霍比特人

小編喜歡讀這個(gè)童話(huà)故事，可不僅僅是因?yàn)樗怯?guó)大文豪托爾金的代表作，還在于它是一位超級(jí)“學(xué)霸”父親“屈尊”為兒子創(chuàng)作的一本小書(shū)……

J·R·R·托爾金（1892—1973）是英國(guó)的天才語(yǔ)言學(xué)家，牛津大學(xué)教授，古英語(yǔ)專(zhuān)家，1919—1920年《牛津英語(yǔ)詞典》的編委成員。1937年，《霍比特人》出版，由于贏得好評(píng)如潮，出版商建議托爾金續(xù)寫(xiě)故事。結(jié)果，托爾金一寫(xiě)就寫(xiě)了十幾年，寫(xiě)出了氣勢(shì)磅礴的史詩(shī)作品——《魔戒》三部曲，奠定了自己文壇巨匠的地位。而《霍比特人》和《魔戒》也成為當(dāng)代奇幻作品的鼻祖。

《霍比特人》記述的是霍比特人比爾博·巴金斯與巫師甘道夫和13個(gè)矮人橫越中土大陸，尋找被惡龍搶占的屬于矮人的珍貴寶藏的探險(xiǎn)故事。作為寫(xiě)給孩子們的童話(huà)，整個(gè)故事遣詞用句顯淺詼諧，童趣滿(mǎn)溢——據(jù)說(shuō)書(shū)中關(guān)于勇斗大蜘蛛的情節(jié)，也是因?yàn)橥袪柦鸬膬鹤雍ε轮┲攵匾饧舆M(jìn)去的。不過(guò)，盡管全書(shū)語(yǔ)言簡(jiǎn)潔，但仍然能夠顯露出托爾金在英語(yǔ)造詣上的深厚功力（例如本節(jié)選中的Attercop、Lob和Cob皆出自古英語(yǔ)中對(duì)蜘蛛的稱(chēng)謂）。對(duì)于學(xué)習(xí)英語(yǔ)，這確實(shí)是一部不可多得的作品。

Chapter 8 Flies and Spiders

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 1）sheath.

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

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 the woods， as I’ve already told you； also Bilbo had slipped on his ring before he started. That is why the spiders neither saw nor heard him coming.

He had picked his way 2）stealthily for some distance， when he noticed a place of dense black shadows 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 3）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！

“It was a sharp struggle， but worth it，” said one. “What nasty thick skins they have to be sure， but I’ll wager there’s good juice inside.” “Why， they’ll make fine eating， when they’ve hung a bit，” said another. “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.” “Kill ’em， I say，” hissed a fourth； “kill ’em now and hang ’em dead for a while.”

“They’re dead now， I’ll 4）warrant，” said the first.

“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.”

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.

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.

The others laughed. “You were quite right，” they said， “the meat’s alive and kicking！” “I’ll soon put an end to that，”hissed the angry spider climbing back onto the branch.

Bilbo saw that the moment had come when he must do something. He could not get up at the 5）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 didn’t 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 6）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 a 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.

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 7）commotion in the spider-colony， and they forgot the dwarves for a bit， I can tell you. They couldn’t 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 8）snares. 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 9）infuriate them and bring them all after him， and also to let the dwarves hear his voice.

This is what he sang：

“Old fat spider spinning in a tree！

Old fat spider can’t see me！

Attercop！ Attercop！

Won’t you stop，

Stop your spinning and look at me！

Old 10）Tomnoddy， all big body，

Old Tomnoddy can’t spy me！

Attercop！ Attercop！

Down you drop！

You’ll never catch me up your tree！”

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 anyway. 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.

Off Bilbo scuttled to a fresh place， but several of the spiders had run now to different points in the 11）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：

“Lazy Lob and crazy Cob

are weaving webs to wind me.

I am far more sweet than other meat，

but still they cannot find me！

Here am I， naughty little fly；

you are fat and lazy.

You cannot trap me， though you try，

in your cobwebs crazy.”

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.

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. 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 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.

