QUEER LODGINGS
奇怪的住所
The next morning Bilbo woke up with the early sun in his eyes. He jumped up to look at the time and to go and put his kettle on-and found he was not home at all. So he sat down and wished in vain for a wash and a brush. He did not get either, nor tea nor toast nor bacon for his breakfast, only cold mutton and rabbit. And after that he had to get ready for a fresh start.
第二天，比尔博醒来时，眼前就是一片清晨的阳光。他一跃而起，准备看看时钟，然后去把水壶烧上——却发现自己根本不是在自己家里。所以，他只能沮丧地坐下来，心想，看来洗脸和刷牙是别指望了。他果然两样都没得到，也没有热茶加吐司加火腿的早餐，只有冷羊肉和兔肉。吃完这些之后，他就得要为重新出发作准备了。
This time he was allowed to climb on to an eagle’s back and cling between his wings. The air rushed over him and he shut his eyes. The dwarves were crying farewells and promising to repay the Lord of the Eagles if ever they could, as off rose fifteen great birds from the mountain’s side. The sun was still close to the eastern edge of things. The morning was cool, and mists were in the valleys and hollows and twined here and there about the peaks and pinnacles of the hills. Bilbo opened an eye to peep and saw that the birds were already high up and the world was far away, and the mountains were falling back behind them into the distance. He shut his eyes again and held on tighter.
这次，他获准爬到一只大鹰的背上，紧紧抓住两翼之间的羽毛。冷风飕飕地从他身上掠过，他紧紧地闭上了双眼。当十五只大鹰从山崖边起飞的时候，矮人们大声喊着再见，承诺说只要有机会就一定要回报鹰王。太阳依旧处于正东的方向，早晨空气清凉，雾气集聚在山谷中，东一片西一片地缠绕着山峰。比尔博睁开一只眼偷偷望了望，发现大鸟们已经飞得十分高，大地已经变得十分遥远了，群山退向他们的身后，渐行渐远。他闭上眼睛，双手抓得更紧了。
After a good while the eagles must have seen the point they were making for, even from their great height, for they began to go down circling round in great spirals. They did this for a long while, and at last the hobbit opened his eyes again. The earth was much nearer, and below them were trees that looked like oaks and elms, and wide grass lands, and a river running through it all. But cropping out of the ground, right in the path of the stream which looped itself about it, was a great rock, almost a hill of stone, like a last outpost of the distant mountains, or a huge piece cast miles into the plain by some giant among giants.
过了好一阵之后，大鹰们一定是看见了他们的目的地，尽管他们飞得很高很高，因为他们开始画着很大的圈子缓缓地盘旋下降。他们盘旋了很久，最后霍比特人终于又睁开了眼睛。地面已经更靠近了，底下有树，看着像是橡树和榆树，还有宽阔的草地，以及一条穿越其间的河流。不过，在地面上矗立一块巨岩，大得几乎像是一座小山，溪流似乎在它身边绕了个圈。它仿佛是远方山脉的最后一个哨卡，又像是被巨人中的巨人从大山里丢出来的一块大石。
“Don’t pinch!” said his eagle. “You need not be frightened like a rabbit, even if you look rather like one. It is a fair morning with little wind. What is finer than flying?”
“别掐我！”他座下的大鹰说道，“你不用怕得像个兔子一样，虽然你看着的确有点像兔子。今早天气很好，又没有什么风，还有什么比在天空飞翔更舒服的呢？”
Quickly now to the top of this rock the eagles swooped one by one and set down their passengers.
大鹰们很快一个接一个地降落在这巨岩上，放下了身上的乘客。
Bilbo would have liked to say: “A warm bath and late breakfast on the lawn afterwards;” but he thought it better to say nothing at all, and to let go his clutch just a tiny bit.
比尔博本想说“好好洗个热水澡，睡得晚点起来，在草地上吃早餐”，不过他还是觉得什么都不说为好，只是手上稍微松了很小的一点点。
“May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks,” answered Gandalf, who knew the correct reply.
“愿你们翼下的强风，能把你们带到所有太阳和月亮能照到的地方。”甘道夫知道对大鹰们的祝愿该怎样得体地回答。
“Farewell!” they cried, “wherever you fare, till your eyries receive you at the journey’s end!” That is the polite thing to say among eagles.
“再见了！”他们叫道，“无论你们去到哪里，希望你们在旅程结束时都能安全回到巢中！”这是大鹰彼此之间道别时的美好祝愿。
There was a flat space on the top of the hill of stone and a well worn path with many steps leading down it to the river, across which a ford of huge flat stones led to the grass-land beyond the stream. There was a little cave (a wholesome one with a pebbly floor) at the foot of the steps and near the end of the stony ford. Here the party gathered and discussed what was to be done.
巨岩顶端有一块平地，有一条许多人走过的、有很多级台阶的路一直往下通到河边，河对面有一片平坦巨石构成的浅滩，通往后面的草地。台阶到底的地方有个小岩洞（里面挺干净，地上是鹅卵石），众人在洞里聚集，讨论接下来该怎么办。
And so they parted. And though the Lord of the Eagles became in after days the King of All Birds and wore a golden crown, and his fifteen chieftains golden collars (made of the gold that the dwarves gave them), Bilbo never saw them again-except high and far off in the battle of Five Armies. But as that comes in at the end of this tale we will say no more about it just now.
他们就这样分别了。虽然鹰王后来成了万鸟之王，头上戴着金色的王冠，他手下十五名首领则戴上了黄金项圈（用矮人们给他们的黄金打造而成），但比尔博再也没有见过他们——只除了在五军之战时远远望见过他们在高空中的身影。不过，这是在故事的尾声时才会发生的事情，所以我们现在暂且按下不提。
The dwarves groaned and looked most distressed, and Bilbo wept. They had begun to think Gandalf was going to come all the way and would always be there to help them out of difficulties. “I am not going to disappear this very instant,” said he. “I can give you a day or two more. Probably I can help you out of your present plight, and I need a little help myself. We have no food, and no baggage, and no ponies to ride; and you don’t know where you are. Now I can tell you that. You are still some miles north of the path which we should have been following, if we had not left the mountain pass in a hurry. Very few people live in these parts, unless they have come here since I was last down this way, which is some years ago. But there is somebody that I know of, who lives not far away. That Somebody made the steps on the great rock-the Carrock I believe he calls it. He does not come here often, certainly not in the daytime, and it is no good waiting for him. In fact it would be very dangerous. We must go and find him; and if all goes well at our meeting, I think I shall be off and wish you like the eagles ‘farewell wherever you fare!'”
矮人们发出不情愿的声音，脸上露出很受打击的表情，比尔博甚至哭了起来。大家起初都以为甘道夫会全程陪同他们一起冒险，总是会帮助他们脱离困境。“我也不是说走就走，”他说，“我会再给你们一两天，或许我可以协助你们脱离眼前的困境，我自己也需要一些帮助。我们没有食物，没有行李，也没有小马可骑，你们也不知道身在何处。不过，关于这点我可以告诉你们。你们现在位于我们该走的道路以北，距离有几哩远。如果我们离开大山不是那么仓促的话，本来是可以正好踏上那条路的。这一带没有什么人居住，除非在我几年前离开之后有人新迁移到这里来了。不过这儿倒是有我认识的人，就住在不远的地方，正是此人在巨岩上兴建了石阶，我记得他把这块巨岩叫作卡尔岩。他不常到这儿来，至少不会在白天来，所以在这边等他来也没什么用。事实上，这样做反而会很危险，我们得主动去找他，如果一切顺利我们能碰上头的话，我想到时我就可以离开了，并且像大鹰一样祝你们‘无论到哪儿都一切顺利！’”
“I always meant to see you all safe (if possible) over the mountains,” said the wizard, “and now by good management and good luck I have done it. Indeed we are now a good deal further east than I ever meant to come with you, for after all this is not my adventure. I may look in on it again before it is all over, but in the meanwhile I have some other pressing business to attend to.”
“我一直想着，只要可能，就一定要带你们安全地越过山脉。”巫师说，“现在，凭着得当的指挥和不错的运气，我做到了。现在，我们其实已经到了比我当初计划送你们前往的地方还要往东许多的地点了。在你们的冒险结束之前，我或许还会再来看看你们，不过现在，我有其他紧急的事情要去办。”
After that they stopped pleading. Then they took off their clothes and bathed in the river, which was shallow and clear and stony at the ford. When they had dried in the sun, which was now strong and warm, they were refreshed, if still sore and a little hungry. Soon they crossed the ford (carrying the hobbit), and then began to march through the long green grass and down the lines of the wide-armed oaks and the tall elms.
他这么一说，大家也就停止了恳求。接着，大家脱下衣服，在河水中好好洗了个澡。河水又浅又清，河滩上都是石头。等他们在强烈而又温暖的太阳下把身子晒干之后，虽然身上还有些酸痛，肚子还有一点点饿，但精神都已经好多了。不久以后，他们就带着霍比特人涉过了浅滩，开始穿过草地，顺着粗壮橡树和高大榆树的边缘向前进发。
“The Somebody I spoke of-a very great person. You must all be very polite when I introduce you. I shall introduce you slowly, two by two, I think; and you must be careful not to annoy him, or heaven knows what will happen. He can be appalling when he is angry, though he is kind enough if humoured. Still I warn you he gets angry easily.”
“就是我提到过的那个人——一个非常伟大的人。我向他介绍你们的时候，你们必须十分恭敬才行。我想，我会慢慢地介绍你们的，两个两个介绍，你们必须千万小心不要惹恼他，否则天知道会发生什么事情。他生气的时候很吓人，但脾气好的时候也很和善。我还是要再警告你们一下，他很容易生气的。”
“And why is it called the Carrock?” asked Bilbo as he went along at the wizard’s side.
“为什么这里要叫卡尔岩？”比尔博跟在巫师身旁边走边问道。
They begged him not to leave them. They offered him dragon-gold and silver and jewels, but he would not change his mind. “We shall see, we shall see!” he said, “and I think I have earned already some of your dragon-gold-when you have got it.”
大家哀求他不要离开他们，愿意把恶龙的金银和珠宝与他分享，但这都不能让他改变心意。“我们会见面的，我们会见面的！”他说，“而且我想我已经挣到一些应得的宝藏了——等你们到手之后再给我吧。”
“Who calls it? Who knows it?”
“你说的他是谁啊？谁替它起的名字？谁熟悉这个东西？”
“He called it the Carrock, because carrock is his word for it. He calls things like that carrocks, and this one is the Carrock because it is the only one near his home and he knows it well.”
“因为他管这个叫卡尔岩，因为他用这个字来描述这样的地形。凡是类似的东西他都管它们叫卡尔岩，而你跟他一提卡尔岩他就知道指的是这个，因为这是他家附近惟一的卡尔岩，他对这个再熟悉不过了。”
“What! a furrier, a man that calls rabbits conies, when he doesn’t turn their skins into squirrels?” asked Bilbo.
