始很強大或心存善意，那會晚一些，但無論力量還是善意都無法持久——遲早黑暗勢力會將他吞噬。」 「多麼可怕！」佛羅多說。又是一陣漫長的沉默。山姆·詹吉（Sam Gamgee）修剪草坪的聲音從花園傳來。 「你什麼時候知道這些的？」佛羅多終於開口問道。「比爾博又知道多少？」 「比爾博知道的，不會比他告訴你的更多，我敢肯定。」甘道夫說。「他絕不會把任何他認為有危險的東西傳給你，即使我答應會照顧你。他認為這戒指非常美麗，在需要時也很有用；如果說有什麼不對勁或古怪的地方，那也是他自己。他說這戒指『在他腦中盤旋不去』，他總是為此煩惱；但他並未懷疑是戒指本身的問題。儘管他發現這東西需要照看；它似乎不總是相同的尺寸或重量；它會以一種奇怪的方式收縮或膨脹，而且可能會突然從原本戴得很緊的手指上滑落。」 「是的，他在最後一封信裡警告過我這件事，」佛羅多說，「所以我一直把它戴在鍊子上。」 「非常明智。」甘道夫說。「但至於他的長壽，比爾博從未將其與戒指聯繫起來。他把所有的功勞都歸於自己，並為此感到非常自豪。儘管他變得焦躁不安。他說自己『又瘦又長』。這是一個跡象，表明戒指正在掌控他。」 「你什麼時候知道所有這些的？」佛羅多又問。 「知道？」甘道夫說。「佛羅多，我所知道的，許多只有智者（the Wise）才知曉。但如果你是指『知道這枚戒指的底細』，那麼，可以說我仍然不知道。還有最後一個考驗要做。但我不再懷疑我的猜測了。 「我第一次開始猜測是什麼時候？」他沉思著，在記憶中搜尋。「讓我想想——那是在白道會（White Council）將黑暗勢力從幽暗密林（Mirkwood）驅逐出去的那一年，就在五軍之戰（Battle of Five Armies）之前，比爾博找到了他的戒指。那時，我的心頭蒙上了一層陰影，
48 THE LORD OF THE RINGS though I did not know yet what I feared. I wondered often how Gollum came by a Great Ring, as plainly it was — that at least was clear from the first. Then I heard Bilbo’s strange story of how he had “won” it, and I could not believe it. When I at last got the truth out of him, I saw at once that he had been trying to put his claim to the ring beyond doubt. Much like Gollum with his “birthday-present’’. The lies were too much alike for my comfort. Clearly the ring had an unwholesome power that set to work on its keeper at once. That was the first real warning I had that all was not well. I told Bilbo often that such rings were better left unused; but he resented it, and soon got angry. There was little else that I could do. I could not take it from him without doing greater harm; and I had no right to do so anyway. I could only watch and wait. I might perhaps have consulted Saruman the White, but something always held me back.’ ‘Who is he?’ asked Frodo. ‘I have never heard of him before.’ ‘Maybe not,’ answered Gandalf. ‘Hobbits are, or were, no concern of his. Yet he is great among the Wise. He is the chief of my order and the head of the Council. His knowledge is deep, but his pride has grown with it, and he takes ill any meddling. The lore of the Elven-rings, great and small, is his province. He has long studied it, seeking the lost secrets of their making; but when the Rings were debated in the Council, all that he would reveal to us of his ring-lore told against my fears. So my doubt slept — but uneasily. Still I watched and I waited. ‘And all seemed well with Bilbo. And the years passed. Yes, they passed, and they seemed not to touch him. He showed no signs of age. The shadow fell on me again. But I said to myself: “‘After all he comes of a long-lived family on his mother’s side. There is time yet. Wait!” ‘And I waited. Until that night when he left this house. He said and did things then that filled me with a fear that no words of Saruman could allay. I knew at last that something dark and deadly was at work. And I have spent most of the years since then in finding out the truth of it.’ “There wasn’t any permanent harm done, was there?’ asked Frodo anxiously. ‘He would get all right in time, wouldn’t he? Be able to rest in peace, I mean?’ ‘He felt better at once,’ said Gandalf. ‘But there is only one Power in this world that knows all about the Rings and their effects; and as far as I know there is no Power in the world that knows all about hobbits. Among the Wise I am the only one that goes in for hobbitlore: an obscure branch of knowledge, but full of surprises. Soft as butter they can be, and yet sometimes as tough as old tree-roots. I think it likely that some would resist the Rings far longer than most
48 魔戒 雖然我當時還不知道我究竟在害怕什麼。我常常想，咕嚕是怎麼得到一枚大魔戒的，因為它顯然就是——這一點至少從一開始就很清楚。後來我聽說了比爾博關於他如何「贏得」它的奇怪故事，我無法相信。當我最終從他那裡問出真相時，我立刻明白他一直在試圖讓自己對戒指的所有權無可置疑。這很像咕嚕對他的「生日禮物」的說法。這些謊言太過相似，讓我感到不安。顯然，這枚戒指擁有一種不健康的魔力，會立刻對它的持有者產生作用。這是我第一次真正意識到事情不對勁的警訊。我經常告訴比爾博，這樣的戒指最好不要使用；但他對此感到不滿，很快就生氣了。我幾乎無能為力。我不能從他手中奪走它，那樣會造成更大的傷害；而且我本來就沒有權利這麼做。我只能觀察和等待。我或許可以諮詢白袍薩魯曼，但總有什麼東西阻止了我。』佛羅多問道：『他是誰？我以前從未聽說過他。』甘道夫回答說：『或許沒有。哈比人，或者說曾經是，與他無關。然而，他在智者中地位崇高。他是我的團體的首領，也是議會的領袖。他的知識淵博，但他的驕傲也隨之增長，他對任何干涉都感到不悅。精靈戒指的知識，無論大小，都是他的專長。他長期研究它，尋找其製造的失落秘密；但當戒指在議會中被討論時，他向我們透露的所有關於戒指知識的內容都與我的擔憂背道而馳。所以我的疑慮暫時平息了——但並不安心。我仍然觀察和等待。』『比爾博的一切似乎都很好。歲月流逝。是的，它們流逝了，而且似乎沒有觸及他。他沒有顯示出衰老的跡象。陰影再次籠罩在我心頭。但我對自己說：「畢竟，他母親那邊的家族是長壽的。還有時間。等等！」』『我等了。直到他離開這所房子的那個晚上。他當時說的和做的事情讓我充滿了恐懼，那是薩魯曼的任何話語都無法平息的。我終於知道有某種黑暗而致命的東西在作祟。從那以後的大部分歲月，我都在尋找真相。』「沒有造成任何永久性的傷害，是嗎？」佛羅多焦急地問道。「他會及時好起來的，不是嗎？我的意思是，能夠安息？」甘道夫說：「他立刻感覺好多了。但這個世界上只有一種力量了解所有關於戒指及其影響的一切；據我所知，世界上沒有任何力量了解所有關於哈比人的一切。在智者中，我是唯一一個研究哈比人學的人：這是一個鮮為人知的知識分支，但充滿了驚喜。他們可以像黃油一樣柔軟，但有時又像老樹根一樣堅韌。我認為有些人可能會比大多數人抵抗戒指更長時間。
THE SHADOW OF THE PAST 49 of the Wise would believe. I don’t think you need worry about Bilbo. ‘Of course, he possessed the ring for many years, and used it, so it might take a long while for the influence to wear off — before it was safe for him to see it again, for instance. Otherwise, he might live on for years, quite happily: just stop as he was when he parted with it. For he gave it up in the end of his own accord: an important point. No, I was not troubled about dear Bilbo any more, once he had let the thing go. It is for you that I feel responsible. ‘Ever since Bilbo left I have been deeply concerned about you, and about all these charming, absurd, helpless hobbits. It would be a grievous blow to the world, if the Dark Power overcame the Shire; if all your kind, jolly, stupid Bolgers, Hornblowers, Boffins, Bracegirdles, and the rest, not to mention the ridiculous Bagginses, became enslaved.’ Frodo shuddered. ‘But why should we be?’ he asked. ‘And why should he want such slaves?’ “To tell you the truth,’ replied Gandalf, ‘I believe that hitherto — hitherto, mark you — he has entirely overlooked the existence of hobbits. You should be thankful. But your safety has passed. He does not need you — he has many more useful servants — but he won’t forget you again. And hobbits as miserable slaves would please him far more than hobbits happy and free. There is such a thing as malice and revenge.’ ‘Revenge?’ said Frodo. ‘Revenge for what? I still don’t understand what all this has to do with Bilbo and myself, and our ring.’ ‘It has everything to do with it,’ said Gandalf. “You do not know the real peril yet; but you shall. I was not sure of it myself when I was last here; but the time has come to speak. Give me the ring for a moment.’ Frodo took it from his breeches-pocket, where it was clasped to a chain that hung from his belt. He unfastened it and handed it slowly to the wizard. It felt suddenly very heavy, as if either it or Frodo himself was in some way reluctant for Gandalf to touch it. Gandalf held it up. It looked to be made of pure and solid gold. ‘Can you see any markings on it?’ he asked. ‘No,’ said Frodo. “There are none. It is quite plain, and it never shows a scratch or sign of wear.’ ‘Well then, look!’ To Frodo’s astonishment and distress the wizard threw it suddenly into the middle of a glowing corner of the fire. Frodo gave a cry and groped for the tongs; but Gandalf held him back. ‘Wait!’ he said in a commanding voice, giving Frodo a quick look from under his bristling brows.
