“Come on!” said Bilbo. “I am waiting!” He tried to sound bold and cheerful, but he did not feel at all sure how the game was going to end, whether Gollum guessed right or not.
“快点啦!”比尔博催道“我在等着哪!”他竭力让自己的声音听上去勇敢而又欢快，但心里其实很没底，不知道这场游戏会怎么样收场，无论咕噜猜对还是猜错。
“Time’s up!” he said.
“时间到!”他说。
“String, or nothing!” shrieked Gollum, which was not quite fair—working in two guesses at once.
“线头，或者什么都没有!”咕噜大叫道，他这种做法其实也不太公平，因为他一次猜了两样东西。
“Both wrong,” cried Bilbo very much relieved; and he jumped at once to his feet, put his back to the nearest wall, and held out his little sword. He knew, of course, that the riddle-game was sacred and of immense antiquity, and even wicked creatures were afraid to cheat when they played at it. But he felt he could not trust this slimy thing to keep any promise at a pinch. Any excuse would do for him to slide out of it. And after all that last question had not been a genuine riddle according to the ancient laws.
“两个都错。”比尔博如释重负地喊道。接着他立刻跳了起来，背靠着离他最近的洞壁，把短剑伸在身前。他当然知道，猜谜是件很神圣的事情，而且有着悠久的传统，即使是心地险恶的坏东西，也不敢在猜谜的时候作弊。但他不相信这个滑腻腻的讨厌家伙会觉得有必要守信。只要能找到一点借口，这家伙便会赖账。再说，根据古老的规定，他的最后一个问题其实并不能算是一条真正的谜语。
But at any rate Gollum did not at once attack him. He could see the sword in Bilbo’s hand. He sat still, shivering and whispering. At last Bilbo could wait no longer.
但至少咕噜没有立刻向他发起进攻。他可以看见比尔博手中的宝剑，所以他静静地坐着，浑身抖动着，口中不停低声说着什么。最后，比尔博终于不耐烦了。
“Well?” he said. “What about your promise? I want to go. You must show me the way.”
“怎样?”他说，“你答应我的事情呢?我想离开这儿，你得给我指路。”
“Did we say so, precious? Show the nassty little Baggins the way out, yes, yes. But what has it got in its pocketses, eh? Not string, precious, but not nothing. Oh no! gollum!”
“我们有这么说过吗，宝贝?带那个可恶的小巴金斯出去，是的，是的，有这么回事儿。可是它的口袋里到底有什么呢?不是线头，宝贝儿，可也不是什么都没有。噢，不!咕噜!”
“Never you mind,” said Bilbo. “A promise is a promise.”
“你别管那么多，”比尔博说，“说话就得算话!”
“Cross it is, impatient, precious,” hissed Gollum. “But it must wait, yes it must. We can’t go up the tunnels so hasty. We must go and get some things first, yes, things to help us.”
“它生气了，可真没耐性，宝贝，”咕噜嘶撕地说道，“但它必须得等，是的，必须得等，我们可不能这么急着出去。我们得先去拿点东西，是的，拿一些可以帮上忙的东西。”
“Well, hurry up!” said Bilbo, relieved to think of Gollum going away. He thought he was just making an excuse and did not mean to come back. What was Gollum talking about? What useful thing could he keep out on the dark lake? But he was wrong. Gollum did mean to come back. He was angry now and hungry. And he was a miserable wicked creature, and already he had a plan.
“好，那就快点吧!”比尔博一想到咕噜会暂时离开，心里稍稍松了口气。可他转念又想，这家伙可能只是找个借口，一去就再也不回了。瞧他刚才说了些什么，在漆黑的湖面上他能存放什么有用的东西呢?但他错了，咕噜的确是想回来的。他现在又气又饿，作为一个心地险恶的家伙，他已经想出了一个诡计。
Not far away was his island, of which Bilbo knew nothing, and there in his hiding-place he kept a few wretched oddments, and one very beautiful thing, very beautiful, very wonderful. He had a ring, a golden ring, a precious ring.
不远处就是他的小岛，比尔博对此一无所知，在这个藏身之处，他放了几样零零碎碎的恶心玩意儿，以及一件非常美丽的宝物，非常美、非常棒。那是一枚戒指——一枚黄金戒指，一枚珍贵的戒指。
“My birthday-present!” he whispered to himself, as he had often done in the endless dark days. “That’s what we wants now, yes; we wants it!”
“我的生日礼物!”在无尽的黑暗岁月中，他常常会这样自言自语道，“那是我们现在所需要的，对，我们需要它!”
