霍比特人：奇怪的住所 Queer Lodgings （上）

QUEER LODGINGS

奇怪的住所

The next morning Bilbo woke up with the early sun in his eyes. He jumped up to look at the time and to go and put his kettle on—and found he was not home at all. So he sat down and wished in vain for a wash and a brush. He did not get either, nor tea nor toast nor bacon for his breakfast, only cold mutton and rabbit. And after that he had to get ready for a fresh start.

第二天，比尔博醒来时，眼前就是一片清晨的阳光。他一跃而起，准备看看时钟，然后去把水壶烧上——却发现自己根本不是在自己家里。所以，他只能沮丧地坐下来，心想，看来洗脸和刷牙是别指望了。他果然两样都没得到，也没有热茶加吐司加火腿的早餐，只有冷羊肉和兔肉。吃完这些之后，他就得要为重新出发作准备了。

This time he was allowed to climb on to an eagle’s back and cling between his wings. The air rushed over him and he shut his eyes. The dwarves were crying farewells and promising to repay the Lord of the Eagles if ever they could, as off rose fifteen great birds from the mountain’s side. The sun was still close to the eastern edge of things. The morning was cool, and mists were in the valleys and hollows and twined here and there about the peaks and pinnacles of the hills. Bilbo opened an eye to peep and saw that the birds were already high up and the world was far away, and the mountains were falling back behind them into the distance. He shut his eyes again and held on tighter.

这次，他获准爬到一只大鹰的背上，紧紧抓住两翼之间的羽毛。冷风飕飕地从他身上掠过，他紧紧地闭上了双眼。当十五只大鹰从山崖边起飞的时候，矮人们大声喊着再见，承诺说只要有机会就一定要回报鹰王。太阳依旧处于正东的方向，早晨空气清凉，雾气集聚在山谷中，东一片西一片地缠绕着山峰。比尔博睁开一只眼偷偷望了望，发现大鸟们已经飞得十分高，大地已经变得十分遥远了，群山退向他们的身后，渐行渐远。他闭上眼睛，双手抓得更紧了。

“Don’t pinch!” said his eagle. “You need not be frightened like a rabbit, even if you look rather like one. It is a fair morning with little wind. What is finer than flying?”

“别掐我!”他座下的大鹰说道，“你不用怕得像个兔子一样，虽然你看着的确有点像兔子。今早天气很好，又没有什么风，还有什么比在天空飞翔更舒服的呢?”

Bilbo would have liked to say: “A warm bath and late breakfast on the lawn afterwards;” but he thought it better to say nothing at all, and to let go his clutch just a tiny bit.

比尔博本想说“好好洗个热水澡，睡得晚点起来，在草地上吃早餐”，不过他还是觉得什么都不说为好，只是手上稍微松了很小的一点点。

After a good while the eagles must have seen the point they were making for, even from their great height, for they began to go down circling round in great spirals. They did this for a long while, and at last the hobbit opened his eyes again. The earth was much nearer, and below them were trees that looked like oaks and elms, and wide grass lands, and a river running through it all. But cropping out of the ground, right in the path of the stream which looped itself about it, was a great rock, almost a hill of stone, like a last outpost of the distant mountains, or a huge piece cast miles into the plain by some giant among giants.

过了好一阵之后，大鹰们一定是看见了他们的目的地，尽管他们飞得很高很高，因为他们开始画着很大的圈子缓缓地盘旋下降。他们盘旋了很久，最后霍比特人终于又睁开了眼睛。地面已经更靠近了，底下有树，看着像是橡树和榆树，还有宽阔的草地，以及一条穿越其间的河流。不过，在地面上矗立一块巨岩，大得几乎像是一座小山，溪流似乎在它身边绕了个圈。它仿佛是远方山脉的最后一个哨卡，又像是被巨人中的巨人从大山里丢出来的一块大石。

Quickly now to the top of this rock the eagles swooped one by one and set down their passengers.

大鹰们很快一个接一个地降落在这巨岩上，放下了身上的乘客。

“Farewell!” they cried, “wherever you fare, till your eyries receive you at the journey’s end!” That is the polite thing to say among eagles.

“再见了!”他们叫道，“无论你们去到哪里，希望你们在旅程结束时都能安全回到巢中!”这是大鹰彼此之间道别时的美好祝愿。

“May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks,” answered Gandalf, who knew the correct reply.

“愿你们翼下的强风，能把你们带到所有太阳和月亮能照到的地方。”甘道夫知道对大鹰们的祝愿该怎样得体地回答。

And so they parted. And though the Lord of the Eagles became in after days the King of All Birds and wore a golden crown, and his fifteen chieftains golden collars (made of the gold that the dwarves gave them), Bilbo never saw them again—except high and far off in the battle of Five Armies. But as that comes in at the end of this tale we will say no more about it just now.

他们就这样分别了。虽然鹰王后来成了万鸟之王，头上戴着金色的王冠，他手下十五名首领则戴上了黄金项圈(用矮人们给他们的黄金打造而成)，但比尔博再也没有见过他们——只除了在五军之战时远远望见过他们在高空中的身影。不过，这是在故事的尾声时才会发生的事情，所以我们现在暂且按下不提。

There was a flat space on the top of the hill of stone and a well worn path with many steps leading down it to the river, across which a ford of huge flat stones led to the grass-land beyond the stream. There was a little cave (a wholesome one with a pebbly floor) at the foot of the steps and near the end of the stony ford. Here the party gathered and discussed what was to be done.

巨岩顶端有一块平地，有一条许多人走过的、有很多级台阶的路一直往下通到河边，河对面有一片平坦巨石构成的浅滩，通往后面的草地。台阶到底的地方有个小岩洞(里面挺干净，地上是鹅卵石)，众人在洞里聚集，讨论接下来该怎么办。

“I always meant to see you all safe (if possible) over the mountains,” said the wizard, “and now by good management and good luck I have done it. Indeed we are now a good deal further east than I ever meant to come with you, for after all this is not my adventure. I may look in on it again before it is all over, but in the meanwhile I have some other pressing business to attend to.”