過去的陰影 49 智者會相信。我想你不必擔心比爾博。「當然，他擁有並使用了魔戒多年，所以它的影響力可能需要很長時間才能消退——例如，在他再次安全地看到它之前。否則，他可能會快樂地活很多年：就像他交出魔戒時的樣子。因為他最終是自願放棄它的：這是一個重要的點。不，一旦他放下了那東西，我就不再為親愛的比爾博擔心了。我感到責任在於你。」 「自從比爾博離開後，我一直深切地關心你，以及所有這些迷人、荒謬、無助的哈比人。如果黑暗勢力征服了夏爾；如果所有你們善良、快樂、愚蠢的博爾格、號角手、博芬、布雷斯格德爾，以及其他族人，更不用說那些可笑的巴金斯家族，都淪為奴隸，那將是對世界的一個沉重打擊。」 佛羅多顫抖了一下。「但我們為什麼會呢？」他問。「他為什麼會想要這樣的奴隸？」 「說實話，」甘道夫回答，「我認為迄今為止——請注意，是迄今為止——他完全忽略了哈比人的存在。你應該感到慶幸。但你們的安全期已經過去了。他不需要你們——他有更多有用的僕人——但他不會再忘記你們了。而悲慘的奴隸哈比人會比快樂自由的哈比人更讓他高興。世上存在著惡意和復仇。」 「復仇？」佛羅多說。「為什麼復仇？我還是不明白這一切和比爾博、我自己以及我們的魔戒有什麼關係。」 「這一切都與它有關，」甘道夫說。「你還不知道真正的危險；但你會知道的。我上次來這裡時自己也不確定；但現在是時候說了。把魔戒給我一下。」 佛羅多從他的褲子口袋裡拿出魔戒，它被扣在一條從他腰帶上垂下的鏈子上。他解開它，慢慢地遞給巫師。它突然感覺非常沉重，彷彿魔戒本身或佛羅多本人都有些不情願讓甘道夫觸碰它。甘道夫舉起它。它看起來是由純金和實心金製成的。 「你看到上面有任何記號嗎？」他問。「沒有，」佛羅多說。「什麼都沒有。它非常樸素，從未顯示出任何刮痕或磨損的痕跡。」 「那麼，看！」令佛羅多驚訝和苦惱的是，巫師突然將它扔進了火堆中一個發光的角落。佛羅多叫了一聲，伸手去摸火鉗；但甘道夫拉住了他。 「等等！」他用命令的語氣說道，從他濃密的眉毛下迅速瞥了佛羅多一眼。
50 THE LORD OF THE RINGS No apparent change came over the ring. After a while Gandalf got up, closed the shutters outside the window, and drew the curtains. The room became dark and silent, though the clack of Sam’s shears, now nearer to the windows, could still be heard faintly from the garden. For a moment the wizard stood looking at the fire; then he stooped and removed the ring to the hearth with the tongs, and at once picked it up. Frodo gasped. ‘It is quite cool,’ said Gandalf. “Take it!’ Frodo received it on his shrinking palm: it seemed to have become thicker and heavier than ever. ‘Hold it up!’ said Gandalf. ‘And look closely!’ As Frodo did so, he now saw fine lines, finer than the finest penstrokes, running along the ring, outside and inside: lines of fire that seemed to form the letters of a flowing script. They shone piercingly bright, and yet remote, as if out of a great depth. XV * Cf Po} 5 Come jh A thy Lach Lu J ‘I cannot read the fiery letters,’ said Frodo in a quavering voice. ‘No,’ said Gandalf, ‘but I can. The letters are Elvish, of an ancient mode, but the language is that of Mordor, which I will not utter here. But this in the Common Tongue is what is said, close enough: One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. It is only two lines of a verse long known in Elven-lore: Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.’ He paused, and then said slowly in a deep voice: “This is the Master-ring, the One Ring to rule them all. This is the One Ring
50 魔戒 戒指沒有任何明顯的變化。過了一會兒，甘道夫站起來，關上窗外的百葉窗，拉上窗簾。房間變得黑暗而寂靜，儘管山姆剪刀的咔嚓聲，現在離窗戶更近了，仍然可以從花園裡隱約聽到。巫師站著看了一會兒火；然後他彎下腰，用火鉗把戒指移到爐邊，立刻又把它撿了起來。佛羅多倒抽了一口氣。「它很涼，」甘道夫說。「拿著！」佛羅多把它接在他的縮回的手掌上：它似乎比以往任何時候都更厚更重了。「舉起來！」甘道夫說。「仔細看！」佛羅多照做時，他現在看到戒指內外有細密的線條，比最細的筆觸還要細，這些火線似乎形成了流暢的文字。它們閃耀著刺眼的光芒，卻又遙遠，彷彿來自深淵。XV * Cf Po} 5 Come jh A thy Lach Lu J 「我讀不懂那些火熱的文字，」佛羅多用顫抖的聲音說。「不，」甘道夫說，「但我能。這些文字是精靈文，是一種古老的模式，但語言是魔多的，我不會在這裡說出來。但用通用語來說，這句話的意思大致是：至尊戒，馭眾戒；至尊戒，尋眾戒；至尊戒，引眾戒，並將其，囚禁於黑暗。這只是一首在精靈傳說中流傳已久的詩歌中的兩行：精靈王，得三戒，蒼穹之下；矮人王，得七戒，石殿之中；凡人，得九戒，註定死亡；魔王，得一戒，黑暗王座，魔多大地，陰影盤踞。至尊戒，馭眾戒；至尊戒，尋眾戒；至尊戒，引眾戒，並將其，囚禁於黑暗，魔多大地，陰影盤踞。」他停頓了一下，然後用低沉的聲音緩緩說道：「這是主宰之戒，至尊戒，馭眾戒。這是至尊戒。
THE SHADOW OF THE PAST 51 that he lost many ages ago, to the great weakening of his power. He greatly desires it — but he must not get it.’ Frodo sat silent and motionless. Fear seemed to stretch out a vast hand, like a dark cloud rising in the East and looming up to engulf him. ‘This ring!’ he stammered. ‘How, how on earth did it come to me?’ ‘Ah!’ said Gandalf. “That is a very long story. The beginnings lie back in the Black Years, which only the lore-masters now remember. If I were to tell you all that tale, we should still be sitting here when Spring had passed into Winter. ‘But last night I told you of Sauron the Great, the Dark Lord. The rumours that you have heard are true: he has indeed arisen again and left his hold in Mirkwood and returned to his ancient fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor. That name even you hobbits have heard of, like a shadow on the borders of old stories. Always after a defeat and a respite, the Shadow takes another shape and grows again.’ ‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo. ‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. And already, Frodo, our time is beginning to look black. The Enemy is fast becoming very strong. His plans are far from ripe, I think, but they are ripening. We shall be hard put to it. We should be very hard put to it, even if it were not for this dreadful chance. “The Enemy still lacks one thing to give him strength and knowledge to beat down all resistance, break the last defences, and cover all the lands in a second darkness. He lacks the One Ring. “The Three, fairest of all, the Elf-lords hid from him, and his hand never touched them or sullied them. Seven the Dwarf-kings possessed, but three he has recovered, and the others the dragons have consumed. Nine he gave to Mortal Men, proud and great, and so ensnared them. Long ago they fell under the dominion of the One, and they became Ringwraiths, shadows under his great Shadow, his most terrible servants. Long ago. It is many a year since the Nine walked abroad. Yet who knows? As the Shadow grows once more, they too may walk again. But come! We will not speak of such things even in the morning of the Shire. ‘So it is now: the Nine he has gathered to himself; the Seven also, or else they are destroyed. The Three are hidden still. But that no longer troubles him. He only needs the One; for he made that Ring himself, it is his, and he let a great part of his own former power pass into it, so that he could rule all the others. If he recovers it, then he
過去的陰影 51 他在許多世代以前就失去了它，這大大削弱了他的力量。他極度渴望它——但他絕不能得到它。’佛羅多靜靜地坐著，一動不動。恐懼似乎伸出了一隻巨大的手，像一團從東方升起並籠罩過來的烏雲，要將他吞噬。‘這戒指！’他結結巴巴地說。‘它，它到底是如何落到我手上的？’‘啊！’甘道夫說。‘那是一個非常漫長的故事。它的開端可以追溯到黑闇年代，現在只有博學者們還記得。如果我要把那個故事全部告訴你，我們恐怕要從春天一直坐到冬天。’‘但昨晚我已經告訴過你關於索倫大帝，那個黑暗魔君的事了。你聽到的傳聞是真的：他確實再次崛起，離開了他在幽暗密林中的據點，回到了他在魔多黑暗之塔的古老要塞。那個名字，連你們哈比人也聽說過，就像古老故事邊緣的一道陰影。每一次戰敗和喘息之後，那陰影都會再次變形並壯大。’‘我真希望這一切不要發生在我這個時代。’佛羅多說。‘我也是。’甘道夫說，‘所有活著見證這種時代的人都是如此。但這不是他們能決定的。我們所能決定的，是如何利用我們所擁有的時間。而且，佛羅多，我們的時間已經開始變得黑暗了。敵人正迅速變得非常強大。他的計劃還遠未成熟，我想，但它們正在成熟。我們將會面臨巨大的困難。即使沒有這次可怕的意外，我們也會面臨巨大的困難。’‘敵人仍然缺少一樣東西，才能賦予他力量和知識，以擊潰所有抵抗，摧毀最後的防線，並讓所有土地再次陷入黑暗。他缺少至尊戒。’‘最美麗的三枚戒指，精靈領主們將它們藏了起來，他的手從未觸碰或玷污它們。七枚戒指為矮人國王們所擁有，但他已經收回了三枚，其餘的則被巨龍吞噬了。九枚戒指他給了凡人，那些驕傲而偉大的人類，並因此將他們誘捕。很久以前，他們就落入了至尊戒的掌控之下，並變成了戒靈，在他巨大陰影下的陰影，他最可怕的僕人。很久以前了。自從那九個戒靈在世間行走以來，已經過去了許多歲月。然而誰知道呢？隨著陰影再次壯大，他們也可能再次行走。但是，來吧！我們甚至不該在夏爾的清晨談論這些事情。’‘所以現在是這樣：他已經將九枚戒指聚集到自己身邊；七枚戒指也是，否則它們就已經被摧毀了。三枚戒指仍然隱藏著。但這不再困擾他了。他只需要至尊戒；因為那枚戒指是他自己製造的，是他的，他將自己很大一部分的舊有力量注入其中，這樣他就可以統治所有其他的戒指。如果他找回它，那麼他