“什么！他是个皮货商，就是那种把野兔皮冒充松鼠皮，以次充好的家伙吗？”比尔博问道。
The dwarves all gathered round when they heard the wizard talking like this to Bilbo. “Is that the person you are taking us to now?” they asked. “Couldn’t you find someone more easy-tempered? Hadn’t you better explain it all a bit clearer?” — and so on.
矮人们听见巫师这样对比尔博说话，全都围拢了过来。“刚刚说的就是你要带我们去见的人吗？”他们问道，“你难道不能找个脾气更好的人吗？你可不可以再解释得更清楚一点？”——全是诸如此类的问题。
“Yes it certainly is! No I could not! And I was explaining very carefully,” answered the wizard crossly. “If you must know more, his name is Beorn. He is very strong, and he is a skin-changer.”
“是的，说的就是他！不，我不能！我就是在非常小心地解释这一切。”巫师一口气就同时回答了三个问题。“如果你们坚持想知道得更多，我可以告诉你们，他的名字叫贝奥恩，他非常强壮，而且是个换皮人。”
“Good gracious heavens, no, no, NO, NO!” said Gandalf. “Don’t be a fool Mr. Baggins if you can help it; and in the name of all wonder don’t mention the word furrier again as long as you are within a hundred miles of his house, nor rug, cape, tippet, muff, nor any other such unfortunate word! He is a skin-changer. He changes his skin: sometimes he is a huge black bear, sometimes he is a great strong black-haired man with huge arms and a great beard. I cannot tell you much more, though that ought to be enough. Some say that he is a bear descended from the great and ancient bears of the mountains that lived there before the giants came. Others say that he is a man descended from the first men who lived before Smaug or the other dragons came into this part of the world, and before the goblins came into the hills out of the North. I cannot say, though I fancy the last is the true tale. He is not the sort of person to ask questions of.
“我的老天爷啊，不，不是，绝对不是，绝对绝对不是！”甘道夫说，“巴金斯先生，拜托请把你的傻样子尽量藏起来好不好？请看在老天爷开天辟地的份儿上，只要你们在他屋子的方圆百哩之内，就拜托千万不要提什么皮货商，还有皮毡啦、羊皮啦、裘皮披肩啦、皮手笼之类的词，还有所有这类要命的词语！他是个换皮人，他会更换外皮：有时候他是只大黑熊，有时候他是个强壮的黑发男子，胳膊粗粗的，胡子密密的。我只能告诉你们这么多，不过这些也应该够了。有人说他是巨人到来之前，住在山中的古代大熊的后代；其他人则说，他是在斯毛格或其他恶龙来到此地之前，在半兽人从北方来到这片大山之前，就住在这里的人类先民的后代。究竟怎样我也说不太准，但我认为最后一种猜测比较靠谱。他可不是那种会耐心回答问题的人。
Bilbo and the dwarves had now plenty to think about, and they asked no more questions. They still had a long way to walk before them. Up slope and down dale they plodded. It grew very hot. Sometimes they rested under the trees, and then Bilbo felt so hungry that he would have eaten acorns, if any had been ripe enough yet to have fallen to the ground.
比尔博和矮人们现在有许多东西要思考，所以他们没有再问更多的问题。在他们前面还有一段漫漫长路要走。他们时而艰难地爬上斜坡，时而又迈着沉重的步伐走进山谷。天气变得非常热，有时他们会在树下休息，这时比尔博就会感到饥饿难当，如果有什么橡树子熟透了落到地上，他一定会毫不客气地给吃下去。
“At any rate he is under no enchantment but his own. He lives in an oak-wood and has a great wooden house; and as a man he keeps cattle and horses which are nearly as marvellous as himself. They work for him and talk to him. He does not eat them; neither does he hunt or eat wild animals. He keeps hives and hives of great fierce bees, and lives most on cream and honey. As a bear he ranges far and wide. I once saw him sitting all alone on the top of the Carrock at night watching the moon sinking towards the Misty Mountains, and I heard him growl in the tongue of bears: ‘The day will come when they will perish and I shall go back!’ That is why I believe he once came from the mountains himself.”
“他不受任何魔法的影响，除非是他自己的。他住在一片橡木林中，有一栋高大的木屋。在他以人类的外形生活时，他会饲养很多几乎和他一样出色的牛和马。他们为他工作，和他说话。他不吃他们，也不猎杀或捕食野生的动物。他养了许许多多凶猛的野蜂，主要靠奶酪和蜂蜜生活。我有一次看见他在晚上独自一人坐在卡尔岩顶上，看月亮朝着迷雾山脉西沉，然后我听见他用大熊的语言嚎叫道：‘总有一天他们将会消亡，我将回到那里去！’正因为如此，我才会认为他自己也是从那座大山里来的。”
“We are getting near,” said Gandalf. “We are on the edge of his bee-pastures.”
“我们离他已经不远了，”甘道夫说，“我们已经来到他的养蜂场边上了。”
“If one was to sting me,” he thought, “I should swell up as big again as I am!”
“要是有哪一只蜇我一口的话，”他想，“我一定会肿得跟我以前一样胖了！”
They were bigger than hornets. The drones were bigger than your thumb, a good deal, and the bands of yellow on their deep black bodies shone like fiery gold.
这些野蜂比黄蜂还要大。其中的雄蜂比你的大拇指还大出好多，深黑色身体上的黄色条纹带像金子一样闪闪发光。
After a while they came to a belt of tall and very ancient oaks, and beyond these to a high thorn-hedge through which you could neither see nor scramble.
又走了一阵之后，他们走到了一片橡树林带，这里的橡树都是高大而又古老的橡树。林带后面有一道高高密密的荆棘篱笆，既看不见后面有什么，也没办法爬过去。
“You had better wait here,” said the wizard to the dwarves; “and when I call or whistle begin to come after me-you will see the way I go-but only in pairs, mind, about five minutes between each pair of you. Bombur is fattest and will do for two, he had better come alone and last. Come on Mr. Baggins! There is a gate somewhere round this way.” And with that he went off along the hedge taking the frightened hobbit with him.
“你们还是等在这儿吧，”巫师对矮人们说，“如果听到我喊你们或是吹口哨，你们就可以开始朝我走的方向过来——你们会看见我往哪儿走的——不过，请务必一对儿一对儿地进来，注意，每一对之间必须间隔五分钟。邦伯是最胖的家伙，他一个人可以抵上两个，所以他最好一个人进来，排在最后。来吧，巴金斯先生！这儿附近有个门。”话音未落，他就带着战战兢兢的霍比特人沿着篱笆找起门来。
It was the middle of the afternoon before they noticed that great patches of flowers had begun to spring up, all the same kinds growing together as if they had been planted. Especially there was clover, waving patches of cockscomb clover, and purple clover, and wide stretches of short white sweet honey-smelling clover. There was a buzzing and a whirring and a droning in the air. Bees were busy everywhere. And such bees! Bilbo had never seen anything like them.
到下午过了一半的时候，他们才注意到附近出现了大片大片的花朵，都是同一种花朵长在一起，仿佛是人为种植的。尤其是三叶草，有一片片随风摆拂的鸡冠三叶草，还有紫色的三叶草。空中可以听到阵阵嗡嗡之声，那是蜜蜂在四处忙碌。这么多的蜜蜂！比尔博从来没见过这样的景象。
They soon came to a wooden gate, high and broad, beyond which they could see gardens and a cluster of low wooden buildings, some thatched and made of unshaped logs: barns, stables, sheds, and a long low wooden house. Inside on the southward side of the great hedge were rows and rows of hives with bell-shaped tops made of straw. The noise of the giant bees flying to and fro and crawling in and out filled all the air.
他们很快来到一座又高又宽的木门前，两人可以看到门后有一大片花园和许多低矮的木头建筑，有些用粗糙的原木建成，屋顶铺了茅草：有谷仓、马厩、畜棚，以及一长排不高的木屋。在大篱笆内部的南边放着一排排的蜂巢，上面有钟形的茅草顶。满耳听到的都是巨大的野蜂飞来飞去，钻进钻出所发出的声音。
Soon they reached a courtyard, three walls of which were formed by the wooden house and its two long wings. In the middle there was lying a great oak-trunk with many lopped branches beside it. Standing near was a huge man with a thick black beard and hair, and great bare arms and legs with knotted muscles. He was clothed in a tunic of wool down to his knees, and was leaning on a large axe. The horses were standing by him with their noses at his shoulder.
没走多久，他们就进了一个院子，其中三面由木屋和它两边长长的厢房构成，院子中央倒着一棵大橡树的树干，旁边有许多从上面砍下来的树枝。树旁站着一名须发浓密、身形巨大的汉子，露出的手臂和双腿上肌肉虬结。他穿着一件长到膝盖的羊毛外衣，手搭在一柄大斧子上。那几匹马站在他的身边，鼻子蹭着他的肩膀。
The wizard and the hobbit pushed open the heavy creaking gate and went down a wide track towards the house. Some horses, very sleek and well-groomed, trotted up across the grass and looked at them intently with very intelligent faces; then off they galloped to the buildings.
巫师和霍比特人推开沉重的发出“吱吱呀呀”声的大门，沿着一条宽阔的道路朝屋子走去。一些养得膘肥体壮，收拾得干净整洁的马匹迈着小步跨过草地来到近前，用看上去十分睿智的脸很专注地打量着他们，然后他们就飞快地朝着木屋奔去了。
“They have gone to tell him of the arrival of strangers,” said Gandalf.
“他们是去通知他有陌生人到了。”甘道夫说。
“Who are you and what do you want?” he asked gruffly, standing in front of them and towering tall above Gandalf. As for Bilbo he could easily have trotted through his legs without ducking his head to miss the fringe of the man’s brown tunic.
“你们是谁，想要干什么？”他粗声问道。等他在他们面前站定时，身材比甘道夫都高了一大截。至于比尔博，他可以头也不低就很容易地从他两腿间穿过去，而且连他那件棕色外衣的下摆都不会碰到。
“Ugh! here they are!” he said to the horses. “They don’t look dangerous. You can be off!” He laughed a great rolling laugh, put down his axe and came forward.
“哦！他们来了！”他对马儿们说，“他们看上去并不危险，你们可以走了！”他豪爽地哈哈大笑，放下斧子走了过来。
“I am Gandalf,” said the wizard.
“我是甘道夫。”巫师自我介绍道。
“That is Mr. Baggins, a hobbit of good family and unimpeachable reputation,” said Gandalf. Bilbo bowed. He had no hat to take off, and was painfully conscious of his many missing buttons. “I am a wizard,” continued Gandalf. “I have heard of you, if you have not heard of me; but perhaps you have heard of my good cousin Radagast who lives near the Southern borders of Mirkwood?”
