在新西蘭，追隨霍比特人的足跡

by Rebecca Nicholson

There are three popular stories about The Lord of the Rings in New Zealand.

The first is the tale of a wealthy 1）Tolkien fan from the U.S.， who asked the makers of the movies One Ring to come up with a costly gold 2）replica， then hired a helicopter to fly him over Mount Doom， where he threw it into the flaming inferno. At least， thats how they tell it in Wellington. In Nelson， its a woman， a spurned lover， who threw her One Ring wedding band into the mouth of the volcano. Then theres the story of the six-foot-three German tourist who arrived at Hobbiton dressed as， well， a very tall hobbit， who felt so at home in one of the hobbit holes there that he squashed himself in and refused to leave for 12 hours. In Auckland， theyll tell you he was Belgian.

The Lord of the Rings has been big business in New Zealand ever since Wellington-born director Peter Jackson decided to film his 3）trilogy here， back in the late 1990s. Now， with the release of The Hobbit： An Unexpected Journey—the first 4）installment in the new movie trilogy spun from the far shorter book—theres another opportunity to attract Tolkien devotees.

The biggest name in the game right now is Hobbiton， a sheep farm that doubled as the Shire for both trilogies. Its about two hours drive from Auckland， near Matamata； stop at any of the creaking small-town cafes along the way（“Collect your Hot Mail here！” reads the proud sign on one） and youll bump into a minibus full of 5）pilgrims on the same journey.

Jacksons location scouts saw potential in Alexander Farms rolling green hills， lake， and， crucially， large pines—one of which would eventually become Bilbos party tree. After filming was completed in 2004， the set was 6）dismantled， before anyone realised that a massive opportunity had been missed. When it was rebuilt for The Hobbit， the farm fought to keep its hobbit holes.

The post-LOTR hobbit holes resembled a 7）Changing Rooms project gone bad， with plain 8）MDF facades fronting holes to nowhere， and though those early visitors may have been disappointed， they did get the option of feeding lambs at the end of the tour， a tradition that still stands today. Sure， you could survey a bit of grass where Elijah Wood once placed his hairy 9）prosthetic feet， but in its original 10）incarnation， these moments required Tolkien-esque powers of imagination.

Now its a far slicker operation， though it is a peculiar feeling flying 26 hours only to find yourself somewhere that was chosen for its resemblance to 11）Malvern Hills. Then theres the fact that the 37 hobbit holes vary greatly in size to accommodate the different heights of the actors playing hobbits and 12）dwarves at any one time. Oh， and that oak tree that sits majestically above Bag End？ Its plastic leaves， imported from Taiwan， blow off in the wind， and have to be replaced every year or so because visitors keep pinching them as souvenirs.

So while it may feel like youre taking a gentle stroll around a lusciously green film set， it can be quietly disorientating. Avoid going the day after you land， lest any remaining 13）jet lag tip you over the edge. Perhaps thats what happened to the giant German/Belgian hobbit who claimed he had found his home here.

Hobbiton may be the main event for now， but Wellington， on the southern tip of the North Island， is about to take over， renaming itself “The Middle of Middle Earth” just in time for the world premiere of The Hobbit， back in September. We spent an afternoon on a Lord of the Rings Movie Tours minibus， along with some hardcore Tolkien fans， who made Hobbitons gentle visitors look like pathetic amateurs.

Our Movie Tours guide， Alice， brought along a laptop， so we could view clips while standing on the very spot in which they were filmed. She also had 14）props， as I proudly reenacted a Sam and Frodo breakfast， complete with pipe and replica frying pan. I asked Alice if shed been a fan of the movies before she took the job. “I wasnt，” she admitted. “I know everything about them now， though.”

This seems to be how it is in New Zealand. Everyone has taken up their Hobbity associations with enthusiasm， from the two mountains that stood in for Mount Doom—Mount Ngauruhoe and Mount Ruapehu， with additional help from scale models and CGI—to the small familyowned vineyard in Nelson， on the South Island， which won a licence to stick Middle Earth on the labels of its surprisingly delicious wines.

You can hire a helicopter to fly out over more remote locations， or visit the gold and 15）silversmith who made the One Ring for the movies.

Whats nice about it is that the famous laid-back New Zealand character is in the fabric of everything. It doesnt feel 16）opportune， so much as a country going along with something that happened to come its way. In fact， what may have been our most authentic Hobbit experience wasnt marketed as one at all.

