11 ON THE DOORSTEP

Chapter 11 ON THE DOORSTEP In two days going they rowed right up the Long Lake and passed out into the River Running, and now they could all see the Lonely Mountain towering grim and tall before them. The stream was strong and their going slow. At the end of the third day, some miles up the river, they drew in to the left or western bank and disembarked. Here they were joined by the horses with other provisions and necessaries and the ponies for their own use that had been sent to meet them. They packed what they could on the ponies and the rest was made into a store under a tent, but none of the men of the town would stay with them even for the night so near the shadow of the Mountain. "Not at any rate until the songs have come true!" said they. It was easier to believe in the Dragon and

第十一章 门口台阶 两天里，他们一路划行，直直穿过长湖，驶入了奔流河，此刻所有人都能看见孤山巍峨狰狞地耸立在眼前。 水流湍急，他们行进得十分缓慢。 第三天快结束时，他们沿河航行了好几英里，靠到左岸也就是西岸，登岸停了下来。 前来接应他们的马儿驮着额外的粮食和必需品，还有供他们骑乘的小马，在这里和他们会合了。 他们把能驮的都放到小马背上，剩下的物资打包藏在帐篷里，可镇上没人愿意留下来陪他们，哪怕只住一晚都不行，这里离孤山的阴影太近了。 “无论如何，要等歌谣应验再说！”他们说。 大家更容易相信恶龙真的存在

less easy to believe in Thorin in these wild parts. Indeed their stores had no need of any guard, for all the land was desolate and empty. So their escort left them, making off swiftly down the river and the shoreward paths, although the night was already drawing on. They spent a cold and lonely night and their spirits fell. The next day they set out again. Balin and Bilbo rode behind, each leading another pony heavily laden beside him; the others were some way ahead picking out a slow road, for there were no paths. They made north-west, slanting away from the River Running, and drawing ever nearer and nearer to a great spur of the Mountain that was flung out southwards towards them. It was a weary journey, and a quiet and stealthy one. There was no laughter or song or sound of harps, and the pride and hopes which had stirred in their hearts at the singing of old songs by the lake died away to a plodding gloom. They knew that they were drawing near to the end of their journey, and that it might be a very horrible end. The land about them grew bleak and barren, though once, as Thorin told them, it had been green and fair. There was little grass, and before long there was neither bush

却没人相信索林能在这片荒野成事。 其实他们的物资根本不需要看守，整片土地早就荒无人烟了。 所以护送的人们离开了他们，哪怕夜幕已经降临，还是飞快地顺着沿河小路往回赶。 他们度过了寒冷孤寂的一夜，心情都低落到了极点。 第二天，他们再次上路出发。 巴林和比尔博走在最后，每人都额外牵着一匹驮满货物的小马；其他人走在前面慢慢探路，因为这里根本没有现成的路。 他们朝着西北方向斜斜前进，渐渐离开了奔流河，离那片向南伸出来的大山麓越来越近。 这趟旅途疲惫不堪，全程都静悄悄的，所有人都小心潜行。 这里没有欢笑，没有歌声，也没有竖琴的声响，当初在长湖边听古歌时，心底燃起的骄傲与希望，都慢慢沉进了沉重的阴霾里。 他们清楚，旅程快要走到终点了，而这个终点，很可能恐怖至极。 周围的土地越来越荒凉贫瘠，可索林告诉大家，这里曾经也绿草茵、美丽富饶。 这里几乎没什么青草，没过多久，连灌木都找不到了

nor tree, and only broken and blackened stumps to speak of ones long vanished. They were come to the Desolation of the Dragon, and they were come at the waning of the year. They reached the skirts of the Mountain all the same without meeting any danger or any sign of the Dragon other than the wilderness he had made about his lair. The Mountain lay dark and silent before them and ever higher above them. They made their first camp on the western side of the great southern spur, which ended in a height called Ravenhill. On this there had been an old watch-post; but they dared not climb it yet, it was too exposed. Before setting out to search the western spurs of the Mountain for the hidden door, on which all their hopes rested, Thorin sent out a scouting expedition to spy out the land to the South where the Front Gate stood. For this purpose he chose Balin and Fili and Kili, and with them went Bilbo. They marched under the grey and silent cliffs to the feet of Ravenhill. There the river, after winding a wide loop over the valley of Dale, turned from the Mountain on its road to the Lake, flowing swift and

也找不到树，只剩下断裂发黑的树桩，诉说着早已消失的林木。 他们来到了恶龙造出的荒芜之地，此时也正值一年的末尾。 不过他们还是走到了孤山的山脚下，除了恶龙在巢穴周围留下的这片荒野，他们没遇到任何危险，也没看到恶龙的踪迹。 孤山黑黢黢、静悄悄地横在他们面前，山势越往上去越高。 他们第一次扎营在大山南麓的西侧，这片南麓的尽头有一处高地叫鸦巢山。 高地上本来有一座古老的瞭望站，可他们不敢现在就上去，那里太暴露了。 在出发去寻找孤山西麓那扇隐藏的门前——所有希望都寄托在那扇门上——索林派了一队侦察兵去南方探路，正门就在南方。 他选了巴林、菲力和奇力，比尔博也跟着一同前去。 他们沿着灰暗寂静的岩壁前行，走到了鸦巢山的山脚下。 奔流河在河谷绕了一个大弯之后，离开孤山朝着长河流去，在这里水流湍急

noisily. Its bank was bare and rocky, tall and steep above the stream; and gazing out from it over the narrow water, foaming and splashing among many boulders, they could see in the wide valley shadowed by the Mountain's arms the grey ruins of ancient houses, towers, and walls. "There lies all that is left of Dale," said Balin. "The mountain's sides were green with woods and all the sheltered valley rich and pleasant in the days when the bells rang in that town." He looked both sad and grim as he said this: he had been one of Thorin's companions on the day the Dragon came. They did not dare to follow the river much further towards the Gate; but they went on beyond the end of the southern spur, until lying hidden behind a rock they could look out and see the dark cavernous opening in a great cliff-wall between the arms of the Mountain. Out of it the waters of the Running River sprang; and out of it too there came a steam and a dark smoke. Nothing moved in the waste, save the vapour and the water, and every now and again a black and ominous crow. The only sound was the sound of the stony water, and every now and again the harsh croak of a bird. Balin shuddered.

水声哗哗。 河岸光秃秃满是岩石，比河面高出很多，坡度陡峭；站在岸上，隔着翻涌着泡沫、在乱石间奔涌的狭窄河面，他们能看到孤山环抱的宽阔谷地里，散布着古代房屋、塔楼和城墙的灰色废墟。 “那就是河谷镇剩下的一切了，”巴林说。 “当年那座小镇钟声响起的时候，山腰长满葱郁的树林，这片隐蔽的谷地肥沃又舒适。” 说这话的时候，巴林既悲伤又凝重，恶龙来袭那天，他本来就是索林的同伴。 他们不敢沿着河再往正门走太远；走过南麓尽头之后，他们躲在一块岩石后面，看见了孤山山壁间那个黑洞洞的巨大正门开口。 奔流河的河水从洞口涌出来，同时还冒出滚滚的黑雾。 这片荒野里什么都不动，只有水汽和水流，时不时飞过几只不祥的黑乌鸦。 只有乱石间河水流动的声音，还有偶尔传来的刺耳鸦鸣。 巴林忍不住打了个寒颤。

"Let us return!" he said. "We can do no good here! And I don't like these dark birds, they look like spies of evil."

“我们回去吧！” 他说。 “我们在这里什么用都没有！ 我讨厌这些黑鸟，它们看着就像邪恶的密探。”