“这位是巴金斯先生，一位家世良好、名声清白的霍比特人。”甘道夫介绍道。比尔博深深鞠了一躬。他没有帽子可以脱下来行礼，衣服上少了那么多颗纽扣也让他感觉很不自在。“我是个巫师，”甘道夫继续说道，“虽然你没听说过我，但我却听说过你。或许你曾经听说过我的好表弟拉达加斯特吧？他就住在黑森林的南部边界。”
“Yes; not a bad fellow as wizards go, I believe. I used to see him now and again,” said Beorn. “Well, now I know who you are, or who you say you are. What do you want?”
“认识，以巫师来说，我觉得他还算不错。我以前偶尔会见到他。”贝奥恩说，“好啦，现在我知道你们是谁了，或者说，你们自称是谁了。你们想要什么？”
“Never heard of him,” growled the man. “And what’s this little fellow?” he said, stooping down to frown at the hobbit with his bushy black eyebrows.
“从来没听说过。”那人嘟哝道，“那这个小家伙又是什么人？”他俯下身子，皱着乱蓬蓬的黑色浓眉，打量着霍比特人。
“Then you had better come inside and tell me some of it, if it won’t take all day,” said the man leading the way through a dark door that opened out of the courtyard into the house.
“那你们最好进屋来跟我说说，如果这不会花上一整天的话。”大汉领着他们从院子一扇深色的大门走进了木屋。
“We did not mean to. They surprised us at night in a pass which we had to cross; we were coming out of the Lands over West into these countries-it is a long tale.”
“我们不是故意的。是他们半夜里在我们的必经之路上偷袭了我们。我们是从西方大地来到这个地方的——真要说起来那话可就长了。”
Following him they found themselves in a wide hall with a fire-place in the middle. Though it was summer there was a wood-fire burning and the smoke was rising to the blackened rafters in search of the way out through an opening in the roof. They passed through this dim hall, lit only by the fire and the hole above it, and came through another smaller door into a sort of veranda propped on wooden posts made of single tree-trunks. It faced south and was still warm and filled with the light of the westering sun which slanted into it, and fell golden on the garden full of flowers that came right up to the steps.
他们跟着他走，发现进入了一个宽敞的大厅，中间还有一座火炉。虽然现在正值夏天，但火炉中还是有木柴在烧，黑烟则袅袅向上，来到被熏黑的椽子边，然后慢慢找到屋顶一个开口处溜了出去。他们经过了这个只有炉火和屋顶那个开口射进的光线照明的昏暗大厅，穿过一扇小一点的门，来到了一个由几根单棵树干作基柱的类似阳台的地方。这座阳台面朝南方，依旧还很温暖，洒满了斜照进来的西晒阳光，园子里的花一直长到阳台的阶梯边，和阳台一起沐浴在了金色的阳光中。
“Goblins?” said the big man less gruffly. “O ho, so you’ve been having trouble with them have you? What did you go near them for?”
“半兽人？”大汉的语气变得没有刚才那么粗鲁了，“哦呵，原来你们是惹上他们了呀。你们走到他们的地界上干什么？”
“To tell you the truth, we have lost our luggage and nearly lost our way, and are rather in need of help, or at least of advice. I may say we have had rather a bad time with goblins in the mountains.”
“跟你说实话吧，我们弄丢了行李，也差点迷了路，现在很需要帮助，或者至少是忠告。我们之前和前面大山里的半兽人闹得非常不愉快。”
“I was coming over the mountains with a friend or two…” said the wizard.
“我那时正和一两个朋友一起过山……”巫师说。
Here they sat on wooden benches while Gandalf began his tale, and Bilbo swung his dangling legs and looked at the flowers in the garden, wondering what their names could be, as he had never seen half of them before.
他们在阳台的木头长椅上坐下，甘道夫开始了他的故事，比尔博则晃荡着两条腿看着园子里的鲜花，想着它们的名字，因为这些花里他有一半以前见都没见过。
“One or three you meant, I see!” said Beorn. “But these aren’t hobbits, they are dwarves!”
“你刚才说的应该不是一两个，而是两三个朋友吧，我明白了！”贝奥恩说，“不过，这些不是霍比特人，他们是矮人啊！”
“Or two? I can only see one, and a little one at that,” said Beorn.
“两个？我只看见这一个，而且还是个小号的。”贝奥恩不解地说。“好吧，说实话，在我确定您是否十分忙碌之前，我可不想让好多人来打搅您。如果您容许的话，我可以把他们叫进来。”
“Go on, call away!” So Gandalf gave a long shrill whistle, and presently Thorin and Dori came round the house by the garden path and stood bowing low before them.
于是，甘道夫吹了声悠长激越的口哨，不久，梭林和多瑞就沿着花园的小径走了进来，向他们深深鞠了一躬。
“Well to tell you the truth, I did not like to bother you with a lot of us, until I found out if you were busy. I will give a call, if I may.”
“当然，把他们叫进来吧！”
“Thorin Oakenshield, at your service! Dori at your service!” said the two dwarves bowing again.
“梭林·橡木盾愿意为您效劳！多瑞愿意为您效分！”两名矮人一边说着一边又鞠了一躬。
“I don’t need your service, thank you,” said Beorn, “but I expect you need mine. I am not over fond of dwarves; but if it is true you are Thorin (son of Thrain, son of Thror, I believe), and that your companion is respectable, and that you are enemies of goblins and are not up to any mischief in my lands-what are you up to, by the way?”
“我不需要你们效劳，谢谢啦。”贝奥恩说，“可我想你们大概需要我为你们效劳吧。我不是很喜欢矮人，不过，如果你真的是梭林（我相信应该是瑟罗尔的孙子和瑟莱因的儿子吧），那么你的伙伴就相当值得尊敬。你们是半兽人的死敌，不是到我的土地上来捣乱的——顺便问一下，你们究竟是来干什么的呢？”
“They are on their way to visit the land of their fathers, away east beyond Mirkwood,” put in Gandalf, “and it is entirely an accident that we are in your lands at all. We were crossing by the High Pass that should have brought us to the road that lies to the south of your country, when we were attacked by the evil goblins-as I was about to tell you.”
“他们正准备去拜访祖先的土地，就在黑森林东边的地方。”甘道夫插嘴道，“我们会来到您的领土完全是个意外。我们那时正准备通过高隘口，照理说应该可以踏上在您领土南边的道路，不料却遭到邪恶的半兽人攻击——我之前正跟您说到那里。”
“Well, no. As a matter of fact there were more than two.”
“呃，不是，其实我们的伙伴不止两个。”
“Well, no. They don’t seem all to have come when I whistled. Shy, I expect. You see, we are very much afraid that we are rather a lot for you to entertain.”
“都不是，我刚刚吹口哨的时候他们好像没有一起过来，我想大概是害羞吧。您知道的，我们其实很怕人多了您招待不过来。”
“Go on telling, then!” said Beorn, who was never very polite.
“那就说下去吧！”贝奥恩从来就不大喜欢客套。
“Where are they? Killed, eaten, gone home?”
“那他们人呢？被杀了，被吃了，还是回家了？”
“There was a terrible storm; the stone-giants were out hurling rocks, and at the head of the pass we took refuge in a cave, the hobbit and I and several of our companions…”
“我们遇到了一场可怕的暴风雨，岩石巨人跑出来乱丢石头，我们在隘口上找了个洞穴躲进去，霍比特人和我，还有其他一些伙伴……”
“Do you call two several?”
“两个人你就叫作一些？”
Gandalf whistled again; but Nori and Ori were there almost before he had stopped, for, if you remember, Gandalf had told them to come in pairs every five minutes.
甘道夫又吹起口哨，但诺瑞和欧瑞几乎没等他的哨声结束就出现了，因为，如果各位还记得的话，甘道夫告诉他们每五分钟就过来一对。
“Go on, whistle again! I am in for a party, it seems, and one or two more won’t make much difference,” growled Beorn.
“那就再吹口哨吧！看来我这次可以办个大派对了，再多一两个也没什么分别。”贝奥恩低吼道。
“Nori at your service, Ori at…” they began; but Beorn interrupted them.
“诺瑞愿意为您效劳，欧瑞愿……”他们刚开口就被贝奥恩打断了。
“As soon as we were asleep,” went on Gandalf, “a crack at the back of the cave opened; goblins came out and grabbed the hobbit and the dwarves and our troop of ponies –“
“我们刚一睡着，”甘道夫接着讲下去，“洞穴的后面就裂开了一条缝，半兽人们冲了出来，把霍比特人、矮人和我们那群小马都给抓——”
“O no! As a matter of fact there were more than six ponies, for there were more than six of us-and well, here are two more!” Just at that moment Balin and Dwalin appeared and bowed so low that their beards swept the stone floor. The big man was frowning at first, but they did their best to be frightfully polite, and kept on nodding and bending and bowing and waving their hoods before their knees (in proper dwarf-fashion), till he stopped frowning and burst into a chuckling laugh: they looked so comical.
“哦！不是！事实上，我们有超过六匹的小马，因为我们的伙伴其实不止六个人——啊，你看，这就又来了两个！”话音落处，巴林和杜瓦林出现在门口，他们鞠躬致礼，腰弯得连胡子都扫到了石头地面。大汉起先皱起了眉头，但他们使尽浑身解数，搬出各种礼数，又是点头又是哈腰，又是鞠躬，又是脱下帽来在膝盖前潇洒划过（以最得体的矮人礼仪），最后，大汉皱着的眉头终于松开了，爆发出一阵咯咯的大笑：都怪他们的样子实在太滑稽了。
“Hullo!” said Beorn. “You came pretty quick-where were you hiding? Come on my jack-in-the-boxes!”
“你们好啊！”贝奥恩招呼道，“来得可够快的——刚才躲哪儿了？怎么一下子就蹦出来了？”
“Thank you! When I want your help I will ask for it. Sit down, and let’s get on with this tale, or it will be supper-time before it is ended.”
“谢谢啦！如果我需要你们帮忙我会跟你们说的。坐下吧，我们接着说故事吧，不然故事还没讲完就该要吃晚饭了。”
“Troop of ponies? What were you-a travelling circus? Or were you carrying lots of goods? Or do you always call six a troop?”
“那群小马？你们到底是什么，巡回马戏团吗？你们是不是还带了很多货物？难道你们一直都把六只叫一群吗？”
“Where was I? O yes-I was not grabbed. I killed a goblin or two with a flash –“
“我刚刚说到哪儿啦？哦，对了，我没有被抓住，我用闪光杀死了一两个半兽人——”
“Troop, was right,” he said. “A fine comic one. Come in my merry men, and what are your names? I don’t want your service just now, only your names; and then sit down and stop wagging!”
“一群，没错，”他说，“而且是很搞笑的一群。来吧，搞笑小子，你们的名字是什么？我现在不需要你们效劳，只想要知道你们的名字，然后你们就可以坐下来，不用再耍宝了！”
“Good!” growled Beorn. “It is some good being a wizard, then.”