52 THE LORD OF THE RINGS will command them all again, wherever they be, even the Three, and all that has been wrought with them will be laid bare, and he will be stronger than ever. ‘And this is the dreadful chance, Frodo. He believed that the One had perished; that the Elves had destroyed it, as should have been done. But he knows now that it has ot perished, that it has been found. So he is seeking it, seeking it, and all his thought is bent on it. It is his great hope and our great fear.’ ‘Why, why wasn’t it destroyed?’ cried Frodo. ‘And how did the Enemy ever come to lose it, if he was so strong, and it was so precious to him?’ He clutched the Ring in his hand, as if he saw already dark fingers stretching out to seize it. ‘It was taken from him,’ said Gandalf. “The strength of the Elves to resist him was greater long ago; and not all Men were estranged from them. The Men of Westernesse came to their aid. That is a chapter of ancient history which it might be good to recall; for there was sorrow then too, and gathering dark, but great valour, and great deeds that were not wholly vain. One day, perhaps, I will tell you all the tale, or you shall hear it told in full by one who knows it best. ‘But for the moment, since most of all you need to know how this thing came to you, and that will be tale enough, this is all that I will say. It was Gil-galad, Elven-king and Elendil of Westernesse who overthrew Sauron, though they themselves perished in the deed; and Isildur Elendil’s son cut the Ring from Sauron’s hand and took it for his own. Then Sauron was vanquished and his spirit fled and was hidden for long years, until his shadow took shape again in Mirkwood. ‘But the Ring was lost. It fell into the Great River, Anduin, and vanished. For Isildur was marching north along the east banks of the River, and near the Gladden Fields he was waylaid by the Orcs of the Mountains, and almost all his folk were slain. He leaped into the waters, but the Ring slipped from his finger as he swam, and then the Orcs saw him and killed him with arrows.’ Gandalf paused. ‘And there in the dark pools amid the Gladden Fields,’ he said, ‘the Ring passed out of knowledge and legend; and even so much of its history is known now only to a few, and the Council of the Wise could discover no more. But at last I can carry on the story, I think. ‘Long after, but still very long ago, there lived by the banks of the Great River on the edge of Wilderland a clever-handed and quietfooted little people. I guess they were of hobbit-kind; akin to the fathers of the fathers of the Stoors, for they loved the River, and often swam in it, or made little boats of reeds. There was among them a
52 魔戒之主將再次號令所有魔戒，無論它們身在何處，甚至包括那三枚，所有藉由它們所成就的一切都將被揭露，而他將比以往任何時候都更強大。「而這就是可怕的機會，佛羅多。他曾以為至尊戒已經毀滅；以為精靈已經將它摧毀，就像本該做的那樣。但他現在知道它並未毀滅，它已被找到。所以他正在尋找它，不斷地尋找，他所有的心思都集中在它上面。這是他最大的希望，也是我們最大的恐懼。」「為什麼，為什麼它沒有被摧毀？」佛羅多喊道。「如果他如此強大，而它對他如此珍貴，敵人又是如何失去它的呢？」他緊緊握住手中的魔戒，彷彿已經看到黑暗的手指伸過來要奪走它。「它是從他手中被奪走的。」甘道夫說。「很久以前，精靈抵抗他的力量更強大；而且並非所有人類都與他們疏遠。西方人前來援助他們。那是一段古老歷史的篇章，或許值得回顧；因為那時也有悲傷，也有黑暗的聚集，但也有巨大的勇氣和並非完全徒勞的偉大功績。或許有一天，我會把整個故事都告訴你，或者你會從最了解它的人那裡聽到完整的講述。」「但就目前而言，既然你最需要知道這東西是如何來到你手中的，而這本身就足以構成一個故事，那麼我只會說這些。是精靈王吉爾加拉德和西方人伊蘭迪爾推翻了索倫，儘管他們自己也在此役中殞命；而伊蘭迪爾之子埃西鐸從索倫手中砍下了魔戒，並將其據為己有。隨後索倫被擊敗，他的靈魂逃逸並隱藏了漫長的歲月，直到他的陰影再次在幽暗密林中成形。」「但魔戒失落了。它落入了大河安都因，然後消失了。因為埃西鐸正沿著大河東岸向北行軍，在閃亮平原附近，他遭到山中半獸人的伏擊，幾乎所有隨從都被殺害。他跳入水中，但魔戒在他游泳時從他手指上滑落，隨後半獸人看見了他，並用箭將他射殺。」甘道夫停頓了一下。「就在閃亮平原中那些黑暗的水潭裡，」他說，「魔戒從知識和傳說中消失了；甚至它的許多歷史，現在也只有少數人知道，而智者議會也無法再發現更多。但我想，我終於可以繼續講這個故事了。」「很久以後，但仍然是非常久遠以前，在大河岸邊、荒野之地的邊緣，住著一群手巧腳輕的小矮人。我猜他們是哈比人的一種；與史圖爾人的祖先的祖先有親緣關係，因為他們熱愛這條河，經常在其中游泳，或者用蘆葦製作小船。他們之中有一位
THE SHADOW OF THE PAST 53 family of high repute, for it was large and wealthier than most, and it was ruled by a grandmother of the folk, stern and wise in old lore, such as they had. The most inquisitive and curious-minded of that family was called Sméagol. He was interested in roots and beginnings; he dived into deep pools; he burrowed under trees and growing plants; he tunnelled into green mounds; and he ceased to look up at the hill-tops, or the leaves on trees, or the flowers opening in the air: his head and his eyes were downward. ‘He had a friend called Déagol, of similar sort, sharper-eyed but not so quick and strong. On a time they took a boat and went down to the Gladden Fields, where there were great beds of iris and flowering reeds. There Sméagol got out and went nosing about the banks but Déagol sat in the boat and fished. Suddenly a great fish took his hook, and before he knew where he was, he was dragged out and down into the water, to the bottom. Then he let go of his line, for he thought he saw something shining in the river-bed; and holding his breath he grabbed at it. “Then up he came spluttering, with weeds in his hair and a handful of mud; and he swam to the bank. And behold! when he washed the mud away, there in his hand lay a beautiful golden ring; and it shone and glittered in the sun, so that his heart was glad. But Sméagol had been watching him from behind a tree, and as Déagol gloated over the ring, Sméagol came softly up behind. ‘**Give us that, Déagol, my love,”’ said Sméagol, over his friend’s shoulder. “Why?” said Déagol. “Because it’s my birthday, my love, and I wants it,”’ said Sméagol. ‘“T don’t care,”’ said Déagol. “I have given you a present already, more than I could afford. I found this, and I’m going to keep it.” ‘Oh, are you indeed, my love,” said Sméagol; and he caught Déagol by the throat and strangled him, because the gold looked so bright and beautiful. Then he put the ring on his finger. ‘No one ever found out what had become of Déagol; he was murdered far from home, and his body was cunningly hidden. But Sméagol returned alone; and he found that none of his family could see him, when he was wearing the ring. He was very pleased with his discovery and he concealed it; and he used it to find out secrets, and he put his knowledge to crooked and malicious uses. He became sharp-eyed and keen-eared for all that was hurtful. The ring had given him power according to his stature. It is not to be wondered at that he became very unpopular and was shunned (when visible) by all his relations. They kicked him, and he bit their feet. He took to thieving, and going about muttering to himself, and gurgling in his throat. So they called him Gollum, and cursed him, and told him
過去的陰影 53 這是一個聲譽卓著的家族，因為它比大多數家族都龐大富有，並由一位族中的老祖母統治，她嚴厲而精通他們所擁有的古老傳說。這個家族中最愛探究、好奇心最強的人名叫史麥戈。他對事物的根源和開端很感興趣；他潛入深潭；鑽入樹下和植物叢中；挖進綠色的土丘；他不再仰望山頂、樹上的葉子或空中綻放的花朵：他的頭和眼睛總是朝下。 他有一個名叫迪亞戈的朋友，性情相似，眼神更銳利，但不如他敏捷強壯。有一次，他們乘船來到閃亮平原，那裡有大片鳶尾花和開花的蘆葦。史麥戈下船在河岸邊四處探尋，而迪亞戈則坐在船上釣魚。突然，一條大魚咬了他的魚鉤，在他還沒反應過來之前，他就被拖入水中，一直到水底。然後他鬆開了魚線，因為他覺得看到河床上閃閃發光的東西；他屏住呼吸，伸手去抓。 「然後他浮上水面，噴著水，頭髮裡纏著水草，手裡抓著一把泥；他游到岸邊。看啊！當他洗去泥土時，他手裡躺著一枚美麗的金色戒指；它在陽光下閃耀發光，讓他心裡很高興。但史麥戈一直躲在樹後觀察他，當迪亞戈得意洋洋地看著戒指時，史麥戈輕輕地從後面走來。 『把那個給我，迪亞戈，我的愛人。』史麥戈從他朋友的肩膀上方說道。 「為什麼？」迪亞戈問。 「因為今天是我的生日，我的愛人，我想要它。」史麥戈說。 『我不在乎。』迪亞戈說。「我已經送過你禮物了，而且超出我能力範圍。這是我找到的，我要留著它。」 『哦，你真的要這樣嗎，我的愛人。』史麥戈說；然後他掐住迪亞戈的喉嚨，把他勒死了，因為那金子看起來如此明亮美麗。然後他把戒指戴在自己的手指上。 沒人知道迪亞戈的下落；他在離家很遠的地方被謀殺，屍體被巧妙地藏起來了。但史麥戈獨自回來了；他發現當他戴著戒指時，他的家人都看不見他。他對他的發現很滿意，並把它藏起來了；他用它來找出秘密，並將他的知識用於邪惡和惡意的目的。他變得眼尖耳靈，對所有有害的事物都警覺。戒指賦予了他與他本性相符的力量。他變得非常不受歡迎，並被所有親戚排斥（當他可見時），這不足為奇。他們踢他，他就咬他們的腳。他開始偷竊，到處自言自語，喉嚨裡發出咕嚕聲。於是他們叫他咕嚕，詛咒他，並告訴他
