霍比特人：Riddles in the Dark 黑暗中的謎語 （上）

RIDDLES IN THE DARK

黑暗中的謎語

When Bilbo opened his eyes, he wondered if he had; for it was just as dark as with them shut. No one was anywhere near him. Just imagine his fright! He could hear nothing, see nothing, and he could feel nothing except the stone of the floor.

睜開眼睛的時(shí)候，比爾博懷疑自己到底有沒有睜開眼睛，因?yàn)檠矍案]著眼睛一樣漆黑。他的近旁沒有任何人。啊!他心中的惶恐可想而知!他什么也聽不見，什么也看不到，除了腳下的石頭地之外，他什么也感覺不到。

Very slowly he got up and groped about on all fours, till he touched the wall of the tunnel; but neither up nor down it could he find anything: nothing at all, no sign of goblins, no sign of dwarves. His head was swimming, and he was far from certain even of the direction they had been going in when he had his fall. He guessed as well as he could, and crawled along for a good way, till suddenly his hand met what felt like a tiny ring of cold metal lying on the floor of the tunnel. It was a turning point in his career, but he did not know it. He put the ring in his pocket almost without thinking; certainly it did not seem of any particular use at the moment. He did not go much further, but sat down on the cold floor and gave himself up to complete miserableness, for a long while. He thought of himself frying bacon and eggs in his own kitchen at home—for he could feel inside that it was high time for some meal or other; but that only made him miserabler.

他慢慢地坐起身來，四肢并用地四下摸索著，直到觸摸到隧道的墻壁，但他在墻的上面和下面都找不到任何東西：什么也沒有，既沒有半獸人的跡象，也沒有矮人的跡象。他的腦袋暈暈乎乎的，連自己摔倒之前在朝哪個(gè)方向走都根本無法確定。他勉強(qiáng)猜了一個(gè)方向，然后朝著那個(gè)方向爬了很長一段距離，直到他的手突然在地上摸到一個(gè)小小的、像是用冰冷金屬做成的戒指。這是他生涯上的轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)，但他自己還不知道。他想也不想就把戒指放進(jìn)口袋，當(dāng)時(shí)這戒指看來似乎并沒有什么特別的用場。他沒有再往下走，而是坐在了冰冷的地面上，長時(shí)間地陷入了自哀自憐之中。他想起了自己在自家屋子的廚房里煎火腿蛋的情景，這其實(shí)是因?yàn)樗纳眢w告訴他該吃點(diǎn)東西了，可是，這樣的想像只能讓他越發(fā)感到心中悲苦。

He could not think what to do; nor could he think what had happened; or why he had been left behind; or why, if he had been left behind, the goblins had not caught him; or even why his head was so sore. The truth was he had been lying quiet, out of sight and out of mind, in a very dark corner for a long while.

他想不出來該做些什么，也弄不明白到底發(fā)生了什么事情，或是自己為什么會(huì)被大家撇下，又或者，如果他真的被撇下了，半獸人為什么沒有抓住他?為什么他的腦袋會(huì)這么痛?事實(shí)的真相是：他一直躺在一個(gè)非常黑暗的死角里，沒有發(fā)出一點(diǎn)聲音，所以既沒被人看見，也沒被人想起，就這樣一躺就是好久。

After some time he felt for his pipe. It was not broken, and that was something. Then he felt for his pouch, and there was some tobacco in it, and that was something more. Then he felt for matches and he could not find any at all, and that shattered his hopes completely. Just as well for him, as he agreed when he came to his senses. Goodness knows what the striking of matches and the smell of tobacco would have brought on him out of dark holes in that horrible place. Still at the moment he felt very crushed. But in slapping all his pockets and feeling all round himself for matches his hand came on the hilt of his little sword—the little dagger that he got from the trolls, and that he had quite forgotten; nor fortunately had the goblins noticed it, as he wore it inside his breeches.

又過了一會(huì)兒之后，他從身上摸出了煙斗。煙斗居然沒有折斷，這可真是有點(diǎn)了不得。然后他又摸出煙草袋，里面居然還有一些煙草，這也是讓他沒想到的。然后，他又開始摸火柴——這回什么也沒摸到，這下子把他剛升起的希望給整個(gè)擊碎了。等他恢復(fù)理智之后，他又慶幸自己沒找到火柴。天知道在這個(gè)可怕的地方，一旦他劃燃了火柴，煙草散發(fā)出了味道，從那些黑咕隆冬的洞洞里，會(huì)有什么樣的東西被招引來。即便如此，他在當(dāng)時(shí)還是覺得十分沮喪。但就在他翻遍所有的口袋，渾身上下找火柴的過程中，他的手摸到了身上短劍的劍柄——也就是之前他從食人妖洞穴找來的那把小匕首，他簡直都快把它給忘了。不過幸運(yùn)的是半獸人們也沒有注意到，因?yàn)樗阉卦诹笋R褲里。

Now he drew it out. It shone pale and dim before his eyes. “So it is an elvish blade, too,” he thought; “and goblins are not very near, and yet not far enough.”