“我一直想着，只要可能，就一定要带你们安全地越过山脉。”巫师说，“现在，凭着得当的指挥和不错的运气，我做到了。现在，我们其实已经到了比我当初计划送你们前往的地方还要往东许多的地点了。在你们的冒险结束之前，我或许还会再来看看你们，不过现在，我有其他紧急的事情要去办。”

The dwarves groaned and looked most distressed, and Bilbo wept. They had begun to think Gandalf was going to come all the way and would always be there to help them out of difficulties. “I am not going to disappear this very instant,” said he. “I can give you a day or two more. Probably I can help you out of your present plight, and I need a little help myself. We have no food, and no baggage, and no ponies to ride; and you don’t know where you are. Now I can tell you that. You are still some miles north of the path which we should have been following, if we had not left the mountain pass in a hurry. Very few people live in these parts, unless they have come here since I was last down this way, which is some years ago. But there is somebody that I know of, who lives not far away. That Somebody made the steps on the great rock—the Carrock I believe he calls it. He does not come here often, certainly not in the daytime, and it is no good waiting for him. In fact it would be very dangerous. We must go and find him; and if all goes well at our meeting, I think I shall be off and wish you like the eagles ‘farewell wherever you fare!’”

矮人们发出不情愿的声音，脸上露出很受打击的表情，比尔博甚至哭了起来。大家起初都以为甘道夫会全程陪同他们一起冒险，总是会帮助他们脱离困境。“我也不是说走就走，”他说，“我会再给你们一两天，或许我可以协助你们脱离眼前的困境，我自己也需要一些帮助。我们没有食物，没有行李，也没有小马可骑，你们也不知道身在何处。不过，关于这点我可以告诉你们。你们现在位于我们该走的道路以北，距离有几哩远。如果我们离开大山不是那么仓促的话，本来是可以正好踏上那条路的。这一带没有什么人居住，除非在我几年前离开之后有人新迁移到这里来了。不过这儿倒是有我认识的人，就住在不远的地方，正是此人在巨岩上兴建了石阶，我记得他把这块巨岩叫作卡尔岩。他不常到这儿来，至少不会在白天来，所以在这边等他来也没什么用。事实上，这样做反而会很危险，我们得主动去找他，如果一切顺利我们能碰上头的话，我想到时我就可以离开了，并且像大鹰一样祝你们‘无论到哪儿都一切顺利!’”

They begged him not to leave them. They offered him dragon-gold and silver and jewels, but he would not change his mind. “We shall see, we shall see!” he said, “and I think I have earned already some of your dragon-gold—when you have got it.”

大家哀求他不要离开他们，愿意把恶龙的金银和珠宝与他分享，但这都不能让他改变心意。“我们会见面的，我们会见面的!”他说，“而且我想我已经挣到一些应得的宝藏了——等你们到手之后再给我吧。”

After that they stopped pleading. Then they took off their clothes and bathed in the river, which was shallow and clear and stony at the ford. When they had dried in the sun, which was now strong and warm, they were refreshed, if still sore and a little hungry. Soon they crossed the ford (carrying the hobbit), and then began to march through the long green grass and down the lines of the wide-armed oaks and the tall elms.

他这么一说，大家也就停止了恳求。接着，大家脱下衣服，在河水中好好洗了个澡。河水又浅又清，河滩上都是石头。等他们在强烈而又温暖的太阳下把身子晒干之后，虽然身上还有些酸痛，肚子还有一点点饿，但精神都已经好多了。不久以后，他们就带着霍比特人涉过了浅滩，开始穿过草地，顺着粗壮橡树和高大榆树的边缘向前进发。

“And why is it called the Carrock?” asked Bilbo as he went along at the wizard’s side.

“为什么这里要叫卡尔岩?”比尔博跟在巫师身旁边走边问道。

“He called it the Carrock, because carrock is his word for it. He calls things like that carrocks, and this one is the Carrock because it is the only one near his home and he knows it well.”

“因为他管这个叫卡尔岩，因为他用这个字来描述这样的地形。凡是类似的东西他都管它们叫卡尔岩，而你跟他一提卡尔岩他就知道指的是这个，因为这是他家附近惟一的卡尔岩，他对这个再熟悉不过了。”

“Who calls it? Who knows it?”

“你说的他是谁啊?谁替它起的名字?谁熟悉这个东西?”

“The Somebody I spoke of—a very great person. You must all be very polite when I introduce you. I shall introduce you slowly, two by two, I think; and you must be careful not to annoy him, or heaven knows what will happen. He can be appalling when he is angry, though he is kind enough if humoured. Still I warn you he gets angry easily.”

“就是我提到过的那个人——一个非常伟大的人。我向他介绍你们的时候，你们必须十分恭敬才行。我想，我会慢慢地介绍你们的，两个两个介绍，你们必须千万小心不要惹恼他，否则天知道会发生什么事情。他生气的时候很吓人，但脾气好的时候也很和善。我还是要再警告你们一下，他很容易生气的。”

The dwarves all gathered round when they heard the wizard talking like this to Bilbo. “Is that the person you are taking us to now?” they asked. “Couldn’t you find someone more easy-tempered? Hadn’t you better explain it all a bit clearer?”—and so on.

矮人们听见巫师这样对比尔博说话，全都围拢了过来。“刚刚说的就是你要带我们去见的人吗?”他们问道，“你难道不能找个脾气更好的人吗?你可不可以再解释得更清楚一点?”——全是诸如此类的问题。

“Yes it certainly is! No I could not! And I was explaining very carefully,” answered the wizard crossly. “If you must know more, his name is Beorn. He is very strong, and he is a skin-changer.”

“是的，说的就是他!不，我不能!我就是在非常小心地解释这一切。”巫师一口气就同时回答了三个问题。“如果你们坚持想知道得更多，我可以告诉你们，他的名字叫贝奥恩，他非常强壮，而且是个换皮人。”

“What! a furrier, a man that calls rabbits conies, when he doesn’t turn their skins into squirrels?” asked Bilbo.