54 THE LORD OF THE RINGS to go far away; and his grandmother, desiring peace, expelled him from the family and turned him out of her hole. ‘He wandered in loneliness, weeping a little for the hardness of the world, and he journeyed up the River, till he came to a stream that flowed down from the mountains, and he went that way. He caught fish in deep pools with invisible fingers and ate them raw. One day it was very hot, and as he was bending over a pool, he felt a burning on the back of his head, and a dazzling light from the water pained his wet eyes. He wondered at it, for he had almost forgotten about the Sun. Then for the last time he looked up and shook his fist at her. ‘But as he lowered his eyes, he saw far ahead the tops of the Misty Mountains, out of which the stream came. And he thought suddenly: “It would be cool and shady under those mountains. The Sun could not watch me there. The roots of those mountains must be roots indeed; there must be great secrets buried there which have not been discovered since the beginning.”’ ‘So he journeyed by night up into the highlands, and he found a little cave out of which the dark stream ran; and he wormed his way like a maggot into the heart of the hills, and vanished out of all knowledge. The Ring went into the shadows with him, and even the maker, when his power had begun to grow again, could learn nothing of it.’ ‘Gollum!’ cried Frodo. ‘Gollum? Do you mean that this is the very Gollum-creature that Bilbo met? How loathsome!’ ‘I think it is a sad story,’ said the wizard, ‘and it might have happened to others, even to some hobbits that I have known.’ ‘I can’t believe that Gollum was connected with hobbits, however distantly,’ said Frodo with some heat. ‘What an abominable notion!’ ‘It is true all the same,’ replied Gandalf. ‘About their origins, at any rate, I know more than hobbits do themselves. And even Bilbo’s story suggests the kinship. There was a great deal in the background of their minds and memories that was very similar. They understood one another remarkably well, very much better than a hobbit would understand, say, a Dwarf, or an Orc, or even an Elf. Think of the riddles they both knew, for one thing.’ ‘Yes,’ said Frodo. “Though other folks besides hobbits ask riddles, and of much the same sort. And hobbits don’t cheat. Gollum meant to cheat all the time. He was just trying to put poor Bilbo off his guard. And I daresay it amused his wickedness to start a game which might end in providing him with an easy victim, but if he lost would not hurt him.’ ‘Only too true, I fear,’ said Gandalf. ‘But there was something
54 《魔戒》 遠走他鄉；他的祖母渴望平靜，便將他逐出家門，趕出了她的洞穴。「他孤獨地遊蕩著，為世道的艱難而輕聲哭泣，他沿著大河逆流而上，直到來到一條從山中流淌而下的溪流，他便循著那條路走。他用無形的手指在深潭中捕魚，生食。有一天天氣非常炎熱，當他彎腰俯身於水潭邊時，感到後腦勺一陣灼熱，水面反射的耀眼光芒刺痛了他濕潤的眼睛。他對此感到驚訝，因為他幾乎已經忘記了太陽的存在。然後他最後一次抬頭，對著太陽揮舞拳頭。但當他垂下眼睛時，他看到遠方迷霧山脈的山頂，那條溪流正是從那裡流出的。他突然想到：「在那些山下會很涼爽、很陰暗。太陽在那裡就無法監視我了。那些山脈的根基一定真的是根基；那裡一定埋藏著自開天闢地以來從未被發現的巨大秘密。」」 「於是，他夜間跋涉進入高地，找到了一個小洞穴，黑暗的溪流從中流出；他像蛆蟲一樣鑽進山脈的深處，從此銷聲匿跡。魔戒也隨他一同進入了陰影之中，甚至連它的製造者，當他的力量再次開始增長時，也無法得知它的任何消息。」 「咕嚕！」佛羅多喊道。「咕嚕？你是說這就是比爾博遇到的那個咕嚕生物嗎？多麼令人厭惡啊！」 「我認為這是一個悲傷的故事，」巫師說，「而且它可能也發生在其他人身上，甚至我認識的一些哈比人身上。」 「我無法相信咕嚕會和哈比人有任何關聯，無論多麼遙遠，」佛羅多有些激動地說。「多麼可憎的想法！」 「但這確實是真的，」甘道夫回答。「至少關於他們的起源，我比哈比人自己知道得更多。甚至比爾博的故事也暗示了這種親緣關係。他們的思想和記憶深處有許多非常相似之處。他們彼此理解得非常好，遠比哈比人理解矮人、半獸人，甚至是精靈要好得多。想想他們都知道的那些謎語，就舉這一點來說。」 「是的，」佛羅多說。「雖然除了哈比人之外，其他人也會問謎語，而且種類大同小異。但哈比人不會作弊。咕嚕一直都想作弊。他只是想讓可憐的比爾博放鬆警惕。我敢說，開始一場可能最終為他提供一個輕易受害者的遊戲，卻在輸了之後不會傷害到他，這讓他的邪惡感到很有趣。」 「恐怕真是如此，」甘道夫說。「但有些事情
THE SHADOW OF THE PAST 55 else in it, I think, which you don’t see yet. Even Gollum was not wholly ruined. He had proved tougher than even one of the Wise would have guessed — as a hobbit might. There was a little corner of his mind that was still his own, and light came through it, as through a chink in the dark: light out of the past. It was actually pleasant, I think, to hear a kindly voice again, bringing up memories of wind, and trees, and sun on the grass, and such forgotten things. ‘But that, of course, would only make the evil part of him angrier in the end — unless it could be conquered. Unless it could be cured.’ Gandalf sighed. ‘Alas! there is little hope of that for him. Yet not no hope. No, not though he possessed the Ring so long, almost as far back as he can remember. For it was long since he had worn it much: in the black darkness it was seldom needed. Certainly he had never “‘faded’’. He is thin and tough still. But the thing was eating up his mind, of course, and the torment had become almost unbearable. ‘All the “‘great secrets” under the mountains had turned out to be just empty night: there was nothing more to find out, nothing worth doing, only nasty furtive eating and resentful remembering. He was altogether wretched. He hated the dark, and he hated light more: he hated everything, and the Ring most of all.’ ‘What do you mean?’ said Frodo. ‘Surely the Ring was his Precious and the only thing he cared for? But if he hated it, why didn’t he get rid of it, or go away and leave it?’ ‘You ought to begin to understand, Frodo, after all you have heard,’ said Gandalf. ‘He hated it and loved it, as he hated and loved himself. He could not get rid of it. He had no will left in the matter. ‘A Ring of Power looks after itself, Frodo. Jt may slip off treacherously, but its keeper never abandons it. At most he plays with the idea of handing it on to someone else’s care — and that only at an early stage, when it first begins to grip. But as far as I know Bilbo alone in history has ever gone beyond playing, and really done it. He needed all my help, too. And even so he would never have just forsaken it, or cast it aside. It was not Gollum, Frodo, but the Ring itself that decided things. The Ring left him.’ ‘What, just in time to meet Bilbo?’ said Frodo. ‘Wouldn’t an Orc have suited it better?’ ‘It is no laughing matter,’ said Gandalf. ‘Not for you. It was the strangest event in the whole history of the Ring so far: Bilbo’s arrival just at that time, and putting his hand on it, blindly, in the dark. “There was more than one power at work, Frodo. The Ring was trying to get back to its master. It had slipped from Isildur’s hand and betrayed him; then when a chance came it caught poor Déagol, and he was murdered; and after that Gollum, and it had devoured him. It could make no further use of him: he was too small and
過去的陰影 55 我想，其中還有一些你尚未察覺的東西。即使是咕嚕也並非完全墮落。他證明自己比任何一位智者所能預料的還要堅韌——就像一個哈比人一樣。他心靈深處仍有一小塊屬於他自己，光線從那裡透進來，如同黑暗中的一線微光：那是來自過去的光。我想，再次聽到一個友善的聲音，喚起風、樹木、陽光灑在草地上的記憶，以及那些被遺忘的事物，實際上是令人愉快的。 「但那當然只會讓他的邪惡部分最終變得更憤怒——除非它能被征服。除非它能被治癒。」甘道夫嘆了口氣。「唉！他幾乎沒有希望了。但也不是完全沒有希望。不，即使他擁有魔戒那麼久，幾乎是他記憶所及的那麼久。因為他已經很久沒有經常佩戴它了：在漆黑的黑暗中，它很少被需要。他當然從未『消逝』。他依然瘦弱而堅韌。但那東西當然正在吞噬他的心智，而那折磨已變得幾乎無法忍受。」 「山下所有的『偉大秘密』最終都證明只是空虛的黑夜：沒有什麼值得再發現，沒有什麼值得去做，只有令人厭惡的偷偷摸摸的進食和充滿怨恨的回憶。他完全是個可憐蟲。他憎恨黑暗，但他更憎恨光明：他憎恨一切，而最憎恨的則是魔戒。」 「你這是什麼意思？」佛羅多說。「魔戒不正是他的『寶貝』，是他唯一在乎的東西嗎？但如果他憎恨它，為什麼不擺脫它，或者離開它呢？」 「佛羅多，在你聽了這麼多之後，你應該開始明白了。」甘道夫說。「他憎恨它也愛它，就像他憎恨也愛他自己一樣。他無法擺脫它。在這件事上，他已沒有任何意志可言。」 「佛羅多，一枚力量之戒會自我照管。它可能會狡猾地滑落，但它的持有者絕不會拋棄它。他最多只是玩弄著將它交給別人照管的念頭——而且那只發生在早期階段，當它剛開始產生影響時。但據我所知，歷史上只有比爾博一個人超越了玩弄，真正做到了。他也需要我所有的幫助。即便如此，他也不會只是拋棄它，或將它丟棄。佛羅多，決定這一切的不是咕嚕，而是魔戒本身。魔戒離開了他。」 「什麼，正好趕上遇到比爾博？」佛羅多說。「難道一個半獸人不會更適合它嗎？」 「這可不是什麼好笑的事。」甘道夫說。「對你來說不是。這是迄今為止魔戒整個歷史中最奇特的事件：比爾博恰好在那時到來，盲目地在黑暗中把手放在了它上面。」 「佛羅多，當時不止一種力量在運作。魔戒正試圖回到它的主人身邊。它曾從伊西爾杜的手中滑落並背叛了他；然後當機會來臨時，它抓住了可憐的迪亞戈，他被謀殺了；在那之後是咕嚕，它吞噬了他。它再也無法利用他了：他太小了，而且
