霍比特人： 来自内部的消息 Inside Information （下）

"You may indeed! I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led. And through the air. I am he that walks unseen.”

“当然可以!我是从山下来的，我的道路穿过山脉，越过山丘。我还能在空中飞翔，我是个来无影去无踪的人。”

“So I can well believe,” said Smaug, “but that is hardly your usual name.”

“这我相信，”史矛革说，“但这恐怕不是你平常用的名字吧!”

“I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly. I was chosen for the lucky number.”

“我是能发现蛛丝马迹的人，是能砍破蛛网的人，是能用蜇刺刺人的苍蝇。我是被选来凑足幸运数字的。”

“Lovely titles!” sneered the dragon. “But lucky numbers don’t always come off.”

“这些名头可真可爱啊!”恶龙冷笑着说道，“但幸运数字可不见得每次都管用哦!”

“I am he that buries his friends alive and drowns them and draws them alive again from the water. I came from the end of a bag, but no bag went over me.”

“我是把朋友活埋，把他们丢进水里，然后又能让他们从水中活生生离开的人。我是从袋子的底端来的，但从来没被袋子套上过。”

“These don’t sound so creditable,” scoffed Smaug.

“这些话听着可不太能令人相信。”史矛革嘲讽道。

“I am the friend of bears and the guest of eagles. I am Ringwinner and Luckwearer; and I am Barrel-rider,” went on Bilbo beginning to be pleased with his riddling.

“我是熊之友、鹰之客，我是赢得戒指并幸运佩戴的人，我也是木桶骑士。”比尔博一路说下去，开始为自己编的谜语感到来劲了。

“That’s better!” said Smaug. “But don’t let your imagination run away with you!”

“这个更棒了!”史矛革说，“不过，可别把想像游戏玩儿得太过头了!”

This of course is the way to talk to dragons, if you don’t want to reveal your proper name (which is wise), and don’t want to infuriate them by a flat refusal (which is also very wise). No dragon can resist the fascination of riddling talk and of wasting time trying to understand it. There was a lot here which Smaug did not understand at all (though I expect you do, since you know all about Bilbo’s adventures to which he was referring), but he thought he understood enough, and he chuckled in his wicked inside.

如果你不想泄露你的真名实姓(这是聪明的做法)，也不想因为直截了当地拒绝而惹恼了他们(这也很聪明)，那么你当然就只能这样跟恶龙说话。没有哪条恶龙能抵御充满谜语的谈话和花时间来解谜的诱惑。比尔博刚才的这番话里，史矛革有许多是一点都弄不明白的(不过我想你们是应该明白的，因为他指的是他这一路历险的过程，而你们对此是再清楚不过了)，但他自以为自己已经了解得够多了，因此不禁在他那邪恶的内心中窃笑不已。

“I thought so last night,” he smiled to himself. “Lake-men, some nasty scheme of those miserable tub-trading Lake-men, or I’m a lizard. I haven’t been down that way for an age and an age; but I will soon alter that!”

“我昨晚就猜到了!”他微笑着在心中想道，“这一定是湖上的那些人类，就是那些卖桶子的可怜家伙弄出来的计策，不然我就是条蜥蜴。我已经有好几年没有去过那个地方了，不过我很快就会改变这种情况的!”

“Very well, O Barrel-rider!” he said aloud. “Maybe Barrel was your pony’s name; and maybe not, though it was fat enough. You may walk unseen, but you did not walk all the way. Let me tell you I ate six ponies last night and I shall catch and eat all the others before long. In return for the excellent meal I will give you one piece of advice for your good: don’t have more to do with dwarves than you can help!”

“好极了，木桶骑士!”这次他大声说了出来，“或许木桶就是你坐骑的名字，或许不是，它作为坐骑可是太胖了点。你或许可以来无影去无踪，但你绝对不可能一路都是走来的。让我告诉你吧，我昨天晚上吃了六匹小马，过不了多久，我会把别的小马也都吃掉。为了回报这顿美餐，我愿意给你一个忠告：这事儿准跟矮人有关!”

“Dwarves!” said Bilbo in pretended surprise.

“矮人!”比尔博故作惊讶地喊了一句。

“Don’t talk to me!” said Smaug. “I know the smell (and taste) of dwarf—no one better. Don’t tell me that I can eat a dwarf-ridden pony and not know it! You’ll come to a bad end, if you go with such friends, Thief Barrel-rider. I don’t mind if you go back and tell them so from me.” But he did not tell Bilbo that there was one smell he could not make out at all, hobbit-smell; it was quite outside his experience and puzzled him mightily.