“什么!他是个皮货商，就是那种把野兔皮冒充松鼠皮，以次充好的家伙吗?”比尔博问道。

“Good gracious heavens, no, no, NO, NO!” said Gandalf. “Don’t be a fool Mr. Baggins if you can help it; and in the name of all wonder don’t mention the word furrier again as long as you are within a hundred miles of his house, nor rug, cape, tippet, muff, nor any other such unfortunate word! He is a skin-changer. He changes his skin: sometimes he is a huge black bear, sometimes he is a great strong black-haired man with huge arms and a great beard. I cannot tell you much more, though that ought to be enough. Some say that he is a bear descended from the great and ancient bears of the mountains that lived there before the giants came. Others say that he is a man descended from the first men who lived before Smaug or the other dragons came into this part of the world, and before the goblins came into the hills out of the North. I cannot say, though I fancy the last is the true tale. He is not the sort of person to ask questions of.

“我的老天爷啊，不，不是，绝对不是，绝对绝对不是!”甘道夫说，“巴金斯先生，拜托请把你的傻样子尽量藏起来好不好?请看在老天爷开天辟地的份儿上，只要你们在他屋子的方圆百哩之内，就拜托千万不要提什么皮货商，还有皮毡啦、羊皮啦、裘皮披肩啦、皮手笼之类的词，还有所有这类要命的词语!他是个换皮人，他会更换外皮：有时候他是只大黑熊，有时候他是个强壮的黑发男子，胳膊粗粗的，胡子密密的。我只能告诉你们这么多，不过这些也应该够了。有人说他是巨人到来之前，住在山中的古代大熊的后代;其他人则说，他是在斯毛格或其他恶龙来到此地之前，在半兽人从北方来到这片大山之前，就住在这里的人类先民的后代。究竟怎样我也说不太准，但我认为最后一种猜测比较靠谱。他可不是那种会耐心回答问题的人。

“At any rate he is under no enchantment but his own. He lives in an oak-wood and has a great wooden house; and as a man he keeps cattle and horses which are nearly as marvellous as himself. They work for him and talk to him. He does not eat them; neither does he hunt or eat wild animals. He keeps hives and hives of great fierce bees, and lives most on cream and honey. As a bear he ranges far and wide. I once saw him sitting all alone on the top of the Carrock at night watching the moon sinking towards the Misty Mountains, and I heard him growl in the tongue of bears: ‘The day will come when they will perish and I shall go back!’ That is why I believe he once came from the mountains himself.”

“他不受任何魔法的影响，除非是他自己的。他住在一片橡木林中，有一栋高大的木屋。在他以人类的外形生活时，他会饲养很多几乎和他一样出色的牛和马。他们为他工作，和他说话。他不吃他们，也不猎杀或捕食野生的动物。他养了许许多多凶猛的野蜂，主要靠奶酪和蜂蜜生活。我有一次看见他在晚上独自一人坐在卡尔岩顶上，看月亮朝着迷雾山脉西沉，然后我听见他用大熊的语言嚎叫道：‘总有一天他们将会消亡，我将回到那里去!’正因为如此，我才会认为他自己也是从那座大山里来的。”

Bilbo and the dwarves had now plenty to think about, and they asked no more questions. They still had a long way to walk before them. Up slope and down dale they plodded. It grew very hot. Sometimes they rested under the trees, and then Bilbo felt so hungry that he would have eaten acorns, if any had been ripe enough yet to have fallen to the ground.

比尔博和矮人们现在有许多东西要思考，所以他们没有再问更多的问题。在他们前面还有一段漫漫长路要走。他们时而艰难地爬上斜坡，时而又迈着沉重的步伐走进山谷。天气变得非常热，有时他们会在树下休息，这时比尔博就会感到饥饿难当，如果有什么橡树子熟透了落到地上，他一定会毫不客气地给吃下去。

It was the middle of the afternoon before they noticed that great patches of flowers had begun to spring up, all the same kinds growing together as if they had been planted. Especially there was clover, waving patches of cockscomb clover, and purple clover, and wide stretches of short white sweet honey-smelling clover. There was a buzzing and a whirring and a droning in the air. Bees were busy everywhere. And such bees! Bilbo had never seen anything like them.

到下午过了一半的时候，他们才注意到附近出现了大片大片的花朵，都是同一种花朵长在一起，仿佛是人为种植的。尤其是三叶草，有一片片随风摆拂的鸡冠三叶草，还有紫色的三叶草。空中可以听到阵阵嗡嗡之声，那是蜜蜂在四处忙碌。这么多的蜜蜂!比尔博从来没见过这样的景象。

“If one was to sting me,” he thought, “I should swell up as big again as I am!”

“要是有哪一只蜇我一口的话，”他想，“我一定会肿得跟我以前一样胖了!”

They were bigger than hornets. The drones were bigger than your thumb, a good deal, and the bands of yellow on their deep black bodies shone like fiery gold.

这些野蜂比黄蜂还要大。其中的雄蜂比你的大拇指还大出好多，深黑色身体上的黄色条纹带像金子一样闪闪发光。

“We are getting near,” said Gandalf. “We are on the edge of his bee-pastures.”

“我们离他已经不远了，”甘道夫说，“我们已经来到他的养蜂场边上了。”

After a while they came to a belt of tall and very ancient oaks, and beyond these to a high thorn-hedge through which you could neither see nor scramble.

又走了一阵之后，他们走到了一片橡树林带，这里的橡树都是高大而又古老的橡树。林带后面有一道高高密密的荆棘篱笆，既看不见后面有什么，也没办法爬过去。

“You had better wait here,” said the wizard to the dwarves; “and when I call or whistle begin to come after me—you will see the way I go—but only in pairs, mind, about five minutes between each pair of you. Bombur is fattest and will do for two, he had better come alone and last. Come on Mr. Baggins! There is a gate somewhere round this way.” And with that he went off along the hedge taking the frightened hobbit with him.

