Soon after six o’clock the five hobbits were ready to start. Fatty Bolger was still yawning. They stole quietly out of the house. Merry went in front leading a laden pony, and took his way along a path that went through a spinney behind the house, and then cut across several fields. The leaves of trees were glistening, and every twig was dripping; the grass was grey with cold dew. Everything was still, and far-away noises seemed near and clear: fowls chattering in a yard, someone closing a door of a distant house.
六点之后不久，五名哈比人就已经整装待发。小胖博格哈欠连天的跟着送行。他们蹑手蹑脚的走出屋子。梅里带头牵着驼行李的负重马，沿着屋后的小路走，然后穿越了几块草地。树叶因为晨露和雾气而闪闪发亮，连树枝都在滴着水，青草则是沾着灰蒙蒙的露珠。四下万籁俱寂，让远方的声音也变得十分清晰：野鸟在森林中啁啾，远方的住户有人用力的关上大门。
Frodo woke suddenly. It was still dark in the room. Merry was standing there with a candle in one hand, and banging on the door with the other. “All right! What is it?” said Frodo, still shaken and bewildered. “What is it!” cried Merry. “It is time to get up. It is half past four and very foggy. Come on! Sam is already getting breakfast ready. Even Pippin is up. I am just going to saddle the ponies, and fetch the one that is to be the baggage-carrier. Wake that sluggard Fatty! At least he must get up and see us off.”
佛罗多突然间醒了过来。房间里面依旧一片黑暗。梅里一只手拿着蜡烛，一只手猛力敲着门。“好啦！什么事？”惊魂未定的佛罗多说。“还敢问什么事！”梅里大喊道。“该起床啦。都已经四点半了，外面一片大雾。快点！山姆已经在准备早餐了。连皮聘都起床了。我正准备去把替马上鞍，顺便把驼行李的那匹马牵过来。记得帮我叫醒那个懒虫小胖！至少他得要起床送我们吧！”
“Follow me!” said Merry, “and you will see.” He turned to the left along the Hedge, and soon they came to a point where it bent inwards, running along the lip of a hollow. A cutting had been made, at some distance from the Hedge, and went sloping gently down into the ground. It had walls of brick at the sides, which rose steadily, until suddenly they arched over and formed a tunnel that dived deep under the Hedge and came out in the hollow on the other side.
“跟我来！”梅里说，“你们就会知道了。”他转过身，沿着高篱往左走，很快就来到一个篱笆沿着一座谷地往内弯的地方。距离高篱不远的地方有条小路蜿蜒的朝着高篱延伸，缓缓往下倾。这条小路两边有着缓缓升高的砖墙，走到一半，两边的砖墙就在小路上会合，底下是一个钻过高篱的隧道，通往另一边的谷地。
“How are you going to get through this?” asked Fredegar.
“你怎么让我们过去？”佛瑞德加说。
In their shed they found the ponies; sturdy little beasts of the kind loved by hobbits, not speedy, but good for a long day’s work. They mounted, and soon they were riding off into the mist, which seemed to open reluctantly before them and close forbiddingly behind them. After riding for about an hour, slowly and without talking, they saw the Hedge looming suddenly ahead. It was tall and netted over with silver cobwebs.
他们到马厩里面牵出小马：这些正是哈比人喜欢的结实马种。它们虽然跑得不快，却耐操劳，适合整天的劳动。一行人骑上马，头也不回的骑进大雾中。浓密的雾气似乎不情愿的在他们面前分开，又迫不及待的在他们身后阖上。在沉默了一小时之后，高篱突然间出现在他们面前。结实的篱笆上挂着挂着许多银色的蜘蛛网。
Here Fatty Bolger halted. “Good-bye, Frodo!” he said. “I wish you were not going into the Forest. I only hope you will not need rescuing before the day is out. But good luck to you — today and every day!”
小胖博格在这边停了下来。“再会，佛罗多！”他说。“我真希望你们不要走进森林里。但愿你们不会在天黑以前就需要别人救援。祝你们日日天天都好运！”
“Good-bye!” they cried, and rode down the slope and disappeared from Fredegar’s sight into the tunnel.
最后，他们一起大喊“再见！”，骑马走下斜坡，钻入隧道，消失在佛瑞德加的视线中。
“Are the stories about it true?” asked Pippin.
“有关老林的传说都是真的吗？”皮聘问道。
It was dark and damp. At the far end it was closed by a gate of thick-set iron bars. Merry got down and unlocked the gate, and when they had all passed through he pushed it to again. It shut with a clang, and the lock clicked. The sound was ominous.
隧道里面又黑又湿。另一端则是一扇由厚重铁条所打造的栅门。梅里下了马，打开门锁，当所有人通过之后，他将门一拉，锁喀达一声的扣上了。这声音听起来充满了不祥的感觉。
“There!” said Merry. “You have left the Shire, and are now outside, and on the edge of the Old Forest.”
“你们看！”梅里说。“你们离开了夏尔，来到外面的世界了。这里就是老林的边缘。”
“If there are no worse things ahead than the Old Forest, I shall be lucky,” said Frodo. “Tell Gandalf to hurry along the East Road: we shall soon be back on it and going as fast as we can.”
“只要前方没有比老林更糟糕的未来，我就已经算是好运了，”佛罗多说。“告诉甘道夫沿着东方大道快点赶上，我们应该过不了多久就会走上大路，尽可能的赶路。”
“I don’t know what stories you mean,” Merry answered. “If you mean the old bogey-stories Fatty’s nurses used to tell him, about goblins and wolves and things of that sort, I should say no. At any rate I don’t believe them. But the Forest is queer. Everything in it is very much more alive, more aware of what is going on, so to speak, than things are in the Shire. And the trees do not like strangers. They watch you. They are usually content merely to watch you, as long as daylight lasts, and don’t do much. Occasionally the most unfriendly ones may drop a branch, or stick a root out, or grasp at you with a long trailer. But at night things can be most alarming, or so I am told. I have only once or twice been in here after dark, and then only near the hedge. I thought all the trees were whispering to each other, passing news and plots along in an unintelligible language; and the branches swayed and groped without any wind. They do say the trees do actually move, and can surround strangers and hem them in. In fact long ago they attacked the Hedge: they came and planted themselves right by it, and leaned over it. But the hobbits came and cut down hundreds of trees, and made a great bonfire in the Forest, and burned all the ground in a long strip east of the Hedge. After that the trees gave up the attack, but they became very unfriendly. There is still a wide bare space not far inside where the bonfire was made.”
“我不知道你指的是哪些故事，”梅里回答。“如果你说的是小胖的保母常说的鬼故事，有关什么地精和恶狼之类的传说；那我的答案是否定的。至少我不相信这些鬼故事。但这座森林的确有些古怪。这么说吧，这里的一切事物都彷佛自有主张，对外界的变动更敏感，和夏尔的环境大不相同。这里的树木不喜欢陌生人。它们会注意着你。通常，只要天还是亮着的，它们就只会看着你。偶尔，对动物最有敌意的老树可能会刻意丢下枝干、伸出树根绊人、或是用须根缠住你。但人家告诉我，晚上事情就没这么简单了。如果是以晚上来说，我只有来过这边一两次，而且都不敢离高篱太远。我感觉所有的树木好像都在窃窃私语，用无法辨认的语言交谈着各种陰谋和计划。几乎每一株树的枝丫都鬼气森森的无风自动。我听人说，这些树木真的会移动，而且会把陌生人团团围住。事实上，很久以前它们曾经攻击过高篱。它们将自己根深蒂固的移植到篱笆旁边，以树干的重量压上去。后来，哈比人为了保护家园，砍掉了成百的树木，在老林里面放大火清地，在高篱东边烧出了一条长长的空地来。在那之后，树木就放弃了攻击的行动，变得更不友善。距离那场大火不远的地方至今都是寸草不生。”
“There are various queer things living deep in the Forest, and on the far side,” said Merry, “or at least I have heard so; but I have never seen any of them. But something makes paths. Whenever one comes inside one finds open tracks; but they seem to shift and change from time to time in a queer fashion. Not far from this tunnel there is, or was for a long time, the beginning of quite a broad path leading to the Bonfire Glade, and then on more or less in our direction, east and a little north. That is the path I am going to try and find.”
