霍比特人：苍蝇与蜘蛛 Flies and Spiders （下）

That was one of his most miserable moments. But he soon made up his mind that it was no good trying to do anything till day came with some little light, and quite useless to go blundering about tiring himself out with no hope of any breakfast to revive him. So he sat himself down with his back to a tree, and not for the last time fell to thinking of his far-distant hobbit-hole with its beautiful pantries. He was deep in thoughts of bacon and eggs and toast and butter when he felt something touch him. Something like a strong sticky string was against his left hand, and when he tried to move he found that his legs were already wrapped in the same stuff, so that when he got up he fell over.

这是他这辈子最悲惨的时刻之一，但他很快就拿定主意，直到天亮了有一点点微光之前都不要轻举妄动，而且，因为不会有早餐来补充体力，他丝毫不想在黑暗中摸来摸去，徒然消耗体力。于是他靠着一棵树坐了下来，再次思念起遥远故乡那拥有美丽餐点室的霍比特洞府来。他正想到火腿、鸡蛋、吐司面包和黄油时，忽然感到有什么东西在碰他。有种又黏又韧的线缠住了他的左手，当他想要站起身来的时候，发现，自己的双腿已经被同样的东西给裹住了，因此他刚一站起来就倒了下来。

Then the great spider, who had been busy tying him up while he dozed, came from behind him and came at him. He could only see the thing’s eyes, but he could feel its hairy legs as it struggled to wind its abominable threads round and round him. It was lucky that he had come to his senses in time. Soon he would not have been able to move at all. As it was, he had a desperate fight before he got free. He beat the creature off with his hands—it was trying to poison him to keep him quiet, as small spiders do to flies—until he remembered his sword and drew it out. Then the spider jumped back, and he had time to cut his legs loose. After that it was his turn to attack. The spider evidently was not used to things that carried such stings at their sides, or it would have hurried away quicker. Bilbo came at it before it could disappear and stuck it with his sword right in the eyes. Then it went mad and leaped and danced and flung out its legs in horrible jerks, until he killed it with another stroke; and then he fell down and remembered nothing more for a long while.

然后，那只趁着他发呆时一直在忙着把他缠起来的大蜘蛛从他身后现身，冲他跑了过来。他只能看见那东西的双眼，却能在蜘蛛拼命用恶心的蛛丝一圈又一圈地往他身上缠时，感受到它那些毛茸茸的腿。算他运气，总算还能及时回过神来，再晚一些的话，他就根本不能动了。他进行了一番名副其实的殊死搏斗才得以脱身。他一开始只是不停地用手赶开蜘蛛——而它正像小蜘蛛对付苍蝇一样，想要在他身上注入毒液让他消停下来——打了半天才想起来自己还带着剑，马上将它拔了出来。蜘蛛立刻往后跳开，他赶紧趁此机会挥剑令蜘蛛松开了腿。接下来就轮到他反攻了。蜘蛛显然很不习惯对付这种身边带着刺的生物，否则它逃得还会更快些。比尔博不等它逃开就冲了上去，拔剑正刺中它的眼睛。它开始发狂般地跳跃、扭动，所有的脚都可怕地抽搐着，直到比尔博给它补了一剑才一命呜呼。比尔博经过这番折腾后也一头栽倒，好长时间都不省人事。

There was the usual dim grey light of the forest-day about him when he came to his senses. The spider lay dead beside him, and his sword-blade was stained black. Somehow the killing of the giant spider, all alone by himself in the dark without the help of the wizard or the dwarves or of anyone else, made a great difference to Mr. Baggins. He felt a different person, and much fiercer and bolder in spite of an empty stomach, as he wiped his sword on the grass and put it back into its sheath.

当他醒来的时候，身边已落满森林中白天常见的黯淡灰光，死蜘蛛躺在它身边，宝剑剑刃上沾染了黑血。对巴金斯先生来说，不靠巫师或是矮人们或是任何人的帮助，全凭自己一己之力在黑暗中杀死了巨型蜘蛛，这件事使他发生了巨大的变化。当他在草地上擦拭宝剑，归剑人鞘时，他觉得自己脱胎换骨，变成了另外一个人，比过去更为凶猛，更为勇敢，尽管腹中依然空空。

“I will give you a name,” he said to it, “and I shall call you Sting.”

“我帮你取个名字，”他对着宝剑说，“就叫你刺叮好了!”

After that he set out to explore. The forest was grim and silent, but obviously he had first of all to look for his friends, who were not likely to be very far off, unless they had been made prisoners by the elves (or worse things). Bilbo felt that it was unsafe to shout, and he stood a long while wondering in what direction the path lay, and in what direction he should go first to look for the dwarves.

在那之后，他开始了对周围的探索。森林中阴冷而又静谧，但显然他必须先去寻找自己的朋友们，他们应该离得不会太远，除非他们已经落入了精灵(或是更糟糕的东西)之手。比尔博觉得大喊大叫并不安全，因此他呆立了好一阵子，思考着小径到底在何方，他又应该先往哪个方向去寻找矮人们。

“O! why did we not remember Beorn’s advice, and Gandalf’s!” he lamented. “What a mess we are in now! We! I only wish it was we: it is horrible being all alone.”

“唉!我们为什么不牢记甘道夫和贝奥恩的忠告!”他懊悔地叹道，“看看我们现在落到了怎样的窘境啊!我们?!我真希望现在还能说我们：孤单一人实在是好恐怖啊。”

In the end he made as good a guess as he could at the direction from which the cries for help had come in the night—and by luck (he was born with a good share of it) he guessed more or less right, as you will see. Having made up his mind he crept along as cleverly as he could. Hobbits are clever at quietness, especially in woods, as I have already told you; also Bilbo had slipped on his ring before he started. That is why the spiders neither saw nor heard him coming.