“你们还是等在这儿吧，”巫师对矮人们说，“如果听到我喊你们或是吹口哨，你们就可以开始朝我走的方向过来——你们会看见我往哪儿走的——不过，请务必一对儿一对儿地进来，注意，每一对之间必须间隔五分钟。邦伯是最胖的家伙，他一个人可以抵上两个，所以他最好一个人进来，排在最后。来吧，巴金斯先生!这儿附近有个门。”话音未落，他就带着战战兢兢的霍比特人沿着篱笆找起门来。

They soon came to a wooden gate, high and broad, beyond which they could see gardens and a cluster of low wooden buildings, some thatched and made of unshaped logs: barns, stables, sheds, and a long low wooden house. Inside on the southward side of the great hedge were rows and rows of hives with bell-shaped tops made of straw. The noise of the giant bees flying to and fro and crawling in and out filled all the air.

他们很快来到一座又高又宽的木门前，两人可以看到门后有一大片花园和许多低矮的木头建筑，有些用粗糙的原木建成，屋顶铺了茅草：有谷仓、马厩、畜棚，以及一长排不高的木屋。在大篱笆内部的南边放着一排排的蜂巢，上面有钟形的茅草顶。满耳听到的都是巨大的野蜂飞来飞去，钻进钻出所发出的声音。

The wizard and the hobbit pushed open the heavy creaking gate and went down a wide track towards the house. Some horses, very sleek and well-groomed, trotted up across the grass and looked at them intently with very intelligent faces; then off they galloped to the buildings.

巫师和霍比特人推开沉重的发出“吱吱呀呀”声的大门，沿着一条宽阔的道路朝屋子走去。一些养得膘肥体壮，收拾得干净整洁的马匹迈着小步跨过草地来到近前，用看上去十分睿智的脸很专注地打量着他们，然后他们就飞快地朝着木屋奔去了。

“They have gone to tell him of the arrival of strangers,” said Gandalf.

“他们是去通知他有陌生人到了。”甘道夫说。

Soon they reached a courtyard, three walls of which were formed by the wooden house and its two long wings. In the middle there was lying a great oak-trunk with many lopped branches beside it. Standing near was a huge man with a thick black beard and hair, and great bare arms and legs with knotted muscles. He was clothed in a tunic of wool down to his knees, and was leaning on a large axe. The horses were standing by him with their noses at his shoulder.

没走多久，他们就进了一个院子，其中三面由木屋和它两边长长的厢房构成，院子中央倒着一棵大橡树的树干，旁边有许多从上面砍下来的树枝。树旁站着一名须发浓密、身形巨大的汉子，露出的手臂和双腿上肌肉虬结。他穿着一件长到膝盖的羊毛外衣，手搭在一柄大斧子上。那几匹马站在他的身边，鼻子蹭着他的肩膀。

“Ugh! here they are!” he said to the horses. “They don’t look dangerous. You can be off!” He laughed a great rolling laugh, put down his axe and came forward.

“哦!他们来了!”他对马儿们说，“他们看上去并不危险，你们可以走了!”他豪爽地哈哈大笑，放下斧子走了过来。

“Who are you and what do you want?” he asked gruffly, standing in front of them and towering tall above Gandalf. As for Bilbo he could easily have trotted through his legs without ducking his head to miss the fringe of the man’s brown tunic.

“你们是谁，想要干什么?”他粗声问道。等他在他们面前站定时，身材比甘道夫都高了一大截。至于比尔博，他可以头也不低就很容易地从他两腿间穿过去，而且连他那件棕色外衣的下摆都不会碰到。

“I am Gandalf,” said the wizard.

“我是甘道夫。”巫师自我介绍道。

“Never heard of him,” growled the man. “And what’s this little fellow?” he said, stooping down to frown at the hobbit with his bushy black eyebrows.

“从来没听说过。”那人嘟哝道，“那这个小家伙又是什么人?”他俯下身子，皱着乱蓬蓬的黑色浓眉，打量着霍比特人。

“That is Mr. Baggins, a hobbit of good family and unimpeachable reputation,” said Gandalf. Bilbo bowed. He had no hat to take off, and was painfully conscious of his many missing buttons. “I am a wizard,” continued Gandalf. “I have heard of you, if you have not heard of me; but perhaps you have heard of my good cousin Radagast who lives near the Southern borders of Mirkwood?”

“这位是巴金斯先生，一位家世良好、名声清白的霍比特人。”甘道夫介绍道。比尔博深深鞠了一躬。他没有帽子可以脱下来行礼，衣服上少了那么多颗纽扣也让他感觉很不自在。“我是个巫师，”甘道夫继续说道，“虽然你没听说过我，但我却听说过你。或许你曾经听说过我的好表弟拉达加斯特吧?他就住在黑森林的南部边界。”

“Yes; not a bad fellow as wizards go, I believe. I used to see him now and again,” said Beorn. “Well, now I know who you are, or who you say you are. What do you want?”

“认识，以巫师来说，我觉得他还算不错。我以前偶尔会见到他。”贝奥恩说，“好啦，现在我知道你们是谁了，或者说，你们自称是谁了。你们想要什么?”

“To tell you the truth, we have lost our luggage and nearly lost our way, and are rather in need of help, or at least of advice. I may say we have had rather a bad time with goblins in the mountains.”

“跟你说实话吧，我们弄丢了行李，也差点迷了路，现在很需要帮助，或者至少是忠告。我们之前和前面大山里的半兽人闹得非常不愉快。”

“Goblins?” said the big man less gruffly. “O ho, so you’ve been having trouble with them have you? What did you go near them for?”

“半兽人?”大汉的语气变得没有刚才那么粗鲁了，“哦呵，原来你们是惹上他们了呀。你们走到他们的地界上干什么?”

“We did not mean to. They surprised us at night in a pass which we had to cross; we were coming out of the Lands over West into these countries—it is a long tale.”