He wanted it because it was a ring of power, and if you slipped that ring on your finger, you were invisible; only in the full sunlight could you be seen, and then only by your shadow, and that would be shaky and faint.
他需要这戒指是因为它拥有魔力，只要把戒指戴上手指，人就会隐形，只有在明亮的陽光下才会被发现，而且还只是通过摇晃而又模糊的影子来发现的。
“My birthday-present! It came to me on my birthday, my precious.” So he had always said to himself. But who knows how Gollum came by that present, ages ago in the old days when such rings were still at large in the world? Perhaps even the Master who ruled them could not have said. Gollum used to wear it at first, till it tired him; and then he kept it in a pouch next his skin, till it galled him; and now usually he hid it in a hole in the rock on his island, and was always going back to look at it. And still sometimes he put it on, when he could not bear to be parted from it any longer, or when he was very, very, hungry, and tired of fish. Then he would creep along dark passages looking for stray goblins. He might even venture into places where the torches were lit and made his eyes blink and smart; for he would be safe. Oh yes, quite safe. No one would see him, no one would notice him, till he had his fingers on their throat. Only a few hours ago he had worn it, and caught a small goblin-imp. How it squeaked! He still had a bone or two left to gnaw, but he wanted something softer.
“我的生日礼物!那是在我生日那天得来的，宝贝。”他一直这样对自己说。不过，谁又知道咕噜是怎么得来这个戒指的呢。在很多年以前的那个古老年代，这样的戒指在世界上还有许多。他怎么得来的或许连统御这些戒指的主人都说不上来。咕噜刚开始的时候把它戴在手上，后来他戴腻了，然后他把它放在了一个贴身的小口袋中，不料戒指却擦破了他的皮。
“Quite safe, yes,” he whispered to himself. “It won’t see us, will it, my precious? No. It won’t see us, and its nassty little sword will be useless, yes quite.”
现在，他通常会把戒指藏在小岛上的一个石头小洞里，时不时地就跑回去端详一番。有时，当他再也无法忍受和它分离时，他就戴上它;又或者当他饿得实在受不了却又吃腻了鱼的时候，他也会戴上它，戴上之后，他会蹑手蹑脚地沿着黑暗的隧道去搜寻走岔了路的半兽人。有时他甚至敢大胆地混入点着火把的燧道，虽然火光会让他的眼睛眨个不停，感到疼痛，但他知道自己是安全的。没错儿，相当安全!没有人能看见他，没有人会注意到他，直到他的手指掐上他们的喉咙才能发现，却已经晚了。几个小时之前他才戴过这枚戒指，抓到了一个小半兽人。那小家伙叫得可真凄惨哪!他还剩了一两根骨头没啃，不过，他现在想要吃点更软的东西。
That is what was in his wicked little mind, as he slipped suddenly from Bilbo’s side, and flapped back to his boat, and went off into the dark. Bilbo thought he had heard the last of him. Still he waited a while; for he had no idea how to find his way out alone.
“相当安全，是的，”他自言自语道，“它看不见我们的，宝贝，对吧?是的，它看不见我们，它那把臭短剑也派不上用场，是的。”
Suddenly he heard a screech. It sent a shiver down his back. Gollum was cursing and wailing away in the gloom, not very far off by the sound of it. He was on his island, scrabbling here and there, searching and seeking in vain.
这就是他从比尔博身边悄悄溜走，跳回船上朝黑暗中划去时，他那邪恶的小脑瓜里在想的东西。比尔博觉得自己再也不会见到他了。但他还是又等了一会儿，因为他也不知道凭自己怎样才能找到路出去。
“Where iss it? Where iss it?” Bilbo heard him crying. “Losst it is, my precious, lost, lost! Curse us and crush us, my precious is lost!”
突然，他听见了一声尖叫，让他不由得背脊发凉。咕噜在混沌的黑暗中不停地咒骂哭嚎，听声音好像并不太远。他在自己的小岛上到处翻找着，搜寻着，却都徒劳无功。
“What’s the matter?” Bilbo called. “What have you lost?”
“它在哪儿?它在哪儿?”比尔博听见他大喊道，“不见了，我的宝贝，不见了，没有了!诅咒我们吧，碾死我们吧，我们该死，我的宝贝不见啦!”
“It mustn’t ask us,” shrieked Gollum. “Not its business, no, gollum! It’s losst, gollum, gollum, gollum.”
“怎么回事儿啊?”比尔博喊道，“你丢什么了?”