56 THE LORD OF THE RINGS mean; and as long as it stayed with him he would never leave his deep pool again. So now, when its master was awake once more and sending out his dark thought from Mirkwood, it abandoned Gollum. Only to be picked up by the most unlikely person imaginable: Bilbo from the Shire! ‘Behind that there was something else at work, beyond any design of the Ring-maker. I can put it no plainer than by saying that Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and not by its maker. In which case you also were meant to have it. And that may be an encouraging thought.’ ‘It is not,’ said Frodo. “Though I am not sure that I understand you. But how have you learned all this about the Ring, and about Gollum? Do you really know it all, or are you just guessing still?’ Gandalf looked at Frodo, and his eyes glinted. ‘I knew much and I have learned much,’ he answered. ‘But I am not going to give an account of all my doings to you. The history of Elendil and Isildur and the One Ring is known to all the Wise. Your ring is shown to be that One Ring by the fire-writing alone, apart from any other evidence.’ ‘And when did you discover that?’ asked Frodo, interrupting. ‘Just now in this room, of course,’ answered the wizard sharply. ‘But I expected to find it. I have come back from dark journeys and long search to make that final test. It is the last proof, and all is now only too clear. Making out Gollum’s part, and fitting it into the gap in the history, required some thought. I may have started with guesses about Gollum, but I am not guessing now. I know. I have seen him.’ “You have seen Gollum?’ exclaimed Frodo in amazement. “Yes. The obvious thing to do, of course, if one could. I tried long ago; but I have managed it at last.’ “Then what happened after Bilbo escaped from him? Do you know that?’ ‘Not so clearly. What I have told you is what Gollum was willing to tell — though not, of course, in the way I have reported it. Gollum is a liar, and you have to sift his words. For instance, he called the Ring his ‘‘birthday-present’’, and he stuck to that. He said it came from his grandmother, who had lots of beautiful things of that kind. A ridiculous story. I have no doubt that Sméagol’s grandmother was a matriarch, a great person in her way, but to talk of her possessing many Elven-rings was absurd, and as for giving them away, it was a lie. But a lie with a grain of truth. “The murder of Déagol haunted Gollum, and he had made up a defence, repeating it to his “‘Precious’’ over and over again, as he gnawed bones in the dark, until he almost believed it. It was his birthday. Déagol ought to have given the ring to him. It had obviously
56 《魔戒》的意思；只要它跟著他，他就永遠不會再離開他的深水池了。所以現在，當它的主人再次醒來，從幽暗密林發出他的黑暗思想時，它拋棄了咕嚕。卻被一個最不可能的人撿到：來自夏爾的比爾博！「在那背後，有著別的東西在運作，超越了魔戒製造者的任何設計。我只能這樣說，比爾博註定要找到魔戒，而不是由它的製造者。這樣一來，你也被註定要擁有它。這或許是一個令人鼓舞的想法。」「才不是呢。」佛羅多說。「雖然我不太確定我是否理解你。但是你怎麼會知道這麼多關於魔戒和咕嚕的事情？你真的全都知道，還是你只是在猜測？」甘道夫看著佛羅多，他的眼睛閃爍著光芒。「我過去知道很多，現在也學到了很多。」他回答。「但我不會向你交代我所有的行動。伊蘭迪爾、埃西鐸和至尊魔戒的歷史，所有智者都知道。你的戒指僅憑火寫文字，就足以證明它是至尊魔戒，無需其他證據。」「那你什麼時候發現的？」佛羅多打斷道。「當然是剛才在這個房間裡。」巫師尖銳地回答。「但我預料會找到它。我從黑暗的旅程和漫長的搜尋中歸來，就是為了進行這最後的測試。這是最後的證據，現在一切都太清楚了。弄清楚咕嚕的角色，並將其填補到歷史的空白中，需要一些思考。我可能一開始對咕嚕有所猜測，但我現在不是在猜測了。我知道。我見過他。」「你見過咕嚕？」佛羅多驚訝地喊道。「是的。當然，如果可以的話，這是顯而易見的事情。我很久以前就嘗試過；但我最終還是成功了。」「那麼比爾博從他身邊逃走後發生了什麼事？你知道嗎？」「不太清楚。我告訴你的，是咕嚕願意說的——當然，不是以我報告的方式。咕嚕是個騙子，你必須篩選他的話。例如，他稱魔戒為他的『生日禮物』，而且他堅持這一點。他說它來自他的祖母，她有很多那種美麗的東西。一個荒謬的故事。我毫不懷疑史麥戈的祖母是一位女族長，以她的方式來說是個偉大的人物，但說她擁有許多精靈戒指是荒謬的，至於把它們送人，那更是謊言。但這謊言中帶有一絲真相。」「迪亞戈的謀殺案一直困擾著咕嚕，他為自己編造了一個辯詞，一遍又一遍地對著他的『寶貝』重複，當他在黑暗中啃食骨頭時，直到他幾乎相信了。那是他的生日。迪亞戈本來應該把戒指給他的。它顯然是
THE SHADOW OF THE PAST 57 turned up just so as to be a present. It was his birthday-present, and so on, and on. ‘I endured him as long as I could, but the truth was desperately important, and in the end I had to be harsh. I put the fear of fire on him, and wrung the true story out of him, bit by bit, together with much snivelling and snarling. He thought he was misunderstood and ill-used. But when he had at last told me his history, as far as the end of the Riddle-game and Bilbo’s escape, he would not say any more, except in dark hints. Some other fear was on him greater than mine. He muttered that he was going to get his own back. People would see if he would stand being kicked, and driven into a hole and then robbed. Gollum had good friends now, good friends and very strong. They would help him. Baggins would pay for it. That was his chief thought. He hated Bilbo and cursed his name. What is more, he knew where he came from.’ ‘But how did he find that out?’ asked Frodo. ‘Well, as for the name, Bilbo very foolishly told Gollum himself} and after that it would not be difficult to discover his country, once Gollum came out. Oh yes, he came out. His longing for the Ring proved stronger than his fear of the Orcs, or even of the light. After a year or two he left the mountains. You see, though still bound by desire of it, the Ring was no longer devouring him; he began to revive a little. He felt old, terribly old, yet less timid, and he was mortally hungry. ‘Light, light of Sun and Moon, he still feared and hated, and he always will, I think; but he was cunning. He found he could hide from daylight and moonshine, and make his way swiftly and softly by dead of night with his pale cold eyes, and catch small frightened or unwary things. He grew stronger and bolder with new food and new air. He found his way into Mirkwood, as one would expect.’ ‘Is that where you found him?’ asked Frodo. ‘I saw him there,’ answered Gandalf, ‘but before that he had wandered far, following Bilbo’s trail. It was difficult to learn anything from him for certain, for his talk was constantly interrupted by curses and threats. ““What had it got in its pocketses?”’ he said. “It wouldn’t say, no precious. Little cheat. Not a fair question. It cheated first, it did. It broke the rules. We ought to have squeezed it, yes precious. And we will, precious!” “That is a sample of his talk. I don’t suppose you want any more. I had weary days of it. But from hints dropped among the snarls I gathered that his padding feet had taken him at last to Esgaroth, and even to the streets of Dale, listening secretly and peering. Well, the news of the great events went far and wide in Wilderland, and many had heard Bilbo’s name and knew where he came from. We
過去的陰影 57 恰好現身，成為一份禮物。那是他的生日禮物，諸如此類，沒完沒了。「我盡可能地忍受他，但真相極其重要，最終我不得不嚴厲起來。我讓他對火產生恐懼，一點一點地從他口中逼問出真相，伴隨著他不斷地抽泣和咆哮。他認為自己被誤解和虐待了。但當他終於告訴我他的歷史，直到謎語遊戲結束和比爾博逃脫為止，他就不再多說了，只會給出一些黑暗的暗示。他身上有另一種比我更深的恐懼。他喃喃自語說他要報仇。人們會看到他是否會忍受被踢、被趕進洞裡然後被搶劫。咕嚕現在有很好的朋友，非常強大的朋友。他們會幫助他。巴金斯會為此付出代價。那是他主要的心思。他恨比爾博，詛咒他的名字。更重要的是，他知道他來自哪裡。」「但他怎麼發現的？」佛羅多問道。「嗯，至於那個名字，比爾博非常愚蠢地親口告訴了咕嚕，在那之後，一旦咕嚕出來，要發現他的家鄉就不難了。哦，是的，他出來了。他對魔戒的渴望證明比他對半獸人的恐懼，甚至比對光的恐懼更強烈。一兩年後，他離開了山脈。你看，儘管仍被魔戒的慾望束縛，但魔戒不再吞噬他了；他開始稍微恢復過來。他感到老了，非常老，卻不那麼膽怯了，而且他餓得要死。「陽光和月光，他仍然害怕和憎恨，我想他會一直如此；但他很狡猾。他發現他可以躲避白晝和月光，在深夜裡，用他蒼白冰冷的眼睛，迅速而輕柔地前行，捕捉那些受驚或不警惕的小東西。他靠著新的食物和空氣變得更強壯、更大膽了。他找到了進入幽暗密林的路，正如人們所預料的那樣。」「你是在那裡找到他的嗎？」佛羅多問道。「我在那裡見過他，」甘道夫回答，「但在那之前，他已經遠離，追蹤著比爾博的蹤跡。很難從他那裡確定地了解到任何事情，因為他的話語不斷被詛咒和威脅打斷。「「它口袋裡有什麼？」」他說。「它不肯說，不，寶貝。小騙子。這不是個公平的問題。它先作弊了，它確實作弊了。它破壞了規則。我們應該擠壓它，是的，寶貝。我們會的，寶貝！」」那是他談話的一個例子。我想你不會想聽更多了。我為此度過了疲憊的日子。但從那些咆哮中零星的暗示裡，我推斷他那輕聲慢步的腳步最終把他帶到了長湖鎮，甚至到了河谷鎮的街道上，秘密地聽著並窺視著。嗯，那些重大事件的消息在荒野之地傳播開來，許多人都聽說過比爾博的名字，也知道他來自哪裡。我們