“我们不是故意的。是他们半夜里在我们的必经之路上偷袭了我们。我们是从西方大地来到这个地方的——真要说起来那话可就长了。”

“Then you had better come inside and tell me some of it, if it won’t take all day,” said the man leading the way through a dark door that opened out of the courtyard into the house.

“那你们最好进屋来跟我说说，如果这不会花上一整天的话。”大汉领着他们从院子一扇深色的大门走进了木屋。

Following him they found themselves in a wide hall with a fire-place in the middle. Though it was summer there was a wood-fire burning and the smoke was rising to the blackened rafters in search of the way out through an opening in the roof. They passed through this dim hall, lit only by the fire and the hole above it, and came through another smaller door into a sort of veranda propped on wooden posts made of single tree-trunks. It faced south and was still warm and filled with the light of the westering sun which slanted into it, and fell golden on the garden full of flowers that came right up to the steps.

他们跟着他走，发现进入了一个宽敞的大厅，中间还有一座火炉。虽然现在正值夏天，但火炉中还是有木柴在烧，黑烟则袅袅向上，来到被熏黑的椽子边，然后慢慢找到屋顶一个开口处溜了出去。他们经过了这个只有炉火和屋顶那个开口射进的光线照明的昏暗大厅，穿过一扇小一点的门，来到了一个由几根单棵树干作基柱的类似阳台的地方。这座阳台面朝南方，依旧还很温暖，洒满了斜照进来的西晒阳光，园子里的花一直长到阳台的阶梯边，和阳台一起沐浴在了金色的阳光中。

Here they sat on wooden benches while Gandalf began his tale, and Bilbo swung his dangling legs and looked at the flowers in the garden, wondering what their names could be, as he had never seen half of them before.

他们在阳台的木头长椅上坐下，甘道夫开始了他的故事，比尔博则晃荡着两条腿看着园子里的鲜花，想着它们的名字，因为这些花里他有一半以前见都没见过。

“I was coming over the mountains with a friend or two...” said the wizard.

“我那时正和一两个朋友一起过山……”巫师说。

“Or two? I can only see one, and a little one at that,” said Beorn.

“两个?我只看见这一个，而且还是个小号的。”贝奥恩不解地说。“好吧，说实话，在我确定您是否十分忙碌之前，我可不想让好多人来打搅您。如果您容许的话，我可以把他们叫进来。”

“Well to tell you the truth, I did not like to bother you with a lot of us, until I found out if you were busy. I will give a call, if I may.”

“当然，把他们叫进来吧!”

“Go on, call away!” So Gandalf gave a long shrill whistle, and presently Thorin and Dori came round the house by the garden path and stood bowing low before them.

于是，甘道夫吹了声悠长激越的口哨，不久，梭林和多瑞就沿着花园的小径走了进来，向他们深深鞠了一躬。

“One or three you meant, I see!” said Beorn. “But these aren’t hobbits, they are dwarves!”

“你刚才说的应该不是一两个，而是两三个朋友吧，我明白了!”贝奥恩说，“不过，这些不是霍比特人，他们是矮人啊!”

“Thorin Oakenshield, at your service! Dori at your service!” said the two dwarves bowing again.

“梭林·橡木盾愿意为您效劳!多瑞愿意为您效分!”两名矮人一边说着一边又鞠了一躬。

“I don’t need your service, thank you,” said Beorn, “but I expect you need mine. I am not over fond of dwarves; but if it is true you are Thorin (son of Thrain, son of Thror, I believe), and that your companion is respectable, and that you are enemies of goblins and are not up to any mischief in my lands—what are you up to, by the way?”

“我不需要你们效劳，谢谢啦。”贝奥恩说，“可我想你们大概需要我为你们效劳吧。我不是很喜欢矮人，不过，如果你真的是梭林(我相信应该是瑟罗尔的孙子和瑟莱因的儿子吧)，那么你的伙伴就相当值得尊敬。你们是半兽人的死敌，不是到我的土地上来捣乱的——顺便问一下，你们究竟是来干什么的呢?”

“They are on their way to visit the land of their fathers, away east beyond Mirkwood,” put in Gandalf, “and it is entirely an accident that we are in your lands at all. We were crossing by the High Pass that should have brought us to the road that lies to the south of your country, when we were attacked by the evil goblins—as I was about to tell you.”

“他们正准备去拜访祖先的土地，就在黑森林东边的地方。”甘道夫插嘴道，“我们会来到您的领土完全是个意外。我们那时正准备通过高隘口，照理说应该可以踏上在您领土南边的道路，不料却遭到邪恶的半兽人攻击——我之前正跟您说到那里。”

“Go on telling, then!” said Beorn, who was never very polite.

“那就说下去吧!”贝奥恩从来就不大喜欢客套。

“There was a terrible storm; the stone-giants were out hurling rocks, and at the head of the pass we took refuge in a cave, the hobbit and I and several of our companions...”

“我们遇到了一场可怕的暴风雨，岩石巨人跑出来乱丢石头，我们在隘口上找了个洞穴躲进去，霍比特人和我，还有其他一些伙伴……”

“Do you call two several?”

“两个人你就叫作一些?”

“Well, no. As a matter of fact there were more than two.”

“呃，不是，其实我们的伙伴不止两个。”

“Where are they? Killed, eaten, gone home?”

“那他们人呢?被杀了，被吃了，还是回家了?”

“Well, no. They don’t seem all to have come when I whistled. Shy, I expect. You see, we are very much afraid that we are rather a lot for you to entertain.”

“都不是，我刚刚吹口哨的时候他们好像没有一起过来，我想大概是害羞吧。您知道的，我们其实很怕人多了您招待不过来。”

“Go on, whistle again! I am in for a party, it seems, and one or two more won’t make much difference,” growled Beorn.

“那就再吹口哨吧!看来我这次可以办个大派对了，再多一两个也没什么分别。”贝奥恩低吼道。

Gandalf whistled again; but Nori and Ori were there almost before he had stopped, for, if you remember, Gandalf had told them to come in pairs every five minutes.