The Waitomo Caves， on the North Island， offer a series of “adventure options” that range from a leisurely underground stroll to look at glowworms to the Haggas Honking Holes challenge. The name refers to a hollow cavity deep underground that “honks” back at you when you put your head into it and shout， but it sounds like something straight out of the Shire.

At no point did I feel more like a 17）plucky hobbit than the moment I emerged into the sunlight after two hours of abseiling into underground caverns， crawling through freezing streams on my belly and squashing myself through inhuman gaps in the walls. I realised I would have done well to heed Tolkiens warning in chapter five of The Hobbit： “That， of course， is the dangerous part about caves： you dont know how far they go back， sometimes， or where a passage behind may lead to， or what is waiting for you inside.”

在新西蘭，流傳著關(guān)于《魔戒》的三個(gè)故事。

第一個(gè)故事說的是一個(gè)來自美國(guó)的托爾金豪客“粉絲”，他請(qǐng)為電影打造至尊魔戒的珠寶商制作了一枚價(jià)值不菲的純金復(fù)制品，然后雇用一架直升飛機(jī)把他送到“末日火山”，然后把戒指投進(jìn)了地獄之火當(dāng)中。至少，在威靈頓，那里的人是這么說的。在尼爾森，主角換成了一名女子，一個(gè)被愛人拋棄的女人，她將那枚結(jié)婚“魔戒”扔進(jìn)了火山口。接著，還有一個(gè)故事是說一名身高六尺三（約1.91米）的德國(guó)游客，他來到霍比頓，打扮成一個(gè)高大的霍比特人模樣，他在其中一個(gè)霍比洞里感到分外舒坦，于是硬生生擠進(jìn)洞里，不肯離開，長(zhǎng)達(dá)12小時(shí)。在奧克蘭，人們會(huì)跟你說，主角是個(gè)比利時(shí)人。

自從上世紀(jì)90年代末，生于威靈頓的導(dǎo)演彼得·杰克遜決定其電影三部曲選址于此進(jìn)行拍攝，《魔戒》已經(jīng)成為了新西蘭的最大產(chǎn)業(yè)。如今，隨著電影《霍比特人：意外之旅》的上映——其新電影三部曲中的第一部，整個(gè)三部曲改編自一本很短的書——新西蘭又可以再次將托爾金的崇拜者吸引過來了。

如今，在這場(chǎng)“競(jìng)賽”中，名聲最顯赫的是霍比頓這一牧羊農(nóng)場(chǎng)，其在《魔戒》與《霍比特人》這兩套三部曲中充當(dāng)了“夏爾郡”?；舯阮D距離奧克蘭大概有兩小時(shí)的車程，在馬塔馬塔小鎮(zhèn)附近；在沿路任一家老舊的小鎮(zhèn)咖啡館里歇腳（其中一家掛著個(gè)牌子，自豪地寫著“到這兒來收電郵吧！”），你總會(huì)碰上一車奔赴同一目的地的“朝圣者”。

杰克遜的外景搜尋團(tuán)隊(duì)看到了亞歷山大農(nóng)場(chǎng)的潛力：青蔥蜿蜒的山丘、湖泊，而且，至關(guān)重要的是，還有高大的松樹——其中一棵最后會(huì)成為比爾博的宴會(huì)樹。在2004年《魔戒》拍攝結(jié)束后，布景就被拆除了，那時(shí)還沒有人知道一個(gè)巨大的機(jī)會(huì)就這樣失去了。當(dāng)這個(gè)布景因?yàn)椤痘舯忍厝恕范亟〞r(shí)，農(nóng)場(chǎng)力爭(zhēng)將里面的霍比洞保留下來。

那些保留下來的《魔戒》霍比洞給人的感覺像是《交換空間》里那些坑爹的房子，只單單豎著些中密度纖維板立面，后面卻沒有洞穴存在。然而，盡管那些初期的游客可能會(huì)感到失望，但他們確實(shí)可以選擇在觀賞活動(dòng)結(jié)束后喂一下羊，這是一個(gè)現(xiàn)時(shí)依然保留的傳統(tǒng)。當(dāng)然，你可以搜尋一點(diǎn)伊利亞·伍德那毛茸茸的道具腳曾踩過的青草，但戲中這一切場(chǎng)景時(shí)空本來就是需要點(diǎn)托爾金式的想象力的。