“好！”贝奥恩拍桌大吼道，“看来巫师还是管点用的。”
“A dozen! That’s the first time I’ve heard eight called a dozen. Or have you still got some more jacks that haven’t yet come out of their boxes?”
“一打！我这还是头回听说管八个人就叫一打的，你是不是还有什么人藏着掖着没有亮相的？”
“Balin and Dwalin,” they said not daring to be offended, and sat flop on the floor looking rather surprised.
“巴林和杜瓦林。”他们乖乖答道，不敢露出一点生气的样子，然后一屁股坐在地上，看他们的表情颇有些感到意外。
“Now go on again!” said Beorn to the wizard.
“继续讲吧！”贝奥恩对巫师说。
“Well, yes, there seem to be a couple more here now-Fili and Kili, I believe,” said Gandalf, as these two now appeared and stood smiling and bowing.
“是啊，那边好像又来了两个——我想应该是菲力和奇力吧。”甘道夫说。两人来到了跟前，面带微笑，鞠躬行礼。
” — and slipped inside the crack before it closed. I followed down into the main hall, which was crowded with goblins. The Great Goblin was there with thirty or forty armed guards. I thought to myself ‘even if they were not all chained together, what can a dozen do against so many?”‘
“——然后我在裂缝关上之前溜了进去，这条路一直通到大厅，里面挤满了半兽人，半兽人首领也在，身边围着三四十个全副武装的卫兵。我那时就想，‘就算他们没有被铁链拴在一起，就这么一打战士又怎么敌得过这么多敌人？’”
“Fourteen! That’s the first time I’ve heard one from ten leave fourteen. You mean nine, or else you haven’t told me yet all the names of your party.”
“十四个！我头回听说十个人少了一个之后只剩下十四个了。你是说九个人吧，再不然你就是还没把所有伙伴的名字告诉我。”
“That’s enough!” said Beorn. “Sit down and be quiet! Now go on, Gandalf!”
“够了！”贝奥恩说，“坐下，别出声！甘道夫，你接着讲！”
“O let ’em all come! Hurry up! Come along, you two, and sit down! But look here, Gandalf, even now we have only got yourself and ten dwarves and the hobbit that was lost. That only makes eleven (plus one mislaid) and not fourteen, unless wizards count differently to other people. But now please get on with the tale.” Beorn did not show it more than he could help, but really he had begun to get very interested. You see, in the old days he had known the very part of the mountains that Gandalf was describing. He nodded and he growled, when he heard of the hobbit’s reappearance and of their scramble down the stone-slide and of the wolf-ring in the woods.
“哦，让他们都进来吧！快点！过来，你们两个，坐下！不过，甘道夫，听着，即使是现在，这里也还是只有你和十个矮人以及曾经不见了的霍比特人。加到一块儿才十一个（再加一个不见了的家伙），不是十四个，除非巫师点起数来和普通人不一样。不过还是先继续讲故事吧。”贝奥恩并没有显出很感兴趣的样子，但实际上，他已经对这个故事感到入迷了。要知道，事实上在很久很久以前，他曾经对甘道夫所描述的那块区域十分熟悉。当他听到霍比特人重新露面，他们从石头崩落的山坡上翻滚而下，接着又陷入林中的狼圈时，他都会兴奋地点点头，并且发出低吼。
So Gandalf went on with the tale, until he came to the fight in the dark, the discovery of the lower gate, and their horror when they found that Mr. Baggins had been mislaid. “We counted ourselves and found that there was no hobbit. There were only fourteen of us left!”
于是甘道夫又继续讲他的故事，终于讲到了黑暗中的战斗，发现下层门，以及发现巴金斯先生不见时的恐惧。“我们点了人数，发现霍比特人不见了——我们只剩下十四个人了！”
“Well, of course you haven’t seen Oin and Gloin yet. And, bless me! here they are. I hope you will forgive them for bothering you.”
“哦，你肯定是还没看到欧因和格罗因！谢天谢地，他们来了，希望你能够原谅他们打搅你。”
When Gandalf came to their climbing into trees with the wolves all underneath, he got up and strode about and muttered: “I wish I had been there! I would have given them more than fireworks!”
甘道夫讲到众人爬上树，底下群狼环伺的时候，他激动地站了起来，来回踱着大步：“真希望我能在那儿！我要给它们的可不止烟火了！”
“Well,” said Gandalf very glad to see that his tale was making a good impression, “I did the best I could. There we were with the wolves going mad underneath us and the forest beginning to blaze in places, when the goblins came down from the hills and discovered us. They yelled with delight and sang songs making fun of us. Fifteen birds in five fir-trees…”
甘道夫看见自己的故事让对方有了好印象非常髙兴：“嗯，我已经尽全力了。当时群狼在我们下面气得发狂，森林有好几处开始烧来，这时，半兽人从山上下来，发现了我们。他们高兴得大喊，还唱歌取笑我们，什么‘五棵冷杉树上有十五只鸟’之类的。”
“Well, now there are fifteen of you; and since goblins can count, I suppose that is all that there were up the trees. Now perhaps we can finish this story without any more interruptions.” Mr. Baggins saw then how clever Gandalf had been. The interruptions had really made Beorn more interested in the story, and the story had kept him from sending the dwarves off at once like suspicious beggars. He never invited people into his house, if he could help it. He had very few friends and they lived a good way away; and he never invited more than a couple of these to his house at a time. Now he had got fifteen strangers sitting in his porch!
“好啦，现在你们总共有十五个人了，既然半兽人也会数数，我想躲在树上的应该就是这个数了吧。现在，我们也许可以不受打搅地把故事讲完了吧！”巴金斯先生这才明白甘道夫有多聪明，中间的打岔，其实是让贝奥恩对故事更有兴趣，而把故事那样讲法又让他无法把矮人像不明不白的乞丐一样马上给打发掉。只要能够避免的话，他从来不会邀请外人进屋子。他的朋友很少，他们都住在很远的地方，而且他从来不一次邀请超过两三个人进屋。而现在，他家的阳台上居然一下子坐了十五个陌生人！
“And so do I. There were Bifur and Bofur as well. I haven’t ventured to introduce them before, but here they are.”
“我也知道啊，因为还有比弗和波弗。我之前不敢贸然介绍他们，可他们现在来了。”
In came Bifur and Bofur. “And me!” gasped Bombur puffing up behind. He was fat, and also angry at being left till last. He refused to wait five minutes, and followed immediately after the other two.
比弗和波弗走了进来。“还有我呢！”邦伯呼哧呼哧地喘着粗气也跟在后面跑了进来。他很胖，又很生气被留在最后，因此他拒绝等上五分钟，直接就跟着前面那两个来了。
“Good heavens!” growled Beorn. “Don’t pretend that goblins can’t count. They can. Twelve isn’t fifteen and they know it.”
“天哪！”贝奥恩大吼道，“别跟我说半兽人不会数数，他们不傻，十二不等于十五，这个他们知道。”
“A very good tale!” said he. “The best I have heard for a long while. If all beggars could tell such a good one, they might find me kinder. You may be making it all up, of course, but you deserve a supper for the story all the same. Let’s have something to eat!”
“非常棒的故事！”贝奥恩赞叹道，“好久没听过这么好听的故事了，如果所有的乞丐都会讲这么好听的故事，我说不定会变成一个更慷慨的人。当然，这故事也可能都是你编出来的，但这样的故事也值得上一顿晚餐。我们来吃东西吧！”
By the time the wizard had finished his tale and had told of the eagles’ rescue and of how they had all been brought to the Carrock, the sun had fallen behind the peaks of the Misty Mountains and the shadows were long in Beorn’s garden.
等到巫师把大鹰如何将他们救出险境，又如何把他们送来卡尔岩的过程讲完之后，太阳已经西沉到迷雾山脉的山巅背后，贝奥恩花园里的阴影也已经拖得很长了。
“Yes please!” they all said together. “Thank you very much!”
“好嘞！”大家齐声欢呼道，“非常感谢！”
Inside the hall it was now quite dark. Beorn clapped his hands, and in trotted four beautiful white ponies and several large long-bodied grey dogs. Beorn said something to them in a queer language like animal noises turned into talk. They went out again and soon came back carrying torches in their mouths, which they lit at the fire and stuck in low brackets on the pillars of the hall about the central hearth. The dogs could stand on their hind-legs when they wished, and carry things with their fore-feet. Quickly they got out boards and trestles from the side walls and set them up near the fire.
大厅里此时相当昏暗了，贝奥恩拍了拍手，四匹漂亮的白色小马和几条身体细长的灰狗就走了进来。贝奥恩用听起来像是动物吼声的奇怪语言对他们说了几句，他们走了出去，很快地又用嘴叼着火把回来了。他们用火炉中的火点燃了火把，并且将它们插在四周柱子的低矮支架上。那些狗如果想的话可以用后腿站立，用两条前腿来拿东西。很快，他们就从旁边的墙内拿出了板子和支架，在火炉旁摆好了桌子。
Then baa-baa-baa! was heard, and in came some snow-white sheep led by a large coal-black ram. One bore a white cloth embroidered at the edges with figures of animals; others bore on their broad backs trays with bowls and platters and knives and wooden spoons, which the dogs took and quickly laid on the trestle-tables. These were very low, low enough even for Bilbo to sit at comfortably. Beside them a pony pushed two low-seated benches with wide rush-bottoms and little short thick legs for Gandalf and Thorin, while at the far end he put Beorn’s big black chair of the same sort (in which he sat with his great legs stuck far out under the table). These were all the chairs he had in his hall, and he probably had them low like the tables for the convenience of the wonderful animals that waited on him. What did the rest sit on? They were not forgotten. The other ponies came in rolling round drum-shaped sections of logs, smoothed and polished, and low enough even for Bilbo; so soon they were all seated at Beorn’s table, and the hall had not seen such a gathering for many a year.
这时，他们听见了“咩——咩——咩！”的声音，一只炭黑色的大个儿公羊领着几只雪白的绵羊走了进来。一只背着边缘绣有动物图案的白布，另几只则在宽阔的背上扛着托盘、碗、浅盘、餐刀和木制的汤匙。大狗们拿下这些东西，立刻将它们摆放在刚搭好的小桌板上。这些桌板都十分低矮，连比尔博坐下吃饭都觉得很舒服。在他们旁边，一匹小马将两条低矮的长凳推了过来，长凳凳面宽阔，発脚粗短，是专门给甘道夫和梭林坐的。在他们对面的主位上则放上了贝奥恩那把样式类似的大黑椅（他坐上去的时候，必须把两条大长腿远远地伸到桌子底下去）。这些是他收在大厅内的全部椅子了，他刻意将这些椅子跟桌子一样弄矮，多半是为了方便服侍他的聪明的动物。那其他人坐哪里呢？他们并没有被忘记。其他的小马滚着圆鼓形的木桩走了进来，这些木桩都经过特别的打磨和抛光，比尔博也可以舒舒服服地坐在上面。于是没多久，众人就在贝奥恩的桌旁坐了下来，这座大厅已经很多年没有见识过这么人头济济的场面了。
The dwarves listened and shook their beards, for they knew that they must soon venture into that forest and that after the mountains it was the worst of the perils they had to pass before they came to the dragon’s stronghold. When dinner was over they began to tell tales of their own, but Beorn seemed to be growing drowsy and paid little heed to them. They spoke most of gold and silver and jewels and the making of things by smith-craft, and Beorn did not appear to care for such things: there were no things of gold or silver in his hall, and few save the knives were made of metal at all.