此時(shí)，他將匕首拔了出來，匕首在他眼前閃著蒼白微弱的光芒。“原來這也是精靈打造的武器，”他想道，“半獸人離得不會(huì)太近，可也不會(huì)太遠(yuǎn)。”

But somehow he was comforted. It was rather splendid to be wearing a blade made in Gondolin for the goblin-wars of which so many songs had sung; and also he had noticed that such weapons made a great impression on goblins that came upon them suddenly.

但不管怎樣他得到了一些安慰。他此時(shí)佩戴的可是剛多林打造的武器，是為那場曾有那么多歌謠加以吟詠的對半獸人的戰(zhàn)爭而打造的，這讓他覺得自己身價(jià)陡增。此外，他還注意到，當(dāng)半獸人突然遭遇到這樣的武器時(shí)，往往會(huì)感到分外惶恐。

“Go back?” he thought. “No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!” So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of a patter and a pitter.

“往回走嗎?”他想，“絕對不行!往旁邊走?不可能!往前走?這是惟一該做的事情!繼續(xù)前進(jìn)!”想到這里，他站起身來，把短劍拿在身前，一只手扶著墻，快步往前走去，一顆心撲通撲通撲通撲通地跳得好響。

Now certainly Bilbo was in what is called a tight place. But you must remember it was not quite so tight for him as it would have been for me or for you. Hobbits are not quite like ordinary people; and after all if their holes are nice cheery places and properly aired, quite different from the tunnels of the goblins, still they are more used to tunnelling than we are, and they do not easily lose their sense of direction underground—not when their heads have recovered from being bumped. Also they can move very quietly, and hide easily, and recover wonderfully from falls and bruises, and they have a fund of wisdom and wise sayings that men have mostly never heard or have forgotten long ago.

現(xiàn)在，比爾博肯定正在緊要關(guān)頭，不過，大家一定要記住，同樣的情況對霍比特人總不會(huì)像對你我這樣的普通人要命?；舯忍厝撕臀覀冞@些普通人不同，盡管他們的洞府是可愛而又歡樂的好地方，通風(fēng)狀況良好，和半獸人的隧道很不一樣，但他們還是比我們更能適應(yīng)這些地底的隧道，也更不容易喪失在地下的方向感——當(dāng)然，這得是在他們的腦袋挨撞恢復(fù)正常之后。此外，他們也能夠悄無聲息地移動(dòng)，輕巧地掩藏行跡，磕磕碰碰之后復(fù)原的速度也很驚人。他們還擁有許許多多的古老諺語，人類要不是從來沒聽到過，就是很早便忘記了。

I should not have liked to have been in Mr. Baggins’ place, all the same. The tunnel seemed to have no end. All he knew was that it was still going down pretty steadily and keeping in the same direction in spite of a twist and a turn or two. There were passages leading off to the side every now and then, as he knew by the glimmer of his sword, or could feel with his hand on the wall. Of these he took no notice, except to hurry past for fear of goblins or half-imagined dark things coming out of them. On and on he went, and down and down; and still he heard no sound of anything except the occasional whirr of a bat by his ears, which startled him at first, till it became too frequent to bother about. I do not know how long he kept on like this, hating to go on, not daring to stop, on, on, until he was tireder than tired. It seemed like all the way to tomorrow and over it to the days beyond.

不過即使如此，恐怕也還是沒人愿意身處巴金斯先生此時(shí)的處境中。隧道看上去似乎沒有盡頭，他惟一能夠確定的就是，這條隧道依舊在持續(xù)向下，雖然其間會(huì)來上一個(gè)轉(zhuǎn)彎或出現(xiàn)一兩個(gè)拐角，但大方向一直沒變過。時(shí)不時(shí)地，比爾博憑借手中寶劍的光芒，或是觸摸洞壁的結(jié)果，可以確定會(huì)有通往兩側(cè)的岔路。對于這些岔路他基本沒有放在心上，除了通過的時(shí)候加快些腳步，以防有半獸人或是一半出自他想像的恐怖東西從那里面躥出來。他不停地走呀走呀，一直在往下。不過走了這許久，除了偶爾有一只蝙蝠從耳邊啪啪飛過外，他什么聲音也沒有聽到。一開始蝙蝠拍翅膀的聲音還會(huì)讓他嚇一跳，后來聽多了也就見怪不怪了。我不知道他這樣堅(jiān)持了多久，不想再走了，卻又不敢停下來，只好走，走，走，從累壞了走到累慘了，又走到累翻了。他感覺自己已經(jīng)從今天走到了明天，甚至已經(jīng)走了有好幾天了。

Suddenly without any warning he trotted splash into water! Ugh! it was icy cold. That pulled him up sharp and short. He did not know whether it was just a pool in the path, or the edge of an underground stream that crossed the passage, or the brink of a deep dark subterranean lake. The sword was hardly shining at all. He stopped, and he could hear, when he listened hard, drops drip-drip-dripping from an unseen roof into the water below; but there seemed no other sort of sound.