甘道夫又吹起口哨，但诺瑞和欧瑞几乎没等他的哨声结束就出现了，因为，如果各位还记得的话，甘道夫告诉他们每五分钟就过来一对。

“Hullo!” said Beorn. “You came pretty quick—where were you hiding? Come on my jack-in-the-boxes!”

“你们好啊!”贝奥恩招呼道，“来得可够快的——刚才躲哪儿了?怎么一下子就蹦出来了?”

“Nori at your service, Ori at...” they began; but Beorn interrupted them.

“诺瑞愿意为您效劳，欧瑞愿……”他们刚开口就被贝奥恩打断了。

“Thank you! When I want your help I will ask for it. Sit down, and let’s get on with this tale, or it will be supper-time before it is ended.”

“谢谢啦!如果我需要你们帮忙我会跟你们说的。坐下吧，我们接着说故事吧，不然故事还没讲完就该要吃晚饭了。”

“As soon as we were asleep,” went on Gandalf, “a crack at the back of the cave opened; goblins came out and grabbed the hobbit and the dwarves and our troop of ponies—”

“我们刚一睡着，”甘道夫接着讲下去，“洞穴的后面就裂开了一条缝，半兽人们冲了出来，把霍比特人、矮人和我们那群小马都给抓——”

“Troop of ponies? What were you—a travelling circus? Or were you carrying lots of goods? Or do you always call six a troop?”

“那群小马?你们到底是什么，巡回马戏团吗?你们是不是还带了很多货物?难道你们一直都把六只叫一群吗?”

“O no! As a matter of fact there were more than six ponies, for there were more than six of us—and well, here are two more!” Just at that moment Balin and Dwalin appeared and bowed so low that their beards swept the stone floor. The big man was frowning at first, but they did their best to be frightfully polite, and kept on nodding and bending and bowing and waving their hoods before their knees (in proper dwarf-fashion), till he stopped frowning and burst into a chuckling laugh: they looked so comical.

“哦!不是!事实上，我们有超过六匹的小马，因为我们的伙伴其实不止六个人——啊，你看，这就又来了两个!”话音落处，巴林和杜瓦林出现在门口，他们鞠躬致礼，腰弯得连胡子都扫到了石头地面。大汉起先皱起了眉头，但他们使尽浑身解数，搬出各种礼数，又是点头又是哈腰，又是鞠躬，又是脱下帽来在膝盖前潇洒划过(以最得体的矮人礼仪)，最后，大汉皱着的眉头终于松开了，爆发出一阵咯咯的大笑：都怪他们的样子实在太滑稽了。

“Troop, was right,” he said. “A fine comic one. Come in my merry men, and what are your names? I don’t want your service just now, only your names; and then sit down and stop wagging!”

“一群，没错，”他说，“而且是很搞笑的一群。来吧，搞笑小子，你们的名字是什么?我现在不需要你们效劳，只想要知道你们的名字，然后你们就可以坐下来，不用再耍宝了!”

“Balin and Dwalin,” they said not daring to be offended, and sat flop on the floor looking rather surprised.

“巴林和杜瓦林。”他们乖乖答道，不敢露出一点生气的样子，然后一屁股坐在地上，看他们的表情颇有些感到意外。

“Now go on again!” said Beorn to the wizard.

“继续讲吧!”贝奥恩对巫师说。

“Where was I? O yes—I was not grabbed. I killed a goblin or two with a flash—”

“我刚刚说到哪儿啦?哦，对了，我没有被抓住，我用闪光杀死了一两个半兽人——”

“Good!” growled Beorn. “It is some good being a wizard, then.”

“好!”贝奥恩拍桌大吼道，“看来巫师还是管点用的。”

“—and slipped inside the crack before it closed. I followed down into the main hall, which was crowded with goblins. The Great Goblin was there with thirty or forty armed guards. I thought to myself ‘even if they were not all chained together, what can a dozen do against so many?”’

“——然后我在裂缝关上之前溜了进去，这条路一直通到大厅，里面挤满了半兽人，半兽人首领也在，身边围着三四十个全副武装的卫兵。我那时就想，‘就算他们没有被铁链拴在一起，就这么一打战士又怎么敌得过这么多敌人?’”

“A dozen! That’s the first time I’ve heard eight called a dozen. Or have you still got some more jacks that haven’t yet come out of their boxes?”

“一打!我这还是头回听说管八个人就叫一打的，你是不是还有什么人藏着掖着没有亮相的?”

“Well, yes, there seem to be a couple more here now—Fili and Kili, I believe,” said Gandalf, as these two now appeared and stood smiling and bowing.

“是啊，那边好像又来了两个——我想应该是菲力和奇力吧。”甘道夫说。两人来到了跟前，面带微笑，鞠躬行礼。

“That’s enough!” said Beorn. “Sit down and be quiet! Now go on, Gandalf!”

“够了!”贝奥恩说，“坐下，别出声!甘道夫，你接着讲!”

So Gandalf went on with the tale, until he came to the fight in the dark, the discovery of the lower gate, and their horror when they found that Mr. Baggins had been mislaid. “We counted ourselves and found that there was no hobbit. There were only fourteen of us left!”

于是甘道夫又继续讲他的故事，终于讲到了黑暗中的战斗，发现下层门，以及发现巴金斯先生不见时的恐惧。“我们点了人数，发现霍比特人不见了——我们只剩下十四个人了!”

“Fourteen! That’s the first time I’ve heard one from ten leave fourteen. You mean nine, or else you haven’t told me yet all the names of your party.”

“十四个!我头回听说十个人少了一个之后只剩下十四个了。你是说九个人吧，再不然你就是还没把所有伙伴的名字告诉我。”

“Well, of course you haven’t seen Oin and Gloin yet. And, bless me! here they are. I hope you will forgive them for bothering you.”