矮人们一边听一边摇着胡子，因为他们知道那是他们不久之后就将踏入的地方。在越过了大山之后，这是他们直捣龙穴之前必须经历的最大危险了。晚餐结束后，他们开始讲起了自己的故事，但贝奥恩似乎越来越昏昏欲睡，不太注意他们的故事。他们讲的主要都是黄金、白银、珠宝，以及怎样用精妙的技艺打造出美丽的东西，贝奥恩似乎对这些东西没有多大兴趣，他的大厅中根本没有金银饰品，除了刀子之外，连用金属打造的东西也很少。
There they had a supper, or a dinner, such as they had not had since they left the Last Homely House in the West and said good-bye to Elrond. The light of the torches and the fire flickered about them, and on the table were two tall red beeswax candles. All the time they ate, Beorn in his deep rolling voice told tales of the wild lands on this side of the mountains, and especially of the dark and dangerous wood, that lay outstretched far to North and South a day’s ride before them, barring their way to the East, the terrible forest of Mirkwood.
接下来就开始了他们自从与埃尔隆德道别，离开他那最后家园之后的第一顿晚餐，或者更确切地说是第一顿正餐。火把与炉火的光芒在他们四周跃动，桌面上还放着两根由蜂蜡制成的红色大蜡烛。他们一边吃，贝奥恩一边用他那低沉的声音，述说着山脉这边野地上的故事，特别是他们即将面对的那座黑暗而又危险的森林。它往南北两方延伸各有大概骑马一天的距离那么宽，横亘在他们前往东方的道路之上，耶便赫赫有名的恐怖的黑森林。
The great door had creaked and slammed. Beorn was gone. The dwarves were sitting cross-legged on the floor round the fire, and presently they began to sing. Some of the verses were like this, but there were many more, and their singing went on for a long while:
大门吱吱呀呀地开启，又嘭的一声关上，贝奥恩离开了。矮人们围着炉火盘腿坐在地板上，不久就开始唱起歌来。有些歌词是这样的，但这只是其中很小的一部分，他们唱啊唱的，一直唱了很久：
The wind was on the withered heath,
风儿在荒原之上，
They sat long at the table with their wooden drinking-bowls filled with mead. The dark night came on outside. The fires in the middle of the hall were built with fresh logs and the torches were put out, and still they sat in the light of the dancing flames with the pillars of the house standing tall behind them, and dark at the top like trees of the forest. Whether it was magic or not, it seemed to Bilbo that he heard a sound like wind in the branches stirring in the rafters, and the hoot of owls. Soon he began to nod with sleep and the voices seemed to grow far away, until he woke with a start.
他们久久地坐在桌边，用木碗不停地喝着蜂蜜酒。屋外暮色渐深，大厅正中的炉火加入了新的木柴，火把的火焰都熄灭了。众人依旧围坐在炉火边，舞动的火焰映红了他们的脸庞，他们身后是木屋高高的柱子，顶端黑黑的，看着像树林里的大树。不知是不是魔法，比尔博觉得自己在梁椽间听见了风儿吹过树枝的声音，好像还有猫头鹰的鸣叫。没多久，他开始耷拉下脑袋打起瞌睡来，那声音似乎渐渐远去了，可突然间，他又猛然惊醒了过来。
but in the forest stirred no leaf:
但在森林中树叶还未受到扰动：
there shadows lay by night and day,
那里终日都是暗影憧憧，
The wind came down from mountains cold,
风儿自寒冷的山中吹下，
and dark things silent crept beneath.
黑暗的东西在暗影下爬行。
but shrill and harsh across the marsh
风声凄厉掠过沼地，
and leaves were laid upon the mould.
树叶被吹落腐土堆中。
The wind went on from West to East;
风儿从西方吹向东方，
and like a tide it roared and rolled;
如同潮水般咆哮翻滚；
Bilbo began to nod again. Suddenly up stood Gandalf.
比尔博又开始打起瞌睡来了。突然间，甘道夫站了起来。
over the wide seas of the night.
越过夜的宽阔海洋。
the branches groaned, the forest moaned,
树枝呻吟，森林哀号，
and swept above the dragon’s lair:
扫过恶龙的巢穴：
The grasses hissed, their tassels bent,
草地嘶嘶作响，草穗弯下腰杆，
“It is time for us to sleep,” he said, ” — for us, but not I think for Beorn. In this hall we can rest sound and safe, but I warn you all not to forget what Beorn said before he left us: you must not stray outside until the sun is up, on your peril.”
“该睡觉了。”他说，“——我是说我们，但我想贝奥恩可能还没到睡的时候。我们可以安安心心地在这个大厅里休息，不过，我提醒你们可别忘了贝奥恩临走之前说过的话：太阳升起之前，不要到外面乱跑，否则会有危险。”
all movement in the forest ceased,
森林中一切动静停止，
It left the world and took its flight
它离开世界，继续飞翔
the reeds were rattling-on it went
杂草簌簌发抖——风儿继续驰骋，
It passed the lonely Mountain bare
它越过孤独的童山，
and stars were fanned to leaping light.
群星环列，发出耀眼光芒。
its whistling voices were released.
天地间只闻阵阵呼啸。
o’er shaken pool under heavens cool
掠过颤动的冰冷湖泊，
The moon set sail upon the gale,
月光迎风扬帆，
and flying smoke was in the air.
空气烟雾飘绕。
there black and dark lay boulders stark
那里又黑又暗，尽是赤裸的巨石，
where racing clouds were torn and rent.
撕碎奔逃的云朵。
Bilbo found that beds had already been laid at the side of the hall, on a sort of raised platform between the pillars and the outer wall. For him there was a little mattress of straw and woollen blankets. He snuggled into them very gladly, summertime though it was. The fire burned low and he fell asleep. Yet in the night he woke: the fire had now sunk to a few embers; the dwarves and Gandalf were all asleep, to judge by their breathing; a splash of white on the floor came from the high moon, which was peering down through the smoke-hole in the roof.
比尔博这才发现大厅的边沿已经铺好了床，在柱子和外墙之间突起的平台上。有一张小小的草垫席子和几条羊毛毯是专门给他准备的，他非常高兴地钻进其中，尽管现在还是夏天。火苗渐渐小了下去，他进入了梦乡。然而到了半夜的时候他醒了过来：火焰现在只剩下几点余烬，从呼吸声来判断，甘道夫和矮人都已经睡着了，地上洒满了银白的月光，高挂中天的月亮正从屋顶上的烟洞往屋里窥探着。
It was full morning when he awoke. One of the dwarves had fallen over him in the shadows where he lay, and had rolled down with a bump from the platform on to the floor. It was Bofur, and he was grumbling about it, when Bilbo opened his eyes.
当他醒来时，天已经大亮了。有一名矮人在经过他躺着的那片暗影时，不小心被他的身体给绊倒，然后“扑通”一声从平台上滚了下来。那是波弗，当比尔博睁开眼的时候，他正在为此咕哝着。
There was a growling sound outside, and a noise as of some great animal scuffling at the door. Bilbo wondered what it was, and whether it could be Beorn in enchanted shape, and if he would come in as a bear and kill them. He dived under the blankets and hid his head, and fell asleep again at last in spite of his fears.
外面传来一声嚎叫，接着门边传来一阵巨大动物拨弄门的声响。比尔博很好奇那会是什么动物，不知道是不是贝奥恩变成中了咒语之后的形态？他又会不会变成大熊进来把大家都杀死？想到这里，他躲进毯子内把头盖住，虽然满心害怕，但最后还是又睡着了。
“Where is our host, and where have you been all day yourself?” they all cried.
“我们的主人呢？你自己这一整天又跑到哪儿去了？”他们异口同声地问道。
“Where is Gandalf?” asked Bilbo, moving off to find something to eat as quick as he could.
“甘道夫呢？”比尔博用最快的动作朝外面奔去，想要找东西吃。
Up jumped Bilbo. “Breakfast!” he cried. “Where is breakfast?”
比尔博一跃而起。“早餐！”他大喊道，“早餐在哪儿呢？”
“Mostly inside us,” answered the other dwarves who were moving about the hall; “but what is left is out on the veranda. We have been about looking for Beorn ever since the sun got up; but there is no sign of him anywhere, though we found breakfast laid as soon as we went out.”
“大部分在我们肚子里，”其他在大厅中走来走去的矮人说道，“剩下的则在阳台上。太阳出来之后我们就一直在找贝奥恩，可哪儿都不见他的影子。不过，我们一出去，就发现早餐已经摆好了。”
“Get up lazybones,” he said, “or there will be no breakfast left for you.”
“快起来吧，懒骨头，”他说，“不然就没早餐剩下给你啦！”
“One question at a time-and none till after supper! I haven’t had a bite since breakfast.”
“一次一个问题——而且得先吃了晚饭再说。我从今天早餐开始还什么也没吃呢。”
“O! out and about somewhere,” they told him. But he saw no sign of the wizard all that day until the evening. Just before sunset he walked into the hall, where the hobbit and the dwarves were having supper, waited on by Beorn’s wonderful animals, as they had been all day. Of Beorn they had seen and heard nothing since the night before, and they were getting puzzled.
“哦！大概在外面什么地方吧。”他们告诉他。但他一直到傍晚都没有见到巫师的踪影。太阳快落山的时候，他才走了进来，矮人和霍比特人正在用晚餐，贝奥恩那些聪明能干的动物服侍着他们，白天一整天也都是他们在服侍着。至于贝奥恩，自从昨天晚上之后，就没有他的任何音讯，这让他们越来越有点摸不着头脑了。
At last Gandalf pushed away his plate and jug-he had eaten two whole loaves (with masses of butter and honey and clotted cream) and drunk at least a quart of mead-and he took out his pipe. “I will answer the second question first,” he said, ” — but bless me! this is a splendid place for smoke rings!” Indeed for a long time they could get nothing more out of him, he was so busy sending smoke rings dodging round the pillars of the hall, changing them into all sorts of different shapes and colours, and setting them at last chasing one another out of the hole in the roof. They must have looked very queer from outside, popping out into the air one after another, green, blue, red, silver-grey, yellow, white; big ones, little ones; little ones dodging through big ones and joining into figure-eights, and going off like a flock of birds into the distance.