“在另一边住着很多奇怪的生物，”梅里说，“至少人家是跟我这样说的。不过，我从来没有看过这些家伙。我只能确定，这里有些生物会制造出足迹和兽径。随时随地只要进来这座森林，你都可以找到明显的痕迹。但这些痕迹和兽径似乎会照着奇怪的规律进行变动。离这隧道不远的地方以前有条很宽的大路，通往篝火草原，然后它会再往我们要走的方向延伸，往东，再往北。我要找的就是这条路。”
The hobbits now left the tunnel-gate and rode across the wide hollow. On the far side was a faint path leading up on to the floor of the Forest, a hundred yards and more beyond the Hedge; but it vanished as soon as it brought them under the trees. Looking back they could see the dark line of the Hedge through the stems of trees that were already thick about them. Looking ahead they could see only tree-trunks of innumerable sizes and shapes: straight or bent, twisted, leaning, squat or slender, smooth or gnarled and branched; and all the stems were green or grey with moss and slimy, shaggy growths.
一行人离开了隧道口，骑上空旷的谷地。在谷地的对面有条不太明显的小径通往森林中。这条路大概长几百码左右，但一到森林边缘路就消失了。穿过森林中浓密的枝丫往回看，众人还依稀看得见高篱的位置。在他们前方则只剩下各式各样的树干：有直的、有弯的、扭曲的、斜的、瘦的、宽大的、纤细的、光滑或是充满树瘤的。唯一的共通点就是所有的树皮上都长满了黏呼呼的苔藓。
“Is it only the trees that are dangerous?” asked Pippin.
“这里对人有威胁的只有树木吗？”皮聘问。
They picked a way among the trees, and their ponies plodded along, carefully avoiding the many writhing and interlacing roots. There was no undergrowth. The ground was rising steadily, and as they went forward it seemed that the trees became taller, darker, and thicker. There was no sound, except an occasional drip of moisture falling through the still leaves. For the moment there was no whispering or movement among the branches; but they all got an uncomfortable feeling that they were being watched with disapproval, deepening to dislike and even enmity. The feeling steadily grew, until they found themselves looking up quickly, or glancing back over their shoulders, as if they expected a sudden blow.
他们骑着马在树林中穿梭，小心的躲开地面交错的树根。地上寸草不生，地势也变得越来越高。随着他们越来越深入林中，树木看来也变得更黑暗、更高耸、更密集。除了树叶上凝结水气滴下的声音外，整座森林没有任何其它的动静。暂时，这些树木还不会窃窃私语、轻举妄动；但是，所有人都有种不安的感觉，彷佛正被人以敌视的眼光监视着。这种让人毛骨悚然的感觉不断滋长，不久之后，每个人都开始疑神疑鬼的四下打量，彷佛担心会遭到神秘力量的攻击。
Merry alone seemed fairly cheerful. “You had better lead on and find that path,” Frodo said to him. “Don’t let us lose one another, or forget which way the Hedge lies!”
只有梅里看起来很高兴。“你最好赶快带路找到方向，”佛罗多提醒他。“不能让我们走散，或是搞不清楚高篱在哪个方向！”
There was not as yet any sign of a path, and the trees seemed constantly to bar their way. Pippin suddenly felt that he could not bear it any longer, and without warning let out a shout. “Oi! Oi!” he cried. “I am not going to do anything. Just let me pass through, will you!”
到目前为止，都没有出现任何小径的踪迹，树木似乎不停的挡住四人的去向。皮聘突然觉得再也忍受不了，毫无预警的大喊：“喂！喂！”他说。“我一点恶意也没有，麻烦你们让我过去好不好！”
“I should not shout, if I were you,” said Merry. It does more harm than good.”
“如果我是你，我就不会这样做，”梅里说。“这对我们有害无益。”
The light grew clearer as they went forward. Suddenly they came out of the trees and found themselves in a wide circular space. There was sky above them, blue and clear to their surprise, for down under the Forest-roof they had not been able to see the rising morning and the lifting of the mist. The sun was not, however, high enough yet to shine down into the clearing, though its light was on the tree-tops. The leaves were all thicker and greener about the edges of the glade, enclosing it with an almost solid wall. No tree grew there, only rough grass and many tall plants: stalky and faded hemlocks and wood-parsley, fire-weed seeding into fluffy ashes, and rampant nettles and thistles. A dreary place: but it seemed a charming and cheerful garden after the close Forest.
随着他们朝着草原前进的脚步，附近的天色变得越来越亮。他们接着走出了树林的包围，来到了一块圆形的空旷草地上。他们抬头一看，惊讶的发现天空竟然是清澄的蓝色。因为，原先他们在森林的茂密植物阻挡之下，连大雾的消失和升起的太陽都无法得见。不过，太陽这时还没有高到足以越过四周的植物，照进这块空地中。在靠近这块草地周围的地方，树叶显得额外茂密和集中，似乎想要滴水不露的阻隔这块土地。这块空地上几乎都是低矮的杂草和一些较高的野生植物，包括了：茎叶特别发达的毒胡萝卜、木茎的西洋芹，在散布四处的灰烬中茂密生长的火迹地杂草、猖獗的荨麻和蓟类植物。这地方看来确曾饱经劫火，但和四周的森林比较起来，却成了一座让人轻松许多的美丽花园。
The others halted startled; but the cry fell as if muffled by a heavy curtain. There was no echo or answer though the wood seemed to become more crowded and more watchful than before.
其他人都吃了一惊，纷纷停下脚步。这声喊叫彷佛被重重的廉幕给掩盖住一般含糊。森林中没有任何的回音和回答，只让人觉得一切都变得更为拥挤和提防。
“Well, well!” he said. “These trees do shift. There is the Bonfire Glade in front of us (or I hope so), but the path to it seems to have moved away!”
“幸好！幸好！”他说。“我就觉得这些树木真的有在移动。我想前面应该就是篝火草原了，原来的小径却不知道移到哪里去了！”
Frodo began to wonder if it were possible to find a way through, and if he had been right to make the others come into this abominable wood. Merry was looking from side to side, and seemed already uncertain which way to go. Pippin noticed it. “It has not taken you long to lose us,” he said. But at that moment Merry gave a whistle of relief and pointed ahead.
佛罗多开始怀疑这次到底能不能找到路径，自己决定踏入这恐怖森林的抉择是否正确。梅里不停的张望，似乎也不确定该往哪边走。皮聘注意到对方的神情。“你真厉害，没花多久的时间就让我们迷路了，”他说。不过，梅里却同时吹了声口哨，指着前方说。
O! Wanderers in the shadowed land,
喔！漫步在黑暗之地的旅行者，
The hobbits felt encouraged, and looked up hopefully at the broadening daylight in the sky. At the far side of the glade there was a break in the wall of trees, and a clear path beyond it. They could see it running on into the wood, wide in places and open above, though every now and again the trees drew in and overshadowed it with their dark boughs. Up this path they rode. They were still climbing gently, but they now went much quicker, and with better heart; for it seemed to them that the Forest had relented, and was going to let them pass unhindered after all.