“Well, so am I,” cried Bilbo, “and I want to get unlost. And I won the game, and you promised. So come along! Come and let me out, and then go on with your looking!” Utterly miserable as Gollum sounded, Bilbo could not find much pity in his heart, and he had a feeling that anything Gollum wanted so much could hardly be something good. “Come along!” he shouted.
“轮不到它来问我们，”咕噜尖叫道，“没它什么事儿!完了，咕噜!它不见了，咕噜，咕噜，咕噜!”
“No, not yet, precious!” Gollum answered. “We must search for it, it’s lost, gollum.”
“嗯，我也完了，”比尔博大喊着，“我可不想被困在这里，我赢了猜谜比赛，你答应过给我带路的。咱们走吧，你先带我走出去，然后你再回头慢慢找!”虽然咕噜听起来绝对可怜，可比尔博却挤不出多少同情心给他，而且他有一种感觉，凡事咕噜这家伙这么想要的东西，都不会好到哪里去。“快来吧!”他大声催促道。
“But you never guessed my last question, and you promised,” said Bilbo.
“不，现在不行，宝贝儿!”咕噜回答道，“我们得找到它才行，它不见了，咕噜!”
“Never guessed!” said Gollum. Then suddenly out of the gloom came a sharp hiss. “What has it got in its pocketses? Tell us that. It must tell first.”
“可你一直也没猜对我的最后一个问题，你答应过要带我出去的。”比尔博说。
As far as Bilbo knew, there was no particular reason why he should not tell. Gollum’s mind had jumped to a guess quicker than his; naturally, for Gollum had brooded for ages on this one thing, and he was always afraid of its being stolen. But Bilbo was annoyed at the delay. After all, he had won the game, pretty fairly, at a horrible risk. “Answers were to be guessed not given,” he said.
“一直没猜对!”咕噜愤愤地重复道。然后，突然间，黑暗中传来很锐利的一声嘶嘶：“它的口袋里面到底有什么?告诉我们，它一定得先说出来。”
“But it wasn’t a fair question,” said Gollum. “Not a riddle, precious, no.”
在比尔博看来，他没什么理由不告诉对方答案。但还没等他说出口，咕噜的脑子里已经迸出了一个猜测。他会想到这个是很自然的。因为这么多年来他心心念念的只有这一样东西，整天就怕它被人偷走。但此时，比尔博只是对咕噜的拖延感到不满，毕竟，他可是冒了极大的危险，凭了挺公平的手段才赢下这场猜谜比赛的。“答案是要猜的，可不能让人告诉。”他说。
“Oh well, if it’s a matter of ordinary questions,” Bilbo replied, “then I asked one first. What have you lost? Tell me that!”
“可这不是一个公平的问题。”咕噜说，“这不是个谜语，宝贝，不是。”
“What has it got in its pocketses?” The sound came hissing louder and sharper, and as he looked towards it, to his alarm Bilbo now saw two small points of light peering at him. As suspicion grew in Gollum’s mind, the light of his eyes burned with a pale flame.
“哦，好吧，如果你只是在问普通问题，那我可以告诉你。”比尔博回答道，“不过你先回答我的。你丢了什么东西?告诉我!”
“What have you lost?” Bilbo persisted.
“它的口袋里有什么呢?”嘶嘶的声音变得越来越响，越来越锐利了。比尔博循声望去，不由得一惊，他发现了有两点小小的光亮正在瞪着他。随着咕噜的疑心越来越盛，他的眼中燃起一团苍白的火焰来。
But now the light in Gollum’s eyes had become a green fire, and it was coming swiftly nearer. Gollum was in his boat again, paddling wildly back to the dark shore; and such a rage of loss and suspicion was in his heart that no sword had any more terror for him.
“你丢什么了?”比尔博坚持问道。
Bilbo could not guess what had maddened the wretched creature, but he saw that all was up, and that Gollum meant to murder him at any rate. Just in time he turned and ran blindly back up the dark passage down which he had come, keeping close to the wall and feeling it with his left hand.
此时，咕噜眼中的光芒已经变成了一团绿色的火焰，而且正飞快地向比尔博靠近。咕噜又跳上了船，疯狂地往黑暗的岸边划来。他的心中充满了丢失东西的愤怒和对比尔博的怀疑，所以什么样的刀剑都不令他感到可怕了。
“What has it got in its pocketses?” he heard the hiss loud behind him, and the splash as Gollum leapt from his boat. “What have I, I wonder?” he said to himself, as he panted and stumbled along. He put his left hand in his pocket. The ring felt very cold as it quietly slipped on to his groping forefinger.