突然間，毫無征兆地，他撲通一聲踏進(jìn)了水中。呃!這水冰冷刺骨，讓他猛地一個(gè)激靈。他不知道這究竟是道路上的一小潭積水，還是橫貫隧道的一條地底河流，又或是某個(gè)深邃黑暗的地下湖的邊緣。到了這里，寶劍已經(jīng)幾乎沒有什么閃光了。他停下腳步，凝神傾聽，可以聽見從看不見的洞頂“嗒——嗒——嗒”落到下面水潭里的水滴聲，除此之外似乎就沒有別的聲音了。

“So it is a pool or a lake, and not an underground river,” he thought. Still he did not dare to wade out into the darkness. He could not swim; and he thought, too, of nasty slimy things, with big bulging blind eyes, wriggling in the water. There are strange things living in the pools and lakes in the hearts of mountains: fish whose fathers swam in, goodness only knows how many years ago, and never swam out again, while their eyes grew bigger and bigger and bigger from trying to see in the blackness; also there are other things more slimy than fish. Even in the tunnels and caves the goblins have made for themselves there are other things living unbeknown to them that have sneaked in from outside to lie up in the dark. Some of these caves, too, go back in their beginnings to ages before the goblins, who only widened them and joined them up with passages, and the original owners are still there in odd corners, slinking and nosing about.

“看來，這應(yīng)該是個(gè)水潭或者湖泊，而不是一條地下河。”他想道。但他還是不敢往那一片黑暗中涉水而去。他不會(huì)游泳，而且，在他腦中開始浮現(xiàn)出了水中那些惡心的滑膩膩的東西，它們長著突出的盲眼，在水中蠕動(dòng)著。在山脈底下的水潭里或是湖泊中的確有奇怪的東西：那是一些魚，它們的祖先不知多少年代以前游來了此地，之后就再也沒游出去過，它們的眼睛因?yàn)榻吡σ诤诎抵锌辞鍠|西，變得越來越大、越來越大、越來越大。除此之外，這里還有比這種魚更加滑膩膩的東西。即使是在半獸人為他們自己開鑿的隧道與洞穴中，也有一些不為他們所知的生物從外面悄悄溜進(jìn)來，生活在這一片黑暗之中。這些洞穴中有些是比半獸人更早的存在，他們只是將其拓寬，然后以通道相連而已，而這些洞穴原先的主人則依舊躲在一些零星的角落里悄悄行走著，用鼻子嗅著四周的氣息。

Deep down here by the dark water lived old Gollum, a small slimy creature. I don’t know where he came from, nor who or what he was. He was Gollum—as dark as darkness, except for two big round pale eyes in his thin face. He had a little boat, and he rowed about quite quietly on the lake; for lake it was, wide and deep and deadly cold. He paddled it with large feet dangling over the side, but never a ripple did he make. Not he. He was looking out of his pale lamp-like eyes for blind fish, which he grabbed with his long fingers as quick as thinking. He liked meat too. Goblin he thought good, when he could get it; but he took care they never found him out. He just throttled them from behind, if they ever came down alone anywhere near the edge of the water, while he was prowling about. They very seldom did, for they had a feeling that something unpleasant was lurking down there, down at the very roots of the mountain. They had come on the lake, when they were tunnelling down long ago, and they found they could go no further; so there their road ended in that direction, and there was no reason to go that way—unless the Great Goblin sent them. Sometimes he took a fancy for fish from the lake, and sometimes neither goblin nor fish came back.

在這地底深處的一池黑水邊，住著一個(gè)矮小的、滑膩膩的老家伙名叫咕嚕。我不知道他來自何方，也不知道他究竟是誰，或是什么生物。他就是咕嚕，黑得就像周遭的黑暗，除了瘦臉上那雙大而蒼白的圓眼。他有一艘小船，他在湖上寂靜地劃行，這個(gè)湖又廣又深，死一般地冰冷。他的兩只大腳伸出船舷外拍水前進(jìn)，卻連一點(diǎn)水聲都不弄出來，絕對是一點(diǎn)也沒有。他用那雙像油燈一樣的蒼白大眼搜尋湖中的盲魚，再用快捷如閃念的細(xì)長手指將它們抓起來。他也喜歡吃肉。如果能抓到半獸人的話，他會(huì)覺得半獸人吃起來也不錯(cuò)，但他行事小心，從不會(huì)讓半獸人發(fā)現(xiàn)他的行跡。在他四處游走尋找獵物的時(shí)候，若是有半獸人孤身來到水邊，他就會(huì)從背后一下勒住他的脖子。但半獸人很少會(huì)孤身到水邊來，因?yàn)樗麄円哺杏X到在這山底的深處，潛伏著某種不祥之物。很久以前，在挖掘隧道的時(shí)候，他們曾經(jīng)到湖上來過，當(dāng)時(shí)他們發(fā)現(xiàn)隧道挖不下去了，所以，通往這個(gè)方向的路就斷在了這里，因此半獸人是沒有理由到這里來的——除非他們的大王派他們來。有時(shí)候，大王會(huì)心血來潮想要吃湖中的魚，但好多次，不僅魚沒有送來，就連捕魚的半獸人也一去不回了。

Actually Gollum lived on a slimy island of rock in the middle of the lake. He was watching Bilbo now from the distance with his pale eyes like telescopes. Bilbo could not see him, but he was wondering a lot about Bilbo, for he could see that he was no goblin at all.