到了最后，他勉强猜了一个昨天晚上传来呼救声的方向，凭着运气(他生来就有很多好运)，他居然猜了个八九不离十，这一点大家到时候就知道了。下定决心后，他便迈着机敏的步伐走了起来。霍比特人擅长于无声无息地行动，特别是在森林中，关于这一点之前跟大家提到过，而且比尔博在出发前已经戴上了戒指，这也是为什么蜘蛛们完全没看见也没听见他的到来。

He had picked his way stealthily for some distance, when he noticed a place of dense black shadow ahead of him, black even for that forest, like a patch of midnight that had never been cleared away. As he drew nearer, he saw that it was made by spider-webs one behind and over and tangled with another. Suddenly he saw, too, that there were spiders huge and horrible sitting in the branches above him, and ring or no ring he trembled with fear lest they should discover him. Standing behind a tree he watched a group of them for some time, and then in the silence and stillness of the wood he realised that these loathsome creatures were speaking one to another. Their voices were a sort of thin creaking and hissing, but he could make out many of the words that they said. They were talking about the dwarves!

他蹑手蹑脚地走了一段距离后，注意到前方有块地方的黑影特别黑，即便在黑森林里也算黑了，仿佛一团不曾褪去过的夜色。他走到近前，发现那里层层叠叠、纵横交错的全都是蜘蛛网。突然间，他还看见了体型巨大、样貌狰狞的蜘蛛盘踞在他头顶的树枝上。不管戴没戴着戒指，他都因恐惧而发起抖来，生怕被蜘蛛们发现。他躲在树后面，盯着一伙蜘蛛看了会儿，然后，在森林中极度静谧的衬托下，他意识到这些讨厌的怪物原来正在相互交谈。它们的声音乍一听像是微弱的嘶声和摩擦声，但细听之下他可以听清楚它们说的大部分内容。它们居然正在谈论矮人!

“It was a sharp struggle, but worth it,” said one. “What nasty thick skins they have to be sure, but I’ll wager there is good juice inside.”

“真是好一场挣扎啊，不过相当值得，”一只说，“他们的外皮肯定又脏又厚，不过我敢打赌里面一定有甜美的汁液!”

“Aye, they’ll make fine eating, when they’ve hung a bit,” said another.

“啊，把他们挂一阵子之后就会好吃多了!”另一只说道。

“Don’t hang ’em too long,” said a third. “They’re not as fat as they might be. Been feeding none too well of late, I should guess.”

“别挂太久了，”第三只说，“他们不像应该有的那么胖，我猜多半是最近没吃啥东西。”

“Kill ’em, I say,” hissed a fourth; “kill ’em now and hang ’em dead for a while.”

“叫我说杀了算了，”第四只蜘蛛嘶嘶地说道，“现在把他们杀了，然后把死的挂上一会儿。”

“They’re dead now, I’ll warrant,” said the first. “

“我敢保证他们现在已经死了。”第一只说。

That they are not. I saw one a-struggling just now. Just coming round again, I should say, after a bee-autiful sleep. I’ll show you.”

"成该还没死，我刚才还看到有一个在挣扎来着。我想他们多半刚从美梦中醒来，我来弄给你们看。”

With that one of the fat spiders ran along a rope till it came to a dozen bundles hanging in a row from a high branch. Bilbo was horrified, now that he noticed them for the first time dangling in the shadows, to see a dwarvish foot sticking out of the bottoms of some of the bundles, or here and there the tip of a nose, or a bit of beard or of a hood.

话一说完，一只肥大的蜘蛛就沿着蛛丝跑了下去，来到一根髙处树枝上并排挂着的十几捆东西边。比尔博现在才注意到树上挂着这些东西，不禁觉得非常害怕。他看见有些蛛丝捆的底部伸出了一只矮人的脚，还有些蛛丝捆里这儿那儿地露出一只鼻子，一撮胡子或是兜帽的一角。

To the fattest of these bundles the spider went—“It is poor old Bombur, I’ll bet,” thought Bilbo—and nipped hard at the nose that stuck out. There was a muffled yelp inside, and a toe shot up and kicked the spider straight and hard. There was life in Bombur still. There was a noise like the kicking of a flabby football, and the enraged spider fell off the branch, only catching itself with its own thread just in time.

蜘蛛走到最大的一捆旁边——“我打赌那一定是可怜的老邦伯。”比尔博想——然后，对着凸在外面的鼻子狠狠咬了一口。蛛丝捆里传来了闷声惨叫，一只脚趾头猛地伸了出来，重重地踢在了蜘蛛身上。看来邦伯还活着。随着一声踢在瘪掉的足球上的声音，恼羞成怒的蜘蛛从树枝上摔了下去，幸亏它及时放出自己的蛛丝，才没有直接摔到地上。

The others laughed. “You were quite right,” they said, “the meat’s alive and kicking!”

其他的蜘蛛都哈哈大笑起来。“你说得很对!”他们说，“咱们的嘴边肉还活蹦乱跳着呢!”

“I’ll soon put an end to that,” hissed the angry spider climbing back onto the branch.

“我马上就会让他蹦跶不起来了!”那只恼怒的蜘蛛发着嘶嘶的声音重新又爬回到了树枝上。

Bilbo saw that the moment had come when he must do something. He could not get up at the brutes and he had nothing to shoot with; but looking about he saw that in this place there were many stones lying in what appeared to be a now dry little watercourse. Bilbo was a pretty fair shot with a stone, and it did not take him long to find a nice smooth egg-shaped one that fitted his hand cosily. As a boy he used to practise throwing stones at things, until rabbits and squirrels, and even birds, got out of his way as quick as lightning if they saw him stoop; and even grownup he had still spent a deal of his time at quoits, dart-throwing, shooting at the wand, bowls, ninepins and other quiet games of the aiming and throwing sort—indeed he could do lots of things, besides blowing smoke-rings, asking riddles and cooking, that I haven’t had time to tell you about. There is no time now. While he was picking up stones, the spider had reached Bombur, and soon he would have been dead. At that moment Bilbo threw. The stone struck the spider plunk on the head, and it dropped senseless off the tree, flop to the ground, with all its legs curled up.