“别跟我装了!”史矛革说，“我很淸楚矮人的气息(还有滋味)，没有人比我更熟悉了。别跟我说我吃了矮人骑过的小马还闻不出是谁骑的!如果你交上这样的朋友，木桶骑士小偷，你的下场会很惨的!啊，我不介意你回去告诉他们，就说这是我说的。”不过，他并没有告诉比尔博的是，其中有种味道是他根本分辨不出的，那就是霍比特人的味道。这种味道不在他的经验范围之内，令他大感迷惑。

“I suppose you got a fair price for that cup last night?” he went on. “Come now, did you? Nothing at all! Well, that’s just like them. And I suppose they are skulking outside, and your job is to do all the dangerous work and get what you can when I’m not looking—for them? And you will get a fair share? Don’t you believe it! If you get off alive, you will be lucky.”

“我想，昨天晚上的那个金杯，让你得了个好价钱吧?”他继续说道，“说嘛，是不是?什么都没得到!哈，这倒正是他们的风格。我想他们一定是偷偷摸摸地躲在外面，而你是专干危险工作的，那就是趁我不注意的时候能偷多少就偷多少。你替他们卖命?会分给你一大票吗?别信他们的鬼话!你能活着离开就算幸运了!”

Bilbo was now beginning to feel really uncomfortable. Whenever Smaug’s roving eye, seeking for him in the shadows, flashed across him, he trembled, and an unaccountable desire seized hold of him to rush out and reveal himself and tell all the truth to Smaug. In fact he was in grievous danger of coming under the dragon-spell. But plucking up courage he spoke again.

比尔博现在开始觉得很不安了。史矛革正用眼睛在暗影中寻找着他，每当他那巡视的目光扫过他身体的时候，他就禁不住浑身发抖，有种解释不清的冲动会攫住他，让他想要冲出去把自己显露出来，并把所有的实情都告诉史矛革。事实上，他已经陷入了被恶龙魔法攫住的危险边缘。但他还是鼓起勇气大声说道：

“You don’t know everything, O Smaug the Mighty,” said he. “Not gold alone brought us hither.”

“哦，了不起的史矛革，你并没有知道所有事情，我们到这儿来可并不单单是为了黄金的。”

“Ha! Ha! You admit the ‘us’” laughed Smaug. “Why not say ‘us fourteen’ and be done with it, Mr. Lucky Number? I am pleased to hear that you had other business in these parts besides my gold. In that case you may, perhaps, not altogether waste your time.

“哈!哈!你承认有‘我们’了，”史矛革大笑着说，“为什么不索性爽爽快快地说，我们十四个，呢，幸运数字先生?我很高兴地知道，你们到这里来除了我的黄金还另有所图。如果那样的话，或许你们就不会是在白白浪费时间。

“I don’t know if it has occurred to you that, even if you could steal the gold bit by bit—a matter of a hundred years or so—you could not get it very far? Not much use on the mountain-side? Not much use in the forest? Bless me! Had you never thought of the catch? A fourteenth share, I suppose, or something like it, those were the terms, eh? But what about delivery? What about cartage? What about armed guards and tolls?” And Smaug laughed aloud. He had a wicked and a wily heart, and he knew his guesses were not far out, though he suspected that the Lake-men were at the back of the plans, and that most of the plunder was meant to stop there in the town by the shore that in his young days had been called Esgaroth.

“我不知道你是否曾经想过，就算你可以一点一点地偷走我的黄金——那大概得花上个一百多年左右——你又能带着黄金跑多远?躲在山边一点用也没有，躲在森林里面就行吗?天啊!你难道从来没想过自己能分到多少吗?十四分之一吧，我想，或者多点少点，这就是你们定好的吧，嗯?那么运送的成本呢?车辆的费用呢?武装护卫和过路费呢?”史矛革大笑了起来。他不仅心地邪恶，也诡计多端，他知道自己猜了个八九不离十。不过，他怀疑在这一计划背后操纵一切的是长湖边的人类，偷来的财宝大部分会最终运送到湖岸边的那个镇子上，在他年轻时那里被称作埃斯加洛斯。

You will hardly believe it, but poor Bilbo was really very taken aback. So far all his thoughts and energies had been concentrated on getting to the Mountain and finding the entrance. He had never bothered to wonder how the treasure was to be removed, certainly never how any part of it that might fall to his share was to be brought back all the way to Bag-End Under-Hill.