其實(shí)咕嚕就居住在湖中央一塊潮濕的巖石上。此刻，他正用他那雙像望遠(yuǎn)鏡一般的大白眼遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)地觀察著比爾博。比爾博看不見他，但他卻在好奇地琢磨著比爾博，因?yàn)椋梢钥吹贸鰜?，眼前的生物不是半獸人。

Gollum got into his boat and shot off from the island, while Bilbo was sitting on the brink altogether flummoxed and at the end of his way and his wits. Suddenly up came Gollum and whispered and hissed:

咕嚕跳進(jìn)船中，箭一般地離開了湖心島，此時(shí)比爾博正坐在水邊，腦子里一團(tuán)亂麻，既不知道該往何處去，也想不出下一步該怎么辦。突然間，咕嚕就從他眼前冒了出來，用帶著嘶嘶的聲音對他低語道：

“Bless us and splash us, my precioussss! I guess it’s a choice feast; at least a tasty morsel it’d make us, gollum!” And when he said gollum he made a horrible swallowing noise in his throat. That is how he got his name, though he always called himself ‘my precious’.

“我的寶貝，祝福我們，為我們?yōu)⑸鲜ニ?我想這是頓精美的大餐，至少可以給我們當(dāng)一塊美味的小點(diǎn)心，咕嚕!”當(dāng)他說“咕嚕”的時(shí)候，他會(huì)從喉嚨中發(fā)出一種恐怖的吞咽之聲。這也是他獲得這個(gè)名字的原因，盡管他總是稱呼自己為“我的寶貝”。

The hobbit jumped nearly out of his skin when the hiss came in his ears, and he suddenly saw the pale eyes sticking out at him.

當(dāng)這種帶著嘶嘶的聲音傳到耳中時(shí)，霍比特人差點(diǎn)被嚇得魂飛魄散，接著那雙蒼白的大眼也突兀地出現(xiàn)在他眼前。

“Who are you?” he said, thrusting his dagger in front of him.

“你是誰?”他將匕首伸到身前問道。

“What iss he, my preciouss?” whispered Gollum (who always spoke to himself through never having anyone else to speak to). This is what he had come to find out, for he was not really very hungry at the moment, only curious; otherwise he would have grabbed first and whispered afterwards.

“他嘶嘶誰，我的寶貝?”咕嚕低語道(由于從來沒有其他人可以對話，他總是喜歡自言自語)。這是他跑到比爾博跟前來的真正原因，因?yàn)樗@會(huì)兒肚子其實(shí)并不是很餓，只是感到很好奇，否則他會(huì)先出手把他抓了再跟他說話的。

“I am Mr. Bilbo Baggins. I have lost the dwarves and I have lost the wizard, and I don’t know where I am; and I don’t want to know, if only I can get away.”

“我是比爾博·巴金斯先生，我跟矮人走散了，跟巫師也走散了，我也不知道自己這是在哪兒，可我并不想知道這是哪兒，只要我能離開這兒就行了。”

“What’s he got in his handses?” said Gollum, looking at the sword, which he did not quite like.

“他的嘶嘶手上嘶嘶什么?”咕嚕盯著比爾博手中的短劍問道，他不是很喜歡這玩意兒。

“A sword, a blade which came out of Gondolin!”

“一把劍，出自剛多林的寶劍!”

“Sssss” said Gollum, and became quite polite. “Praps ye sits here and chats with it a bitsy, my preciousss. It likes riddles, praps it does, does it?” He was anxious to appear friendly, at any rate for the moment, and until he found out more about the sword and the hobbit, whether he was quite alone really, whether he was good to eat, and whether Gollum was really hungry. Riddles were all he could think of. Asking them, and sometimes guessing them, had been the only game he had ever played with other funny creatures sitting in their holes in the long, long ago, before he lost all his friends and was driven away, alone, and crept down, down, into the dark under the mountains.

“嘶嘶，”咕嚕變得頗有禮貌起來，“或許你可以坐在這里，和他嘶嘶說說話，我的寶貝。他喜歡猜謎，也許喜歡，嘶不嘶?”他急著要擺出一副友好的樣子，至少暫時(shí)如此，以了解更多有關(guān)這把寶劍和這個(gè)霍比特人的事情：他是不是真的只有孤身一人?他吃起來味道好不好?咕嚕自己的肚子是不是真的餓了等等。猜謎是他當(dāng)時(shí)惟一能想到的。出謎語給人猜，有時(shí)候也猜別人出的謎語，這是他和那些居住在自己洞穴里的其他有趣生物之間惟一玩過的游戲，但那是很久很久以前的事了，后來他失去了所有的朋友，被人趕走，孤身一人，往下鉆，往下鉆，一直來到這黑暗的大山最深處。

“Very well,” said Bilbo, who was anxious to agree, until he found out more about the creature, whether he was quite alone, whether he was fierce or hungry, and whether he was a friend of the goblins.