比尔博见此情景，就知道是该他做些什么的时候了。他没办法与这些怪物正面对抗，手上也没有东西可以投掷。不过，在经过一番搜寻之后，他发现附近有条似乎已干涸了的水道，那里有许多小石头。比尔博在扔石头方面可是个高手，他没有花多少时间就找到了一颗鸡蛋大小、十分称手的石头。小时候，他曾经练过扔石头，练到后来，兔子、松鼠，甚至是飞鸟，只要一看见他弯下腰来，就会迅速地逃之夭夭。即便是他长大以后，他依然在掷铁环、扔飞镖、射箭、滚木球、九柱地滚球等需要瞄准和投掷的、不太剧烈的游戏上花费不少时间。事实上，除了吐烟圈、猜谜语和烹饪之外，他还有很多拿手的事情，只是之前没时间详细告诉大家罢了。现在也没时间。在他捡石头的当口，蜘蛛已经来到了邦伯跟前，邦伯的性命已经危在旦夕。正在这千钧一发之际，比尔博出手了，他扔出的石头咚的一声正中蜘蛛的脑袋，蜘蛛应声便从树上落下，扑通坠地，八条腿全都蜷缩了起来。

The next stone went whizzing through a big web, snapping its cords, and taking off the spider sitting in the middle of it, whack, dead. After that there was a deal of commotion in the spider-colony, and they forgot the dwarves for a bit, I can tell you. They could not see Bilbo, but they could make a good guess at the direction from which the stones were coming. As quick as lightning they came running and swinging towards the hobbit, flinging out their long threads in all directions, till the air seemed full of waving snares.

第二颗石头嗖的一声穿过一张大蛛网，扯断了蛛丝，把盘踞在蛛网中央的蜘蛛带了下来，啪嗒掉在地上，一命呜呼。接下来，蜘蛛们的领地内掀起了一场大骚乱，让它们暂时有点顾不上矮人们了。它们虽然看不见比尔博，却大致能猜测到石头飞来的方向。于是它们立刻以闪电般的速度摇摇晃晃地冲向霍比特人，并将蛛丝撒向四面八方，使得天空中似乎到处都是舞动的罗网。

Bilbo, however, soon slipped away to a different place. The idea came to him to lead the furious spiders further and further away from the dwarves, if he could; to make them curious, excited and angry all at once. When about fifty had gone off to the place where he had stood before, he threw some more stones at these, and at others that had stopped behind; then dancing among the trees he began to sing a song to infuriate them and bring them all after him, and also to let the dwarves hear his voice.

不过，比尔博早就溜到别的地方去了。他灵机一动，想要把这些愤怒的蜘蛛引得离矮人越远越好，要让它们既好奇、激动，同时又愤怒。等大约有五十只蜘蛛冲到他之前所站的位置时，他又朝它们扔了几颗石头，还朝后面那些停下了脚步的其他蜘蛛也丢了几颗石头。接着，他一边在树林间跳着舞步，一边还唱起歌来，为的是要激怒这些蜘蛛，让它们全都跟过来追自己，同时，也让矮人们能够听见他的声音。

This is what he sang:

他唱道：

Old fat spider spinning in a tree!

老胖蜘蛛在树上织网!

Old fat spider can’t see me!

它看不见我呀，它又老又胖!

Attercop! Attercop!

笨蜘蛛啊!笨蜘蛛!

Won’t you stop,

快停下，来找我吧，

Stop your spinning and look for me?

别再织你的破网啦!

Old Tomnoddy, all big body,

老笨蜘蛛胖又胖.

Old Tomnoddy can’t spy me!

想找我，没方向!

Attercop! Attercop!

笨蜘蛛啊!笨蜘蛛!

Down you drop!

快从树上下来吧!

You’ll never catch me up your tree!

在树上可没法把我抓!

Not very good perhaps, but then you must remember that he had to make it up himself, on the spur of a very awkward moment. It did what he wanted any way. As he sang he threw some more stones and stamped. Practically all the spiders in the place came after him: some dropped to the ground, others raced along the branches, swung from tree to tree, or cast new ropes across the dark spaces. They made for his noise far quicker than he had expected. They were frightfully angry. Quite apart from the stones no spider has ever liked being called Attercop, and Tomnoddy of course is insulting to anybody.

这首歌听起来也许不怎么样，不过大家得知道，那可是他在火烧眉毛的情势下现编的，而且再怎么说，它也的确达到了目的。他一边唱一边扔出了更多的石头，还用力跺脚，几乎把附近所有的蜘蛛都引出来追他了：有些蜘蛛拽着蛛丝垂到地上，有些在树枝上快跑，从一棵树摆荡到另一棵树上，或是对着黑暗的空间抛出新的蛛丝。它们辨认他声音方向的速度比他想像的快多了，这些蜘蛛生起气来是非常可怕的。除了被扔石头之外，蜘蛛也从来不喜欢有人骂它们长得胖，而“笨”更是对所有人来说都是一种侮辱。

Off Bilbo scuttled to a fresh place, but several of the spiders had run now to different points in the glade where they lived, and were busy spinning webs across all the spaces between the tree-stems. Very soon the hobbit would be caught in a thick fence of them all round him—that at least was the spiders’ idea. Standing now in the middle of the hunting and spinning insects Bilbo plucked up his courage and began a new song:

比尔博又动作敏捷地来到了一个新的藏身之处，不过，这时有几只蜘蛛已经分别冲到了林中空地(这里平时就是它们生活的地方)的各处，开始在树干与树干之间织起网来。要不了多久，霍比特人就会被密密的蛛网给团团包围住了——至少蜘蛛是这么打算的。比尔博站在这群正忙于织网围捕的昆虫之间，鼓起勇气，唱起了又一首歌：

Lazy Lob and crazy Cob

懒罗伯，疯卡伯，

are weaving webs to wind me.

织起网子想缠我。

I am far more sweet than other meat,

我的肉儿香又甜，

but still they cannot find me!

可惜你们没口福!

Here am I, naughty little fly;

我在这儿，顽皮小苍蝇;

you are fat and lazy.

你们真是胖又懒!

You cannot trap me, though you try,

别看网儿织得欢，

in your cobwebs crazy.

休想让我往里钻。

With that he turned and found that the last space between two tall trees had been closed with a web—but luckily not a proper web, only great strands of double-thick spider-rope run hastily backwards and forwards from trunk to trunk. Out came his little sword. He slashed the threads to pieces and went off singing.