比尔博实在猜不出来，到底是什么让这个家伙这么生气。但他知道一切都完了。咕噜看来怎么都要杀了他了。他及时转过身去，朝着来时那条漆黑的隧道跑去，他紧贴着墙，边跑边用左手感受着墙壁。
The hiss was close behind him. He turned now and saw Gollum’s eyes like small green lamps coming up the slope. Terrified he tried to run faster, but suddenly he struck his toes on a snag in the floor, and fell flat with his little sword under him.
“它的口袋里有什么呢?”他听见身后传来很响的带嘶嘶的说话声，接着是咕噜从船上跳下时的水花声。“我有的这个到底是什么呢?”他一边气喘吁吁、踉踉跄跄地跑着，一边对自己说。他把左手伸进口袋里，戒指无声无息地滑上了他正在摸索的食指上，感到非常冷。
In a moment Gollum was on him. But before Bilbo could do anything, recover his breath, pick himself up, or wave his sword, Gollum passed by, taking no notice of him, cursing and whispering as he ran.
嘶嘶声越来越近了。他转过身，看见咕噜的眼睛像两盏绿色的小灯一样沿着斜坡向他靠近。惊恐之下他不禁加快了步伐，却不小心踢到了地面上的一个突起，摔了一个嘴啃泥，把宝剑压在了身下。
What could it mean? Gollum could see in the dark. Bilbo could see the light of his eyes palely shining even from behind. Painfully he got up, and sheathed his sword, which was now glowing faintly again, then very cautiously he followed. There seemed nothing else to do. It was no good crawling back down to Gollum’s water. Perhaps if he followed him, Gollum might lead him to some way of escape without meaning to.
转眼间咕噜就赶上了他。可还没等比尔博来得及做任何事，比如调整呼吸，站起身来，或是挥舞宝剑，咕噜已经从他身边过去了，一点都没有注意到他，只顾自己一边跑，一边骂骂咧咧，自言自语。
“Curse it! curse it! curse it!” hissed Gollum. “Curse the Baggins! It’s gone! What has it got in its pocketses? Oh we guess, we guess, my precious. He’s found it, yes he must have. My birthday-present.”
这是怎么回事?咕噜在黑暗中也能看见东西，比尔博从后面都可以看见他的眼睛发出淡淡的光芒。他痛苦地站起身来，将重新放出微光的宝剑装入鞘内，然后小心翼翼地跟在咕噜后面。现在如果掉头往下，爬回到咕噜的湖边是不会有任何好处的。如果跟在咕噜后面，他或许倒会在无意中带比尔博找到出口。
Bilbo pricked up his ears. He was at last beginning to guess himself. He hurried a little, getting as close as he dared behind Gollum, who was still going quickly, not looking back, but turning his head from side to side, as Bilbo could see from the faint glimmer on the walls.
“诅咒它!诅咒它!诅咒它!”咕噜嘶嘶地吼道，“诅咒巴金斯!它不见了!它口袋里到底有什么?噢，我们猜到了，我们猜到了，我的宝贝——被他捡去了，对肯定被他捡去了，我的生日礼物啊!”
“My birthday-present! Curse it! How did we lose it, my precious? Yes, that’s it. When we came this way last, when we twisted that nassty young squeaker. That’s it. Curse it! It slipped from us, after all these ages and ages! It’s gone, gollum.”
波尔博竖起耳朵听着，终于，他也开始怀疑起自己来。他稍稍加快了一点步伐，在他胆量许可的范围内尽可能靠近咕噜。咕噜依然在快步走着，无暇回头朝后看，但却左右张望着，比尔博是就着墙壁上的微光看到的。
Suddenly Gollum sat down and began to weep, a whistling and gurgling sound horrible to listen to. Bilbo halted and flattened himself against the tunnel-wall. After a while Gollum stopped weeping and began to talk. He seemed to be having an argument with himself.
“我的生日礼物!诅咒它!我们怎么把它给弄丢了呢，宝贝?是的，就是这么回事儿!诅咒它!它从我们手上滑走了，肯定已经丢了很久了!它不见了，咕噜。”
“It’s no good going back there to search, no. We doesn’t remember all the places we’ve visited. And it’s no use. The Baggins has got it in its pocketses; the nassty noser has found it, we says.”
突然间，咕噜坐了下来，开始哭了起来，那声音既像吹口哨，又像在咯咯笑，让人听了感觉很可怕。比尔博停下脚步，背紧靠着洞壁。过了一阵子之后，咕噜止住了哭泣，开始说起话来，似乎在和自己吵架。
“We guesses, precious, only guesses. We can’t know till we find the nassty creature and squeezes it. But it doesn’t know what the present can do, does it? It’ll just keep it in its pocketses. It doesn’t know, and it can’t go far. It’s lost itself, the nassty nosey thing. It doesn’t know the way out. It said so.”