如今，這項(xiàng)目經(jīng)營(yíng)得更順利更宏大了，盡管坐了26個(gè)小時(shí)飛機(jī)卻發(fā)覺自己只是身處某個(gè)類似于莫爾文山的地方，那感覺太奇怪了。接著，發(fā)現(xiàn)事實(shí)是這37個(gè)霍比洞大小相差很大，那是為了讓飾演霍比特人和矮人的身高參差的演員能隨時(shí)身處其中。噢，還有那棵莊嚴(yán)屹立于袋底洞上面的橡樹呢？它那些塑料樹葉是從中國(guó)臺(tái)灣進(jìn)口的，隨風(fēng)飄落，而且每年都要更換，因?yàn)橛慰涂偸前褬淙~摘下來作為紀(jì)念品。

雖然你也許覺得自己是在一個(gè)青翠欲滴的電影場(chǎng)景中悠然漫步，但實(shí)際上會(huì)讓人走得暈頭轉(zhuǎn)向，悄然迷失。在你到達(dá)的首日不要出游，以免任何殘余的時(shí)差反應(yīng)讓你錯(cuò)腳從懸崖墜下?；蛟S，這才是那聲稱如回故土的德國(guó)/比利時(shí)“霍比特巨人”的真實(shí)遭遇。

霍比頓或許是現(xiàn)在最熱門的地方，但位于北島南端的威靈頓即將取而代之，因?yàn)橥`頓及時(shí)在去年九月的《霍比特人》全球首映時(shí)正名為“中土的中心”。我們?cè)谝惠v《魔戒》電影觀光旅游小巴上坐了一個(gè)下午，車上有一些托爾金的“死忠粉絲”，這些人使得霍比頓那些溫文的訪客看上去像是可憐的業(yè)余愛好者。

我們的電影觀光導(dǎo)游艾麗絲帶上了一部手提電腦，所以在來到某個(gè)電影場(chǎng)景的準(zhǔn)確拍攝地點(diǎn)時(shí)，可以回顧對(duì)應(yīng)的電影片段。她還帶了一些小道具，我自豪地用煙斗和煎鍋復(fù)制品完全重演了一頓山姆和佛羅多的早餐。我問艾麗絲在接下這份工作前是否電影的粉絲。“我不是，”她承認(rèn)說?！安贿^，現(xiàn)在關(guān)于電影的一切我都很清楚。”

這似乎就是新西蘭的現(xiàn)狀。每個(gè)人都滿帶熱情地展示他們與霍比特人的聯(lián)系，從那兩座“飾演”末日火山的高山——瑙魯赫伊山和魯阿佩胡火山，外加成比例模型和電腦特技的輔助——到南島上的尼爾森那個(gè)家族小葡萄園。這個(gè)葡萄園還獲得了許可得以在其美味得超乎想象的葡萄酒上貼上“中土”的標(biāo)簽。

你可以租一架直升飛機(jī)飛到更為偏遠(yuǎn)的地方，或者參觀為電影制作魔戒的金銀器制作工場(chǎng)。

旅程美妙的地方在于新西蘭出了名的悠閑特質(zhì)滲透到了所有事物之中。那不像是合時(shí)而為，整個(gè)國(guó)家一向如此，只是恰好遇上某些機(jī)遇而已。事實(shí)上，那也許是最地道的霍比特體驗(yàn)根本就沒被當(dāng)成亮點(diǎn)來宣傳。

懷托摩螢火蟲洞位于北島，提供一系列的“歷險(xiǎn)選擇”，范圍包括觀看螢火蟲的愜意地下漫游，到“哈加斯鳴響洞”的挑戰(zhàn)，指的是深入地下的空洞，當(dāng)你探頭大喊，就會(huì)聽到轟鳴回音，但那聽起來卻像是直接從夏爾郡之外傳來的聲音。

我花了兩小時(shí)沿著繩子滑進(jìn)地下的山洞，爬行穿越漫過半身的冰冷溪水，并且擠身走過墻上那些不適合人行走的縫隙。當(dāng)我走出洞外沐浴在陽光之中時(shí)，這一刻最讓我覺得自己像個(gè)勇敢的霍比特人。我領(lǐng)悟到自己如果對(duì)托爾金在《霍比特人》的第五章的警告加以注意的話，其實(shí)可以干得不賴：“當(dāng)然，那是洞穴最危險(xiǎn)之處：有時(shí)候你不知道它們有多深，或是背后的某條通路又會(huì)連向何處，里面又有什么樣的東西在等著你?！?img src="https://cimg.fx361.com/images/2018/07/08/qkimagesfkyyfkyy201306fkyy20130609-3-l.jpg"/>