“是的，猜吧。”比爾博迫不及待地同意了對方的提議，因?yàn)樗敫嗟亓私膺@個(gè)生物：他是不是只有孤單一人，他是否很兇猛，這會(huì)兒肚子餓不餓，以及他究竟是不是半獸人的朋友。

“You ask first,” he said, because he had not had time to think of a riddle.

“你，先出謎語。”他說，因?yàn)樗粫r(shí)之間想不出什么謎語來。

So Gollum hissed:

于是咕嚕就嘶嘶地開始說了：

What has roots as nobody sees,

什么有根卻誰也見不到，

Is taller than trees,

個(gè)子比最高的大樹還要高，

Up, up it goes,

它直直地插入天際，

And yet never grows?

卻從來不長一分一毫?

“Easy!” said Bilbo. “Mountain, I suppose.”

“簡單!”比爾博說，“應(yīng)該是大山吧。”

“Does it guess easy? It must have a competition with us, my preciouss! If precious asks, and it doesn’t answer, we eats it, my preciousss. If it asks us, and we doesn’t answer, then we does what it wants, eh? We shows it the way out, yes!”

它那么容易就猜出來了嗎?我的寶貝，它跟我們較上勁兒了!如果寶貝出的謎語，它猜不出來，我們就把它吃掉;如果它出的謎語我們猜不出來，我們就滿足它的要求，指給它出去的路，就這么著!”

“All right!” said Bilbo, not daring to disagree, and nearly bursting his brain to think of riddles that could save him from being eaten.

“好吧!”比爾博不敢不同意，為了不讓自己被吃掉，他開始絞盡腦汁思考能難倒對方的謎題。

Thirty white horses on a red hill,

三十匹白馬在紅色山丘上，

First they champ,

它們先是大聲嚼啊嚼，

Then they stamp,

然后用力跺啊跺跺腳，

Then they stand still.

然后它們站定不動(dòng)了。

That was all he could think of to ask—the idea of eating was rather on his mind. It was rather an old one, too, and Gollum knew the answer as well as you do.

這是他當(dāng)時(shí)惟一想得出來的謎題——因?yàn)樗麧M腦子都在想著吃東西。這其實(shí)是個(gè)相當(dāng)古老的謎語，咕嚕就和各位讀者一樣熟知答案。

“Chestnuts, chestnuts,” he hissed. “Teeth! teeth! my preciousss; but we has only six!” Then he asked his second:

“老掉牙了，老掉牙了。”他嘶嘶地說道，“是牙齒!牙齒!我的寶貝，可我們只剩下六顆了!”然后他又出了第二個(gè)謎語：

Voiceless it cries,

無嗓卻會(huì)叫，

Wingless flutters,

無翼能飛高，

Toothless bites,

無牙卻會(huì)咬，

Mouthless mutters.

無嘴愛叨叨。

“Half a moment!” cried Bilbo, who was still thinking uncomfortably about eating. Fortunately he had once heard something rather like this before, and getting his wits back he thought of the answer. “Wind, wind of course,” he said, and he was so pleased that he made up one on the spot. “This’ll puzzle the nasty little underground creature,” he thought:

“讓我想一會(huì)兒!”比爾博喊道，他腦中還在滿帶懊惱地想著吃東西的事兒呢。所幸的是，他以前曾經(jīng)聽到過類似的謎語，因此心思稍一收回來之后就想出了答案。“是風(fēng)，當(dāng)然是風(fēng)!”他剛一喊出答案，心中就一陣欣喜，因?yàn)樗槃菹氤隽俗约旱牡诙€(gè)謎語。“這下管保叫那個(gè)惡心的地底小生物想破頭!”他心中暗忖道：

An eye in a blue face

藍(lán)色臉上一只眼，

Saw an eye in a green face.

看見綠色臉上一只眼。

“That eye is like to this eye”

“那只眼就像我這只眼，”

Said the first eye,

第一只眼說，

“But in low place, Not in high place.”

“可是它在地來我在天。”

“Ss, ss, ss,” said Gollum. He had been underground a long long time, and was forgetting this sort of thing. But just as Bilbo was beginning to hope that the wretch would not be able to answer, Gollum brought up memories of ages and ages and ages before, when he lived with his grandmother in a hole in a bank by a river, “Sss, sss, my preciouss,” he said. “Sun on the daisies it means, it does.”