“再回去找也没用，没用，我们去过哪些地方根本记不得了，不会有用的。巴金斯把它放在口袋里了，那个讨厌的爱管闲事的家伙找到了它。
“It said so, yes; but it’s tricksy. It doesn’t say what it means. It won’t say what it’s got in its pocketses. It knows. It knows a way in, it must know a way out, yes. It’s off to the back-door. To the back-door, that’s it.”
“这是我们的猜测，宝贝，只是猜测。只有找到那个讨厌东西，好好逼问一下才能确定。不过它还不知道这礼物的用处呢，是吧?它只是把它放进了口袋。它不知道的，它也走不远。它迷路了，这个讨厌的家伙。它不知道出去的路，它是这么说的。
“The goblinses will catch it then. It can’t get out that way, precious.”
“它是这么说没错，但也可能有诈。它没说这是什么意思，它也不肯说口袋里装的是什么东西。它知道。它知道进来的路，就一定知道出去的路，肯定如此。它去后门了，对，去后门，就这么办!
“Ssss, sss, gollum! Goblinses! Yes, but if it’s got the present, our precious present, then goblinses will get it, gollum! They’ll find it, they’ll find out what it does. We shan’t ever be safe again, never, gollum! One of the goblinses will put it on, and then no one will see him. He’ll be there but not seen. Not even our clever eyeses will notice him; and he’ll come creepsy and tricksy and catch us, gollum, gollum!”
“它要是走后门，半兽人会抓住它的。它不可能从那边出去，宝贝儿。“嘶噺，嘶嘶，咕噜!半兽人!是的，但是如果它拿到了我们的礼物，我们珍贵的礼物，那半兽人就会得到，咕噜!他们会发现的，会发现它有什么用处。我们就再也不安全了，永远不安全了，咕噜!会有半兽人把它戴上，然后没人会看见他。他会隐形，连我们聪明的眼睛也看不见他，他会悄悄地跑来把我们抓住，咕噜，咕噜!
“Then let’s stop talking, precious, and make haste. If the Baggins has gone that way, we must go quick and see. Go! Not far now. Make haste!”
“那我们还是别再聊天了吧，宝贝，得赶紧行动了。如果巴金斯往这个方向走了，我们必须要赶快过去看。走吧!不远了，赶快!”
With a spring Gollum got up and started shambling off at a great pace. Bilbo hurried after him, still cautiously, though his chief fear now was of tripping on another snag and falling with a noise. His head was in a whirl of hope and wonder. It seemed that the ring he had was a magic ring: it made you invisible! He had heard of such things, of course, in old old tales; but it was hard to believe that he really had found one, by accident. Still there it was: Gollum with his bright eyes had passed him by, only a yard to one side.
咕噜一跃而起，立刻开始迈着大步摇摇晃晃地走了起来。比尔博依旧小心翼翼地紧跟在他身后，只不过，这回他担心的是别又像刚才那样賜到地上的突起，在摔倒时发出声响。他的小脑袋中被希望和惊奇冲击得有点晕晕乎乎。看来他捡到的是个魔法戒指：它可以让人隐身!当然，他曾经在非常非常古老的传说中听过这种事，但自己竟然真的在无意中找到了一件这样的宝物，实在令他难以置信。不过眼前的证据由不得他不信：拥有锐利双眼的咕噜从他身旁只有一码的地方走了过去，却对他视而不见。
On they went, Gollum flip-flapping ahead, hissing and cursing; Bilbo behind going as softly as a hobbit can. Soon they came to places where, as Bilbo had noticed on the way down, side-passages opened, this way and that. Gollum began at once to count them.
他们继续往前走，咕噜啪嗒啪嗒地走在前面，一边发出嘶嘶的声音一边骂骂咧咧;比尔博跟在后面，以霍比特人最轻柔无声的步伐走着。不久，他们就来到了比尔博下来之时曾注意到的有许多岔路的地方，咕噜马上开始数起岔路来。
“One left, yes. One right, yes. Two right, yes, yes. Two left, yes, yes.” And so on and on.
“左边一条，对;右边一条，对。右边两条，对，对。左边两条，对，对。”他就这样一直叨叨个不停。
As the count grew he slowed down, and he began to get shaky and weepy; for he was leaving the water further and further behind, and he was getting afraid. Goblins might be about, and he had lost his ring. At last he stopped by a low opening, on their left as they went up.