“哦，你肯定是还没看到欧因和格罗因!谢天谢地，他们来了，希望你能够原谅他们打搅你。”

“O let ’em all come! Hurry up! Come along, you two, and sit down! But look here, Gandalf, even now we have only got yourself and ten dwarves and the hobbit that was lost. That only makes eleven (plus one mislaid) and not fourteen, unless wizards count differently to other people. But now please get on with the tale.” Beorn did not show it more than he could help, but really he had begun to get very interested. You see, in the old days he had known the very part of the mountains that Gandalf was describing. He nodded and he growled, when he heard of the hobbit’s reappearance and of their scramble down the stone-slide and of the wolf-ring in the woods.

“哦，让他们都进来吧!快点!过来，你们两个，坐下!不过，甘道夫，听着，即使是现在，这里也还是只有你和十个矮人以及曾经不见了的霍比特人。加到一块儿才十一个(再加一个不见了的家伙)，不是十四个，除非巫师点起数来和普通人不一样。不过还是先继续讲故事吧。”贝奥恩并没有显出很感兴趣的样子，但实际上，他已经对这个故事感到入迷了。要知道，事实上在很久很久以前，他曾经对甘道夫所描述的那块区域十分熟悉。当他听到霍比特人重新露面，他们从石头崩落的山坡上翻滚而下，接着又陷入林中的狼圈时，他都会兴奋地点点头，并且发出低吼。

When Gandalf came to their climbing into trees with the wolves all underneath, he got up and strode about and muttered: “I wish I had been there! I would have given them more than fireworks!”

甘道夫讲到众人爬上树，底下群狼环伺的时候，他激动地站了起来，来回踱着大步：“真希望我能在那儿!我要给它们的可不止烟火了!”

“Well,” said Gandalf very glad to see that his tale was making a good impression, “I did the best I could. There we were with the wolves going mad underneath us and the forest beginning to blaze in places, when the goblins came down from the hills and discovered us. They yelled with delight and sang songs making fun of us. Fifteen birds in five fir-trees ...”

甘道夫看见自己的故事让对方有了好印象非常髙兴：“嗯，我已经尽全力了。当时群狼在我们下面气得发狂，森林有好几处开始烧来，这时，半兽人从山上下来，发现了我们。他们高兴得大喊，还唱歌取笑我们，什么‘五棵冷杉树上有十五只鸟’之类的。”

“Good heavens!” growled Beorn. “Don’t pretend that goblins can’t count. They can. Twelve isn’t fifteen and they know it.”

“天哪!”贝奥恩大吼道，“别跟我说半兽人不会数数，他们不傻，十二不等于十五，这个他们知道。”

“And so do I. There were Bifur and Bofur as well. I haven’t ventured to introduce them before, but here they are.”

“我也知道啊，因为还有比弗和波弗。我之前不敢贸然介绍他们，可他们现在来了。”

In came Bifur and Bofur. “And me!” gasped Bombur puffing up behind. He was fat, and also angry at being left till last. He refused to wait five minutes, and followed immediately after the other two.

比弗和波弗走了进来。“还有我呢!”邦伯呼哧呼哧地喘着粗气也跟在后面跑了进来。他很胖，又很生气被留在最后，因此他拒绝等上五分钟，直接就跟着前面那两个来了。

“Well, now there are fifteen of you; and since goblins can count, I suppose that is all that there were up the trees. Now perhaps we can finish this story without any more interruptions.” Mr. Baggins saw then how clever Gandalf had been. The interruptions had really made Beorn more interested in the story, and the story had kept him from sending the dwarves off at once like suspicious beggars. He never invited people into his house, if he could help it. He had very few friends and they lived a good way away; and he never invited more than a couple of these to his house at a time. Now he had got fifteen strangers sitting in his porch!

“好啦，现在你们总共有十五个人了，既然半兽人也会数数，我想躲在树上的应该就是这个数了吧。现在，我们也许可以不受打搅地把故事讲完了吧!”巴金斯先生这才明白甘道夫有多聪明，中间的打岔，其实是让贝奥恩对故事更有兴趣，而把故事那样讲法又让他无法把矮人像不明不白的乞丐一样马上给打发掉。只要能够避免的话，他从来不会邀请外人进屋子。他的朋友很少，他们都住在很远的地方，而且他从来不一次邀请超过两三个人进屋。而现在，他家的阳台上居然一下子坐了十五个陌生人!

By the time the wizard had finished his tale and had told of the eagles’ rescue and of how they had all been brought to the Carrock, the sun had fallen behind the peaks of the Misty Mountains and the shadows were long in Beorn’s garden.

等到巫师把大鹰如何将他们救出险境，又如何把他们送来卡尔岩的过程讲完之后，太阳已经西沉到迷雾山脉的山巅背后，贝奥恩花园里的阴影也已经拖得很长了。

“A very good tale!” said he. “The best I have heard for a long while. If all beggars could tell such a good one, they might find me kinder. You may be making it all up, of course, but you deserve a supper for the story all the same. Let’s have something to eat!”

“非常棒的故事!”贝奥恩赞叹道，“好久没听过这么好听的故事了，如果所有的乞丐都会讲这么好听的故事，我说不定会变成一个更慷慨的人。当然，这故事也可能都是你编出来的，但这样的故事也值得上一顿晚餐。我们来吃东西吧!”

“Yes please!” they all said together. “Thank you very much!”

“好嘞!”大家齐声欢呼道，“非常感谢!”

Inside the hall it was now quite dark. Beorn clapped his hands, and in trotted four beautiful white ponies and several large long-bodied grey dogs. Beorn said something to them in a queer language like animal noises turned into talk. They went out again and soon came back carrying torches in their mouths, which they lit at the fire and stuck in low brackets on the pillars of the hall about the central hearth. The dogs could stand on their hind-legs when they wished, and carry things with their fore-feet. Quickly they got out boards and trestles from the side walls and set them up near the fire.