第八章 蒼蠅與蜘蛛

當(dāng)他醒來(lái)的時(shí)候，臉上已映著森林里通常顯現(xiàn)的那種黯淡灰光。死蜘蛛就躺在他身邊，他寶劍的刀刃上沾染了黑血。不靠巫師、矮人或是其他什么人的幫助，單憑一己之力在黑暗中殺死了巨蜘蛛，這對(duì)巴金斯先生來(lái)說(shuō)，感覺(jué)大不相同。當(dāng)他在草地上擦拭寶劍而后插回劍鞘時(shí)，他覺(jué)得自己已然脫胎換骨，變得更兇猛、更勇敢了——即使肚子還是空空如也。

“我要給你取個(gè)名字，”他對(duì)寶劍說(shuō)道：“就叫你‘刺?！昧耍　苯又?，他又開(kāi)始對(duì)森林的探索。森林陰森而靜寂，但很明顯，他首先要做的是找到同伴的下落，因?yàn)椋撬麄円呀?jīng)落入了精靈（或是更糟糕的東西）的手中，否則他們應(yīng)該就在不遠(yuǎn)的地方。

比爾博覺(jué)得大喊大叫并不安全，因此他呆立了好一陣子，思索著小徑到底通向何方，他又應(yīng)該先往哪個(gè)方向?qū)ふ野藗儭?/p>

到了最后，他勉強(qiáng)猜測(cè)昨晚的呼救聲傳來(lái)的方向，憑著運(yùn)氣的幫助（他這人天生就有好運(yùn)氣），他猜的實(shí)際上并沒(méi)有差太遠(yuǎn)，呆會(huì)兒你們就知道了。下定決心之后，他開(kāi)始小心翼翼地往前走?；舯忍厝耸稚瞄L(zhǎng)無(wú)聲行動(dòng)，特別是在森林中，我之前已經(jīng)跟你們說(shuō)過(guò)了；而且，比爾博在動(dòng)身前已經(jīng)戴上了戒指，就是這個(gè)原因蜘蛛們完全沒(méi)看見(jiàn)、也沒(méi)聽(tīng)見(jiàn)他的到來(lái)。

他悄悄地走了一段距離，然后發(fā)現(xiàn)眼前有塊地方籠罩著濃重的黑影，甚至比這片森林還要漆黑，就像是一片永不褪去的午夜。隨著他越走越近，他才看到那是由層層疊疊的蜘蛛網(wǎng)交織而成的。

不光如此，他突然間還看到有些又大又恐怖的蜘蛛就盤(pán)踞在他頭頂?shù)臉?shù)枝上。不管有沒(méi)有戴著戒指，他都怕被蜘蛛們發(fā)現(xiàn)，驚恐得渾身發(fā)抖。他躲在一棵樹(shù)后面，打量了其中幾只怪物一陣子，然后在森林靜默的氣氛中，他發(fā)現(xiàn)這些令人生厭的生物正在相互交談著。它們的聲音有點(diǎn)像是細(xì)薄的咯吱和嘶嘶聲，但他還是可以勉強(qiáng)聽(tīng)清楚其中大部分的內(nèi)容。它們正在討論矮人！

“這可是好一場(chǎng)掙扎，不過(guò)相當(dāng)值得，”一只說(shuō)：“他們的外皮一定又粗又臟，但我打賭里面一定有甜美的汁液！”“呃，把他們掛著風(fēng)干一陣兒就會(huì)好吃多了！”另一只說(shuō)道?！皠e把他們晾太久，”第三只說(shuō)：“他們不夠胖，我猜多半是由于最近吃得不夠多的關(guān)系。”“照我說(shuō)，先殺了他們吧，”第四只嘶嘶地說(shuō)：“現(xiàn)在就把他們殺了，再把他們晾上一會(huì)兒?！?/p>

“我敢保證他們現(xiàn)在都死了，”第一只說(shuō)。

“應(yīng)該還沒(méi)有，我剛剛才看到有一個(gè)在掙扎著呢。我想他們剛從美夢(mèng)中醒來(lái)。我?guī)銈內(nèi)タ窗伞！?/p>

話(huà)一說(shuō)完，這些肥大蜘蛛中的一只就沿著蛛絲跑了過(guò)去，徑直去到一高枝上一字排開(kāi)掛著十多個(gè)捆包的地方。比爾博現(xiàn)在才注意到那些掛在陰影中搖搖欲墜的東西，他看到有些捆包底部伸出了一只矮人的腳，這兒露出鼻尖，那兒露出一部分的胡子和帽子，他不禁害怕起來(lái)。