他越数越多，渐渐地就慢了下来，接着他的身体开始抖了起来，发出了啜泣声，因为他已经离开地底湖越来越远，心中开始感到害怕了。半兽人可能就在周围，而他又弄丢了戒指。最后，他在左边一个低矮的隧道口停了下来。
“Seven right, yes. Six left, yes!” he whispered. “This is it. This is the way to the back-door, yes. Here’s the passage!”
“右边七条，对，左边六条，对!”他低声道，“就是这个了，这就是通往后门的路，就是这条路!”
He peered in, and shrank back. “But we dursn’t go in, precious, no we dursn’t. Goblinses down there. Lots of goblinses. We smells them. Ssss!”
他往里窥探着，又缩了回来。“可是我们不想要进去，宝贝，不，我们不想，前面有半兽人，很多半兽人，我们可以闻到他们的味道。嘶嘶!“我们该怎么办?诅咒他们，碾死他们!我们得等在这里，宝贝儿，再等一会儿看看。”
“What shall we do? Curse them and crush them! We must wait here, precious, wait a bit and see.”
于是他们就完全停了下来。咕噜毕竟还是把比尔博带到了出口，但比尔博却不能进去!因为咕噜驼着背坐在人口那里，双眼发出冷冷的光，头则在双膝之间左右扫视着。
So they came to a dead stop. Gollum had brought Bilbo to the way out after all, but Bilbo could not get in! There was Gollum sitting humped up right in the opening, and his eyes gleamed cold in his head, as he swayed it from side to side between his knees.
比尔博用比老鼠更小的声音离开洞壁，但咕噜立刻浑身一紧，开始用鼻子嗅了起来，眼睛变绿了。他轻轻地发出嘶噺声，却充满着威胁的意味。他看不见霍比特人，却已经提高了警觉;而且，他还有其他在黑暗中变得更敏锐的知觉——听觉和嗅觉。他趴到了地面上，双手张开，头伸了出来，鼻子几乎凑到了石头上。
Bilbo crept away from the wall more quietly than a mouse; but Gollum stiffened at once, and sniffed, and his eyes went green. He hissed softly but menacingly. He could not see the hobbit, but now he was on the alert, and he had other senses that the darkness had sharpened: hearing and smell. He seemed to be crouched right down with his flat hands splayed on the floor, and his head thrust out, nose almost to the stone. Though he was only a black shadow in the gleam of his own eyes, Bilbo could see or feel that he was tense as a bowstring, gathered for a spring.
虽然他只是自己双眼放出的微光中的一团暗影，但比尔博却可以看见或者说感觉到：他已经像弓弦一样紧绷，蓄积着力量，随时准备一跃而起。
Bilbo almost stopped breathing, and went stiff himself. He was desperate. He must get away, out of this horrible darkness, while he had any strength left. He must fight. He must stab the foul thing, put its eyes out, kill it. It meant to kill him. No, not a fair fight. He was invisible now. Gollum had no sword. Gollum had not actually threatened to kill him, or tried to yet. And he was miserable, alone, lost. A sudden understanding, a pity mixed with horror, welled up in Bilbo’s heart: a glimpse of endless unmarked days without light or hope of betterment, hard stone, cold fish, sneaking and whispering. All these thoughts passed in a flash of a second. He trembled. And then quite suddenly in another flash, as if lifted by a new strength and resolve, he leaped.
比尔博害怕得几乎停止了呼吸，自己的身体也变得僵硬起来，几乎陷入了绝望。他必须要趁着自己还有力气，走出这片恐怖的黑暗，去奋力一搏。他一定要刺死这个邪恶的家伙，让他的眼睛失去光芒。这意味着他必须要杀死咕噜。不，这不是一场公平的战斗。自己不仅已经隐形，而且咕噜还手无寸铁。细想一下，咕噜其实并没有威胁过要杀他，至少还没有付诸行动。他处境悲惨，孤身一人，不知如何是好。突然间，比尔博的心中对咕噜生出些理解来，一种混杂着恐惧的同情：他所能见到的只有茫茫没有尽头的黑暗岁月，生活没有任何改善的希望，坚硬的岩石，冰冷的鱼，偷偷摸摸地走动，鬼鬼祟祟地自言自语。这些念头都在一瞬间掠过他的脑海。比尔博打了个寒战，接着，又是在转瞬之间，似乎是被一股崭新的力量与决心托举起一样，他纵身一跃。
No great leap for a man, but a leap in the dark. Straight over Gollum’s head he jumped, seven feet forward and three in the air; indeed, had he known it, he only just missed cracking his skull on the low arch of the passage.