大厅里此时相当昏暗了，贝奥恩拍了拍手，四匹漂亮的白色小马和几条身体细长的灰狗就走了进来。贝奥恩用听起来像是动物吼声的奇怪语言对他们说了几句，他们走了出去，很快地又用嘴叼着火把回来了。他们用火炉中的火点燃了火把，并且将它们插在四周柱子的低矮支架上。那些狗如果想的话可以用后腿站立，用两条前腿来拿东西。很快，他们就从旁边的墙内拿出了板子和支架，在火炉旁摆好了桌子。

Then baa—baa—baa! was heard, and in came some snow-white sheep led by a large coal-black ram. One bore a white cloth embroidered at the edges with figures of animals; others bore on their broad backs trays with bowls and platters and knives and wooden spoons, which the dogs took and quickly laid on the trestle-tables. These were very low, low enough even for Bilbo to sit at comfortably. Beside them a pony pushed two low-seated benches with wide rush-bottoms and little short thick legs for Gandalf and Thorin, while at the far end he put Beorn’s big black chair of the same sort (in which he sat with his great legs stuck far out under the table). These were all the chairs he had in his hall, and he probably had them low like the tables for the convenience of the wonderful animals that waited on him. What did the rest sit on? They were not forgotten. The other ponies came in rolling round drum-shaped sections of logs, smoothed and polished, and low enough even for Bilbo; so soon they were all seated at Beorn’s table, and the hall had not seen such a gathering for many a year.

这时，他们听见了“咩——咩——咩!”的声音，一只炭黑色的大个儿公羊领着几只雪白的绵羊走了进来。一只背着边缘绣有动物图案的白布，另几只则在宽阔的背上扛着托盘、碗、浅盘、餐刀和木制的汤匙。大狗们拿下这些东西，立刻将它们摆放在刚搭好的小桌板上。这些桌板都十分低矮，连比尔博坐下吃饭都觉得很舒服。在他们旁边，一匹小马将两条低矮的长凳推了过来，长凳凳面宽阔，発脚粗短，是专门给甘道夫和梭林坐的。在他们对面的主位上则放上了贝奥恩那把样式类似的大黑椅(他坐上去的时候，必须把两条大长腿远远地伸到桌子底下去)。这些是他收在大厅内的全部椅子了，他刻意将这些椅子跟桌子一样弄矮，多半是为了方便服侍他的聪明的动物。那其他人坐哪里呢?他们并没有被忘记。其他的小马滚着圆鼓形的木桩走了进来，这些木桩都经过特别的打磨和抛光，比尔博也可以舒舒服服地坐在上面。于是没多久，众人就在贝奥恩的桌旁坐了下来，这座大厅已经很多年没有见识过这么人头济济的场面了。

There they had a supper, or a dinner, such as they had not had since they left the Last Homely House in the West and said good-bye to Elrond. The light of the torches and the fire flickered about them, and on the table were two tall red beeswax candles. All the time they ate, Beorn in his deep rolling voice told tales of the wild lands on this side of the mountains, and especially of the dark and dangerous wood, that lay outstretched far to North and South a day’s ride before them, barring their way to the East, the terrible forest of Mirkwood.

接下来就开始了他们自从与埃尔隆德道别，离开他那最后家园之后的第一顿晚餐，或者更确切地说是第一顿正餐。火把与炉火的光芒在他们四周跃动，桌面上还放着两根由蜂蜡制成的红色大蜡烛。他们一边吃，贝奥恩一边用他那低沉的声音，述说着山脉这边野地上的故事，特别是他们即将面对的那座黑暗而又危险的森林。它往南北两方延伸各有大概骑马一天的距离那么宽，横亘在他们前往东方的道路之上，耶便赫赫有名的恐怖的黑森林。

The dwarves listened and shook their beards, for they knew that they must soon venture into that forest and that after the mountains it was the worst of the perils they had to pass before they came to the dragon’s stronghold. When dinner was over they began to tell tales of their own, but Beorn seemed to be growing drowsy and paid little heed to them. They spoke most of gold and silver and jewels and the making of things by smith-craft, and Beorn did not appear to care for such things: there were no things of gold or silver in his hall, and few save the knives were made of metal at all.

矮人们一边听一边摇着胡子，因为他们知道那是他们不久之后就将踏入的地方。在越过了大山之后，这是他们直捣龙穴之前必须经历的最大危险了。晚餐结束后，他们开始讲起了自己的故事，但贝奥恩似乎越来越昏昏欲睡，不太注意他们的故事。他们讲的主要都是黄金、白银、珠宝，以及怎样用精妙的技艺打造出美丽的东西，贝奥恩似乎对这些东西没有多大兴趣，他的大厅中根本没有金银饰品，除了刀子之外，连用金属打造的东西也很少。

They sat long at the table with their wooden drinking-bowls filled with mead. The dark night came on outside. The fires in the middle of the hall were built with fresh logs and the torches were put out, and still they sat in the light of the dancing flames with the pillars of the house standing tall behind them, and dark at the top like trees of the forest. Whether it was magic or not, it seemed to Bilbo that he heard a sound like wind in the branches stirring in the rafters, and the hoot of owls. Soon he began to nod with sleep and the voices seemed to grow far away, until he woke with a start.

他们久久地坐在桌边，用木碗不停地喝着蜂蜜酒。屋外暮色渐深，大厅正中的炉火加入了新的木柴，火把的火焰都熄灭了。众人依旧围坐在炉火边，舞动的火焰映红了他们的脸庞，他们身后是木屋高高的柱子，顶端黑黑的，看着像树林里的大树。不知是不是魔法，比尔博觉得自己在梁椽间听见了风儿吹过树枝的声音，好像还有猫头鹰的鸣叫。没多久，他开始耷拉下脑袋打起瞌睡来，那声音似乎渐渐远去了，可突然间，他又猛然惊醒了过来。

The great door had creaked and slammed. Beorn was gone. The dwarves were sitting cross-legged on the floor round the fire, and presently they began to sing. Some of the verses were like this, but there were many more, and their singing went on for a long while:

大门吱吱呀呀地开启，又嘭的一声关上，贝奥恩离开了。矮人们围着炉火盘腿坐在地板上，不久就开始唱起歌来。有些歌词是这样的，但这只是其中很小的一部分，他们唱啊唱的，一直唱了很久：