58 THE LORD OF THE RINGS had made no secret of our return journey to his home in the West. Gollum’s sharp ears would soon learn what he wanted.’ “Then why didn’t he track Bilbo further?’ asked Frodo. ‘Why didn’t he come to the Shire?’ ‘Ah,’ said Gandalf, ‘now we come to it. I think Gollum tried to. He set out and came back westward, as far as the Great River. But then he turned aside. He was not daunted by the distance, I am sure. No, something else drew him away. So my friends think, those that hunted him for me. “The Wood-elves tracked him first, an easy task for them, for his trail was still fresh then. Through Mirkwood and back again it led them, though they never caught him. The wood was full of the rumour of him, dreadful tales even among beasts and birds. The Woodmen said that there was some new terror abroad, a ghost that drank blood. It climbed trees to find nests; it crept into holes to find the young; it slipped through windows to find cradles. ‘But at the western edge of Mirkwood the trail turned away. It wandered off southwards and passed out of the Wood-elves’ ken, and was lost. And then I made a great mistake. Yes, Frodo, and not the first; though I fear it may prove the worst. I let the matter be. I let him go; for I had much else to think of at that time, and I still trusted the lore of Saruman. ‘Well, that was years ago. I have paid for it since with many dark and dangerous days. The trail was long cold when I took it up again, after Bilbo left here. And my search would have been in vain, but for the help that I had from a friend: Aragorn, the greatest traveller and huntsman of this age of the world. Together we sought for Gollum down the whole length of Wilderland, without hope, and without success. But at last, when I had given up the chase and turned to other paths, Gollum was found. My friend returned out of great perils bringing the miserable creature with him. ‘What he had been doing he would not say. He only wept and called us cruel, with many a gollum in his throat; and when we pressed him he whined and cringed, and rubbed his long hands, licking his fingers as if they pained him, as if he remembered some old torture. But I am afraid there is no possible doubt: he had made his slow, sneaking way, step by step, mile by mile, south, down at last to the Land of Mordor.’ A heavy silence fell in the room. Frodo could hear his heart beating. Even outside everything seemed still. No sound of Sam’s shears could now be heard. “Yes, to Mordor,’ said Gandalf. ‘Alas! Mordor draws all wicked things, and the Dark Power was bending all its will to gather them
58 魔戒之主 對我們返回西方家園的旅程從未保密。咕嚕的敏銳耳朵很快就會知道他想要什麼。』「那他為什麼沒有繼續追蹤比爾博呢？」佛羅多問道。「他為什麼沒有來到夏爾呢？」『啊，』甘道夫說，『現在我們說到重點了。我想咕嚕嘗試過。他出發並向西返回，遠至大河。但隨後他轉向了。我確信他沒有被距離嚇倒。不，是別的東西把他引開了。我的朋友們，那些為我追捕他的人，都是這麼認為的。「幽暗密林的精靈首先追蹤到他，這對他們來說是件容易的事，因為那時他的蹤跡還很新鮮。他們被引導穿過幽暗密林又返回，儘管他們從未抓住他。森林裡到處都是關於他的傳聞，甚至在野獸和鳥類之間也有可怕的故事。林地人說，有一種新的恐怖在蔓延，一個吸血的幽靈。它爬樹尋找鳥巢；它鑽進洞穴尋找幼崽；它溜進窗戶尋找搖籃。『但在幽暗密林的西緣，蹤跡轉向了。它向南漂去，超出了幽暗密林精靈的視線，然後消失了。然後我犯了一個大錯。是的，佛羅多，而且不是第一次；儘管我擔心這可能是最糟糕的一次。我讓這件事過去了。我放走了他；因為那時我還有很多其他事情要考慮，而且我仍然信任薩魯曼的學識。『嗯，那是多年前的事了。從那以後，我為此付出了許多黑暗而危險的日子。當比爾博離開這裡後，我再次追蹤時，蹤跡早已冰冷。如果沒有一位朋友的幫助，我的搜尋將會徒勞無功：亞拉岡，這個時代最偉大的旅行者和獵人。我們一起在整個荒野之地尋找咕嚕，沒有希望，也沒有成功。但最終，當我放棄追逐轉向其他道路時，咕嚕被找到了。我的朋友歷經重重危險歸來，帶著那個可憐的生物。』『他一直在做什麼，他不會說。他只是哭泣，並稱我們殘忍，喉嚨裡發出許多咕嚕聲；當我們逼問他時，他嗚咽著，畏縮著，搓著他那長長的手，舔他的手指，彷彿它們很痛，彷彿他記得某種古老的折磨。但我恐怕毫無疑問：他一步一步，一英里一英里，緩慢而偷偷摸摸地向南行進，最終到達了魔多之地。』房間裡一片沉寂。佛羅多能聽到自己的心跳聲。甚至外面的一切似乎都靜止了。山姆的剪刀聲現在也聽不見了。「是的，去魔多，」甘道夫說。「唉！魔多吸引所有邪惡的事物，而黑暗勢力正在竭盡全力聚集它們。
THE SHADOW OF THE PAST 59 there. The Ring of the Enemy would leave its mark, too, leave him open to the summons. And all folk were whispering then of the new Shadow in the South, and its hatred of the West. There were his fine new friends, who would help him in his revenge! ‘Wretched fool! In that land he would learn much, too much for his comfort. And sooner or later as he lurked and pried on the borders he would be caught, and taken — for examination. That was the way of it, I fear. When he was found he had already been there long, and was on his way back. On some errand of mischief. But that does not matter much now. His worst mischief was done. “Yes, alas! through him the Enemy has learned that the One has been found again. He knows where Isildur fell. He knows where Gollum found his ring. He knows that it is a Great Ring, for it gave long life. He knows that it is not one of the Three, for they have never been lost, and they endure no evil. He knows that it is not one of the Seven, or the Nine, for they are accounted for. He knows that it is the One. And he has at last heard, I think, of hobbits and the Shire. “The Shire — he may be seeking for it now, if he has not already found out where it lies. Indeed, Frodo, I fear that he may even think that the long-unnoticed name of Baggins has become important.’ ‘But this is terrible!’ cried Frodo. ‘Far worse than the worst that I imagined from your hints and warnings. O Gandalf, best of friends, what am I to do? For now I am really afraid. What am I to do? What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!’ ‘Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need. And he has been well rewarded, Frodo. Be sure that he took so little hurt from the evil, and escaped in the end, because he began his ownership of the Ring so. With Pity.’ ‘I am sorry,’ said Frodo. ‘But I am frightened; and I do not feel any pity for Gollum.’ ‘You have not seen him,’ Gandalf broke in. ‘No, and I don’t want to,’ said Frodo. ‘I can’t understand you. Do you mean to say that you, and the Elves, have let him live on after all those horrible deeds? Now at any rate he is as bad as an Orc, and just an enemy. He deserves death.’ ‘Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends. I have not much hope that Gollum can be cured before he dies, but there is a chance of it. And he is bound up with the fate of the Ring. My heart tells me that he has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before the end; and when that comes, the pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many — yours not least. In any case we did
過去的陰影 59 頁。 魔戒也會留下它的印記，讓他容易受到召喚。當時所有人都低聲談論著南方的新陰影，以及它對西方的仇恨。那裡有他那些「好」新朋友，他們會幫助他復仇！「可憐的傻瓜！在那片土地上他會學到很多，多到讓他無法安寧。」而且他遲早會在邊境徘徊窺探時被抓到，然後被帶走——接受審問。恐怕事情就是這樣。當他被發現時，他已經在那裡待了很久，而且正在回來的路上。是去執行某種惡作劇的任務。但現在那已經不重要了。他最糟糕的惡行已經造成。「是的，唉！透過他，敵人已經得知魔戒再次被找到了。他知道伊西爾杜在哪裡殞落。他知道咕嚕在哪裡找到了他的戒指。他知道這是一枚偉大的戒指，因為它賦予了長壽。他知道這不是三枚精靈戒指之一，因為它們從未失落，也不會被邪惡侵蝕。他知道這不是七枚矮人戒指或九枚人類戒指之一，因為它們的下落都已查明。他知道這就是魔戒。而且我想，他終於聽說了哈比人與夏爾。「夏爾——如果他還沒找到它的位置，他現在可能正在尋找它。佛羅多，我確實擔心他甚至可能認為，那個長期以來不為人注意的巴金斯這個名字，已經變得重要了。」「但這太可怕了！」佛羅多喊道。「比我從你的暗示和警告中所想像的最壞情況還要糟糕得多。喔，甘道夫，我最好的朋友，我該怎麼辦？因為我現在真的很害怕。我該怎麼辦？真可惜比爾博當時有機會卻沒有刺死那個卑鄙的生物！」「憐憫？是憐憫阻止了他動手。憐憫和慈悲：不無故動手。」「而且他得到了很好的回報，佛羅多。請相信，他從邪惡中受到的傷害如此之小，最終得以逃脫，正是因為他以憐憫之心開始擁有魔戒。」「我很抱歉，」佛羅多說。「但我很害怕；而且我對咕嚕一點憐憫都沒有。」「你沒有見過他，」甘道夫插話道。「不，我也不想見，」佛羅多說。「我無法理解你。你的意思是說，你和精靈們，在那些可怕的惡行之後，竟然還讓他活著？現在無論如何他都和半獸人一樣壞，只是一個敵人。他該死。」「該死！我敢說他確實該死。許多活著的人該死。而有些死去的人卻該活。你能給他們生命嗎？那麼就不要太急於在審判中判處死刑。因為即使是最有智慧的人也無法看清所有的結局。」「我對咕嚕在死前能被治癒不抱太大希望，但仍有一線機會。而且他與魔戒的命運緊密相連。我的心告訴我，在結局到來之前，他還有一些角色要扮演，無論是好是壞；而當那時刻來臨，比爾博的憐憫可能會主宰許多人的命運——尤其是你的。無論如何我們都
60 THE LORD OF THE RINGS not kill him: he is very old and very wretched. The Wood-elves have him in prison, but they treat him with such kindness as they can find in their wise hearts.’ ‘All the same,’ said Frodo, ‘even if Bilbo could not kill Gollum, I wish he had not kept the Ring. I wish he had never found it, and that I had not got it! Why did you let me keep it? Why didn’t you make me throw it away, or, or destroy it?’ ‘Let you? Make you?’ said the wizard. ‘Haven’t you been listening to all that I have said? You are not thinking of what you are saying. But as for throwing it away, that was obviously wrong. These Rings have a way of being found. In evil hands it might have done great evil. Worst of all, it might have fallen into the hands of the Enemy. Indeed it certainly would; for this is the One, and he is exerting all his power to find it or draw it to himself. ‘Of course, my dear Frodo, it was dangerous for you; and that has troubled me deeply. But there was so much at stake that I had to take some risk — though even when I was far away there has never been a day when the Shire has not been guarded by watchful eyes. As long as you never used it, I did not think that the Ring would have any lasting effect on you, not for evil, not at any rate for a very long time. And you must remember that nine years ago, when I last saw you, I still knew little for certain.’ ‘But why not destroy it, as you say should have been done long ago?’ cried Frodo again. ‘If you had warned me, or even sent me a message, I would have done away with it.’ ‘Would you? How would you do that? Have you ever tried?’ ‘No. But I suppose one could hammer it or melt it.’ ‘Try! said Gandalf. “Try now!’ Frodo drew the Ring out of his pocket again and looked at it. It now appeared plain and smooth, without mark or device that he could see. The gold looked very fair and pure, and Frodo thought how rich and beautiful was its colour, how perfect was its roundness. It was an admirable thing and altogether precious. When he took it out he had intended to fling it from him into the very hottest part of the fire. But he found now that he could not do so, not without a great struggle. He weighed the Ring in his hand, hesitating, and forcing himself to remember all that Gandalf had told him; and then with an effort of will he made a movement, as if to cast it away — but he found that he had put it back in his pocket. Gandalf laughed grimly. “You see? Already you too, Frodo, cannot easily let it go, nor will to damage it. And I could not “‘make’”’ you — except by force, which would break your mind. But as for breaking the Ring, force is useless. Even if you took it and struck it with a
60 魔戒 他沒有殺他：他非常年邁且極其悲慘。木精靈將他囚禁，但他們以其智慧之心所能找到的仁慈對待他。」「儘管如此，」佛羅多說，「即使比爾博無法殺死咕嚕，我還是希望他沒有留下魔戒。我希望他從未找到它，而我也沒有得到它！你為什麼讓我留下它？你為什麼不讓我把它丟掉，或者，或者毀掉它？」「讓你？逼你？」巫師說。「你難道沒有聽我說過的一切嗎？你沒有仔細思考你說的話。至於把它丟掉，那顯然是錯的。這些魔戒總有辦法被找到。落在邪惡之手，它可能會造成巨大的邪惡。最糟糕的是，它可能會落入敵人的手中。事實上，它肯定會；因為這就是至尊魔戒，而他正在竭盡全力尋找它或將它吸引到自己身邊。「當然，我親愛的佛羅多，這對你來說很危險；這讓我深感不安。但事關重大，我不得不冒一些風險——儘管即使我遠在天邊，夏爾也從未有一天不被警惕的目光守護著。只要你從未使用過它，我就不認為魔戒會對你產生任何持久的影響，不會是邪惡的影響，至少在很長一段時間內不會。而且你必須記住，九年前我上次見到你時，我對很多事情都還不確定。」「但為什麼不毀掉它呢，就像你說的，早就該這麼做了？」佛羅多又喊道。「如果你當時警告我，甚至給我傳個口信，我就會把它處理掉的。」「你會嗎？你會怎麼做？你試過嗎？」「沒有。但我猜想可以用錘子敲碎它或熔化它。」「試試看！」甘道夫說。「現在就試！」佛羅多再次從口袋裡掏出魔戒，凝視著它。它現在看起來樸素光滑，沒有他能看到的任何記號或圖案。黃金看起來非常光潔純淨，佛羅多心想它的顏色多麼濃郁美麗，它的圓度多麼完美。這是一件令人讚嘆且彌足珍貴的東西。當他拿出它時，他本打算將它從手中扔進火中最熱的部分。但他現在發現他做不到，除非經過一番巨大的掙扎。他將魔戒握在手中掂量著，猶豫不決，強迫自己回憶甘道夫告訴他的一切；然後他憑藉意志力做了一個動作，彷彿要將它扔掉——但他卻發現自己把它放回了口袋裡。甘道夫嚴肅地笑了。「你看？連你，佛羅多，也無法輕易放手，也不願損壞它。而我無法『逼』你——除非使用武力，那樣會摧毀你的心智。但至於摧毀魔戒，武力是無用的。即使你拿起它並用
THE SHADOW OF THE PAST 61 heavy sledge-hammer, it would make no dint in it. It cannot be unmade by your hands, or by mine. “Your small fire, of course, would not melt even ordinary gold. This Ring has already passed through it unscathed, and even unheated. But there is no smith’s forge in this Shire that could change it at all. Not even the anvils and furnaces of the Dwarves could do that. It has been said that dragon-fire could melt and consume the Rings of Power, but there is not now any dragon left on earth in which the old fire is hot enough; nor was there ever any dragon, not even Ancalagon the Black, who could have harmed the One Ring, the Ruling Ring, for that was made by Sauron himself. “There is only one way: to find the Cracks of Doom in the depths of Orodruin, the Fire-mountain, and cast the Ring in there, if you really wish to destroy it, to put it beyond the grasp of the Enemy for ever.’ ‘I do really wish to destroy it!’ cried Frodo. ‘Or, well, to have it destroyed. I am not made for perilous quests. I wish I had never seen the Ring! Why did it come to me? Why was I chosen?’ ‘Such questions cannot be answered,’ said Gandalf. “You may be sure that it was not for any merit that others do not possess: not for power or wisdom, at any rate. But you have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have.’ ‘But I have so little of any of these things! You are wise and powerful. Will you not take the Ring?’ ‘No!’ cried Gandalf, springing to his feet. “With that power I should have power too great and terrible. And over me the Ring would gain a power still greater and more deadly.’ His eyes flashed and his face was lit as by a fire within. ‘Do not tempt me! For I do not wish to become like the Dark Lord himself. Yet the way of the Ring to my heart is by pity, pity for weakness and the desire of strength to do good. Do not tempt me! I dare not take it, not even to keep it safe, unused. The wish to wield it would be too great for my strength. I shall have such need of it. Great perils lie before me.’ He went to the window and drew aside the curtains and the shutters. Sunlight streamed back again into the room. Sam passed along the path outside whistling. ‘And now,’ said the wizard, turning back to Frodo, ‘the decision lies with you. But I will always help you.’ He laid his hand on Frodo’s shoulder. ‘I will help you bear this burden, as long as it is yours to bear. But we must do something, soon. The Enemy is moving.’ There was a long silence. Gandalf sat down again and puffed at his pipe, as if lost in thought. His eyes seemed closed, but under the lids he was watching Frodo intently. Frodo gazed fixedly at the red
過去的陰影 61 即使是沉重的鐵鎚，也無法在上面留下任何痕跡。它無法被你或我的手摧毀。 「當然，你那點小火連普通的黃金都熔化不了。這只魔戒已經毫髮無傷地穿過火焰，甚至沒有被加熱。但在夏爾，沒有任何鐵匠的爐火能改變它。即使是矮人的鐵砧和熔爐也辦不到。據說龍火可以熔化並吞噬力量之戒，但現在世上已沒有任何龍的古老火焰足夠炙熱；而且從來沒有任何龍，即使是黑龍安卡拉剛，能夠傷害至尊魔戒，那統御魔戒，因為它是索倫親手鑄造的。 「只有一個辦法：找到末日裂隙，在末日火山奧洛都因的深處，將魔戒投入其中，如果你真的想摧毀它，讓它永遠脫離敵人的掌握。」 「我真的想摧毀它！」佛羅多喊道。「或者，嗯，讓它被摧毀。我不是為危險的任務而生的。我真希望我從未見過這只魔戒！它為什麼會來到我這裡？我為什麼會被選中？」 「這些問題是無法回答的。」甘道夫說。「你可以肯定，這並非因為你擁有他人所沒有的任何優點：無論如何，不是因為力量或智慧。但你已被選中，因此你必須運用你所擁有的力量、勇氣和智慧。」 「但我這些東西都太少了！你又聰明又強大。你難道不願意拿走魔戒嗎？」 「不！」甘道夫跳了起來，大聲說。「有了那力量，我就會擁有過於強大和可怕的力量。而魔戒對我來說，將會獲得更強大、更致命的力量。」他雙眼閃爍，臉上彷彿有內在的火焰照亮。「別誘惑我！因為我不想變得像那黑暗魔君一樣。然而，魔戒通往我內心的方式是透過憐憫，憐憫弱小以及渴望力量去行善。別誘惑我！我不敢拿它，即使只是為了安全保管，不使用它。想要駕馭它的慾望對我的力量來說太過強大。我將會非常需要它。巨大的危險正擺在我面前。」他走到窗邊，拉開了窗簾和百葉窗。陽光再次灑進房間。山姆在外面的小徑上吹著口哨走過。 「現在，」巫師轉向佛羅多說，「決定權在你。但我會永遠幫助你。」他把手放在佛羅多的肩膀上。「我會幫助你承擔這個重擔，只要它仍是你的重擔。但我們必須盡快做點什麼。敵人正在行動。」 一片長久的寂靜。甘道夫再次坐下，抽著他的煙斗，彷彿陷入沉思。他的眼睛似乎閉著，但在眼瞼下，他正專注地觀察著佛羅多。佛羅多凝視著那紅色
62 THE LORD OF THE RINGS embers on the hearth, until they filled all his vision, and he seemed to be looking down into profound wells of fire. He was thinking of the fabled Cracks of Doom and the terror of the Fiery Mountain. ‘Well!’ said Gandalf at last. ‘What are you thinking about? Have you decided what to do?’ ‘No!’ answered Frodo, coming back to himself out of darkness, and finding to his surprise that it was not dark, and that out of the window he could see the sunlit garden. ‘Or perhaps, yes. As far as I understand what you have said, I suppose I must keep the Ring and guard it, at least for the present, whatever it may do to me.’ ‘Whatever it may do, it will be slow, slow to evil, if you keep it with that purpose,’ said Gandalf. ‘I hope so,’ said Frodo. ‘But I hope that you may find some other better keeper soon. But in the meanwhile it seems that I am a danger, a danger to all that live near me. I cannot keep the Ring and stay here. I ought to leave Bag End, leave the Shire, leave everything and go away.’ He sighed. ‘I should like to save the Shire, if I could — though there have been times when I thought the inhabitants too stupid and dull for words, and have felt that an earthquake or an invasion of dragons might be good for them. But I don’t feel like that now. I feel that as long as the Shire lies behind, safe and comfortable, I shall find wandering more bearable: I shall know that somewhere there is a firm foothold, even if my feet cannot stand there again. ‘Of course, I have sometimes thought of going away, but I imagined that as a kind of holiday, a series of adventures like Bilbo’s or better, ending in peace. But this would mean exile, a flight from danger into danger, drawing it after me. And I suppose I must go alone, if I am to do that and save the Shire. But I feel very small, and very uprooted, and well — desperate. The Enemy is so strong and terrible.’ He did not tell Gandalf, but as he was speaking a great desire to follow Bilbo flamed up in his heart — to follow Bilbo, and even perhaps to find him again. It was so strong that it overcame his fear: he could almost have run out there and then down the road without his hat, as Bilbo had done on a similar morning long ago. ‘My dear Frodo!’ exclaimed Gandalf. ‘Hobbits really are amazing creatures, as I have said before. You can learn all that there is to know about their ways in a month, and yet after a hundred years they can still surprise you at a pinch. I hardly expected to get such an answer, not even from you. But Bilbo made no mistake in choosing his heir, though he little thought how important it would prove. I am afraid you are right. The Ring will not be able to stay hidden in the Shire much longer; and for your own sake, as well as for others,
62 魔戒 爐火中的餘燼，直到它們充滿了他的整個視野，他彷彿正俯視著深邃的火井。他想起了傳說中的末日裂縫和末日火山的恐怖。「嗯！」甘道夫終於說道。「你在想什麼？你決定好怎麼做了嗎？」「沒有！」佛羅多回答，從黑暗中回過神來，驚訝地發現外面並不黑暗，透過窗戶他能看到陽光普照的花園。「或許，是的。就我理解你所說的，我想我必須保管魔戒，至少目前是這樣，無論它會對我做什麼。」「無論它會做什麼，如果你抱著這個目的保管它，它對邪惡的影響將會很慢，很慢。」甘道夫說。「我希望如此。」佛羅多說。「但我希望你很快就能找到其他更好的保管者。但在這期間，我似乎是一個危險，對所有住在我身邊的人都是一個危險。我不能保管魔戒並留在這裡。我應該離開袋底洞，離開夏爾，離開一切然後走開。」他嘆了口氣。「如果可以，我真想拯救夏爾——儘管有時候我會覺得那裡的居民愚蠢遲鈍得難以言喻，甚至覺得一場地震或龍的入侵對他們來說或許是好事。但我現在不這麼覺得了。我覺得只要夏爾安穩舒適地留在身後，我就會覺得流浪更為可以忍受：我會知道某處有一個穩固的立足點，即使我的腳再也無法踏足那裡。」「當然，我偶爾也想過離開，但我曾想像那是一種假期，一系列像比爾博那樣或更好的冒險，最終歸於平靜。但這將意味著流放，一場從危險逃向危險的旅程，並將危險引向我。我想我必須獨自前往，如果我要這麼做並拯救夏爾的話。但我感到非常渺小，非常無根，而且——絕望。敵人如此強大而可怕。」他沒有告訴甘道夫，但在他說話時，一種追隨比爾博的強烈渴望在他心中燃燒起來——追隨比爾博，甚至或許再次找到他。這種渴望如此強烈，以至於它克服了他的恐懼：他幾乎可以像比爾博多年前在一個類似的早晨所做的那樣，不戴帽子就衝出去，沿著路跑下去。「我親愛的佛羅多！」甘道夫驚呼道。「哈比人真是了不起的生物，我以前就說過。你可以在一個月內了解他們所有的習性，然而一百年後他們仍然能在危急時刻讓你大吃一驚。我幾乎沒想到會得到這樣的答案，即使是你。但比爾博在選擇他的繼承人時沒有犯錯，儘管他當時幾乎沒想到這會證明有多麼重要。我恐怕你是對的。魔戒將無法在夏爾隱藏太久；為了你自己，也為了其他人，
THE SHADOW OF THE PAST 63 you will have to go, and leave the name of Baggins behind you. That name will not be safe to have, outside the Shire or in the Wild. I will give you a travelling name now. When you go, go as Mr. Underhill. ‘But I don’t think you need go alone. Not if you know of anyone you can trust, and who would be willing to go by your side — and that you would be willing to take into unknown perils. But if you look for a companion, be careful in choosing! And be careful of what you say, even to your closest friends! The enemy has many spies and many ways of hearing.’ Suddenly he stopped as if listening. Frodo became aware that all was very quiet, inside and outside. Gandalf crept to one side of the window. Then with a dart he sprang to the sill, and thrust a long arm out and downwards. There was a squawk, and up came Sam Gamgee’s curly head hauled by one ear. ‘Well, well, bless my beard!’ said Gandalf. ‘Sam Gamgee is it? Now what may you be doing?’ ‘Lor bless you, Mr. Gandalf, sir!’ said Sam. ‘Nothing! Leastways I was just trimming the grass-border under the window, if you follow me.’ He picked up his shears and exhibited them as evidence. ‘I don’t,’ said Gandalf grimly. ‘It is some time since I last heard the sound of your shears. How long have you been eavesdropping?’ ‘Eavesdropping, sir? I don’t follow you, begging your pardon. There ain’t no eaves at Bag End, and that’s a fact.’ ‘Don’t be a fool! What have you heard, and why did you listen?’ Gandalf’s eyes flashed and his brows stuck out like bristles. ‘Mr. Frodo, sir!’ cried Sam quaking. ‘Don’t let him hurt me, sir! Don’t let him turn me into anything unnatural! My old dad would take on so. I meant no harm, on my honour, sir!’ ‘He won’t hurt you,’ said Frodo, hardly able to keep from laughing, although he was himself startled and rather puzzled. ‘He knows, as well as I do, that you mean no harm. But just you up and answer his questions straight away!’ ‘Well, sir,’ said Sam dithering a little. ‘I heard a deal that I didn’t rightly understand, about an enemy, and rings, and Mr. Bilbo, sir, and dragons, and a fiery mountain, and — and Elves, sir. I listened because I couldn’t help myself, if you know what I mean. Lor bless me, sir, but I do love tales of that sort. And I believe them too, whatever Ted may say. Elves, sir! I would dearly love to see them. Couldn’t you take me to see Elves, sir, when you go?’ Suddenly Gandalf laughed. ‘Come inside!’ he shouted, and putting out both his arms he lifted the astonished Sam, shears, grass-clippings and all, right through the window and stood him on the floor. “Take you to see Elves, eh?’ he said, eyeing Sam closely, but with a smile flickering on his face. ‘So you heard that Mr. Frodo is going away?’
過去的陰影 63 你必須離開，把「巴金斯」這個名字拋在腦後。在夏爾之外或荒野之中，這個名字將不再安全。我現在給你一個旅行用的名字。你走的時候，就叫「安德希爾先生」。 「但我認為你不必獨自前往。如果你認識任何你可以信任，並且願意與你同行——而且你願意帶他一同面對未知危險的人，就不必獨行。但如果你要找個伴，務必謹慎選擇！而且，即使是你最親密的朋友，也要小心你說的話！敵人有許多間諜，也有許多打探消息的辦法。」 他突然停了下來，彷彿在傾聽。佛羅多意識到室內外都非常安靜。甘道夫悄悄地走到窗邊。然後他猛地一躍，跳上窗台，伸出一隻長臂向下探去。傳來一聲尖叫，山姆·詹吉的捲髮腦袋被一隻耳朵揪了上來。 「哎呀，哎呀，鬍子啊，保佑我！」甘道夫說。「是山姆·詹吉嗎？你這是做什麼呢？」 「主啊，保佑您，甘道夫先生！」山姆說。「沒什麼！至少我只是在窗下修剪草邊，如果您明白我的意思。」他拿起剪刀，展示它們作為證據。 「我不明白。」甘道夫嚴肅地說。「我上次聽到你剪刀的聲音已經是很久以前的事了。你偷聽多久了？」 「偷聽，先生？我不明白您的意思，請您原諒。袋底洞可沒有屋簷，這是事實。」 「別傻了！你聽到了什麼，為什麼要聽？」甘道夫的眼睛閃爍著，眉毛像刷子一樣豎了起來。 「佛羅多先生！」山姆顫抖著喊道。「別讓他傷害我，先生！別讓他把我變成任何不自然的怪物！我老爸會氣壞的。我絕無惡意，我以我的榮譽發誓，先生！」 「他不會傷害你。」佛羅多說，幾乎忍不住要笑出來，儘管他自己也嚇了一跳，有些困惑。「他和我一樣清楚，你沒有惡意。但你現在就站起來，直接回答他的問題！」 「嗯，先生。」山姆有些猶豫地說。「我聽到很多我不太明白的事情，關於一個敵人，還有戒指，還有比爾博先生，還有龍，還有火焰山，還有——還有精靈，先生。我之所以聽，是因為我忍不住，如果您明白我的意思。主啊，保佑我，先生，我真的很喜歡那種故事。而且我也相信它們，不管泰德怎麼說。精靈，先生！我非常想見見他們。您去的時候，能不能帶我去見見精靈呢，先生？」 甘道夫突然笑了。「進來！」他喊道，然後伸出雙臂，將驚訝的山姆，連同剪刀、草屑和所有東西，直接從窗戶裡抱了進來，放在地板上。「帶你去見精靈，嗯？」他盯著山姆，臉上帶著一絲笑意。「所以你聽說佛羅多先生要走了？」
64 THE LORD OF THE RINGS ‘I did, sir. And that’s why I choked: which you heard seemingly. I tried not to, sir, but it burst out of me: I was so upset.’ ‘It can’t be helped, Sam,’ said Frodo sadly. He had suddenly realized that flying from the Shire would mean more painful partings than merely saying farewell to the familiar comforts of Bag End. ‘I shall have to go. But’ — and here he looked hard at Sam — ‘if you really care about me, you will keep that dead secret. See? If you don’t, if you even breathe a word of what you’ve heard here, then I hope Gandalf will turn you into a spotted toad and fill the garden full of grass-snakes.’ Sam fell on his knees, trembling. ‘Get up, Sam!’ said Gandalf. ‘T have thought of something better than that. Something to shut your mouth, and punish you properly for listening. You shall go away with Mr. Frodo!’ ‘Me, sir!’ cried Sam, springing up like a dog invited for a walk. ‘Me go and see Elves and all! Hooray!’ he shouted, and then burst into tears.
64 《魔戒》 「是的，先生。所以我才哽咽了：您似乎也聽到了。我努力忍住，先生，但它還是脫口而出了：我太難過了。」 「山姆，這也沒辦法了。」佛羅多悲傷地說。他突然意識到，離開夏爾將意味著比告別袋底洞的熟悉舒適更痛苦的離別。「我非走不可。但是」——他此時嚴肅地看著山姆——「如果你真的關心我，你就要保守這個天大的秘密。明白嗎？如果你不這麼做，如果你甚至洩露了在這裡聽到的隻字片語，那我希望甘道夫會把你變成一隻斑點蟾蜍，並讓花園裡到處都是草蛇。」 山姆雙膝跪地，渾身顫抖。「起來，山姆！」甘道夫說。「我想到了比那更好的辦法。一個讓你閉嘴，並好好懲罰你偷聽的辦法。你將和佛羅多先生一起離開！」 「我，先生！」山姆像一隻被邀請去散步的狗一樣跳了起來，大喊：「我能去見精靈和所有的一切！萬歲！」他喊道，然後突然哭了起來。