这一跃对人类来说算不了什么，但这却是在黑暗中的奋力一跃。他直直地跃过了咕噜的头顶，往前飞了七呎，跃起空中有三呎。幸亏他不知道，他的脑袋差一点就砸在了通道那低矮的拱门上。
Gollum threw himself backwards, and grabbed as the hobbit flew over him, but too late: his hands snapped on thin air, and Bilbo, falling fair on his sturdy feet, sped off down the new tunnel. He did not turn to see what Gollum was doing. There was a hissing and cursing almost at his heels at first, then it stopped. All at once there came a blood-curdling shriek, filled with hatred and despair. Gollum was defeated. He dared go no further. He had lost: lost his prey, and lost, too, the only thing he had ever cared for, his precious. The cry brought Bilbo’s heart to his mouth, but still he held on. Now faint as an echo, but menacing, the voice came behind:
咕噜立刻转过身去，在霍比特人跃过头顶时朝空中抓去，但还是慢了一拍：他的双手只抓到了薄薄的空气，比尔博则凭了他那健壮的双脚稳稳落地，朝着这条新的隧道飞奔而去。他没有回头去看咕噜在干些什么。刚开始，他可以听见嘶嘶声和咒骂声就追着他的脚后跟，后来那声音停了下来，几乎与此同时，后方传来一声让人血液为之冻结的尖叫，叫声中充满了仇恨与绝望。咕噜被打败了，他不敢再往前走了，他已经输了：他不仅追丢了猎物，更弄丢了他这辈子惟一在乎的东西，他的宝贝。这声尖叫让比尔博的心悬到了嗓子眼儿，但他继续不停步地往前跑着。那微弱得如同回声，但充满威胁的喊声从背后传来：
“Thief, thief, thief! Baggins! We hates it, we hates it, we hates it for ever!”
“小偷，小偷，小偷!巴金斯!我们恨它，我们恨它，我们永远都恨它!”
Then there was a silence. But that too seemed menacing to Bilbo. “If goblins are so near that he smelt them,” he thought, “then they’ll have heard his shrieking and cursing. Careful now, or this way will lead you to worse things.”
然后是一片死寂，但这对于比尔博来说，依旧充满着危险。“如果半兽人近到可以被咕噜闻到气味，那么他们也会听见他的尖叫和咒骂。从现在起得打起十二万分的精神了，不然这一路还不知道会遇到怎样可怕的事情呢。”
The passage was low and roughly made. It was not too difficult for the hobbit, except when, in spite of all care, he stubbed his poor toes again, several times, on nasty jagged stones in the floor. “A bit low for goblins, at least for the big ones,” thought Bilbo, not knowing that even the big ones, the orcs of the mountains, go along at a great speed stooping low with their hands almost on the ground.
这条隧道不仅低矮，造得也十分简陋。这对于霍比特人来说，并不算太难走，除了有几次，尽管他已经十分当心了，他那可怜的脚趾头还是踢到了地上那些讨厌的坑坑洼洼的碎石。“对半兽人来说有点矮，至少对那些大个子是这样。”比尔博想。其实他不知道，即使是大个子的半兽人，由于习惯了山里的生活，也可以弯着身子，双手几乎垂地，飞快地行走。
Soon the passage that had been sloping down began to go up again, and after a while it climbed steeply. That slowed Bilbo down. But at last the slope stopped, the passage turned a corner and dipped down again, and there, at the bottom of a short incline, he saw, filtering round another corner—a glimpse of light. Not red light, as of fire or lantern, but a pale out-of-doors sort of light. Then Bilbo began to run.
很快，一直在往下的隧道开始往上走了，又过了一阵之后，它更是变得陡峭起来。这让比尔博的速度慢了下来。但到了最后，向上的斜坡到头了，隧道转过一个弯，又开始往下走。远方，在一小段下坡的尽头，从又一个拐角的后面，透过来一缕亮光。那不是营火或灯笼之类放出的红光，而是一缕白色的天光。比尔博开始跑了起来。
Scuttling as fast as his legs would carry him he turned the last corner and came suddenly right into an open space, where the light, after all that time in the dark, seemed dazzlingly bright. Really it was only a leak of sunshine in through a doorway, where a great door, a stone door, was left standing open.
他让双腿带着自己尽力飞奔，绕过最后的弯角，终于跑进一片开阔的空间。他在黑暗中待了那么久之后，这里的光线让他觉得十分刺眼。其实，这还只是从门缝中漏进来洒在门道内的一点陽光，门道尽头的一扇石门居然是开着的。
Bilbo blinked, and then suddenly he saw the goblins: goblins in full armour with drawn swords sitting just inside the door, and watching it with wide eyes, and watching the passage that led to it. They were aroused, alert, ready for anything.