唱到这儿他一转身，就发现两棵大树之间最后的空间被蛛网给封闭了，幸好那还不是已经完工的蛛网，只是仓促在树干与树干之间用双股的蛛丝来回扯出的几大条。他拔出短剑，将蛛网砍成碎片，唱着歌儿走出了包围圈。

The spiders saw the sword, though I don’t suppose they knew what it was, and at once the whole lot of them came hurrying after the hobbit along the ground and the branches, hairy legs waving, nippers and spinners snapping, eyes popping, full of froth and rage. They followed him into the forest until Bilbo had gone as far as he dared. Then quieter than a mouse he stole back.

蜘蛛们看得见宝剑(不过我估计它们并不知道那是什么东西)，立刻便全体分地面和树枝上两路，杀气腾腾地朝着霍比特人奔来。它们毛茸茸的脚上下舞动，螯爪与丝囊啪啪作响，眼珠突出着，口边冒着白色的泡沫，一副怒气冲冲的样子。它们跟着比尔博一路追进森林，比尔博一直走到不敢走了为止，然后，他又用比老鼠更加无声无息的脚步偷偷溜了回来。

He had precious little time, he knew, before the spiders were disgusted and came back to their trees where the dwarves were hung. In the meanwhile he had to rescue them. The worst part of the job was getting up on to the long branch where the bundles were dangling. I don’t suppose he would have managed it, if a spider had not luckily left a rope hanging down; with its help, though it stuck to his hand and hurt him, he scrambled up—only to meet an old slow wicked fat-bodied spider who had remained behind to guard the prisoners, and had been busy pinching them to see which was the juiciest to eat. It had thought of starting the feast while the others were away, but Mr. Baggins was in a hurry, and before the spider knew what was happening it felt his sting and rolled off the branch dead.

他知道，在蜘蛛们追烦了，回到悬挂矮人的树这里来之前，他只有非常宝贵的一点点时间，他必须在这点时间里把矮人们救出来。这个任务中最令人头痛的部分，就是要爬到那挂着许多矮人蛛丝捆的长长的树枝上去。如果不是有个蝴蛛碰巧留了一条蛛丝垂落下来，他可能根本就上不去。尽管蛛丝粘在了他的手上，还把他的手勒得生疼，他还是凭借着蛛丝的帮助，勉强爬了上去。可上去之后才发现，上面竟然有一只老态龙钟、体态肥胖的恶蜘蛛，它是被留下来看守这些俘虏的，此刻它正忙碌地东按按西戳戳，看看哪个俘虏最汁多味美，准备趁其他蜘蛛都不在的时候好好抢先一步享受美味大餐。不过比尔博急着办正事，没空与它多纠缠，因此，它还没回过神来，便觉得身上一记刺痛，随即掉落树枝丧了命。

Bilbo’s next job was to loose a dwarf. What was he to do? If he cut the string which hung him up, the wretched dwarf would tumble thump to the ground a good way below. Wriggling along the branch (which made all the poor dwarves dance and dangle like ripe fruit) he reached the first bundle.

比尔博接下来要做的是先松开一个矮人的束缚。他该怎么做呢?如果他切断蛛丝，可怜的矮人一定会扑通一声摔落到下面的地面去。他小心翼翼地在树枝上爬着(这让所有可怜的矮人像成熟的果实一样晃动起来)，来到了第一个蛛丝捆的跟前。

“Fili or Kili,” he thought by the tip of a blue hood sticking out at the top. “Most likely Fili,” he thought by the tip of a long nose poking out of the winding threads. He managed by leaning over to cut most of the strong sticky threads that bound him round, and then, sure enough, with a kick and a struggle most of Fili emerged. I am afraid Bilbo actually laughed at the sight of him jerking his stiff arms and legs as he danced on the spider-string under his armpits, just like one of those funny toys bobbing on a wire.

“不是菲力就是奇力。”他从蛛网边缘冒出来的蓝色帽尖推测。接着，根据从错综的蛛丝间伸出的长鼻子，他进一步判断道：“应该是菲力吧!”他把身子凑了上去，把缠住他的大部分又黏又韧的蛛丝割断，然后，果然，一踢一挣之后，菲力从蛛丝捆里探出了大半个身子。菲力伸展蹬动着麻木的双臂与双腿，拼命从胳肢窝下的蛛丝中挣脱着，估计比尔博看见这番景象一定笑了出来，因为这实在是太像用线提着的木偶娃娃在跳滑稽舞了。

Somehow or other Fili was got on to the branch, and then he did his best to help the hobbit, although he was feeling very sick and ill from spider-poison, and from hanging most of the night and the next day wound round and round with only his nose to breathe through. It took him ages to get the beastly stuff out of his eyes and eyebrows, and as for his beard, he had to cut most of it off. Well, between them they started to haul up first one dwarf and then another and slash them free. None of them were better off than Fili, and some of them were worse. Some had hardly been able to breathe at all (long noses are sometimes useful you see) and some had been more poisoned.

经过一番折腾后，菲力终于爬上了树枝，然后尽力协助霍比特人解救伙伴，尽管他的身体状况其实很不好。他身上还残留着蜘蛛的毒液，昨晚一晚上和今天一天都被挂在树枝上，身体被蛛丝缠得密密匝匝，只露出一个鼻子呼吸，因此这会儿感到有点头晕目眩。他花了好一会儿才把那些恶心的蛛丝从眼睛和眉毛上弄掉，至于胡子，则只能大部分都割掉了。两人开始携手把矮人们一个个拽上来，砍断蛛丝，将他们解救出来。这些人当中没有一个情况好过菲力的，有些甚至相当糟糕。有些人几乎连呼吸都停止了(大家看到了吧，长鼻子有时还是很有用的)，有些人则是毒中得比较深。

In this way they rescued Kili, Bifur, Bofur, Dori and Nori. Poor old Bombur was so exhausted—he was the fattest and had been constantly pinched and poked—that he just rolled off the branch and fell plop on to the ground, fortunately on to leaves, and lay there. But there were still five dwarves hanging at the end of the branch when the spiders began to come back, more full of rage than ever.