哈比人们感到振奋许多，纷纷翘首期盼温暖的陽光照进这空地。在草地的另一端，由老树所构成的铜墙铁壁间有一道空隙，众人可以清楚的看见一条小径深入密林。小径不窄，顶上也难得的有足以让陽光照入的空隙；不过，里面那些邪恶的老树有时摇动着诡异的树枝，遮住这难得的空隙。不久之后，他们沿着这条小径再度进入密林。虽然这条路依旧不平坦，但这次他们进发的速度快多了，心情也开朗许多。因为，在他们的眼中看来，森林终于退缩了，会让他们不受阻碍的通过。
But after a while the air began to get hot and stuffy. The trees drew close again on either side, and they could no longer see far ahead. Now stronger than ever they felt again the ill will of the wood pressing on them. So silent was it that the fall of their ponies’ hoofs, rustling on dead leaves and occasionally stumbling on hidden roots, seemed to thud in their ears. Frodo tried to sing a song to encourage them, but his voice sank to a murmur.
可是，过了一段时间之后，森林中的空气开始变得凝滞、燥热。两旁的树木越来越靠近，让他们再也无法看见远方的景象。此时他们更能够强烈的感受到整座森林的恶意向他们直扑而来。在这一片寂静中，小马踏在枯叶上的蹄声和偶尔被树根阻挡的声音在哈比人们耳中回响着，成了一种煎熬。佛罗多试着唱歌激励大家，但不知为什么，他的声音变成只有自己能听见的嗫嚅声。
all woods there be must end at last,
森林不会永无止尽，
despair not! For though dark they stand,
别绝望啊！黑暗不会永远阻隔，
the setting sun, the rising sun,
不管是太陽落下或升起，
and see the open sun go past:
最后定可看见陽光照在小径：
the day’s end, or the day begun.
黄昏晚霞或是美丽晨曦。
He spoke cheerfully, and if he felt any great anxiety, he did not show it. The others did not answer. They were depressed. A heavy weight was settling steadily on Frodo’s heart, and he regretted now with every step forward that he had ever thought of challenging the menace of the trees. He was, indeed, just about to stop and propose going back (if that was still possible), when things took a new turn. The path stopped climbing, and became for a while nearly level. The dark trees drew aside, and ahead they could see the path going almost straight forward. Before them, but some distance off, there stood a green hill-top, treeless, rising like a bald head out of the encircling wood. The path seemed to be making directly for it.
他兴高采烈的说着，即使内心有什么忧虑，也没有表现于外。其他人默不吭声。他们觉得十分沮丧。佛罗多觉得心头压着千斤重担，每走一步就对自己向这些树木挑衅的愚行感到后悔。事实上，他正准备停下来，如果可能的话，甚至提议众人回头；但就在那一刻，事情有了新的转机。小径不再蜿蜒上升，道路变得平坦许多。黑暗的树木往两边后退，众人这时都可以看见面前宽阔、平直的道路。他们甚至可以看见一段距离之外有座翠绿的小丘，上面光秃秃的，没有任何的树木，在这一片森林中显的十分突兀。这条小径似乎就直朝着那小丘而去。
Fail — even as he said the word his voice faded into silence. The air seemed heavy and the making of words wearisome. Just behind them a large branch fell from an old overhanging tree with a crash into the path. The trees seemed to close in before them.
止尽——连他自己唱完最后两个字都无法继续下去。四周的气氛彷佛突然沉重下来，连说话都觉得有种莫名的压力。就在他们身后，一根巨大的枯枝从高处落下，轰然砸在地面。聚拢的树木似乎再度阻挡了他们面前的道路。
For east or west all woods must fail…
无论东南西北，森林不会永无止尽……
“They do not like all that about ending and failing,” said Merry. “I should not sing any more at present. Wait till we do get to the edge, and then we’ll turn and give them a rousing chorus!”
“它们多半是不喜欢什么森林不会永无止尽的说法，”梅里说。“我们现在还是先别唱。等我们走到森林边，看我们再给它一个大合唱！”
The hobbits led their ponies up, winding round and round until they reached the top. There they stood and gazed about them. The air was gleaming and sunlit, but hazy; and they could not see to any great distance. Near at hand the mist was now almost gone; though here and there it lay in hollows of the wood, and to the south of them, out of a deep fold cutting right across the Forest, the fog still rose like steam or wisps of white smoke.
哈比人牵着马儿往上爬，一路来到了山丘顶。他们从山顶眺望四周。附近在太陽的照耀下尚称明亮，但还是有些迷蒙雾气飘浮在远方，因此，哈比人们也无法看清远处的景象。近处的雾气几乎全都散去了，但四周还是零星点缀着一些浓雾。在他们的南边，森林中有条看来十分蜿蜒的凹陷，浓雾像是白烟一般的持续从中冒出。
They now hurried forward again, delighted with the thought of climbing out for a while above the roof of the Forest. The path dipped, and then again began to climb upwards, leading them at last to the foot of the steep hillside. There it left the trees and faded into the turf. The wood stood all round the hill like thick hair that ended sharply in a circle round a shaven crown.
众人眼看可以暂时脱离森林的笼罩和压迫，于是重新打起精神拼命赶路。小径下倾了一段距离，接着又再度往上爬升，终于带他们来到了陡峭的小丘底部。小径一出树林就混杂在草地中，变得不再那么明显。小丘四周的树林包围着它，彷佛像是秃头周围一圈浓密的头发一样诡异。
“That,” said Merry, pointing with his hand, “that is the line of the Withywindle. It comes down out of the Downs and flows south-west through the midst of the Forest to join the Brandywine below Haysend. We don’t want to go that way! The Withywindle valley is said to be the queerest part of the whole wood — the centre from which all the queerness comes, as it were.”
“那里，”梅里指着那个方向说，“就是柳条河。柳条河从山上流下来，往西南方走，穿越森林的正中央，最后和烈酒河于篱尾处合流。我们可不能往那边走！柳条河谷据说是整座森林中最诡异的地方，根据传说，那里是一切怪事的根源。”
The others looked in the direction that Merry pointed out, but they could see little but mists over the damp and deep-cut valley; and beyond it the southern half of the Forest faded from view.
其它人纷纷朝着梅里指着的方向看去，但除了浓密的雾气和深谷之外什么也看不见；在河谷之外，森林的南方也隐没在雾气中。
The sun on the hill-top was now getting hot. It must have been about eleven o’clock; but the autumn haze still prevented them from seeing much in other directions. In the west they could not make out either the line of the Hedge or the valley of the Brandywine beyond it. Northward, where they looked most hopefully, they could see nothing that might be the line of the great East Road, for which they were making. They were on an island in a sea of trees, and the horizon was veiled.
太陽现在已经升到了半空，让山上的众人都觉得热了起来。现在多半已经十一点了，但秋天的晨雾依旧没有完全散去，让他们无法看见远方。往西看去，他们最多只能看见高篱的依稀影像，在其后的烈酒河就已经完全无法辨认。让他们抱持最大希望的北方则是连他们的目的地：东方大道的影子都看不见。一行人彷佛站在树海的孤岛上，四周都成了一片迷蒙。
On the south-eastern side the ground fell very steeply, as if the slopes of the hill were continued far down under the trees, like island-shores that really are the sides of a mountain rising out of deep waters. They sat on the green edge and looked out over the woods below them, while they ate their mid-day meal. As the sun rose and passed noon they glimpsed far off in the east the grey-green lines of the Downs that lay beyond the Old Forest on that side. That cheered them greatly; for it was good to see a sight of anything beyond the wood’s borders, though they did not mean to go that way, if they could help it: the Barrow-downs had as sinister a reputation in hobbit-legend as the Forest itself.