你可能很难相信，但可怜的比尔博真的被这些问题问得有些慌乱了。到目前为止，他所有的心思和精力全都集中在如何到达孤山，如何找到密门上。他根本没有费心去想过怎样运走宝藏，当然更没想过该怎样把分给他的那份运回小丘下的袋底洞了。

Now a nasty suspicion began to grow in his mind—had the dwarves forgotten this important point too, or were they laughing in their sleeves at him all the time? That is the effect that dragon-talk has on the inexperienced. Bilbo of course ought to have been on his guard; but Smaug had rather an overwhelming personality.

现在，他的心中开始起了严重的疑心：这些矮人是否也忘记了这最重要的一点，还是他们一直都在背后偷偷笑他傻呢?这就是恶龙的一番话对于缺乏经验的人所具有的影响力。比尔博当然应该要保持警惕，但史矛革的确具有令人难以抗拒的蛊惑力。

“I tell you,” he said, in an effort to remain loyal to his friends and to keep his end up, “that gold was only an afterthought with us. We came over hill and under hill, by wave and wind, for Revenge. Surely, O Smaug the unassessably wealthy, you must realize that your success has made you some bitter enemies?”

“我告诉你，”他试图继续相信自己的朋友，不让自己泄气，“黄金只是我们次要的考虑而已。我们跋山涉水，风餐露宿地来到这里是为了复仇!哦，财富多到无可估量的史矛革，你一定已经意识到，你的成功会为你带来一些仇敌的吧?”

Then Smaug really did laugh—a devastating sound which shook Bilbo to the floor, while far up in the tunnel the dwarves huddled together and imagined that the hobbit had come to a sudden and a nasty end.

史矛革听了发出真正的大笑，这可怕的笑声把比尔博震倒在地上，而隧道远处的矮人们也吓得抱在一起，不禁认为霍比特人会不会已经惨遭了不幸。

“Revenge!” he snorted, and the light of his eyes lit the hall from floor to ceiling like scarlet lightning. “Revenge! The King under the Mountain is dead and where are his kin that dare seek revenge? Girion Lord of Dale is dead, and I have eaten his people like a wolf among sheep, and where are his sons’ sons that dare approach me? I kill where I wish and none dare resist. I laid low the warriors of old and their like is not in the world today. Then I was but young and tender. Now I am old and strong, strong, strong, Thief in the Shadows!” he gloated. “My armour is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!”

“复仇!”他鼻孔里哼了一声，眼中泛起的光芒如猩红的闪电将整个大厅从天花板到地板全都照亮了。“复仇!山下之王已经死了那么久，他的后代有哪个敢来复仇的?河谷邦之王吉瑞安已经死了，我吃他的子民就像狼吃羊一样，他的子子孙孙有哪一个敢靠近我的?我想杀就杀，没有人敢抵抗我。我杀死了古代的战士，而如今世上像他们那样的人根本都找不到了。那时，我还年轻纤弱;现在，我已经成熟而强大、强大、无比强大了，你这个阴影中的小偷!”他得意洋洋地继续说道，“我的鳞甲如同十层厚的钢盾，牙齿如同钢剑，利爪如同长矛，尾巴摇一摇便如同打了个雷，翅膀扇一扇便如同刮起狂风，我的呼吸就足以带来死亡!”

“I have always understood,” said Bilbo in a frightened squeak, “that dragons were softer underneath, especially in the region of the—er—chest; but doubtless one so fortified has thought of that.”

“我从以前就知道，”比尔博害怕得声音都在发颤了，“恶龙的肉体在表层之下是很柔软的，尤其是在——呃——胸部，但像你这样全身戒备的，肯定早已想到了这一点。”

The dragon stopped short in his boasting. “Your information is antiquated,” he snapped. “I am armoured above and below with iron scales and hard gems. No blade can pierce me.”

恶龙突.然停止了夸耀。“你的情报早已过时了，”他怒冲冲地说道，“我全身上下已经披满了钢铁般的鳞甲和坚硬的宝石，没有任何刀剑能穿透我了。”

“I might have guessed it,” said Bilbo. “Truly there can nowhere be found the equal of Lord Smaug the Impenetrable. What magnificence to possess a waistcoat of fine diamonds!”