他们就以这种方式救出了奇力、比弗、波弗、多瑞和诺瑞。可怜的老邦伯体虚乏力——因为他是矮人中最胖的一个，所以一直都被蜘蛛们按来戳去的——他只能一滚从树枝上滚了下去，扑通落到地上，躺倒不动了。所幸地上有厚厚的树叶，他并没有性命危险。可是，当蜘蛛们比之前更加怒火中烧地陆续回来时，树上还挂着五名矮人没来得及救下来。

Bilbo immediately went to the end of the branch nearest the tree-trunk and kept back those that crawled up. He had taken off his ring when he rescued Fili and forgotten to put it on again, so now they all began to splutter and hiss:“Now we see you, you nasty little creature! We will eat you and leave your bones and skin hanging on a tree. Ugh! he’s got a sting has he? Well, we’ll get him all the same, and then we’ll hang him head downwards for a day or two.”

比尔博立刻冲到最靠近主干的树枝旁，抵挡那些向上爬来的蜘蛛。他在救菲力的时候把戒指取了下来，后来就忘记再戴上了，所以蜘蛛们开始带着嘶嘶声恶狠狠地对着他说道：“现在我们可看见你了，你这个可恶的小家伙!我们会吃掉你，把你的骨头和皮挂在树上。啊!他还有根刺哪，对不对?没问题，我们一样能抓到他的，到时候我们要把他脑袋冲下好好挂个一两天。”

While this was going on, the other dwarves were working at the rest of the captives, and cutting at the threads with their knives. Soon all would be free, though it was not clear what would happen after that. The spiders had caught them pretty easily the night before, but that had been unawares and in the dark. This time there looked like being a horrible battle.

这边战斗在进行的过程中，那边其他的矮人正在用小刀割断蛛丝，解救其余的俘虏。过不了多久，大家就能重获自由了，只是还不知道在那之后又会怎样。昨天晚上，蜘蛛们很轻易地就抓住了他们，但那是因为他们没有防备，而且又是在一片黑暗中，而这次看来双方要有一场恶战了。

Suddenly Bilbo noticed that some of the spiders had gathered round old Bombur on the floor, and had tied him up again and were dragging him away. He gave a shout and slashed at the spiders in front of him. They quickly gave way, and he scrambled and fell down the tree right into the middle of those on the ground. His little sword was something new in the way of stings for them. How it darted to and fro! It shone with delight as he stabbed at them. Half a dozen were killed before the rest drew off and left Bombur to Bilbo.

突然间，比尔博注意到有些蜘蛛聚拢到了躺在地上的邦伯身边，又将他捆了起来，准备把他拖走。他大喝一声，对着眼前的蜘蛛挥剑砍去。它们快速向后退去，他趁机连爬带跌地下了树，正好落在那群蜘蛛的中间。他的宝剑对它们来说是一种以前从没见到过的刺，只见宝剑上下翻飞，当刺到蜘蛛们的时候，它发出了兴奋的闪光。片刻工夫，便有五六只蜘蛛在剑下丧命，其他的蜘蛛仓皇逃遁，把邦伯留给了比尔博。

“Come down! Come down!” he shouted to the dwarves on the branch. “Don’t stay up there and be netted!” For he saw spiders swarming up all the neighbouring trees, and crawling along the boughs above the heads of the dwarves.

“快下来!快下来!”他对着树枝上的矮人们喊道，“不要停在上面，再陷入蛛网!”因为他发现有许多蜘蛛聚集到了所有周边的树上，然后沿着树枝爬到了矮人们的头上。

Down the dwarves scrambled or jumped or dropped, eleven all in a heap, most of them very shaky and little use on their legs. There they were at last, twelve of them counting poor old Bombur, who was being propped up on either side by his cousin Bifur, and his brother Bofur; and Bilbo was dancing about and waving his Sting; and hundreds of angry spiders were goggling at them all round and about and above. It looked pretty hopeless.

矮人们或爬、或跳、或掉地从树上下来了，十一个人凑到了一堆，大多数人都摇摇欲坠的，两条腿派不上什么用场。算上可怜的老邦伯的话，十二名矮人终于团聚到了一起。老邦伯一边一个被人扶着，左边的是他的表弟比弗，右边的是他的亲弟弟波弗。比尔博在他们身边绕来绕去，挥舞着宝剑不停地砍杀，数百只愤怒的蜘蛛从四面八方瞪着他们，形势实在让人感到相当绝望。

Then the battle began. Some of the dwarves had knives, and some had sticks, and all of them could get at stones; and Bilbo had his elvish dagger. Again and again the spiders were beaten off, and many of them were killed. But it could not go on for long. Bilbo was nearly tired out; only four of the dwarves were able to stand firmly, and soon they would all be overpowered like weary flies. Already the spiders were beginning to weave their webs all round them again from tree to tree.

厮杀开始了。有些矮人有刀，有些手里有棍子，所有的人都能拿得到石块，比尔博的手上则是精灵宝剑。蜘蛛们的攻击被一次次地打退，留下了许多尸体。但这样的局面维持不了多久了，比尔博已经几乎精疲力竭，而矮人之中只有四个能勉强站稳，不用多久他们就会像垂死挣扎的苍蝇一样因气力不支而被杀。蜘蛛们已经又开始在一棵棵树之间织起了天罗地网。

In the end Bilbo could think of no plan except to let the dwarves into the secret of his ring. He was rather sorry about it, but it could not be helped.

最后，比尔博别无选择，只能与矮人们分享有关他戒指的秘密。他对此觉得心有不甘，但这已经是形势所迫了。

“I am going to disappear,” he said. “I shall draw the spiders off, if I can; and you must keep together and make in the opposite direction. To the left there, that is more or less the way towards the place where we last saw the elf-fires.”

“我马上就要消失了，”他说，“我会尽力把蜘蛛引开的，你们必须要聚在一起，朝相反的方向跑。最好是往那里的左边跑，那里大约能通向我们最后一次看到精灵营火的地方。”

It was difficult to get them to understand, what with their dizzy heads, and the shouts, and the whacking of sticks and the throwing of stones; but at last Bilbo felt he could delay no longer—the spiders were drawing their circle ever closer. He suddenly slipped on his ring, and to the great astonishment of the dwarves he vanished.