等甘道夫终于推开了他的盘子和酒壶之后——他一口气吃了整整两大条面包（上面涂了厚厚的黄油、蜂蜜和凝结的奶油），又喝了至少一夸脱的蜂蜜酒——他又悠悠地拿出了他的烟斗。“我先回答第二个问题，”他说，“——但是天哪！这儿可真是个喷烟圈的好地方！”又有好长一段时间大伙儿从他嘴里什么话也抠不出来，他只顾着喷出烟圈，让它们在柱子间绕来躲去，变幻成各种各样的形状和颜色，最后把它们一个追着一个地从屋顶的通风口送了出去。谁要是从外面看的话一定觉得很奇怪，从那个口子里一个接一个地有烟圈冒出来，绿的、蓝的、红的、银灰色的、黄的、白的，有大个儿的，有小个儿的，小烟圈为了闪躲而从大烟圈之间钻过去，构成了数字8的形状，最后又像一群鸟儿那样向着远方飞去。
“I have been picking out bear-tracks,” he said at last. “There must have been a regular bears’ meeting outside here last night. I soon saw that Beorn could not have made them all: there were far too many of them, and they were of various sizes too. I should say there were little bears, large bears, ordinary bears, and gigantic big bears, all dancing outside from dark to nearly dawn. They came from almost every direction, except from the west over the river, from the Mountains. In that direction only one set of footprints led-none coming, only ones going away from here. I followed these as far as the Carrock. There they disappeared into the river, but the water was too deep and strong beyond the rock for me to cross. It is easy enough, as you remember, to get from this bank to the Carrock by the ford, but on the other side is a cliff standing up from a swirling channel. I had to walk miles before I found a place where the river was wide and shallow enough for me to wade and swim, and then miles back again to pick up the tracks again. By that time it was too late for me to follow them far. They went straight off in the direction of the pine-woods on the east side of the Misty Mountains, where we had our pleasant little party with the Wargs the night before last. And now I think I have answered your first question, too,” ended Gandalf, and he sat a long while silent.
“我一直在追踪熊的足迹。”他终于开口说话了，“昨天晚上，这里外面一定有一个大熊的常规聚会。我很快就知道，贝奥恩不可能同时化身成那么多只熊，因为它们的数量太多了，身材大小也各不相同。我应该这么说，那里有小熊，有大熊，有普通的熊，有超级巨大的熊，都从半夜跳舞跳到快天亮。他们几乎是从四面八方赶过来的，惟一的例外是河对岸的西方，也就是迷雾山脉的方向。在那个方向，只有一道离开的足迹，而不是过来。我跟踪那路足迹一直来到卡尔岩。足迹从那之后就消失在了河中。不过巨岩后面的水流太过湍急，我没有办法过河。你们应该还记得从渡口过到卡尔岩其实不算太困难，但在另外一边则是一道矗立在水流湍急的峡谷之上的悬崖。我走了好几哩的路，才找到一个河水又宽又浅可以渡过的地方，然后我还得再走好几哩路回来才能够继续跟踪足迹。那时，天色已晚，我再也不能继续追踪下去了。那路脚印直直通往迷雾山脉东边的松树林中，也就是我们前天晚上和座狼经历过小小聚会的地方。现在，我想我也同时回答了你们的第一个问题。”甘道夫说完了，他坐着，很长一段时间都没有再说话。
Bilbo thought he knew what the wizard meant. “What shall we do,” he cried, “if he leads all the Wargs and the goblins down here? We shall all be caught and killed! I thought you said he was not a friend of theirs.”
比尔博认为他明白了巫师的意思。“那我们该怎么做呢，”他喊了起来，“如果他把所有的座狼和半兽人都引回来怎么办？我们一定会全都被抓起来杀掉的！我记得你说过他不是他们的朋友。”
“So I did. And don’t be silly! You had better go to bed, your wits are sleepy.”
“我的确是这样说过。别傻了！你最好去睡觉吧，你的智慧都在打瞌睡了。”
Next morning they were all wakened by Beorn himself. “So here you all are still!” he said. He picked up the hobbit and laughed: “Not eaten up by Wargs or goblins or wicked bears yet I see”; and he poked Mr. Baggins’ waistcoat most disrespectfully. “Little bunny is getting nice and fat again on bread and honey,” he chuckled. “Come and have some more!”
第二天早上，他们都被贝奥恩亲自叫了起来。“你们都还在啊！”他抱起霍比特人笑着说，“看来还没被座狼、半兽人或是邪恶的大熊给吃掉啊！”他十分无礼地戳了戳巴金斯先生的背心。“咱们的小兔子吃了面包和蜂蜜，又恢复健康，重新变胖了！”他咯咯笑道，“快来再吃点吧！”
The hobbit felt quite crushed, and as there seemed nothing else to do he did go to bed; and while the dwarves were still singing songs he dropped asleep, still puzzling his little head about Beorn, till he dreamed a dream of hundreds of black bears dancing slow heavy dances round and round in the moonlight in the courtyard. Then he woke up when everyone else was asleep, and he heard the same scraping, scuffling, snuffling, and growling as before.
霍比特人觉得挺受打击，可由于似乎也没什么别的事好做了，他只能悻悻地上床去了。当矮人还在唱歌的时候，他已经沉沉睡去，小脑袋里还在为贝奥恩而感到迷惑，直到他做起梦来，梦见几百只黑熊在院子里的月光下缓步跳着缓慢而又笨拙的舞蹈。等其他人都睡觉的时候，他又醒了过来，门外和昨晚一样传来了搔爬、嗅闻和嘶吼的声音。
So they all went to breakfast with him. Beorn was most jolly for a change; indeed he seemed to be in a splendidly good humour and set them all laughing with his funny stories; nor did they have to wonder long where he had been or why he was so nice to them, for he told them himself. He had been over the river and right back up into the mountains-from which you can guess that he could travel quickly, in bear’s shape at any rate. From the burnt wolf-glade he had soon found out that part of their story was true; but he had found more than that: he had caught a Warg and a goblin wandering in the woods. From these he had got news: the goblin patrols were still hunting with Wargs for the dwarves, and they were fiercely angry because of the death of the Great Goblin, and also because of the burning of the chief wolf’s nose and the death from the wizard’s fire of many of his chief servants. So much they told him when he forced them, but he guessed there was more wickedness than this afoot, and that a great raid of the whole goblin army with their wolf-allies into the lands shadowed by the mountains might soon be made to find the dwarves, or to take vengeance on the men and creatures that lived there, and who they thought must be sheltering them.
因此，他们和他一起吃起了早餐。贝奥恩一改以往的冷淡，心情似乎变得大好，他说了许多有趣的故事，让所有的人都和他一起哈哈大笑。大家也没有花多少时间，就明白了他究竟去了哪儿，以及为什么他对大家这么友善起来，因为他自己亲口道出了真相。在他失踪期间，他渡过了河，到山里面跑了一趟——从中你可以想见，至少当他变身为熊的形体出没时，他可以用多么快的速度奔跑。从那片烧焦的狼群聚集过的林中空地，他很快就确认他们故事中的那部分是真实的，但是，他还发现了更多的真相。他在森林中抓到了一匹座狼和一个半兽人在四处游荡，从这两个家伙的口中他得到消息：半兽人的巡逻队依旧和座狼一起在追捕着这些矮人，由于半兽人首领的死亡，也由于巫师的火焰令座狼首领鼻子烧伤，令它的许多得力部下死亡，他们的怒气难以平息。当他拷问这两个家伙的时候，他们只说出了这些，不过，他认为背后肯定会有更多的邪恶勾当。不久以后，全体半兽人大军可能会和他们的盟友座狼全体出动，对大山周边的地区进行扫荡，搜捕矮人，对居住在这一地区的人类和动物，以及他们认为在庇护着矮人们的人展开疯狂的报复。
“What did you do with the goblin and the Warg?” asked Bilbo suddenly.
“你把抓到的那个半兽人和那匹座狼怎么样了？”比尔博突然问道。
“Come and see!” said Beorn, and they followed round the house. A goblin’s head was stuck outside the gate and a warg-skin was nailed to a tree just beyond. Beorn was a fierce enemy. But now he was their friend, and Gandalf thought it wise to tell him their whole story and the reason of their journey, so that they could get the most help he could offer.
“来看看吧！”贝奥悤说，于是他们就跟着走出了屋子。一颗半兽人的脑袋就插在门外，而座狼的毛皮则钉在远处的树上。贝奥恩对付敌人可真是毫不留情。但他现在是他们的朋友，甘道夫认为，把完整的故事和这趟冒险真正的原因告诉他才是明智之举，这样才能够获得他彻底的帮助。
“It was a good story, that of yours,” said Beorn, “but I like it still better now I am sure it is true. You must forgive my not taking your word. If you lived near the edge of Mirkwood, you would take the word of no one that you did not know as well as your brother or better. As it is, I can only say that I have hurried home as fast as I could to see that you were safe, and to offer you any help that I can. I shall think more kindly of dwarves after this. Killed the Great Goblin, killed the Great Goblin!” he chuckled fiercely to himself.
“你们的故事真不错！”贝奥恩说，“但当我确定它是真的之后，我更喜欢它了。你们必须原谅我不能轻信你们的说法，如果你们长期居住在黑森林的边缘，就会知道除了亲如兄弟的朋友之外，根本不能相信任何人。因此，我只能说我已经尽全力赶了回来，想要确认你们的安全，并且尽可能为你们提供所需要的帮助。从今之后，我对矮人的看法又要变好一点了。杀死了半兽人首领，居然杀死了半兽人首领！”他咧开大嘴咯咯笑个不停。
This is what he promised to do for them. He would provide ponies for each of them, and a horse for Gandalf, for their journey to the forest, and he would lade them with food to last them for weeks with care, and packed so as to be as easy as possible to carry-nuts, flour, sealed jars of dried fruits, and red earthenware pots of honey, and twice-baked cakes that would keep good a long time, and on a little of which they could march far. The making of these was one of his secrets; but honey was in them, as in most of his foods, and they were good to eat, though they made one thirsty. Water, he said, they would not need to carry this side of the forest, for there were streams and springs along the road. “But your way through Mirkwood is dark, dangerous and difficult,” he said. “Water is not easy to find there, nor food. The time is not yet come for nuts (though it may be past and gone indeed before you get to the other side), and nuts are about all that grows there fit for food; in there the wild things are dark, queer, and savage. I will provide you with skins for carrying water, and I will give you some bows and arrows. But I doubt very much whether anything you find in Mirkwood will be wholesome to eat or to drink. There is one stream there, I know, black and strong which crosses the path. That you should neither drink of, nor bathe in; for I have heard that it carries enchantment and a great drowsiness and forgetfulness. And in the dim shadows of that place I don’t think you will shoot anything, wholesome or unwholesome, without straying from the path. That you MUST NOT do, for any reason.