东南方的地势则是十分陡峭，山坡似乎一直延续到浓密的森林中；这真的就像从海中升起的海岸一样。他们就这样坐在坡上，俯瞰着这一片绿色的密林，吃起了午餐。等到太陽越过了天顶之后，他们终于可以看见东方老林边缘外的山丘轮廓。这让他们大为振奋，能看见森林边境之外任何的事物都是好的；不过，如果有别的选择，他们是不会往那个方向靠近的。古墓岗在哈比人的传说中是个比森林更邪恶的地方。
At first their choice seemed to be good: they got along at a fair speed, though whenever they got a glimpse of the sun in an open glade they seemed unaccountably to have veered eastwards. But after a time the trees began to close in again, just where they had appeared from a distance to be thinner and less tangled. Then deep folds in the ground were discovered unexpectedly, like the ruts of great giant-wheels or wide moats and sunken roads long disused and choked with brambles. These lay usually right across their line of march, and could only be crossed by scrambling down and out again, which was troublesome and difficult with their ponies. Each time they climbed down they found the hollow filled with thick bushes and matted undergrowth, which somehow would not yield to the left, but only gave way when they turned to the right; and they had to go some distance along the bottom before they could find a way up the further bank. Each time they clambered out, the trees seemed deeper and darker; and always to the left and upwards it was most difficult to find a way, and they were forced to the right and downwards.
一开始这决定似乎非常正确：众人前进的速度很不错，唯一让人有些担心的问题是每当他们看到太陽的方位时，都会有种道路持续往东方偏的感觉。不过，不久之后，树木却又开始合拢起来。怪异的是，这正是从远处看来树林开始变得稀疏的同一个位置。道路上更开始出现了一道又一道的深沟，彷佛是被巨大车轮碾过的痕迹一样，在这些深沟中还长满了大量的荆棘。而这些深沟每每都是毫不留情的切过他们所走的道路，导致每次一行人都必须牵着马匹狼狈的走下，再艰辛的爬出。小马们非常不适应这样的跋涉和地形。每当他们好不容易下到深沟中时，眼前都一定会是浓密的矮灌木和纠结的野生植物。不知道为什么，如果他们往左边走，所有的植物就会纠缠在一起，让他们无法通过；只有当他们往右边走的时候，这些植物才会让步。往往他们还必须在深沟中跋涉相当的距离之后才能够找到路爬上对岸去。每一次他们爬出深沟之后，眼前的树木就显得更为蓊郁、更为幽暗；只要一往左、往上坡走，眼前的路就会显得难以通过。最后，他们只得照着这股莫名的意志不停的往右、往下坡走。大概过了一两个小时之后，他们完全失去了方向感，只知道从很久以前一行人就已经偏离了北方的方向。他们只能够照着一条安排好的道路向东南前进；而这是由外来的意志替他们决定好的。他们只能别无选择的朝着森林的中心而去。
At length they made up their minds to go on again. The path that had brought them to the hill reappeared on the northward side; but they had not followed it far before they became aware that it was bending steadily to the right. Soon it began to descend rapidly and they guessed that it must actually be heading towards the Withywindle valley: not at all the direction they wished lo take. After some discussion they decided to leave this misleading path and strike northward; for although they had not been able to see it from the hill-top, the Road must lie that way, and it could not be many miles off. Also northward, and to the left of the path, the land seemed lo be drier and more open, climbing up to slopes where the trees were thinner, and pines and firs replaced the oaks and ashes and other strange and nameless trees of the denser wood.
不久之后，他们终于下定决心继续前进。带着他们来到这座小丘的道路又再度出现在山的北边。不过，他们没走多久就发现这条路一直往右偏，很明显的是通往柳条河谷：这可不是他们想要去的地方。经过一段讨论之后，他们决定离开这条路，直接往北边走：因为他们虽然在山丘上看不见东方大道，但它一定就在那个方向，距离也不应该太远才对。除此之外，北边看起来也比较干燥、比较开阔，山坡上的树木似乎也少一点；在那边松树和柏树取代了这里的橡树和白杨木，看来让人安心许多。
The afternoon was wearing away when they scrambled and stumbled into a fold that was wider and deeper than any they had yet met. It was so sleep and overhung that it proved impossible to climb out of it again, either forwards or backwards, without leaving their ponies and their baggage behind. All they could do was to follow the fold — downwards. The ground grew soft, and in places boggy; springs appeared in the banks, and soon they found themselves following a brook that trickled and babbled through a weedy bed. Then the ground began to fall rapidly, and the brook growing strong and noisy, flowed and leaped swiftly downhill. They were in a deep dim-lit gully over-arched by trees high above them.
他们唯一能够做的只是沿着深沟往下走。地面开始变软，有些地方甚至如同沼泽一样发出恶臭，两边的沟壁也开始冒出泉水。很快的，众人的脚下就出现了一条穿梭于杂草间的小溪。接着，地势急遽下降，小溪的水流变得越来越急、越来越强。众人这才发现他们已经来到了一个天空都被树木遮蔽的溪谷中。
After an hour or two they had lost all clear sense of direction, though they knew well enough that they had long ceased to go northward at all. They were being headed off, and were simply following a course chosen for them — eastwards and southwards, into the heart of the Forest and not out of it.
快傍晚的时候，他们又走进了一个比之前的深沟都要陡峭、深邃的地堑。它的坡度陡到不管是前进还是后退，根本无法牵着马和行李再爬出来。
After stumbling along for some way along the stream, they came quite suddenly out of the gloom. As if through a gate they saw the sunlight before them. Coming to the opening they found that they had made their way down through a cleft in a high sleep bank, almost a cliff. At its feet was a wide space of grass and reeds; and in the distance could be glimpsed another bank almost as steep. A golden afternoon of late sunshine lay warm and drowsy upon the hidden land between. In the midst of it there wound lazily a dark river of brown water, bordered with ancient willows, arched over with willows, blocked with fallen willows, and flecked with thousands of faded willow-leaves. The air was thick with them, fluttering yellow from the branches; for there was a warm and gentle breeze blowing softly in the valley, and the reeds were rustling, and the willow-boughs were creaking.
在踉跄的前进一段距离之后，他们突然走出了狭窄的空间，彷佛走出地牢的大门一般，哈比人终于再度看见了陽光。在他们走到空地上之后才发现，他们所脱离的是一个陡峭的几乎如同悬崖一样的峡谷。在峡谷出口处是一块长满了杂草的空地，远方也可以看到另外一个同样陡峭的山壁轮廓。金色的陽光懒洋洋的照在两座山壁之间的空地上。在空地正中央的是一条看来十分慵懒的褐色小溪，两旁夹杂着古老的柳树。柳树替这条蜿蜒的小溪遮档着陽光、河中也倒着许多枯死的柳树，充塞着无数掉落的柳叶。这块空间彷佛全部被柳树所占据；河谷中吹过一阵温暖的秋风，所有的柳叶都在枝丫上飘动着、草地发出窸窣的声音、柳树的枝干跟着咿呀作响。
“Well, now I have at least some notion of where we are!” said Merry. “We have come almost in the opposite direction to which we intended. This is the River Withywindle! I will go on and explore.”
“啊，至少我现在终于知道这是哪里了！”梅里说。“我们走的方向跟计划完全相反。这就是柳条河！让我先去打探一下状况。”
He passed out into the sunshine and disappeared into the long grasses. After a while he reappeared, and reported that there was fairly solid ground between the cliff-foot and the river; in some places firm turf went down to the water’s edge. “What’s more,” he said, “there seems to be something like a footpath winding along on this side of the river. If we turn left and follow it, we shall be bound to come out on the east side of the Forest eventually.”
他一溜烟的钻进陽光照耀下的野草中。不久之后，他跑了回来，向大家报告山壁和小河之间的土地蛮结实的，有些草地甚至一路长到河岸边。“还有，”他说，“河的这边有道很类似脚印的痕迹。如果我们往左走，跟着那足迹，我们应该可以从森林的东边钻出去。”
“I dare say!” said Pippin. “That is, if the track goes on so far, and does not simply lead us into a bog and leave us there. Who made the track, do you suppose, and why? I am sure it was not for our benefit. I am getting very suspicious of this Forest and everything in it, and I begin to believe all the stories about it. And have you any idea how far eastward we should have to go?”