“我早就应该猜到了，”比尔博说，“是啊，整个世上都找不到能够和刀枪不人的史矛革大王匹敌的对手。您那件钻石褂子可真是美丽啊!”

“Yes, it is rare and wonderful, indeed,” said Smaug absurdly pleased. He did not know that the hobbit had already caught a glimpse of his peculiar under-covering on his previous visit, and was itching for a closer view for reasons of his own. The dragon rolled over. “Look!” he said. “What do you say to that?”

“那是当然，这可是稀罕的宝物，”史矛革听了这话有点飘飘然起来。他并不知道霍比特人上次来的时候已经瞥见过了他那件特别的护甲，这次他只是出于自己的原因，很想要近距离观察一下。恶龙把身子转了过来。“看看!”他说，“觉得怎么样?”

“Dazzlingly marvellous! Perfect! Flawless! Staggering!” exclaimed Bilbo aloud, but what he thought inside was: “Old fool! Why, there is a large patch in the hollow of his left breast as bare as a snail out of its shell!”

“耀眼夺目!太完美了!毫无缺点!让人震撼哪!”比尔博嘴上这样大声说着，但心里想的其实是：“老蠢蛋!在他左胸的凹陷处，为什么会有一大块地方像出了壳的蜗牛一样是光溜溜的呢?”

After he had seen that Mr. Baggins’ one idea was to get away. “Well, I really must not detain Your Magnificence any longer,” he said, “or keep you from much needed rest. Ponies take some catching, I believe, after a long start. And so do burglars,” he added as a parting shot, as he darted back and fled up the tunnel.

在看过想看的东西之后，巴金斯先生惟一想着的就是要开溜了。“好吧，我想我不能够再叨扰大人您，”他说，“使您无法进行必要的休息了。小马在受了长时间的惊吓后肯定不怎么好抓了吧，我想，飞贼也是一样。”这句临别的刺激话一说完，他立刻转身飞也似的顺着隧道逃跑了。

It was an unfortunate remark, for the dragon spouted terrific flames after him, and fast though he sped up the slope, he had not gone nearly far enough to be comfortable before the ghastly head of Smaug was thrust against the opening behind. Luckily the whole head and jaws could not squeeze in, but the nostrils sent forth fire and vapour to pursue him, and he was nearly overcome, and stumbled blindly on in great pain and fear. He had been feeling rather pleased with the cleverness of his conversation with Smaug, but his mistake at the end shook him into better sense.

这可真是一句倒霉的话，受了刺激的恶龙立刻朝他身后吐出了可怕的火焰。虽然比尔博飞快地沿着斜坡向上跑去，但他的速度还是无法跟史矛革相提并论，史矛革一下子就将大脑袋塞进了他身后的洞口。对他来说幸运的是，它的整个脑袋和下巴无法完全挤进来，但他鼻孔里喷出来的火焰和蒸汽还是追了上来。他险些就要被追上了，只能在黑暗中带着极大的恐惧连滚带爬，落荒而逃。他之前还对于自己与史矛革谈话时的机敏颇有点得意，可最后关头犯的错误终于使他清醒了过来。

“Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo you fool!” he said to himself, and it became a favourite saying of his later, and passed into a proverb. “You aren’t nearly through this adventure yet,” he added, and that was pretty true as well.

“比尔博你这个笨蛋，永远不要取笑还活着的恶龙!”他对自己说道，这在以后成了他的口头禅，也慢慢变成了一句谚语。“你的冒险还远没结束呢。”他又加了一句，这话也一点没说错。

The afternoon was turning into evening when he came out again and stumbled and fell in a faint on the ‘doorstep’. The dwarves revived him, and doctored his scorches as well as they could; but it was a long time before the hair on the back of his head and his heels grew properly again: it had all been singed and frizzled right down to the skin. In the meanwhile his friends did their best to cheer him up; and they were eager for his story, especially wanting to know why the dragon had made such an awful noise, and how Bilbo had escaped.

当他踉踉跄跄地从洞穴中走出来，一头栽倒在“门阶”上的时候，天色已是傍晚了。矮人们把他弄醒，尽可能地医治了他身上的烫伤，但他后脑和脚后跟上的毛发又过了好久才重新长出来：它们全都给烧成焦黄，卷了起来。在这段时间里，他的朋友们尽力想让他高兴起来，他们还急着想要从他口中知道这段故事，特别是为什么恶龙会发出那么巨大的声音，以及比尔博究竟是怎么逃出来的。

But the hobbit was worried and uncomfortable, and they had difficulty in getting anything out of him. On thinking things over he was now regretting some of the things he had said to the dragon, and was not eager to repeat them. The old thrush was sitting on a rock near by with his head cocked on one side, listening to all that was said. It shows what an ill temper Bilbo was in: he picked up a stone and threw it at the thrush, which merely fluttered aside and came back.