蜘蛛走到最鼓囊的捆包旁邊——比爾博想：“我打賭那一定是可憐的老龐伯！”——然后，那蜘蛛就用力地對(duì)著突出來(lái)的鼻子咬了一口，里面?zhèn)鱽?lái)了悶聲慘叫，一只腳伸了出來(lái)，狠狠地踢了蜘蛛一腳。龐伯還有氣，蜘蛛發(fā)出一聲像是癟氣的足球被踢中的聲音，然后這只氣壞了的蜘蛛就這么從樹(shù)枝上摔了下來(lái)，好不容易才靠著自己的蛛絲保住了性命。

其他的蜘蛛哈哈大笑起來(lái)?！澳阏f(shuō)的很對(duì)，”他們說(shuō)：“我們的肉食還活著，而且腳力還蠻大的嘛！”“我很快就會(huì)結(jié)束這一切！”那只憤怒的蜘蛛氣呼呼地爬回樹(shù)枝上。

比爾博當(dāng)下就明白，是該他做些什么的時(shí)候了。他沒(méi)辦法和這些怪物正面對(duì)抗，手上也沒(méi)有弓箭；不過(guò)，四下張望后，他發(fā)現(xiàn)附近有條像是如今干枯了的河道，上面有許多小石頭。比爾博在扔石頭方面可是個(gè)高手，他沒(méi)有花多少時(shí)間就找到了一顆蛋形的、十分趁手的光滑石頭。

在他年紀(jì)還小的時(shí)候就時(shí)常對(duì)著各種各樣的東西練習(xí)丟石頭，到了最后，連兔子、松鼠，甚至是飛鳥(niǎo)，只要一看見(jiàn)他彎下腰來(lái)，就立刻快如閃電般逃之夭夭。在他長(zhǎng)大之后，他依然經(jīng)常參與套環(huán)、擲飛鏢、射靶、推保齡球、九柱地滾球和其他的這類(lèi)需要瞄準(zhǔn)和投擲的游戲；事實(shí)上，除了吐煙圈、出謎題和煮菜之外，他還有很多其他興趣，只是我之前來(lái)不及詳細(xì)告訴你們，現(xiàn)在也沒(méi)時(shí)間啰唆了。當(dāng)他撿起石頭之時(shí)，蜘蛛已經(jīng)走到了龐伯身邊，很快，他就會(huì)沒(méi)命了。就在這時(shí)，比爾博擲出了石頭。飛石砰的一聲擊中了蜘蛛的腦袋，它從樹(shù)上摔落在地上，不省人事，所有的腳都卷曲了起來(lái)。

第二顆石頭毫不留情地打穿蛛網(wǎng)、扯斷蛛絲，擊中了蛛網(wǎng)正中央的蜘蛛，狠狠地，一擊致命；接下來(lái)，蜘蛛們騷動(dòng)起來(lái)，我敢肯定，這下它們可沒(méi)有時(shí)間管矮人們了！它們看不見(jiàn)比爾博，但還是可以大致猜到石頭飛來(lái)的方向。它們立刻閃電般搖搖擺擺地向霍比特人沖來(lái)，蛛絲滿(mǎn)天蓋地地飛來(lái)，直到空中好像布滿(mǎn)了擺動(dòng)的羅網(wǎng)。不過(guò)，比爾博很快就溜到另外一個(gè)地方去了。他靈機(jī)一動(dòng)，想要把這些憤怒的蜘蛛引得離矮人越遠(yuǎn)越好；他想要讓這些蜘蛛一下子陷入好奇、激動(dòng)而憤怒的狀態(tài)中。當(dāng)大約有五十只蜘蛛沖往他之前所在的位置之后，他又瞄準(zhǔn)對(duì)方丟了幾顆石頭，更對(duì)著停在后面的其他蜘蛛丟了一些；不但如此，他還在樹(shù)間跳舞，并且開(kāi)始唱起歌來(lái)，想要激怒這些蜘蛛，讓它們?nèi)枷蛩麤_過(guò)來(lái)，同時(shí)，也讓矮人們能夠聽(tīng)見(jiàn)他的聲音。