矮人们的脑袋晕晕乎乎的，周围是一片叫喊声、棍棒挥舞声和投掷石头的声音，在这样的一团混乱中，实在是很难让矮人们理解他说的话。但比尔博觉得再也不能拖延下去了——蜘蛛们步步紧逼，不断缩小着包围圈。他突然戴上了戒指，在矮人们惊讶的目光中消失了。

Soon there came the sound of “Lazy Lob” and “Attercop” from among the trees away on the right. That upset the spiders greatly. They stopped advancing, and some went off in the direction of the voice. “Attercop” made them so angry that they lost their wits. Then Balin, who had grasped Bilbo’s plan better than the rest, led an attack. The dwarves huddled together in a knot, and sending a shower of stones they drove at the spiders on the left, and burst through the ring. Away behind them now the shouting and singing suddenly stopped.

很快，在右边的树林里面传来了“懒蜘蛛”和“笨蜘蛛”的喊声，这使得蜘蛛们很是惊惶。它们停下了前进的脚步，有些朝着声音传来的方向冲了过去。“笨蝴蛛”的称呼让他们在愤怒之下失去了理智。这时，比其他人多领会了一点比尔博计策的巴林，带着其他人发起了一次反攻。矮人们聚拢成一团，朝着左边的蜘蛛送出一蓬石头的弹雨，然后趁势冲出了包围圈。这时，他们身后比尔博的喊叫声和歌唱声突然停了下来。

Hoping desperately that Bilbo had not been caught the dwarves went on. Not fast enough, though. They were sick and weary, and they could not go much better than a hobble and a wobble, though many of the spiders were close behind. Every now and then they had to turn and fight the creatures that were overtaking them; and already some spiders were in the trees above them and throwing down their long clinging threads.

矮人们一边热切地希望比尔博没有被蜘蛛们给抓住，一边脚下不停地继续前进。不过他们走得可不够快。他们的身体又累又难过，所以即使背后有许多蜘蛛穷追不舍，他们也只能是一瘸一拐，蹒跚而行。时不时地，他们必须要回过身来，与追上来的蜘蛛搏斗一番。有一些蜘蛛已经来到了他们头顶的树上，把又长又黏的蛛丝抛了下来。

Things were looking pretty bad again, when suddenly Bilbo reappeared, and charged into the astonished spiders unexpectedly from the side.

就在形势再度陷入危急的时候，比尔博突然现身，从斜刺里出其不意地杀入到蜘蛛们的包围圈中。

“Go on! Go on!” he shouted. “I will do the stinging!”

“快走!快走!”他大喊道，“我来断后!”

And he did. He darted backwards and forwards, slashing at spider-threads, hacking at their legs, and stabbing at their fat bodies if they came too near. The spiders swelled with rage, and spluttered and frothed, and hissed out horrible curses; but they had become mortally afraid of Sting, and dared not come very near, now that it had come back. So curse as they would, their prey moved slowly but steadily away. It was a most terrible business, and seemed to take hours. But at last, just when Bilbo felt that he could not lift his hand for a single stroke more, the spiders suddenly gave it up, and followed them no more, but went back disappointed to their dark colony.

他也真的做到了，只见他前冲后突，割蛛丝，砍蛛腿，如果有蜘蛛逼近，他就刺穿它们肥胖的身体。蜘蛛们满腔怒火，发出噼里啪啦的声音，口角吐着白沫，用嘶嘶声恶毒地咒骂着。但是，它们已经知道了刺叮的厉害，因此当它重现战团之后，就不敢逼得太近。因此，不管它们再怎么咒骂，它们的猎物还是缓慢而又持续地朝包围圈外溜走。这实在是一个让人感到无比煎熬的过程，持续了似乎有几个小时之久。但到最后，正当比尔博觉得再也抬不起手来作一下劈刺的时候，蜘蛛们突然放弃了，不再紧追不舍，而是满怀失望地回它们黑暗的领地去了。

The dwarves then noticed that they had come to the edge of a ring where elf-fires had been. Whether it was one of those they had seen the night before, they could not tell. But it seemed that some good magic lingered in such spots, which the spiders did not like. At any rate here the light was greener, and the boughs less thick and threatening, and they had a chance to rest and draw breath.

矮人们这才注意到，他们已经来到了一个圈子的边缘，这里就是精灵营火曾经出现过的地方。不过，他们不能确定这是否就是他们昨晚见到的营火。不管怎样，这些地方似乎残留着一些善良的魔法，令蝴蛛们颇有忌惮。这里的天光更显翠绿，树枝也不那么浓密，少了些威胁的意味。他们终于有机会可以坐下来喘口气了。

There they lay for some time, puffing and panting. But very soon they began to ask questions. They had to have the whole vanishing business carefully explained, and the finding of the ring interested them so much that for a while they forgot their own troubles. Balin in particular insisted on having the Gollum story, riddles and all, told all over again, with the ring in its proper place. But after a time the light began to fail, and then other questions were asked. Where were they, and where was their path, and where was there any food, and what were they going to do next? These questions they asked over and over again, and it was from little Bilbo that they seemed to expect to get the answers. From which you can see that they had changed their opinion of Mr. Baggins very much, and had begun to have a great respect for him (as Gandalf had said they would). Indeed they really expected him to think of some wonderful plan for helping them, and were not merely grumbling. They knew only too well that they would soon all have been dead, if it had not been for the hobbit; and they thanked him many times. Some of them even got up and bowed right to the ground before him, though they fell over with the effort, and could not get on their legs again for some time. Knowing the truth about the vanishing did not lessen their opinion of Bilbo at all; for they saw that he had some wits, as well as luck and a magic ring—and all three are very useful possessions. In fact they praised him so much that Bilbo began to feel there really was something of a bold adventurer about himself after all, though he would have felt a lot bolder still, if there had been anything to eat.