“可能吧！”皮聘说。“但前提是那脚印必须一直走出森林，不会带着我们走到沼泽里面才行。你想会是什么人、为了什么原因留下脚印？我觉得那恐怕对我们没什么好处。我对这座森林和里面的一切都抱持着怀疑，而且我也开始相信这里的传说都是其来有自的！况且，你知道我们要往东走多远才会走出森林吗？”
The hobbits began to feel very hot. There were armies of flies of all kinds buzzing round their ears, and the afternoon sun was burning on their backs. At last they came suddenly into a thin shade; great grey branches reached across the path. Each step forward became more reluctant than the last. Sleepiness seemed to be creeping out of the ground and up their legs, and falling softly out of the air upon their heads and eyes.
众人开始觉得非常的燥热。各种各样的苍蝇在他们的眼前和耳朵旁边乱飞，下午的烈陽毫不留情的照在他们的背上。最后，他们终于来到了一个有着遮荫的地方：许多粗大的灰色枝丫遮住了小径上头的天空。一进去这个区域，他们就觉得举步维艰。睡意彷佛从地面流进他们的血管中，更从空气中降落在他们的头上和眼中。
“No,” said Merry, “I haven’t. I don’t know in the least how far down the Withywindle we are, or who could possibly come here often enough to make a path along it. But there is no other way out that I can see or think of.”
“我不知道，”梅里说。“我从来没这样走过。这次我根本连走进柳条河多远了我都不知道，更别提怎么会有人来到这个人迹罕至的地方弄出足迹来了。就目前的情况看来，我只能说暂时看不出有别的脱困方法。”
There being nothing else for it, they filed out, and Merry led them to the path that he had discovered. Everywhere the reeds and grasses were lush and tall, in places far above their heads; but once found, the path was easy to follow, as it turned and twisted, picking out the sounder ground among the bogs and pools. Here and there it passed over other rills, running down gullies into the Withywindle out of the higher forest-lands, and at these points there were tree-trunks or bundles of brushwood laid carefully across.
既然别无选择，他们也只能把这足迹当做唯一的希望。梅里领着众人踏上他所发现的足迹。此地的杂草、芦苇兴盛蓬勃，放眼望去几乎都比他们还要高。不过，这道足迹开辟出了一条小路，让他们走起来不会太辛苦。而且，这条小路还非常聪明的避过了许多恶臭的池水和沼泽，让一行人免除了身陷沼泽的危机。这条小径穿越了许多河谷，延伸进入柳条河流出森林的河口；每当他们遇到这样无法徒步渡过的阻隔时，就会看见面前有着经人刻意摆放的树干或树枝搭成的简陋桥梁。
Frodo did not like the sound of this. “Come on!” he cried. “We can’t have a nap yet. We must get clear of the Forest first.” But the others were too far gone to care. Beside them Sam stood yawning and blinking stupidly.
佛罗多不喜欢这种感觉。“清醒一点！”他大喊道。“我们还不能够睡觉。我们一定得先走出森林才行。”此时，其他人已经完全失去了抵抗力，根本无法了解坚持的重要性。站在旁边的山姆也开始打起呵欠，惺忪的双眼不住的眨动。
Frodo felt his chin go down and his head nod. Just in front of him Pippin fell forward on to his knees. Frodo halted. “It’s no good,” he heard Merry saying. “Can’t go another step without rest. Must have nap. It’s cool under the willows. Less flies!”
佛罗多感觉到下巴垂了下去，头也不住的点着。走在他前面的皮聘四肢着地的趴了下去。佛罗多被迫停了下来。“没用的，”他听见梅里说。“我们不休息就再也走不动了。一定得小睡片刻才行。柳树底下好陰凉。苍蝇也少多了！”
Suddenly Frodo himself felt sleep overwhelming him. His head swam. There now seemed hardly a sound in the air. The flies had stopped buzzing. Only a gentle noise on the edge of hearing, a soft fluttering as of a song half whispered, seemed to stir in the boughs above. He lifted his heavy eyes and saw leaning over him a huge willow-tree, old and hoary. Enormous it looked, its sprawling branches going up like reaching arms with many long-fingered hands, its knotted and twisted trunk gaping in wide fissures that creaked faintly as the boughs moved. The leaves fluttering against the bright sky dazzled him, and he toppled over, lying where he fell upon the grass.
佛罗多自己也突然觉得非常想睡。他感到一阵天旋地转，四周一片死寂。苍蝇不再发出嗡嗡声。他在半梦半醒之间只能听见有个温柔的声音在哼着，彷佛有首轻柔的摇篮曲在他耳边萦绕，这一切似乎都是从头上的枝丫中传来的。他勉力抬起沉重的眼皮，看见头上有一株巨大的老柳树。这棵柳树巨大的可怕，树枝如同拥有细长手指的灰色手臂一样，纵横交错的伸向天空；扭曲生瘤的树干则是穿插着巨大的裂缝，如同狞笑的大嘴，配合着枝丫的移动发出咿呀声。在明亮天空衬托下飘扬的落叶让佛罗多觉得十分晕眩，脚步一个踉跄就仰天在草地上躺了下来。
Frodo lay for a while fighting with the sleep that was overpowering him; then with an effort he struggled to his feel again. He felt a compelling desire for cool water. “Wait for me, Sam,” he stammered. “Must bathe feet a minute.”
佛罗多躺在地上，和一波波袭来的睡意不断搏斗；最后勉强挣扎着再度站起身。他突然对冰凉的溪水有了强烈的渴望。“等等我，山姆，”他结巴的说。“我要先泡泡脚。”
Merry and Pippin dragged themselves forward and lay down with their backs to the willow-trunk. Behind them the great cracks gaped wide to receive them as the tree swayed and creaked. They looked up at the grey and yellow leaves, moving softly against the light, and singing. They shut their eyes, and then it seemed that they could almost hear words, cool words, saying something about water and sleep. They gave themselves up to the spell and fell fast asleep at the foot of the great grey willow.
梅里和皮聘拖着脚步往前走，头靠着柳树干躺下来。树干上的裂缝悄然无声的张开，让两人在它怀中沉睡。两人抬起头，看着灰黄的树叶在陽光下摇动着、发出美妙的乐音。梅里和皮聘不约而同的闭上眼，似乎听见有个难以辨认的声音正述说着清凉的河水和沉眠。他们在这魔咒的笼罩下不再坚持，在灰色的老柳树脚下沉沉睡去。
Half in a dream he wandered forward to the riverward side of the tree, where great winding roots grew out into the stream, like gnarled dragonets straining down to drink. He straddled one of these, and paddled his hot feel in the cool brown water; and there he too suddenly fell asleep with his back against the tree.
他神智不清的走到老树靠河的那边，跨过那些盘根错节、如同毒蛇一般伸入水中饥渴啜饮的树根。他找了条树根坐下来，将滚烫的小脚放进冰凉的褐色溪水中，就这样靠着树干突然睡着了。
Sam sat down and scratched his head, and yawned like a cavern. He was worried. The afternoon was getting late, and he thought this sudden sleepiness uncanny. “There’s more behind this than sun and warm air,” he muttered to himself. “I don’t like this great big tree. I don’t trust it. Hark at it singing about sleep now! This won’t do at all!”