可是，霍比特人一副忧心忡忡浑身不舒服的样子，他们很难从他口中套出任何东西来。在把整个过程回想了一遍之后，他开始对自己跟恶龙说过的有些话感到后悔，因此也实在不愿意再复述一遍了。那只老画眉鸟正坐在旁边的岩石上，侧扬着脑袋，倾听着他们所有的对话。比尔博的心情实在是糟透了，只见他捡起一块石头来就对着画眉鸟扔了过去，老鸟扑闪了两下翅膀往旁边躲过，然后又回到了原处。

“Drat the bird!” said Bilbo crossly. “I believe he is listening, and I don’t like the look of him.”

“该死的鸟!”比尔博生气地说，“我觉得它肯定在偷听，我看见它的样子就讨厌。”

“Leave him alone!” said Thorin. “The thrushes are good and friendly—this is a very old bird indeed, and is maybe the last left of the ancient breed that used to live about here, tame to the hands of my father and grandfather. They were a long-lived and magical race, and this might even be one of those that were alive then, a couple of hundreds of years or more ago. The Men of Dale used to have the trick of understanding their language, and used them for messengers to fly to the Men of the Lake and elsewhere.”

“别管它了!”索林说，“画眉鸟是友好和善的鸟，这也的确是只很老的鸟了，它可能是过去居住在这边的古老鸟类中仅存的硕果了——我的父亲和祖父曾经驯养过它们。这是一个长寿而又有魔法的品种，这一只甚至有可能就是当年那一批中的一只，搞不好都有几百岁了。河谷城的人类以前曾听得懂它们的语言，利用它们来和长湖边的人类以及其他地方传递讯息。”

“Well, he’ll have news to take to Lake-town all right, if that is what he is after,” said Bilbo; “though I don’t suppose there are any people left there that trouble with thrush-language.”

“好吧，它会有消息可以带回长湖镇了，如果这就是它想要的东西的话。”比尔博说，“不过，那里可能不会有任何活人能听它的鸟语了!”

“Why what has happened?” cried the dwarves. “Do get on with your tale!”

“为什么会有那样的事情呢?”矮人们着急地问道，“快把详情告诉我们吧!”

So Bilbo told them all he could remember, and he confessed that he had a nasty feeling that the dragon guessed too much from his riddles added to the camps and the ponies. “I am sure he knows we came from Lake-town and had help from there; and I have a horrible feeling that his next move may be in that direction. I wish to goodness I had never said that about Barrel-rider; it would make even a blind rabbit in these parts think of the Lake-men.”

比尔博于是就把所有还记得的事情都告诉了矮人们，他承认自己有种不好的预感，他认为恶龙除了它自己原先发现的小马和营地外，又从他的谜语中推测出了太多的线索。“我想他一定已经知道了我们是从长湖镇来的，从那里得到过帮助。我有一种可怕的感觉，他的下一步行动会是冲着那里去的。我真希望我从来都没说过木桶骑士之类的话，在这一带就连一只瞎了眼的兔子都会联想到长湖镇的人类。”

“Well, well! It cannot be helped, and it is difficult not to slip in talking to a dragon, or so I have always heard,” said Balin anxious to comfort him. “I think you did very well, if you ask me—you found out one very useful thing at any rate, and got home alive, and that is more than most can say who have had words with the likes of Smaug. It may be a mercy and a blessing yet to know of the bare patch in the old Worm’s diamond waistcoat.”

“好吧，算了吧!这也是没办法的事情，和恶龙对话是很难不说漏嘴的，我一直都听人这么说的。”巴林急着想要安慰他，“如果你问我的看法，我觉得你已经做得很好了——你至少发现了一件非常有用的事情，而且还活着回来了，在和史矛革谈过话的人当中你已经是做得最好的了。我们知道了这个老家伙的钻石褂子上有一块光秃的地方，这或许是我们的幸运和福气也未可知。”

That turned the conversation, and they all began discussing dragon-slayings historical, dubious, and mythical, and the various sorts of stabs and jabs and undercuts, and the different arts devices and stratagems by which they had been accomplished. The general opinion was that catching a dragon napping was not as easy as it sounded, and the attempt to stick one or prod one asleep was more likely to end in disaster than a bold frontal attack. All the while they talked the thrush listened, till at last when the stars began to peep forth, it silently spread its wings and flew away. And all the while they talked and the shadows lengthened Bilbo became more and more unhappy and his foreboding grew.