他们在那里躺了一会儿，呼哧呼哧地喘着大气。但他们马上就开始好奇地提问了。他们让比尔博详细解释凭空消失是怎么回事，他找到戒指的经过让他们非常感兴趣，以至于让他们一时间忘记了自己的麻烦。巴林对此尤其有兴趣，缠着比尔博要他把咕噜的故事，包括猜谜语的详情和关于戒指的细节都再讲一遍。但过了一会儿之后，身边的绿光开始转暗，这时他们才想起问一些别的问题：这里到底是哪儿?原先的小径在何处?该到哪里去找些食物?接下来又该怎么办?他们一遍遍地问着这些问题，似乎期待着能从小比尔博那里得到回答。从这一点上你们就可以看出来，矮人们对于巴金斯先生的看法已经完全改变了，开始对他表现出了极大的尊敬(甘道夫早就说过会有这一天的)。他们真的认为他会想出好的计划来帮他们脱离困境，而不是窝在这里一味抱怨。他们心里明白得很，要不是霍比特人舍命相救，他们撑不了多久就没命了。他们对他谢了又谢，有几个矮人甚至站起身来，要给他来个九十度的鞠躬，结果因为腿软而倒在地上，一时之间爬不起来。尽管他们知道了神秘消失的真相，却一点也没有减少对比尔博的敬意，因为他们都明白，比尔博不仅有好运气和一枚魔法戒指，还相当有急智——这三样可都是非常有用的东西。事实上，他们对于比尔博的称赞，让他也开始觉得自己真是个伟大的冒险者，尽管如果能有点东西吃的话，他还能变得更勇敢些。

But there was nothing, nothing at all; and none of them were fit to go and look for anything, or to search for the lost path. The lost path! No other idea would come into Bilbo’s tired head. He just sat staring in front of him at the endless trees; and after a while they all fell silent again. All except Balin. Long after the others had stopped talking and shut their eyes, he kept on muttering and chuckling to himself.

可吃的东西真的没有，一点点都没有。众人之中没有一个适合去找食物，或是探路的。唉，那迷失的小径啊!比尔博疲倦的脑子里只想着这几个字。他坐在地上，望着眼前无穷无尽的树木发呆。没过多久，大家都不出声了，只有巴林例外。在其他人都已经停止了说话，闭上眼睛休息之后，他还在自言自语，自得其乐地笑着。

“Gollum! Well I’m blest! So that’s how he sneaked past me, is it? Now I know! Just crept quietly along did you, Mr. Baggins? Buttons all over the doorstep! Good old Bilbo—Bilbo—Bilbo—bo—bo—bo—” And then he fell asleep, and there was complete silence for a long while.

“咕噜!我的个乖乖!原来他是这样偷偷从我身边溜过去的?我总算知道了!巴金斯先生，你是戴着隐身戒指悄悄溜进来的?纽扣在门前的台阶上撒了一地!可爱的老比尔博——比尔博——比尔博——博——博——博——”然后他就睡着了，四周陷入了长长的死寂。

All of a sudden Dwalin opened an eye, and looked round at them. “Where is Thorin?” he asked.

突然间，杜瓦林睁开了一只眼睛，朝周围的伙伴们扫了一圈。“索林到哪儿去了?”他问道。

It was a terrible shock. Of course there were only thirteen of them, twelve dwarves and the hobbit. Where indeed was Thorin? They wondered what evil fate had befallen him, magic or dark monsters; and shuddered as they lay lost in the forest. There they dropped off one by one into uncomfortable sleep full of horrible dreams, as evening wore to black night; and there we must leave them for the present, too sick and weary to set guards or to take turns at watching.

大伙儿感到无比震惊。对啊，这里只有十三个人：十二名矮人和霍比特人。索林到底跑哪儿去了?他们开始幻想着索林到底遭遇到什么样的厄运，究竟是着了魔法，还是遇上了邪恶的怪物呢?大家失神地躺在树林里打着寒战。随着傍晚渐渐变成黑夜，他们就这样一个接一个地睡着了。他们睡得都很不好，每个人都噩梦连篇的。由于病痛和疲惫，他们根本无力设置哨兵或是轮班守夜。我们暂时把他们放到一边，先来看看另一边的情形吧。

Thorin had been caught much faster than they had. You remember Bilbo falling like a log into sleep, as he stepped into a circle of light? The next time it had been Thorin who stepped forward, and as the lights went out he fell like a stone enchanted. All the noise of the dwarves lost in the night, their cries as the spiders caught them and bound them, and all the sounds of the battle next day, had passed over him unheard. Then the Wood-elves had come to him, and bound him, and carried him away.

索林被抓其实要比他们早得多。大家还记得比尔博在踏进精灵营火圈后倒头死睡的那一次吧?在接下来的那一次，轮到索林第一个冲进去，因此在火光熄灭后，他也着了魔法，陷入了死睡。飘散在夜色中的矮人们的喧闹声，他们被蜘蛛抓住并捆起来时发出的叫喊，第二天战斗中的厮杀声，所有这一切他全都没有听见。然后，森林精灵们便找到了他，把他捆起来带走了。

The feasting people were Wood-elves, of course. These are not wicked folk. If they have a fault it is distrust of strangers. Though their magic was strong, even in those days they were wary. They differed from the High Elves of the West, and were more dangerous and less wise. For most of them (together with their scattered relations in the hills and mountains) were descended from the ancient tribes that never went to Faerie in the West. There the Light-elves and the Deep-elves and the Sea-elves went and lived for ages, and grew fairer and wiser and more learned, and invented their magic and their cunning craft in the making of beautiful and marvellous things, before some came back into the Wide World. In the Wide World the Wood-elves lingered in the twilight of our Sun and Moon, but loved best the stars; and they wandered in the great forests that grew tall in lands that are now lost. They dwelt most often by the edges of the woods, from which they could escape at times to hunt, or to ride and run over the open lands by moonlight or starlight; and after the coming of Men they took ever more and more to the gloaming and the dusk. Still elves they were and remain, and that is Good People.

当然，在林中宴饮的正是这些精灵。他们并不是什么坏家伙，如果说他们有什么缺点的话，那就是不信任陌生人。即便拥有很强的魔法，可在这些日子里他们还是非常小心翼翼。他们和西方的高等精灵不同，更具危险性，也没那么聪明。他们之中的大多数(加上他们散居于大小山脉间的亲族)，都是从没有去过西方圣土的那些古老部族传承下来的。那些光明精灵、渊博精灵和海洋精灵，都去过西方圣土，并在那儿住了很多年，变得更美丽、更智慧、更博学，并且发明出他们自己的魔法，研究出如何制造美丽和神奇东西的技术，然后他们之中的一部分才重新回到这个世界来。在这个世界中，森林精灵在太阳和月亮的光华间游走，但他们最爱的还是星辰。他们会在今日早已绝迹的壮阔森林中漫游，且大多数居住在森林的边缘，在那里，他们有时进入森林狩猎，有时则在月光或是星光下驰骋于平原之上。在人类到来之后，他们越来越不喜欢光天化日了，不过，他们依旧是精灵，是善良的种族。

In a great cave some miles within the edge of Mirkwood on its eastern side there lived at this time their greatest king. Before his huge doors of stone a river ran out of the heights of the forest and flowed on and out into the marshes at the feet of the high wooded lands. This great cave, from which countless smaller ones opened out on every side, wound far underground and had many passages and wide halls; but it was lighter and more wholesome than any goblin-dwelling, and neither so deep nor so dangerous. In fact the subjects of the king mostly lived and hunted in the open woods, and had houses or huts on the ground and in the branches. The beeches were their favourite trees. The king’s cave was his palace, and the strong place of his treasure, and the fortress of his people against their enemies.