山姆坐下来，抓着脑袋，拼命的打哈欠。他觉得很担心。天色越来越晚，这突如其来的睡意实在很可疑。“让我们想睡的一定不只是太陽和暖风的影响，”他嘀咕着说。“我不喜欢这棵大树。我觉得他很可疑。这棵树好像一直在对我们唱催眠曲！这样不行！”
He pulled himself to his feet, and staggered off to see what had become of the ponies. He found that two had wandered on a good way along the path; and he had just caught them and brought them back towards the others, when he heard two noises; one loud, and the other soft but very clear. One was the splash of something heavy falling into the water; the other was a noise like the snick of a lock when a door quietly closes fast.
他奋力站起身，蹒跚的走去察看小马的情形。他发现有两匹马已经跑离了小径，正好赶上将它们牵回另外两匹马的身边。此时，他突然听见了两个声音：一个很大声，一个很低微却十分清晰。大声的是有什么沉重的物体落入水中的哗啦声，清晰的是彷佛有扇门关起来的咿呀声。
He rushed back to the bank. Frodo was in the water close to the edge, and a great tree-root seemed to be over him and holding him down, but he was not struggling. Sam gripped him by the jacket, and dragged him from under the root; and then with difficulty hauled him on to the bank. Almost at once he woke, and coughed and spluttered.
他急忙冲到河岸边。佛罗多就坐在水里面，有根粗大的树根正把他往水里压，但他毫无抵抗之意。山姆一把抓住他的外套，死命的将他从树根下拉出，拖到岸上去。历劫余生的佛罗多几乎立刻就醒了过来，不停的呕吐和咳嗽。
They went round to the other side of the tree, and then Sam understood the click that he had heard. Pippin had vanished. The crack by which he had laid himself had closed together, so that not a chink could be seen. Merry was trapped: another crack had closed about his waist; his legs lay outside, but the rest of him was inside a dark opening, the edges of which gripped like a pair of pincers.
他们立刻绕到树的另一边去，山姆这才知道刚刚听见的咿呀声是什么。皮聘消失了。他刚刚躺的那个裂隙阖了起来，把他完全吞了进去。梅里则是被困在树缝内：另外一道裂缝像是钳子一样将他的上半身给夹了进去，只剩下两只脚露在外面。
“Do you know, Sam,” he said at length, “the beastly tree threw me in! I felt it. The big root just twisted round and tipped me in!”
“山姆，你知道吗，”他好不容易才喘过气来，“这个树妖怪把我丢进水里！我可以感觉的到！它把树根一扭，就把我压到水里去了！”
“What a foul thing to happen!” cried Frodo wildly. “Why did we ever come into this dreadful Forest? I wish we were all back at Crickhollow!” He kicked the tree with all his strength, heedless of his own feet. A hardly perceptible shiver ran through the stem and up into the branches; the leaves rustled and whispered, but with a sound now of faint and far-off laughter.
“怎么会这样！”佛罗多狂乱的大喊。“我们为什么要进这个可怕的森林？我真希望我们现在都还在溪谷地！”他用尽全身力气，使劲踹了树干一脚。一阵十分微弱的晃动从树根一路传送到树枝，树叶晃动着、呢喃着，似乎在嘲笑着两人徒劳无功的努力。
“You were dreaming I expect, Mr. Frodo,” said Sam. “You shouldn’t sit in such a place, if you feel sleepy.”
“佛罗多先生，我想你应该是在作梦吧，”山姆说。“如果你想睡觉就不应该坐在那种地方。”
Frodo and Sam beat first upon the tree-trunk where Pippin had lain. They then struggled frantically to pull open the jaws of the crack that held poor Merry. It was quite useless.
佛罗多和山姆起先死命的敲打皮聘原先躺着的地方，然后又试着撬开咬住梅里的可怕裂缝。这两次尝试都是白费力气。
“What about the others?” Frodo asked. “I wonder what sort of dreams they are having.”
“佛罗多先生，我想你应该是在作梦吧，”山姆说。“如果你想睡觉就不应该坐在那种地方。”
“We might,” said Frodo doubtfully. “We might succeed in roasting Pippin alive inside.”
“或许吧，”佛罗多怀疑的说。“但也有可能把皮聘给活活烤熟。”
“I brought a little hatchet for chopping firewood,” said Frodo. “That wouldn’t be much use.”
“我带了一柄小手斧来砍柴火，”佛罗多说，“要对付这种大树实在派不上用场。”
Quickly they gathered dry grass and leaves, and bits of bark; and made a pile of broken twigs and chopped sticks. These they heaped against the trunk on the far side of the tree from the prisoners. As soon as Sam had struck a spark into the tinder, it kindled the dry grass and a flurry of flame and smoke went up. The twigs crackled. Little fingers of fire licked against the dry scored rind of the ancient tree and scorched it. A tremor ran through the whole willow. The leaves seemed to hiss above their heads with a sound of pain and anger. A loud scream came from Merry, and from far inside the tree they heard Pippin give a muffled yell.
两人很快的将干草和树叶以及一些树皮收集起来，将一堆树枝聚拢成一堆。他们将这些柴火通通搬到人质的对面去。山姆用火绒盒一打出火花，干草立刻就被火舌吞食，开始冒出白烟来。火焰发出劈啪声，老树的树皮在火焰的舔食之下开始变的焦黑。整棵柳树开始不停的颤动，树叶似乎发出愤怒和疼痛的低语声。梅里突然大声惨叫，而树干的深处也传来皮聘含糊的吼声。
“Wait a minute!” cried Sam, struck by an idea suggested by firewood. “We might do something with fire!”
“我想到了！”山姆一听到柴火立刻想到新的点子。“我们可以点火来烧树！”
“We might try to hurt or frighten this tree to begin with,” said Sam fiercely. “If it don’t let them go, I’ll have it down, if I have to gnaw it.” He ran to the ponies and before long came back with two tinder-boxes and a hatchet.
“至少我们可以先威吓或是弄痛这棵树，”山姆激动的说。“如果它胆敢不放人，就算用啃的我也要把它弄倒！”他立刻跑回马匹旁，带回两个火绒盒和一柄手斧。
“I suppose we haven’t got an axe among our luggage, Mr. Frodo?” asked Sam.
“佛罗多先生，我们行李里面有斧头吗？”山姆问。
“Put it out! Put it out!” cried Merry. “He’ll squeeze me in two, if you don’t. He says so!”
“快把火灭了！快灭了它！”梅里大喊着。“如果你们不照做，它会把我夹断。这是它说的！”
“Who? What?” shouted Frodo, rushing round to the other side of the tree.
“谁？什么？”佛罗多赶忙跑到树干的另一边。
“Put it out! Put it out!” begged Merry. The branches of the willow began to sway violently. There was a sound as of a wind rising and spreading outwards to the branches of all the other trees round about, as though they had dropped a stone into the quiet slumber of the river-valley and set up ripples of anger that ran out over the whole Forest. Sam kicked at the little fire and stamped out the sparks. But Frodo, without any clear idea of why he did so, or what he hoped for, ran along the path crying help! help! help! It seemed to him that he could hardly hear the sound of his own shrill voice: it was blown away from him by the willow-wind and drowned in a clamour of leaves, as soon as the words left his mouth. He felt desperate: lost and witless.
“快灭火！快灭火！”梅里哀求道。柳树的枝丫开始不停的晃动。四周的树木突然间纷纷开始颤动，彷佛有阵愤怒的微风从老柳树为中心往外扩散，让整座森林都陷入了暴怒之中。山姆立刻踢散了柴火，踏熄了火焰。佛罗多慌乱中下意识的沿着小径狂奔，大喊着“救命！救命！救命！”连他自己都听不太清楚这呼救的声音，柳树枝叶所掀起的狂怒之风几乎将它完全掩盖住了。他觉得走投无路，感到无比绝望。
Suddenly he slopped. There was an answer, or so he thought; but it seemed to come from behind him, away down the path further back in the Forest. He turned round and listened, and soon there could be no doubt: someone was singing a song; a deep glad voice was singing carelessly and happily, but it was singing nonsense:
突然间他停下了脚步。他觉得自己彷佛听见了回音，但这回答是从他身后，森林的更深处所传来的。他转过身仔细倾听着，很快的他就确定不是自己的耳朵在作祟：的确有人再唱歌。一个低沉、欢欣的声音正在无忧无虑的唱歌，但歌的内容却是随口的胡诌：
Goldberry, Goldberry, merry yellow berry-o!