“嘶嘶，嘶撕，嘶嘶。”咕嚕只有“嘶撕”卻說不上話來。他已在地底住了很長很長的時(shí)間了，都已經(jīng)開始忘記這種事情了。但就在比爾博開始覺得這個(gè)壞家伙會(huì)猜不出答案時(shí)，咕嚕卻喚醒了很久很久很久以前的記憶，那時(shí)，他還和祖母一起住在河邊的地洞里，“嘶嘶，撕嘶，我的寶貝，”他說，“這是太陽照在雛菊上啊，肯定是的。”

But these ordinary above ground everyday sort of riddles were tiring for him. Also they reminded him of days when he had been less lonely and sneaky and nasty, and that put him out of temper. What is more they made him hungry; so this time he tried something a bit more difficult and more unpleasant:

可是，這些簡簡單單的、在地面上實(shí)在是家常便飯式的謎語，對他來說卻很是頭疼，而且這些謎語也讓他想起當(dāng)年他沒有這么孤獨(dú)、這么鬼鬼祟祟、這么條件惡劣時(shí)的生活，這讓他不由得光火起來。于是這次他想出了一個(gè)更難、更讓人聽了不舒服的謎語來：

It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,

看不見，也摸不到，

Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.

聽不見，也聞不著。

It lies behind stars and under hills,

躲在星辰后，藏在山丘下，

And empty holes it fills.

把空洞填滿。

It comes first and follows after,

它先來一點(diǎn)，再全部趕到，

Ends life, kills laughter.

它終止生命，扼殺歡笑。

Unfortunately for Gollum Bilbo had heard that sort of thing before; and the answer was all round him any way. “Dark!” he said without even scratching his head or putting on his thinking cap.

也該著咕嚕倒楣，比爾博之前聽到過這類的謎語，所以答案早就已經(jīng)噴薄欲出了。“是黑夜!”他連頭都沒搔，腦筋也沒怎么開動(dòng)，就喊出了答案。

A box without hinges, key, or lid,

一只盒子沒有鉸鏈、沒有銷子也沒有蓋，

Yet golden treasure inside is hid,

但金色寶藏卻能安安心心在里面藏起來。

he asked to gain time, until he could think of a really hard one. This he thought a dreadfully easy chestnut, though he had not asked it in the usual words. But it proved a nasty poser for Gollum. He hissed to himself, and still he did not answer; he whispered and spluttered.

他出這個(gè)謎語只是為了爭取時(shí)間，好想出一個(gè)真正難的來。他認(rèn)為這個(gè)謎既老掉了牙，又簡單得要命，盡管他對常見的表述稍稍作了些改動(dòng)。可沒想到這竟然把咕嚕給難住了。他口中不停發(fā)出撕撕聲，憋了半天也沒有說出答案。接著他又低聲細(xì)語，嘴巴里發(fā)出各種聲音。

After some while Bilbo became impatient. “Well, what is it?” he said. “The answer’s not a kettle boiling over, as you seem to think from the noise you are making.”

又過了好一陣子，比爾博開始有點(diǎn)不耐煩了：“好啦，答案到底是什么?從你嘴巴里發(fā)出的聲音來看，你也許在考慮答案是不是煮開了的水壺，那我告訴你吧，不是。”

“Give us a chance; let it give us a chance, my preciouss—ss—ss.”

“給我們一個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)吧，讓它給我們一個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)吧，我的寶貝，嘶嘶——嘶撕。”

“Well,” said Bilbo after giving him a long chance, “what about your guess?”

“我說，”比爾博在給了他很長的一個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)之后開口道，“你猜這是什么啊?”

But suddenly Gollum remembered thieving from nests long ago, and sitting under the river bank teaching his grandmother, teaching his grandmother to suck—“Eggses!” he hissed. “Eggses it is!” Then he asked:

可就在這時(shí)，咕嚕突然想起了很久以前他從鳥巢里面偷東西的經(jīng)歷，那時(shí)他坐在河堤上教自己的祖母，教她如何吸——“蛋!”他嘶撕地喊道：“是蛋!”然后他出了一道謎：

Alive without breath,

活著卻沒有呼吸，

As cold as death;

冰冷有如死氣;

Never thirsty, ever drinking,

永不口渴，飲水不停;

All in mail never clinking.

身披鱗甲，卻無聲息。

He also in his turn thought this was a dreadfully easy one, because he was always thinking of the answer. But he could not remember anything better at the moment, he was so flustered by the egg-question. All the same it was a poser for poor Bilbo, who never had anything to do with the water if he could help it. I imagine you know the answer, of course, or can guess it as easy as winking, since you are sitting comfortably at home and have not the danger of being eaten to disturb your thinking. Bilbo sat and cleared his throat once or twice, but no answer came.

這回輪到他覺得這是個(gè)簡單得要命的謎語了，因?yàn)樗饺绽餄M腦子都是這個(gè)東西。不過，他因?yàn)楸荒莻€(gè)蛋的謎語弄得亂了陣腳，因此一時(shí)間想不出更好的謎語來。但是，對于這輩子盡量避免和水打交道的可憐的比爾博來說，這個(gè)謎語倒成了個(gè)大難題。我想你們應(yīng)該是知道答案的，要不然也能像眨一下眼那樣很容易就猜出來，因?yàn)槟銈兇藭r(shí)正舒舒服服地坐在家里，沒有猜錯(cuò)就被吃掉的危險(xiǎn)來打擾你們思考。比爾博坐直身子，清了一兩聲嗓子，還沒有說出來答案。

After a while Gollum began to hiss with pleasure to himself: “Is it nice, my preciousss? Is it juicy? Is it scrumptiously crunchable?” He began to peer at Bilbo out of the darkness.