在距黑森林的东部边缘几哩之处有一座巨大的洞穴，此时里面居住着他们最伟大的国王。在他巨大的石门前，一道来自森林高地的河流蜿蜒而下，流进林木葱茏的平原旁的湿地。这个巨大的洞穴，在其每一边都有着数不尽的小洞穴，一直绵延到远处的地下，里面有许多通道和宽阔的厅堂。这地底世界远比半兽人居住的地方要亮堂、干净，没有那么幽深，也没那么危险。事实上，国王的臣民大多在森林中居住狩猎，他们居住的屋子多半在地面上或树枝间。山毛榉是他们最喜欢的树。国王的洞穴是他的宫殿，也是他收藏宝物的地方，更是他的同胞们对抗外敌的堡垒。

It was also the dungeon of his prisoners. So to the cave they dragged Thorin—not too gently, for they did not love dwarves, and thought he was an enemy. In ancient days they had had wars with some of the dwarves, whom they accused of stealing their treasure. It is only fair to say that the dwarves gave a different account, and said that they only took what was their due, for the elf-king had bargained with them to shape his raw gold and silver, and had afterwards refused to give them their pay. If the elf-king had a weakness it was for treasure, especially for silver and white gems; and though his hoard was rich, he was ever eager for more, since he had not yet as great a treasure as other elf-lords of old. His people neither mined nor worked metals or jewels, nor did they bother much with trade or with tilling the earth. All this was well known to every dwarf, though Thorin’s family had had nothing to do with the old quarrel I have spoken of. Consequently Thorin was angry at their treatment of him, when they took their spell off him and he came to his senses; and also he was determined that no word of gold or jewels should be dragged out of him.

这里也是他们关押囚犯的地牢。因此，他们将索林拖来了此处——态度不算太客气，因为他们不喜欢矮人，并且认为他是敌人。在古代，他们曾经指控有些矮人偷盗他们的宝藏，并且与他们进行了战争。不过这事儿要是不听听矮人们给出的不同说法便算不上公平。据他们的说法他们只是拿回了他们应得的东西，因为精灵国王和他们谈好了工钱，要求他们帮他打造金银器，可过后却拒绝付给他们报酬。如果说精灵国王有什么弱点的话，那一定是对财宝的贪恋，尤其是对白银和白色的宝石。虽然他已经收藏了许多的宝物，但他还是永不满足，因为他的宝藏还比不上其他远古精灵贵族那样丰富。他的子民不会开矿，也不会铸造金属或是打造珠宝，更懒得花工夫去做买卖或是种地。每个矮人都知道精灵与矮人的这段过节，虽然索林的祖先与之一点关系也没有。因此，当身上的魔法被解除，索林苏醒过来之后，他对于精灵们的态度很是气愤，他拿定主意，他们休想从他口中获得关于金子或珠宝的一个字儿。

The king looked sternly on Thorin, when he was brought before him, and asked him many questions. But Thorin would only say that he was starving.

在索林被带到国王面前之后，国王严肃地看着他，问了他许多问题，但索林只是一个劲儿地说他饿得要死。

“Why did you and your folk three times try to attack my people at their merrymaking?” asked the king.

“我的同胞们在欢宴时，你和你的同伙为何三次试图发起攻击?”国王问。

“We did not attack them,” answered Thorin; “we came to beg, because we were starving.”

“我们没有攻击他们，”索林回答，“我们是想来讨点吃的，因为我们饿了很久。”

“Where are your friends now, and what are they doing?”

“你的朋友们到哪儿去了，现在在干什么?”

“I don’t know, but I expect starving in the forest.”

“我不知道，不过我估计他们大概还在森林里挨饿呢。”

“What were you doing in the forest?”

“你们在森林里面干什么?”

“Looking for food and drink, because we were starving.”

“找食物和饮水，因为我们饿了很久。”

“But what brought you into the forest at all?” asked the king angrily.

“可你们当初为什么会进森林?”国王愤怒地问道。

At that Thorin shut his mouth and would not say another word.

对于这个问题，索林闭上嘴，一个字也不愿回答了。

“Very well!” said the king. “Take him away and keep him safe, until he feels inclined to tell the truth, even if he waits a hundred years.”

“好极了!”国王说，“把他带走，好好看管，等他到愿意说实话为止，哪怕等上一百年。”

Then the elves put thongs on him, and shut him in one of the inmost caves with strong wooden doors, and left him. They gave him food and drink, plenty of both, if not very fine; for Wood-elves were not goblins, and were reasonably well-behaved even to their worst enemies, when they captured them. The giant spiders were the only living things that they had no mercy upon.

精灵们用皮带将他绑起，把他关进了装有结实木门的最幽深的洞穴之一，然后就走了。他们留给了他很多吃的喝的，虽然不见得有多好，但数量却很多。森林精灵们毕竟不是半兽人，即便是对待成为阶下囚的死敌，也还保持得体的举止。惟一会让他们毫不留情的就只有那些大蜘蛛了。

There in the king’s dungeon poor Thorin lay; and after he had got over his thankfulness for bread and meat and water, he began to wonder what had become of his unfortunate friends. It was not very long before he discovered; but that belongs to the next chapter and the beginning of another adventure in which the hobbit again showed his usefulness.

索林就这么躺在国王的地牢中。在他心存感谢地用过了面包、肉和水之后，他开始担心起那些不幸的朋友们的处境来。过不了多久，他就能知道了，不过，这是发生在下一章的事情，那是又一场冒险的开端，霍比特人将再次让人领略到他的大用处。