贝奥恩答应要给他们如下帮助：他会给每人一四小马，甘道夫则是一匹成年骏马，供他们踏上前往森林的路途，还会帮他们装满充足的食物，如果小心安排的话，这些食物够他们吃上好几个星期的。这些食物经过特殊的包装，携带起来十分的方便——有坚果、面粉、装在密封罐子里的干果、红色陶罐装的蜂蜜，还有经过两次烘烤的蛋糕，它们可以保存很长时间，而且只要吃一小口，就可以走很远的路。这些蛋糕的制作是他的秘密之一，但就和他制作的大多数食品一样，里面都包含蜂蜜，虽然吃了会感觉有点口渴，但味道却是非常好。根据他的说法，在森林的这一边他们不需要携带饮用水，因为一路上都有小溪和泉水。“但是，穿越黑森林的道路黑暗、危险而又困难，”他说，“在那里，食物和饮水都很不好找。坚果成熟的季节还没到来（不过，等他们走到另一边的时候，季节可能又已经过了），而生长在那里的所有东西中，又只有坚果适合拿来当食物。在那座森林里，野生的动物都是黑暗、诡异而又凶猛的。我会提供你们可以携带饮水的皮囊，以及一些弓箭。不过，我很怀疑你们在黑森林里找到的东西能够安全地吃喝。我知道森林中有一条河流，强劲的黑水拦在你们的路上。那河里的水你们绝对不可以喝，也不可以在里面洗澡，因为，我听说河水带有强大的魔法，会让人昏昏欲睡，并且渐渐忘记一切。在黑森林的暗影中，我认为如果你们想要射到一些东西，不管能吃还是不能吃，都有可能会偏离你们的前进路线。所以，无论出于任何理由，绝对不要去打猎。
“That is all the advice I can give you. Beyond the edge of the forest I cannot help you much; you must depend on your luck and your courage and the food I send with you. At the gate of the forest I must ask you to send back my horse and my ponies. But I wish you all speed, and my house is open to you, if ever you come back this way again.”
“这是我能给你们的全部忠告了，一旦越过了森林的边缘，我就帮不上什么忙了，你们必须得靠自己的运气和勇气，以及我给你们的食物。到了森林的入口处，我也必须请你们将马匹送回来。我祝你们一切顺利，如果你们还有机会沿这条路回来，我的大门随时为你们敞开。”
All that morning they were busy with preparations. Soon after midday they ate with Beorn for the last time, and after the meal they mounted the steeds he was lending them, and bidding him many farewells they rode off through his gate at a good pace.
整个早上大家都在忙着作出发的准备，中午一过，他们就最后一次和贝奥恩一起吃饭，午餐用完后他们就跨上贝奥恩借给他们的马，和他道了好几次别之后，就策马扬鞭奔出了门外。
They thanked him, of course, with many bows and sweepings of their hoods and with many an “at your service, O master of the wide wooden halls!” But their spirits sank at his grave words, and they all felt that the adventure was far more dangerous than they had thought, while all the time, even if they passed all the perils of the road, the dragon was waiting at the end.
大家当然对他表示了感谢，他们鞠了好多次躬，脱了好多次帽子，说了好多遍“宽阔的木厅主人，愿意听候您差遣！”但大家的情绪却因为他凝重的话语而变得有点低落，他们都觉得即将开始的冒险比之前所想的还要危险，而且就算他们通过了一路上种种危险的考验，恶龙还是在最后等着他们。
As soon as they left his high hedges at the east of his fenced lands they turned north and then bore to the north-west. By his advice they were no longer making for the main forest-road to the south of his land. Had they followed the pass, their path would have led them down a stream from the mountains that joined the great river miles south of the Carrock. At that point there was a deep ford which they might have passed, if they had still had their ponies, and beyond that a track led to the skirts of the wood and to the entrance of the old forest road. But Beorn had warned them that that way was now often used by the goblins, while the forest-road itself, he had heard, was overgrown and disused at the eastern end and led to impassable marshes where the paths had long been lost. Its eastern opening had also always been far to the south of the Lonely Mountain, and would have left them still with a long and difficult northward march when they got to the other side. North of the Carrock the edge of Mirkwood drew closer to the borders of the Great River, and though here the Mountains too drew down nearer, Beorn advised them to take this way; for at a place a few days’ ride due north of the Carrock was the gate of a little-known pathway through Mirkwood that led almost straight towards the Lonely Mountain.
他们从东面离开了贝奥恩那用高高的篱笆围起来的领地，出来之后立刻转向北方，然后就朝着西北方向前进。根据他的建议，他们不再按原先打算的那样，从贝奥恩领地的南面踏上通往森林的大道，因为如果走那条路的话，最后将必须渡过从山脉中流下的一条小河，这条小河会在卡尔岩以南几哩的地方汇入大河。在两条河流的交汇点，会有一片河水相对较深的河滩，如果他们还有小马的话，或许可以渡过。过了河之后，会有一条路通往森林的边缘，来到老林路的入口。但贝奥恩警告他们，半兽人现在经常会踏上这条道路。而且他也听说，老林路本身的东端已经因长久弃置不用而为树木所覆盖，硬走下去的话，便会来到无路可走也无法穿越的沼泽地。再说，就算他们勉强走到了森林的另一边，黑森林东端的出口也一直是离孤山南方距离最远的一个，他们还必须往北经历一段十分漫长而又艰辛的路程，才能够到达孤山。卡尔岩北边的黑森林边缘更靠近大河，虽然这里离迷雾山脉也更近些，但贝奥恩建议他们不妨走这条路，因为从这边往北骑几天，就会来到黑森林一条鲜为人知的道路入口，那条道路穿越森林，几乎直直地通向孤山。
That is why they were now riding in silence, galloping wherever the ground was grassy and smooth, with the mountains dark on their left, and in the distance the line of the river with its trees drawing ever closer. The sun had only just turned west when they started, and till evening it lay golden on the land about them. It was difficult to think of pursuing goblins behind, and when they had put many miles between them and Beorn’s house they began to talk and to sing again and to forget the dark forest-path that lay in front. But in the evening when the dusk came on and the peaks of the mountains glowered against the sunset they made a camp and set a guard, and most of them slept uneasily with dreams in which there came the howl of hunting wolves and the cries of goblins.
正因为如此，他们这会儿才在不出声地策马疾行。只要地面上有了草，道路变得平坦，他们就会纵马飞奔。黑黢黢的大山矗立在他们的左侧，远处，细细的一线河流挟带着两岸的树木正在不断逼近。他们出发的时候，太阳才刚刚往西方移去，到晚上之前太阳都将在他们身边的土地上洒下万道金光。此情此景实在让人很难想像身后会有半兽人的追兵。当他们离开贝奥恩的居所许多哩之后，大伙儿又开始有说有笑起来，并且有点忘记了前面还有森林中黑暗的道路在等着他们。但等到夜幕降临，大山的座座山峰在落日的映衬下露出狰狞的面目时，他们扎下营来，并且安排了轮班守夜。即便如此，大多数人还是睡得很不踏实，梦中出现了座狼的狂嗥与半兽人的怪叫。
“The goblins,” Beorn had said, “will not dare to cross the Great River for a hundred miles north of the Carrock nor to come near my house-it is well protected at night! — but I should ride fast; for if they make their raid soon they will cross the river to the south and scour all the edge of the forest so as to cut you off, and Wargs run swifter than ponies. Still you are safer going north, even though you seem to be going back nearer to their strongholds; for that is what they will least expect, and they will have the longer ride to catch you. Be off now as quick as you may!”
“那些半兽人，”贝奥恩说，“是不敢越过大河来到卡尔岩以北一百哩的范围内，更不敢靠近我的住所——这里在晚间可是警备森严！——不过，换作是我，我会尽快策马前进，因为如果他们不久就发动攻击的话，那么他们将会渡河南下，扫荡森林所有的边缘地区，将你们截住，而座狼跑得可是比你们的小马快多了。所以其实还是朝北走更安全，虽然看起来好像是离他们的根据地更近了，因为那里是他们最想不到的地方，他们反而要兜更大的圈子才能抓到你们。现在就出发吧，能走多快就走多快！”
Still the next morning dawned bright and fair again. There was an autumn-like mist white upon the ground and the air was chill, but soon the sun rose red in the East and the mists vanished, and while the shadows were still long they were off again. So they rode now for two more days, and all the while they saw nothing save grass and flowers and birds and scattered trees, and occasionally small herds of red deer browsing or sitting at noon in the shade. Sometimes Bilbo saw the horns of the harts sticking up out of the long grass, and at first he thought they were the dead branches of trees. That third evening they were so eager to press on, for Beorn had said that they should reach the forest-gate early on the fourth-day, that they rode still forward after dusk and into the night beneath the moon. As the light faded Bilbo thought he saw away to the right, or to the left, the shadowy form of a great bear prowling along in the same direction. But if he dared to mention it to Gandalf, the wizard only said: “Hush! Take no notice!”
第二天天亮后，依旧是一派风和日丽的景象。一层仿佛秋日的白雾淡淡地笼罩着地面，空气微微有些凉意，不过没多久，火红的太阳从东方升起，薄雾随即消散，地上的影子还很长时他们便动身了。他们又这样骑了整整两天，一路上什么都没有看到，除了草地、花朵、飞鸟和稀疏的树木，偶尔会有一小群一小群的马鹿在午后的树荫下吃草或坐着休憩。有时，比尔博可以看见公鹿的鹿角从草丛中伸出来，刚开始的时候，他还以为这是干枯的树枝呢。到了第三天的晚上，因为贝奥恩曾经说过他们第四天一早应该就可以到达森林的入口处，所以他们急着赶路，夜幕降临以后也不停马蹄，一走就走到了月光照耀下的黑夜。当月光褪去的时候，比尔博觉得在四周的树林中，忽而好像在右边，忽而又好像在左边，自己看见了一头大熊沿着与他们相同的方向在潜行。但如果他鼓起勇气跟甘道夫提起这事儿，巫师却只是说：“嘘！别管那么多！”
Next day they started before dawn, though their night had been short. As soon as it was light they could see the forest coming as it were to meet them, or waiting for them like a black and frowning wall before them. The land began to slope up and up, and it seemed to the hobbit that a silence began to draw in upon them. Birds began to sing less. There were no more deer; not even rabbits were to be seen. By the afternoon they had reached the eaves of Mirkwood, and were resting almost beneath the great overhanging boughs of its outer trees. Their trunks were huge and gnarled, their branches twisted, their leaves were dark and long. Ivy grew on them and trailed along the ground.
虽然晚上没休息多少时间，但第二天他们还是天没亮就出发了。等到天刚亮的时候，他们就看见森林向着他们迎了过来，或者说是像一座皱着眉头的黑色高墙一样等待着他们。地势渐渐变得陡了起来，霍比特人觉得有一种沉默之势在向他们逼来。鸟儿的歌唱越来越听不到了，野鹿不再出现了，连兔子都看不见了。到了下午的时候，他们已经抵达了黑森林的边缘，几乎就在它最外端树木伸出的巨大枝条下方歇脚。这些树的树干十分粗大，上面长满了树瘤，树枝扭曲着，树叶狭长而深色。藤蔓攀附在它们身上，又一路顺着地面延伸。
“Well, here is Mirkwood!” said Gandalf. “The greatest of the forests of the Northern world. I hope you like the look of it. Now you must send back these excellent ponies you have borrowed.”