金莓，金莓，快乐的黄莓笑！
Frodo and Sam stood as if enchanted. The wind puffed out. The leaves hung silently again on stiff branches. There was another burst of song, and then suddenly, hopping and dancing along the path, there appeared above the reeds an old battered hat with a tall crown and a long blue feather stuck in the band. With another hop and a bound there came into view a man, or so it seemed. At any rate he was too large and heavy for a hobbit, if not quite tall enough for one of the Big People, though he made noise enough for one, slumping along with great yellow boots on his thick legs, and charging through grass and rushes like a cow going down to drink. He had a blue coat and a long brown beard; his eyes were blue and bright, and his face was red as a ripe apple, but creased into a hundred wrinkles of laughter. In his hands he carried on a large leaf as on a tray a small pile of white water-lilies.
佛罗多和山姆着魔一般的站着。怒风止息下来。树叶软垂在无力的树枝上。接着，在另一段歌声的伴奏下，佛罗多眼前的小径上出现了一顶高高的旧帽子，它的帽缘很宽，帽带上上还插着长长的蓝色羽毛。戴着帽子的人手舞足蹈的跳了出来。虽然两人不太确定这人的种族，但至少知道这家伙的身材对哈比人来说太高、太壮了些。不过，他的身高似乎还没有高到足以加入大家伙的行列，但他所发出的声音却毫不逊色。他粗壮的腿穿着一双黄色的大靴子，一路横冲直撞的彷佛像是要去喝水的大水牛。这人蓄着一脸褐色的胡子，穿着蓝色的外套，双颊红的跟苹果一样，还有一双又蓝又亮的眼睛。他的脸上有着无数由笑容所挤出的皱纹，手中则是拿着一片大树叶，上面盛着许多的白荷花。
Tom’s going home again water-lilies bringing.
汤姆摘来莲花送回家。
Old Tom Bombadil water-lilies bringing,
老汤姆为你带来盛开的莲花，
Hey! Come merry dot! derry dol! My darling!
嘿！快乐来啦！罗哈哈！亲爱的哇！
There my pretty lady is. River-woman’s daughter,
我的美人儿啊，河妇之女啊，
Down along under Hill, shining in the sunlight,
沿着山坡飞舞，在陽光下跳舞，
Ring a dong! hop along! fal lal the willow!
叮铃当叮啦！跳一跳呀！跟着柳树啊！
Slender as the willow-wand, clearer than the water.
纤细一如柳枝，清澈好比泉水哇！
Light goes the weather-wind and the feathered starling.
季节的风如同羽毛一般轻柔的啊。
Waiting on the doorstep for the cold starlight,
在门前等待着冰冷星光的替补。
Comes hopping home again. Can you hear him singing?
步履轻盈的往家跑，你是否听见他的歌声啊？
Hey! Come merry dol! deny dol! and merry-o,
嘿！快乐来啦！罗哈哈！快乐的受不了，
Hey! Come derry dol! Can you hear me singing?
嘿！来啦罗哈哈！你是否听见他的歌声啊？
Half hopeful and half afraid of some new danger, Frodo and Sam now both stood still. Suddenly out of a long string of nonsense-words (or so they seemed) the voice rose up loud and clear and burst into this song:
佛罗多和山姆半是害怕、半是期待的呆立当场。突然间，那声音在呢喃了一连串对他们来说毫无意义的言语之后，又唱了起来：
Poor old Willow-man, you tuck your roots away!
可怜的老柳树，快把树根收！
Tom’s in a hurry now. Evening will follow day.
汤姆急着要回家。夜色赶着白天走！
Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo!
呵啦！快乐啦！叮铃当叮啦！
Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!
汤姆—庞，快乐的汤姆，汤姆—庞巴迪啦！
“My friends are caught in the willow-tree,” cried Frodo breathlessly.
“我的朋友们被柳树给吃了下去，”佛罗多上气不接下气的说。
“Master Merry’s being squeezed in a crack!” cried Sam.
“梅里先生快被夹成两半了！”山姆大喊着。
“Whoa! Whoa! steady there!” cried the old man, holding up one hand, and they stopped short, as if they had been struck stiff. “Now, my little fellows, where be you a-going to, puffing like a bellows? What’s the matter here then? Do you know who I am? I’m Tom Bombadil. Tell me what’s your trouble! Tom’s in a hurry now. Don’t you crush my lilies!”
“哇！等等！等等！”那老家伙举起一只手示意，两人彷佛被一股无形的力量给挡了下来。“两位小家伙，你们气喘吁吁的要去哪儿啊？这里是怎么一回事？你知道我是谁吗？在下汤姆—庞巴迪。告诉我你们遇到了什么麻烦！汤姆要赶路哪！别压坏了我的荷花！”
“Help!” cried Frodo and Sam running towards him with their hands stretched out.
“救命啊！”佛罗多和山姆不约而同的冲向他。
“What?” shouted Tom Bombadil, leaping up in the air. “Old Man Willow? Naught worse than that, eh? That can soon be mended. I know the tune for him. Old grey Willow-man! I’ll freeze his marrow cold, if he don’t behave himself. I’ll sing his roots off. I’ll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away. Old Man Willow!”
“什么？”汤姆—庞巴迪跳起来大喊道。“是柳树老头？这可真糟糕啊！别担心，我很快就可以解决。我知道要用什么调子对付他。这个灰噗噗的柳树老头！如果他不听话，我会把它整的死去活来。我会唱出一阵狂风，把这家伙的树枝和树叶全都吹光光。可恶的老柳树！”
Setting down his lilies carefully on the grass, he ran to the tree. There he saw Merry’s feet still sticking out — the rest had already been drawn further inside. Tom put his mouth to the crack and began singing into it in a low voice. They could not catch the words, but evidently Merry was aroused. His legs began to kick. Tom sprang away, and breaking off a hanging branch smote the side of the willow with it. “You let them out again, Old Man Willow!” he said. “What be you a-thinking of? You should not be waking. Eat earth! Dig deep! Drink water! Go to sleep! Bombadil is talking!” He then seized Merry’s feet and drew him out of the suddenly widening crack.
他小心翼翼的将荷花放在草地上，跑到树旁去。他刚好看见梅里伸出的双脚，其它的部分几乎全被老树给拉了进去。汤姆把嘴凑进那裂缝，开始用低沉的声音歌唱。旁观的两人听不清楚歌词，却注意到梅里被这声音给惊醒了，他的小脚也开始死命的乱踢。汤姆跳了开来，顺势撞断了一根柳树的枝干。“柳树老头，快放他出来！”他说。“你倒底在想些什么？你不应该醒来的。好好的吃土、深掘你的树根！大口喝水！沉沉睡去！庞巴迪劝你不要多事！”他一把捉住梅里，将他从突然打开的裂隙中拉出来。
“Thank you!” said the hobbits, one after the other.
“谢谢你！”哈比人争先恐后的道谢。
Tom Bombadil burst out laughing. “Well, my little fellows!” said he, stooping so that he peered into their faces. “You shall come home with me! The table is all laden with yellow cream, honeycomb, and white bread and butter. Goldberry is waiting. Time enough for questions around the supper table. You follow after me as quick as you are able!” With that he picked up his lilies, and then with a beckoning wave of his hand went hopping and dancing along the path eastward, still singing loudly and nonsensically.