众人随即改变了话题，开始讨论起了有关屠龙的各种历史的、半真半假的和流传于神话的方法，以及各种各样刺、劈和撩的刀法，以及他们已经具备了的各种技艺、装置和策略。大家达成的共识是，要想抓住恶龙打盹儿的机会并没有听上去那么容易，趁他睡着时行刺可能比从正面发起勇敢的攻击还更容易导致灾难性的结局。整个谈论过程中，那只黑鸟都在专注地听着，直到天上星辰开始出现，他才无声无息地张开翅膀飞走了。他们不停地谈着，地上的影子越拖越长，比尔博的心情也越来越糟，不祥的预感越来越强烈。

At last he interrupted them. “I am sure we are very unsafe here,” he said, “and I don’t see the point of sitting here. The dragon has withered all the pleasant green, and anyway the night has come and it is cold. But I feel it in my bones that this place will be attacked again. Smaug knows now how I came down to his hall, and you can trust him to guess where the other end of the tunnel is. He will break all this side of the Mountain to bits, if necessary, to stop up our entrance, and if we are smashed with it the better he will like it.”

最后，他打断了大家的话。“我敢肯定我们在这里非常不安全，”他说，“而且我也看不出坐在这里有什么用。恶龙已经把所有的绿地都给烧焦了，现在已经晚上了，天气也比较冷。我有种从骨子里发散出来的感觉，这个地方一定会再次受到攻击。史矛革现在已经知道我是怎么进入他的洞穴，而且肯定也猜得到隧道的另一头会在什么地方。如果有必要的话，它会把山的这一面全都炸平来阻止我们进入的。如果我们能跟石头一起被炸碎，它会更加髙兴的。”

“You are very gloomy, Mr. Baggins!” said Thorin. “Why has not Smaug blocked the lower end, then, if he is so eager to keep us out? He has not, or we should have heard him.”

“巴金斯先生，你太悲观了啦!”索林说，“如果它这么迫切想要把我们关在外面，那为什么它还没把下边的出口封掉?它肯定还没封，不然我们会听到声音的。”.

“I don’t know, I don’t know—because at first he wanted to try and lure me in again, I suppose, and now perhaps because he is waiting till after tonight’s hunt, or because he does not want to damage his bedroom if he can help it—but I wish you would not argue. Smaug will be coming out at any minute now, and our only hope is to get well in the tunnel and shut the door.”

“我不知道，真的不知道——可能它想要先把我再骗进去吧，我想，又或许它准备等到今晚狩猎后再来做这件事，也有可能它想尽可能不弄坏自己的卧室——不过我希望你们不要再和我争辩了。史矛革随时有可能出来，我们惟一的希望就是躲进隧道里面，把门关起来。”

He seemed so much in earnest that the dwarves at last did as he said, though they delayed shutting the door—it seemed a desperate plan, for no one knew whether or how they could get it open again from the inside, and the thought of being shut in a place from which the only way out led through the dragon’s lair was not one they liked. Also everything seemed quite quiet, both outside and down the tunnel. So for a longish while they sat inside not far down from the half-open door and went on talking.

他的态度非常恳切，矮人们最终照他说的做了，尽管他们在关门一事上拖延了一下——这个计划太铤而走险了，因为没有人知道从里面到底能不能把门打开，又该怎么打开。他们一想到自己被困的地方其惟一出口通往的是恶龙的巢穴，心中就很不是滋味。况且，一切看来都非常平静，不管是外面还是隧道里面。因此，他们久久地坐在离半开着的门不远的隧道内，继续聊着天。

The talk turned to the dragon’s wicked words about the dwarves. Bilbo wished he had never heard them, or at least that he could feel quite certain that the dwarves now were absolutely honest when they declared that they had never thought at all about what would happen after the treasure had been won. “We knew it would be a desperate venture,” said Thorin, “and we know that still; and I still think that when we have won it will be time enough to think what to do about it. As for your share, Mr. Baggins, I assure you we are more than grateful and you shall choose your own fourteenth, as soon as we have anything to divide. I am sorry if you are worried about transport, and I admit the difficulties are great—the lands have not become less wild with the passing of time, rather the reverse—but we will do whatever we can for you, and take our share of the cost when the time comes. Believe me or not as you like!”