“好啦，这就是黑森林了！”甘道夫说，“北方世界中最广大的森林。我希望你们喜欢它的样子。现在，你们得把借来的这些出色的小马给送回去了
The dwarves were inclined to grumble at this, but the wizard told them they were fools. “Beorn is not as far off as you seem to think, and you had better keep your promises anyway, for he is a bad enemy. Mr. Baggins’ eyes are sharper than yours, if you have not seen each night after dark a great bear going along with us or sitting far off in the moon watching our camps. Not only to guard you and guide you, but to keep an eye on the ponies too. Beorn may be your friend, but he loves his animals as his children. You do not guess what kindness he has shown you in letting dwarves ride them so far and so fast, nor what would happen to you, if you tried to take them into the forest.”
矮人们看样子想要对此发一点牢骚，但巫师告诉他们这样的想法是愚蠢的。“贝奥恩离你们的距离比你们想像的要近，你们最好不要失信，他可是一个惹不起的对手。巴金斯先生的眼力比你们要好很多，因为你们没看见，每天晚上夜幕降临之后都有一头大熊跟着我们，或是在月光下远远地守护着我们的营地。他不只是为了保护你们、指引你们，也是为了看着他的小马。贝奥恩把你们当朋友，可他把动物当成是自己的孩子。你们想像不到，贝奥恩肯让矮人们把马骑得这么远这么快，这其中蕴含着多么大的善意；你们也想像不到，如是你们把小马带进森林里，会有什么样的后果发生。”
“I don’t, because I am not sending it.”
“我是没提，因为我不准备把它送回去。”
“What about the horse, then?” said Thorin. “You don’t mention sending that back.”
“那你骑的马呢？”梭林说，“你怎么没提到要把它送回去？”
“What about your promise then?”
“那你的承诺又该怎么办呢？”
Then they knew that Gandalf was going to leave them at the very edge of Mirkwood, and they were in despair. But nothing they could say would change his mind.
这时，他们才知道甘道夫准备在黑森林边和他们分手，大家的情绪一下子陷入了低谷。不过，无论他们好说歹说，就是无法改变他的心意。
“I will look after that. I am not sending the horse back, I am riding it!”
“这我自然会处理，我不把马送回去的原因是我还要骑！”
“Now we had this all out before, when we landed on the Carrock,” he said. “It is no use arguing. I have, as I told you, some pressing business away south; and I am already late through bothering with you people. We may meet again before all is over, and then again of course we may not. That depends on your luck and on your courage and sense; and I am sending Mr. Baggins with you. I have told you before that he has more about him than you guess, and you will find that out before long. So cheer up Bilbo and don’t look so glum. Cheer up Thorin and Company! This is your expedition after all. Think of the treasure at the end, and forget the forest and the dragon, at any rate until tomorrow morning!”
“关于这一点，我们之前到达卡尔岩的时候就已经说好了的，”他说，“再吵也没有意义。我之前跟你们说过，我在南方有些更急迫的事情要去办。我为了照顾你们，事实上已经迟到了。在一切都结束以前，我们或许还会见面，也有可能就此无缘再见。这要取决于你们的运气、勇气和判断力。而且，我还派了巴金斯先生和你们一起去。我早就跟你们说过，人不可貌相，你们要不了多久就会明白这一点的。比尔博，高兴起来，不要苦着一张脸。高兴起来，梭林和大家伙儿！毕竟这是你们的冒险。想想最终可以获得的财宝吧，至少在明天早上之前，先忘记这森林和恶龙吧。”
“Don’t you worry!” said Thorin. “It will get lighter all too soon. Before long I expect we shall all wish our packs heavier, when the food begins to run short.”
“别担心！”梭林说，“不用多久它就会变轻的。我估计等食物开始短缺的时候，我们很快就会巴不得当初的包揪能更重一些才好了。”
Now Gandalf too said farewell. Bilbo sat on the ground feeling very unhappy and wishing he was beside the wizard on his tall horse. He had gone just inside the forest after breakfast (a very poor one), and it had seemed as dark in there in the morning as at night, and very secret: “a sort of watching and waiting feeling,” he said to himself.
现在轮到甘道夫跟大家说再见了。比尔博坐在地上，心中非常难过，真希望自己和巫师一起坐在那匹高大的骏马上。他在刚吃完早餐（相当寒酸）后，曾经往森林中进去了一点点稍稍探了探，发现那森林在白天也似乎和晚上没什么两样，而且给人一种极为隐秘的感觉——“好像有什么东西在暗中观察着你，等待着你！”他自言自语道。
Then at last they said good-bye to their ponies and turned their heads for home. Off they trotted gaily, seeming very glad to put their tails towards the shadow of Mirkwood. As they went away Bilbo could have sworn that a thing like a bear left the shadow of the trees and shambled off quickly after them.
最后，他们向小马道了别，让它们掉头回家。它们高兴地小跑起来，看来似乎对于能够把黑森林抛在身后感到非常高兴。在它们离开的时候，比尔博可以发誓他看见了一只像大熊的东西离开了林中的暗影，跟着它们—跃一跃地奔回去了。
When tomorrow morning came he still said the same. So now there was nothing left to do but to fill their water-skins at a clear spring they found close to the forest-gate, and unpack the ponies. They distributed the packages as fairly as they could, though Bilbo thought his lot was wearisomely heavy, and did not at all like the idea of trudging for miles and miles with all that on his back.
等第二天早上来了，他依然这么说。因此，大家别无选择，只能在森林入口前一条清澈的小溪里把他们的皮囊都装满水，把小马背上的行李都卸下来。他们将行李尽可能地平均分摊，不过比尔博还是觉得他那份重得要命。想到要背着这么多东西在森林里长途跋涉，他就不免忧心忡忡。
“Do we really have to go through?” groaned the hobbit.
“我们真的一定要过去吗？”霍比特人抱怨道。
“Yes, you do!” said the wizard, “if you want to get to the other side. You must either go through or give up your quest. And I am not going to allow you to back out now, Mr. Baggins. I am ashamed of you for thinking of it. You have got to look after all these dwarves for me,” he laughed.
“是的，一定要！”巫师说，“如果你们想要到森林的另一边去的话。要么穿过去，要么就放弃。巴金斯先生，我可不想让你临阵退缩，光是想到这点就让我替你觉得丢脸，你得要替我照顾这些矮人啊！”他笑着说。
“No! no!” said Bilbo. “I didn’t mean that. I meant, is there no way round?”
“不是！不是！”比尔博说，“我不是那个意思，我是想说，难道没有别的路可以绕过去吗？”
“There is, if you care to go two hundred miles or so out of your way north, and twice that south. But you wouldn’t get a safe path even then. There are no safe paths in this part of the world. Remember you are over the Edge of the Wild now, and in for all sorts of fun wherever you go. Before you could get round Mirkwood in the North you would be right among the slopes of the Grey Mountains, and they are simply stiff with goblins, hobgoblins, and orcs of the worst description. Before you could get round it in the South, you would get into the land of the Necromancer; and even you, Bilbo, won’t need me to tell you tales of that black sorcerer. I don’t advise you to go anywhere near the places overlooked by his dark tower! Stick to the forest-track, keep your spirits up, hope for the best, and with a tremendous slice of luck you may come out one day and see the Long Marshes lying below you, and beyond them, high in the East, the Lonely Mountain where dear old Smaug lives, though I hope he is not expecting you.”
“有，如果你想要往北走上两百哩，然后再往南走上两倍距离的话。可即便那样，道路也不见得安全，这一带根本就没有什么安全的道路。记得，你们已经越过了野地的边缘，所以不管你去到哪里，都不会缺少？‘乐子’的。在你能够从北边绕过黑森林之前，你会一头撞进灰色山脉的各种山坡，那里到处都是半兽人、大半兽人，还有其他让人难以形容的可怕奥克。在你从南边绕过黑森林之前，你们将会踏入死灵法师的领土。比尔博，即使是你，也不需要我来告诉你这位黑色死灵法师的故事了吧。我建议你们最好不要靠近任何属于他那黑色势力范围内的地方！还是铁了心走森林这条路吧，抖擞精神，抱着最好的期望，只要再加上一份大大的运气，定会有一天能走出森林，看见长沼泽在你们的脚下。越过这片沼泽，兀然矗立在东边的，就是老斯毛格所住的孤山了，希望他不会预料到你们的出现。”
“Good-bye!” said Gandalf to Thorin. “And goodbye to you all, good-bye! Straight through the forest is your way now. Don’t stray off the track! — if you do, it is a thousand to one you will never find it again and never get out of Mirkwood; and then I don’t suppose I, or any one else, will ever see you again.”
“再见啦！”甘道夫对梭林说，“也和你们大家道别了，再会！你们应该直直地穿过森林，千万别走岔了路！——一旦迷了路的话，那你们重新找到路并且走出黑森林的机会只有千分之一。那样的话，我，或者是别的任何人，恐怕都再也看不到你们了！”
“Very comforting you are to be sure,” growled Thorin. “Good-bye! If you won’t come with us, you had better get off without any more talk!”
“你可真会安慰人哪，”梭林低吼道，“再会了！既然你不跟我们来，那就别再多废话了，快上路吧！”
“Good-bye then, and really good-bye!” said Gandalf, and he turned his horse and rode down into the West. But he could not resist the temptation to have the last word. Before he had passed quite out of hearing he turned and put his hands to his mouth and called to them. They heard his voice come faintly: “Good-bye! Be good, take care of yourselves-and DON’T LEAVE THE PATH!”
“那就再会啦，真的告别了！”甘道夫拨转马头，朝着西方奔驰而去。但他实在忍不住还要最后叮咛几句。于是在他奔出众人的视野之前，他又转过头来，双手拢在嘴前对他们喊了起来。他们听见他的声音依稀传来：“再会！多保重——千万不要离开正路！”
Then he galloped away and was soon lost to sight. “O good-bye and go away!” grunted the dwarves, all the more angry because they were really filled with dismay at losing him. Now began the most dangerous part of all the journey. They each shouldered the heavy pack and the water-skin which was their share, and turned from the light that lay on the lands outside and plunged into the forest.
然后他就策马疾驰，很快消失在众人的视野外了。“哦，再见啦，快走吧！”矮人们咕哝道，心中更加生气了，因为他们真的为失去了他而感到郁闷。现在，全部旅程中最危险的部分开始了。每个人都背起了属于自己的那份沉重背包和水囊，离开了播洒在外面世界的光明，一头钻进了黑森林。
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