過了一會(huì)兒，咕嚕開始高興地撕嘶著對自己說起話來：“它好吃嗎，我的寶貝?有很多汁水嗎?還是生脆可口?”他開始在黑暗中打量起比爾博來。

“Half a moment,” said the hobbit shivering. “I gave you a good long chance just now.”

“再等一小會(huì)兒。”霍比特人顫抖著說，“我剛才可是給了你很長的一個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)哦。”

“It must make haste, haste!” said Gollum, beginning to climb out of his boat on to the shore to get at Bilbo. But when he put his long webby foot in the water, a fish jumped out in a fright and fell on Bilbo’s toes.

“快點(diǎn)，快點(diǎn)!”咕嚕說著就開始爬出小船，準(zhǔn)備上岸來捉比爾博了?？删驮谒延絮氲拈L腳放進(jìn)水中時(shí)，一條魚受驚之下從水里跳了出來，落在比爾博的腳趾頭上。

“Ugh!” he said, “it is cold and clammy!”—and so he guessed. “Fish! fish!” he cried. “It is fish!”

“呃!”他說，“真是又冷又黏啊!”——突然他就猜到了。“魚!是魚!”他叫了起來，“答案是魚!”

Gollum was dreadfully disappointed; but Bilbo asked another riddle as quick as ever he could, so that Gollum had to get back into his boat and think.

咕嚕失望極了，但比爾博以最快的速度出了下一個(gè)謎語，咕嚕只能悻悻地爬回船上去思考。

No-legs lay on one-leg, two-legs sat near on three-legs, four-legs got some.

沒有腿的放在一條腿上，旁邊是兩條腿的坐在三條腿上，四條腿的也分到一點(diǎn)。

It was not really the right time for this riddle, but Bilbo was in a hurry. Gollum might have had some trouble guessing it, if he had asked it at another time. As it was, talking of fish, “no-legs” was not so very difficult, and after that the rest was easy. “Fish on a little table, man at table sitting on a stool, the cat has the bones” that of course is the answer, and Gollum soon gave it. Then he thought the time had come to ask something hard and horrible. This is what he said:

這個(gè)謎語出得可謂時(shí)機(jī)不對，但比爾博匆忙間也顧不得了。如果他在別的時(shí)候出這個(gè)謎語，咕嚕可能要?jiǎng)由弦环X筋才猜得出來，可因?yàn)樗麄儎倓偛耪f過魚，所以“沒有腿的”就不是很難猜了，而確定了這部分之后，其余的就簡單了。“魚放在小圓桌上，人坐在圓桌邊的凳子上，貓兒在啃魚骨頭”，這當(dāng)然就是答案，咕嚕很快就猜了出來。然后，他覺得是時(shí)候來點(diǎn)恐怖的、超難的謎語了。于是他說：

This thing all things devours:

能把一切都吞下：

Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;

飛鳥、走獸、樹與花;

Gnaws iron, bites steel;

啃生鐵，咬精鋼;

Grinds hard stones to meal;

嚼碎硬石當(dāng)食糧;

Slays king, ruins town,

殺國王，毀城鎮(zhèn)，

And beats high mountain down.

打倒高山成齏粉。

Poor Bilbo sat in the dark thinking of all the horrible names of all the giants and ogres he had ever heard told of in tales, but not one of them had done all these things. He had a feeling that the answer was quite different and that he ought to know it, but he could not think of it. He began to get frightened, and that is bad for thinking. Gollum began to get out of his boat. He flapped into the water and paddled to the bank; Bilbo could see his eyes coming towards him. His tongue seemed to stick in his mouth; he wanted to shout out: “Give me more time! Give me time!” But all that came out with a sudden squeal was:

可憐的比爾博坐在黑暗中，把他聽過的故事中所有巨人和食人魔的可怕名字都想了一遍，但沒有哪個(gè)家伙能做下所有這些事來。他有種預(yù)感，答案一定和他想的不太一樣，他應(yīng)該知道，但就是想不出來。他開始害怕了，這對于思考是很不利的。咕嚕又開始爬出船來，撲通撲通跳進(jìn)水里，啪嗒啪嗒朝岸上走來。比爾博可以看見他那雙眼睛在朝自己靠近，他覺得自己的舌頭好像粘在了嘴里。他想要開口大喊：“再給我一點(diǎn)時(shí)間，再給我一點(diǎn)時(shí)間!”可從他嘴里迸出來的相連的兩個(gè)詞卻是：

“Time! Time!”

“時(shí)間!時(shí)間!”

Bilbo was saved by pure luck. For that of course was the answer.