他唱道：

“老胖蜘蛛在樹(shù)上結(jié)網(wǎng)！

看不見(jiàn)我呀，它又老又胖！

毒蛛??！毒蛛啊！

快停下，

看看我呀，不要再織網(wǎng)！

老傻瓜，胖得不像樣，

老傻瓜，查不到我的方向！

毒蛛啊！毒蛛??！

摔到地上！

想要抓我，就別賴(lài)在樹(shù)上！”

這首歌或許聽(tīng)起來(lái)不怎么樣，但你得知道，那是他在火燒眉毛的窘迫時(shí)刻自己編的歌。不論怎樣，它的確達(dá)到了目的。當(dāng)他唱歌的時(shí)候，他又丟了更多的石頭，還用力地跺腳。附近所有的蜘蛛幾乎都傾巢而出來(lái)追捕他：有些蜘蛛跳到地上，有些則是沿著樹(shù)枝狂奔，從一棵樹(shù)晃到另一棵，或是對(duì)著黑暗處拋出蛛絲。它們對(duì)他的聲音的反應(yīng)比他想象的要快多了。它們氣急敗壞了。除了被扔石頭之外，蜘蛛最討厭被人罵成毒蛛，而傻瓜，當(dāng)然了，無(wú)論是對(duì)誰(shuí)來(lái)說(shuō)都是很損的話(huà)。

比爾博又換了個(gè)新的藏身之處，不過(guò)，這時(shí)有幾只蜘蛛已經(jīng)分別沖到了它們生活的林地中不同的地方，并且在樹(shù)干之間的所有空位上織起了羅網(wǎng)。很快，霍比特人的四周就會(huì)被厚重的蛛網(wǎng)團(tuán)團(tuán)圍住——至少，這就是蜘蛛們的用意。比爾博站在這群忙著追捕和織網(wǎng)的昆蟲(chóng)中間，鼓起勇氣，開(kāi)始唱另外一首歌：

“懶蜘蛛，傻蜘蛛，

織著網(wǎng)子想抓我。

我的肉肉比他人甜得多，

但它們還是找不到我！

我在這兒，頑皮小蒼蠅；

你呀實(shí)在胖又懶。

逮不到我呀，努力也不行，

讓你在蛛網(wǎng)里氣得慘。”

他歌一唱完，轉(zhuǎn)身就發(fā)現(xiàn)兩棵大樹(shù)之間的最后空間被蛛網(wǎng)給封住了，幸好，那不是什么恢恢羅網(wǎng)，只是兩股在大樹(shù)之間匆匆來(lái)回纏繞的粗絲。他拔出了短劍，將蛛網(wǎng)砍成碎片，繼續(xù)唱歌。

蜘蛛們看得見(jiàn)那劍，但我想它們不知道那是什么東西；立刻，一整群蜘蛛就氣沖沖地從地面和樹(shù)枝飛奔沖向霍比特人。它們的雙眼突出，長(zhǎng)著毛的觸角四處揮舞，口鉗挾個(gè)不停，滿(mǎn)嘴泡沫，怒氣沖天；它們追著比爾博一直沖入森林，直到他盡其所能走到最遠(yuǎn)。

然后，他又無(wú)聲無(wú)息地溜了回來(lái)。他知道，在蜘蛛們放棄追逐，回到懸掛矮人的樹(shù)上之前，他只有非常短的時(shí)間。在這段空檔中，他必須要救出那些家伙。這個(gè)任務(wù)最麻煩的部分，就是要爬上那掛著許多矮人的樹(shù)枝。

如果不是有蜘蛛留了一條蛛絲下來(lái)，我覺(jué)得他根本爬不上去。借著蛛絲的幫助，即使那東西纏在他的手上，還弄痛了他，但他還是勉強(qiáng)爬了上去。然而，在他眼前竟然出現(xiàn)了一只又老又胖又遲鈍的奸詐蜘蛛，它被留下來(lái)看守這些俘虜，它正忙碌地東戳西戳，看看哪個(gè)俘虜最為汁多味美。它正準(zhǔn)備在其他人都不在的時(shí)候動(dòng)手享受眼前的美食，但不幸的是，比爾博先生急著辦事，因此，在它還沒(méi)回過(guò)神來(lái)之前，“刺叮”刺中了它，它滾下樹(shù)枝，一命嗚呼。