话题转到了恶龙所说的关于矮人们的恶毒话。比尔博真希望自己从来没听过这些话，或者他可以相信矮人们这回的说法是绝对诚实的。他们声称自己真的从来也没有考虑过夺回宝藏之后该怎么办。“我们知道这是场九死一生的冒险，”索林说，“我们现在还是这么想的。我依旧认为，等我们拿到宝藏之后，会有足够的时间来考虑该怎么来应付宝藏。至于你的分成，巴金斯先生，我向你保证，由于我们对你的感激实在难以用言语形容，因此只要我们有了可分的东西，会让你优先挑选属于你的那一份。如果你为运输问题而感到担心的话，我向你表示歉意。我承认困难会很大——随着时间的流逝，这片土地上非但没有越来越太平，反而越来越危险了——不过，我们会竭尽所能地帮你解决运输问题，并替你分摊运输费用的。我的话就说到这儿了，相不相信随便你!”

From that the talk turned to the great hoard itself and to the things that Thorin and Balin remembered. They wondered if they were still lying there unharmed in the hall below: the spears that were made for the armies of the great King Bladorthin (long since dead), each had a thrice-forged head and their shafts were inlaid with cunning gold, but they were never delivered or paid for; shields made for warriors long dead; the great golden cup of Thror, two-handed, hammered and carven with birds and flowers whose eyes and petals were of jewels; coats of mail gilded and silvered and impenetrable; the necklace of Girion, Lord of Dale, made of five hundred emeralds green as grass, which he gave for the arming of his eldest son in a coat of dwarf-linked rings the like of which had never been made before, for it was wrought of pure silver to the power and strength of triple steel. But fairest of all was the great white gem, which the dwarves had found beneath the roots of the Mountain, the Heart of the Mountain, the Arkenstone of Thrain.

自那以后，话题又转到了那堆积如山的金银财宝，以及索林和巴林还记得的一些东西。他们在想，不知道那些东西是否还完好地保存在地下的大厅里：替伟大的国王布拉多辛(他早就过世了)的部队打造的长枪，每柄长枪都拥有经过三次锻造的枪尖，柄上则镶着精雕细琢的黄金，但这些武器一直都没能送出去，当然也就没收到对方付的工钱;还有替早已亡故的战士们打造的盾牌;供瑟罗尔双手持用的巨大金杯，上面雕琢的鸟和花其眼睛与花瓣都是珠宝镶成;还有精心锻造的铠甲，镀了纯银，刀枪不人;还有河谷邦之王吉瑞安的项链，是用五百颗如同青草一般碧绿的翡翠缀成，他用这串项链为代价，替他的长子量身打造了一副铠甲，铠甲由纯银制成，上面的每一个环扣都由矮人们手工接合，强度和硬度是钢铁的三倍，堪称举世无双。不过，在这其中最美丽的，则是一枚巨大的白色宝石，这是矮人们在大山底下挖掘到的，被称为山之心，又被称作瑟莱因的阿肯宝钻。

“The Arkenstone! The Arkenstone!” murmured Thorin in the dark, half dreaming with his chin upon his knees. “It was like a globe with a thousand facets; it shone like silver in the firelight, like water in the sun, like snow under the stars, like rain upon the Moon!”

“阿肯宝钻!阿肯宝钻!”索林把下巴搁在双膝上，在黑暗中梦呓般地喃喃着。“那就像是一颗拥有一千个切面的圆球，在火光中会发出银色的光芒，如同阳光下的水面，星辰下的积雪，月光下的雨珠!”

But the enchanted desire of the hoard had fallen from Bilbo. All through their talk he was only half listening to them. He sat nearest to the door with one ear cocked for any beginnings of a sound without, his other was alert for echoes beyond the murmurs of the dwarves, for any whisper of a movement from far below.

不过，那种对宝物着了魔似的渴望在比尔博身上已经降温了。矮人们在谈论的时候，他只是半心半意地听着。他坐在离门最近的地方，竖起一只耳朵来专心倾听门外的任何异响，而另一只耳朵则是用来监听门内除了矮人们低语之外的声响，任何由下面的动静造成的轻微回声。

Darkness grew deeper and he grew ever more uneasy. “Shut the door!” he begged them, “I fear that dragon in my marrow. I like this silence far less than the uproar of last night. Shut the door before it is too late!”