比爾博純粹是被他的狗屎運(yùn)給救了，因?yàn)檫@剛好就是答案。

Gollum was disappointed once more; and now he was getting angry, and also tired of the game. It had made him very hungry indeed. This time he did not go back to the boat. He sat down in the dark by Bilbo. That made the hobbit most dreadfully uncomfortable and scattered his wits.

咕哨再次大感失望，現(xiàn)在，他已經(jīng)越來越生氣了，也厭倦了這個(gè)游戲。猜來猜去的，肚子倒真的餓了。這次他沒有走回船上，而是在比爾博身邊的黑暗中坐了下來，這讓霍比特人怕得渾身不自在，腦子一點(diǎn)思考能力也沒有了。

“It’s got to ask uss a quesstion, my preciouss, yes, yess, yesss. Jusst one more question to guess, yes, yess,” said Gollum.

“它還要再問我們一個(gè)問題，我的寶貝，嘶的，嘶的，嘶嘶的。只要再猜一個(gè)謎語了，是的，嘶嘶的……”咕嚕說。

But Bilbo simply could not think of any question with that nasty wet cold thing sitting next to him, and pawing and poking him. He scratched himself, he pinched himself; still he could not think of anything.

可是，身邊坐著這樣一個(gè)冷冰冰濕漉漉的討厭家伙，對他又抓又戳的，比爾博哪還能想得出什么問題來。他對自己又抓又掐，可還是想不出個(gè)謎語來。

“Ask us! ask us!” said Gollum.

“快出啊!快出啊!”咕嚕催道。

Bilbo pinched himself and slapped himself; he gripped on his little sword; he even felt in his pocket with his other hand. There he found the ring he had picked up in the passage and forgotten about.

比爾博掐了自己幾下，又扇了自己幾個(gè)巴掌;他抓起小劍，甚至用另一只手伸進(jìn)口袋里一通亂摸，結(jié)果摸到了一枚戒指，就是之前在隧道里撿到的那枚，它早就給忘了。

“What have I got in my pocket?” he said aloud. He was talking to himself, but Gollum thought it was a riddle, and he was frightfully upset.

“我的口袋里面有什么?”他大聲說了出來，這在他只是自言自語，但咕嚕聽了以為這是個(gè)謎題，一下子有點(diǎn)慌了神。

“Not fair! not fair!” he hissed. “It isn’t fair, my precious, is it, to ask us what it’s got in its nassty little pocketses?”

“不公平!這不公平!”他嘶嘶地說道，“這不公平，我的寶貝，是吧，怎么可以問我們它的臟口袋里面有嘶嘶什么呢?”

Bilbo seeing what had happened and having nothing better to ask stuck to his question, “What have I got in my pocket?” he said louder.

比爾博這才明白究竟是怎么回事，但因?yàn)樗蚕氩怀鍪裁锤玫闹i語來，只能硬著頭皮就把這個(gè)當(dāng)謎語了。“我的口袋里面有什么?”他更大聲地問道。

“S-s-s-s-s,” hissed Gollum. “It must give us three guesseses, my preciouss, three guesseses.”

“嘶——嘶——嘶，它得讓我們猜三次，我的寶貝，三次!”

“Very well! Guess away!” said Bilbo.

“好啊!那就開始猜吧!”比爾博說。

“Handses!” said Gollum.

“你的手!”咕嚕說。

“Wrong,” said Bilbo, who had luckily just taken his hand out again. “Guess again!”

“錯(cuò)，”幸好比爾博剛剛把手拿了出來，“再猜!”

“S-s-s-s-s,” said Gollum more upset than ever. He thought of all the things he kept in his own pockets: fish-bones, goblins’ teeth, wet shells, a bit of bat-wing, a sharp stone to sharpen his fangs on, and other nasty things. He tried to think what other people kept in their pockets.

“嘶嘶——嘶嘶——嘶——”咕嚕這次前所未有地?zé)┰昶饋?。他想遍了所有他自己?huì)放在口袋里的東西：魚骨頭、半獸人的牙齒、濕貝殼、一截蝙蝠翅膀、一塊用來磨牙的石頭，以及其他惡心的東西。他又拼命想別人會(huì)在口袋里放些什么。

“Knife!” he said at last.

“小刀!”他最后猜道。

“Wrong!” said Bilbo, who had lost his some time ago. “Last guess!”

“錯(cuò)!”比爾博不久前把自己的小刀給弄丟了，“最后一次機(jī)會(huì)!”

Now Gollum was in a much worse state than when Bilbo had asked him the egg-question. He hissed and spluttered and rocked himself backwards and forwards, and slapped his feet on the floor, and wriggled and squirmed; but still he did not dare to waste his last guess.

現(xiàn)在，咕嚕的狀態(tài)比之前猜那個(gè)蛋的謎語時(shí)更糟糕，他嘴巴里一會(huì)兒“嘶嘶”，一會(huì)兒“啪啪”，身體時(shí)而前后搖晃，時(shí)而扭來扭去，雙腳跺著地面，但即便如此，他還是不敢浪費(fèi)掉最后一次機(jī)會(huì)。