汤姆—庞巴迪哈哈大笑。“哈哈，小家伙们！”他低头看着每个哈比人的面孔。“你们最好跟我一起回家！桌上摆满了黄乳酪、纯蜂蜜，白面包和新鲜的奶油。金莓在等我回家哪。等下吃饭的时候我们再好好聊。你们放开脚步跟我来！”话一说完，他就拿起荷花，比了个手势示意大家跟上，又继续手舞足蹈的沿着小径往东走，口中还唱着那些胡诌的小调。
Too surprised and too relieved to talk, the hobbits followed after him as fast as they could. But that was not fast enough. Tom soon disappeared in front of them, and the noise of his singing got fainter and further away. Suddenly his voice came floating back to them in a loud halloo!
哈比人们对这突如其来的转变一时间还是无法适应，只能默默不语的尽快跟着跑。但这还不够快，汤姆很快的就消失在它们面前，歌声变得越来越遥远。突然间，他的声音又精神饱满的飘了回来！
There was a tearing creak and the other crack split open, and out of it Pippin sprang, as if he had been kicked. Then with a loud snap both cracks closed fast again. A shudder ran through the tree from root to tip, and complete silence fell.
嘎吱一声，另一个裂隙打了开来；皮聘从里面飞出来，彷佛被人踢了一脚。裂隙喀达一声再度阖上，一阵颤动从树根传到树枝，最后陷入一片死寂。
When the night-shadows fall, then the door will open,
当暮色笼罩，家门才会打开，
Hop along, my little friends, up the Withywindle!
快跑啊，小朋友，沿着柳条河走！
Down west sinks the Sun: soon you will be groping.
太陽西沉，很快就得摸黑走。
Out of the window-panes light will twinkle yellow.
窗户中透着暖暖黄光。
Tom’s going on ahead candles for to kindle.
汤姆要先回家点起蜡烛火。
Hey now! merry dot! We’ll be waiting for you!
呵嘿！快乐的啦！我们就在前方！
Fear no alder black! Heed no hoary willow!
别再害怕夜色！别再担心柳树阻挡！
After that the hobbits heard no more. Almost at once the sun seemed to sink into the trees behind them. They thought of the slanting light of evening glittering on the Brandywine River, and the windows of Bucklebury beginning to gleam with hundreds of lights. Great shadows fell across them; trunks and branches of trees hung dark and threatening over the path. White mists began to rise and curl on the surface of the river and stray about the roots of the trees upon its borders. Out of the very ground at their feet a shadowy steam arose and mingled with the swiftly falling dusk.
这段歌声一结束，哈比人们就什么也听不见了。太陽也凑巧的在此时落下。他们想到了烈酒河沿岸的万家灯火，雄鹿家窗户中透出的温馨气氛。许多的陰影遮挡在小径上，两旁的树枝彷佛都虎视眈眈的瞪着他们。白色的雾气开始从河上升起，笼罩在两岸的树林间。从他们脚下还升起了许多的雾气，和交错的树根混杂在一起。
Fear neither root nor bough! Tom goes on before you.
别怕树根树干捣乱！汤姆就在前方。
It became difficult to follow the path, and they were very tired. Their legs seemed leaden. Strange furtive noises ran among the bushes and reeds on either side of them; and if they looked up to the pale sky, they caught sight of queer gnarled and knobbly faces that gloomed dark against the twilight, and leered down at them from the high bank and the edges of the wood. They began to feel that all this country was unreal, and that they were stumbling through an ominous dream that led to no awakening.
很快的，小径就变得十分模糊难辨，一行人也觉得无比的疲倦。他们的腿跟铅一样重，两旁的树丛和杂草间传来各种各样诡异的声音。如果他们抬起头，更可以看见许多多瘤、扭曲的面孔从小径旁低头看着他们，脸上露出狞笑。众人开始觉得这一切都是一个恶梦，他们只是在一个永远无法醒来的恶梦中跋涉。
The grass under their feet was smooth and short, as if it had been mown or shaven. The eaves of the Forest behind were clipped, and trim as a hedge. The path was now plain before them, well-tended and bordered with stone. It wound up on to the top of a grassy knoll, now grey under the pale starry night; and there, still high above them on a further slope, they saw the twinkling lights of a house. Down again the path went, and then up again, up a long smooth hillside of turf, towards the light. Suddenly a wide yellow beam flowed out brightly from a door that was opened. There was Tom Bombadil’s house before them, up, down, under hill. Behind it a steep shoulder of the land lay grey and bare, and beyond that the dark shapes of the Barrow-downs stalked away into the eastern night.
他们脚下的草地又软又整齐，似乎有人经常在整理。背后的森林被修剪的整整齐齐，好似一座篱笆一样。小径现在成了两旁点缀着石头的美丽道路，一路通往一座圆丘的顶端。在更远处是另一座山坡，以及温暖的灯火。小径跟着上上下下，沿着和缓的斜坡通往那灯火。接着，一片黄光从开启的门内流泄而出。那就是汤姆—庞巴迪的家。小丘后面则是一座陡峭的高地，之后则是绵延进东方夜空的古墓岗。
Just as they felt their feet slowing down to a standstill, they noticed that the ground was gently rising. The water began to murmur. In the darkness they caught the white glimmer of foam, where the river flowed over a short fall. Then suddenly the trees came to an end and the mists were left behind. They stepped out from the Forest, and found a wide sweep of grass welling up before them. The river, now small and swift, was leaping merrily down to meet them, glinting here and there in the light of the stars, which were already shining in the sky.
正当他们想要放弃的时候，突然发现小径的坡度开始慢慢的上升。潺潺的水声传进他们耳中。在黑暗中他们似乎可以看见小河汇聚成了一座瀑布，白色的泡沫搭配着溪水哗啦啦的往下落。就在这里，森林到了尽头，迷雾也不再围绕。一行人走出了森林，踏上了一圈翠绿的草地。河水到了这边变得十分的湍急，似乎笑嘻嘻的迎接他们；而天上的星光照耀在跃动的河水上，让他们看见了新的奇观。
Old Tom Bombadil and the River-daughter!
老庞巴迪和那河之女儿一起唱！
Of sun, stars, moon and mist, rain and cloudy weather,
歌颂太陽，星辰，雨水和迷雾，还有多云的天气和月亮，
They all hurried forward, hobbits and ponies. Already half their weariness and all their fears had fallen from them. Hey! Come merry dol! rolled out the song to greet them.
哈比人们和小马都急匆匆的赶向前。他们的疲倦和恐惧彷佛都消失于无形。“嘿！快乐的来啦！”这首歌是欢迎他们前来的歌。
Now let the song begin! Let us sing together
歌儿快开始！我俩一起唱
Now let the fun begin! Let us sing together!
精彩节目快开始！好听歌儿一起唱！
Hey! Come derry dol! Hop along, my hearties!
嘿！快乐的来啦！亲爱的朋友快点来！
Then another clear voice, as young and as ancient as Spring, like the song of a glad water flowing down into the night from a bright morning in the hills, came falling like silver to meet them:
接着是另一个清澈、如同春天一样充满活力、包容一切的声音。那声音彷佛是从高山上清晨中流泄而出的泉水，银亮亮的在这夜色中欢迎他们：
Light on the budding leaf, dew on the feather,
露水落在羽毛中，光芒照在树叶上，
And with that song the hobbits stood upon the threshold, and a golden light was all about them.
在那歌声中，哈比人全站在金黄的灯光照耀下，动也不动的倾听着。
Reeds by the shady pool, lilies on the water:
荷花漂在水面上，深池旁边杂草长，
Wind on the open hill, bells on the heather,
风儿吹过石南花，清风拂大岗，
Hobbits! Ponies all! We are fond of parties.
哈比人！小马儿！我们都喜欢朋友来，宴会开！
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