黑暗变得越来越浓，他也越来越不安起来。“关上门!”他恳求大家道，“我从骨髓里害怕恶龙，此刻的寂静比昨夜的狂啸还要可怕。快关上门，不然一切都来不及了!”

Something in his voice gave the dwarves an uncomfortable feeling. Slowly Thorin shook off his dreams and getting up he kicked away the stone that wedged the door. Then they thrust upon it, and it closed with a snap and a clang. No trace of a keyhole was there left on the inside. They were shut in the Mountain!

他声音中的某种东西让矮人也有了一种不安的感觉。索林慢慢地从对财宝的幻想中醒来，站起身，踢开了挡住门的石头。然后他们用力一推，门就先是咔嗒一声，然后哐地关上了。门的内侧没有任何钥匙孔的痕迹，他们被关在大山里面了!

And not a moment too soon. They had hardly gone any distance down the tunnel when a blow smote the side of the Mountain like the crash of battering-rams made of forest oaks and swung by giants. The rock boomed, the walls cracked and stones fell from the roof on their heads. What would have happened if the door had still been open I don’t like to think. They fled further down the tunnel glad to be still alive, while behind them outside they heard the roar and rumble of Smaug’s fury. He was breaking rocks to pieces, smashing wall and cliff with the lashings of his huge tail, till their little lofty camping ground, the scorched grass, the thrush’s stone, the snail-covered walls, the narrow ledge, and all disappeared in a jumble of smithereens, and an avalanche of splintered stones fell over the cliff into the valley below.

真是千钧一发啊。他们刚刚迈步朝着隧道下面没走出多远，就只听见山的这一边发出一声轰天巨响，仿佛被巨人用橡木做的攻城大锤用力击中了一般。岩石轰隆隆地震动着，岩壁裂开了缝隙，碎右从洞顶落下。我真不敢想像如果门没有关上的话会是什么样子。他们庆幸自己逃过一劫，朝着隧道深处狂奔，身后的门外传来史矛革愤怒的吼声。他将岩石击碎成粉末，用他那巨大的尾巴甩打着岩壁与悬崖，直到他们建在高处的小小营地、洞门前被烤焦的青草、画眉鸟栖身的巨石、爬满蜗牛的岩壁、狭窄的山脊，统统在恶龙的愤怒下化成碎屑，巨大的山崩也跟着掩埋了底下的山谷。

Smaug had left his lair in silent stealth, quietly soared into the air, and then floated heavy and slow in the dark like a monstrous crow, down the wind towards the west of the Mountain, in the hopes of catching unawares something or somebody there, and of spying the outlet to the passage which the thief had used. This was the outburst of his wrath when he could find nobody and see nothing, even where he guessed the outlet must actually be.

史矛革之前轻轻地离开了洞穴，悄悄飞上天空，然后像一只巨大的乌鸦一般沉重而又缓慢地盘旋在夜空中，乘着风滑翔向大山的西边，希望能够出其不意地抓到某些东西或某些人，同时探看一下小偷们用的那条隧道的出口在哪里。刚才的地动山摇，就是因为当他来到了他认准的出口，却什么人和东西都没发现，一怒之下采取的发泄之举。

After he had let off his rage in this way he felt better and he thought in his heart that he would not be troubled again from that direction. In the meanwhile he had further vengeance to take. “Barrel-rider!” he snorted. “Your feet came from the waterside and up the water you came without a doubt. I don’t know your smell, but if you are not one of those men of the Lake, you had their help. They shall see me and remember who is the real King under the Mountain!”

在以这种方式发泄了心中的怒气之后，史矛革感觉好多了，他发自内心地认为自己不会再从那个方向受到骚扰了。转过神来，他就觉得自己还有别的复仇计划要进行。“木桶骑士!”他鼻子里哼了一声说道，“你们的双脚原本是在水边的，你们毫无疑问是沿水路上来的。我虽然不知道你的气味，但就算你不是湖边人类的一份子，肯定也得到过他们的帮助。他们应该见见我了，我要让他们记起来谁才是真正的山下之王!”

He rose in fire and went away south towards the Running River.

它从烈焰中腾身而起，朝着南方的奔流河飞去。