比尔博眨眨眼，这时他突然看见了半兽人：几个半兽人全副武装，手拿刀剑，就坐在门里边，眼睛睁得大大的盯着门，也盯着通往大门的门道。他们已经严阵以待，为即将到来的一切作好了准备。
They saw him sooner than he saw them. Yes, they saw him. Whether it was an accident, or a last trick of the ring before it took a new master, it was not on his finger. With yells of delight the goblins rushed upon him.
比尔博还没看见他们的时候他们就已经看见比尔博了。对，他们看见他了。不知这是个意外，还是戒指在认自己的新主人之前开的最后一个玩笑，反正这会儿它没有在比尔博的手指上。半兽人欢呼着朝他冲了过来。
A pang of fear and loss, like an echo of Gollum’s misery, smote Bilbo, and forgetting even to draw his sword he struck his hands into his pockets. And there was the ring still, in his left pocket, and it slipped on his finger. The goblins stopped short. They could not see a sign of him. He had vanished. They yelled twice as loud as before, but not so delightedly.
一阵恐惧和茫然向比尔博袭来，那简直像是咕噜的痛苦所激起的回声。他甚至忘记了去拔剑，而是将手伸进了口袋。戒指依然还在，就在他左边的口袋中，手刚一伸进去，戒指就滑了上去。半兽人们戛然止住了脚步——他们一点都看不见他了，他就这么凭空消失了。他们发出比之前高过一倍的吼叫声，但不是刚才的那种欢呼了。
“Where is it?” they cried.
“他到哪儿去了?”大家喊道。
“Go back up the passage!” some shouted.
“回到隧道里去了!”有人喊。
“This way!” some yelled. “That way!” others yelled.
“往这儿走了!”有些人叫道。“往那儿跑了!”其他人叫道。
“Look out for the door,” bellowed the captain.
“盯紧大门。”他们的队长咆哮道。
Whistles blew, armour clashed, swords rattled, goblins cursed and swore and ran hither and thither, falling over one another and getting very angry. There was a terrible outcry, to-do, and disturbance.
哨声响起，盔甲撞击，刀剑铮铮作响，半兽人咒骂着像没头苍蝇般四处瞎跑，相互绊倒，彼此发起火来。那真是好一场可怕的骚乱哪!
Bilbo was dreadfully frightened, but he had the sense to understand what had happened and to sneak behind a big barrel which held drink for the goblin-guards, and so get out of the way and avoid being bumped into, trampled to death, or caught by feel.
比尔博怕得要命，但他总算还能弄清楚状况，知道偷偷溜到半兽人守卫装酒的大桶后面躲了起来，因此没有挡到任何人的路，也避免了被人撞倒，踩踏而死，或是因为被人摸到而抓住。
“I must get to the door, I must get to the door!” he kept on saying to himself, but it was a long time before he ventured to try. Then it was like a horrible game of blind-man’s-buff. The place was full of goblins running about, and the poor little hobbit dodged this way and that, was knocked over by a goblin who could not make out what he had bumped into, scrambled away on all fours, slipped between the legs of the captain just in time, got up, and ran for the door.
“我一定得到门口去，我一定得到门口去!”他不停地对自己说道，但直到过了很久他才敢冒险尝试。接下来就像是一场可怕的捉迷藏游戏，到处都是四处瞎跑的半兽人，可怜的小霍比特人左躲右闪，还是被一个半兽人给撞倒了，那个半兽人则根本不知道自己究竟撞上了什么。比尔博手足并用在地上爬着，并及时爬过了队长的胯下，站起身来，朝着门口奔去。
It was still ajar, but a goblin had pushed it nearly to. Bilbo struggled but he could not move it. He tried to squeeze through the crack. He squeezed and squeezed, and he stuck! It was awful. His buttons had got wedged on the edge of the door and the door-post. He could see outside into the open air: there were a few steps running down into a narrow valley between tall mountains; the sun came out from behind a cloud and shone bright on the outside of the door—but he could not get through.
大门依旧半开着，但有个半兽人将它推得只剩下一条缝。比尔博使出了吃奶的力气去推，结果大石门岿然不动。他想从那条缝里挤过去，挤来挤去的，竟然卡在了缝里。他的纽扣卡在了门与门柱之间。他可以看见露天中的景象：再跑几步就能进入高山夹着的一条狭窄山谷，太陽从云后探出头来，照得门外陽光明媚——可他就是挤不过去。
Suddenly one of the goblins inside shouted: “There is a shadow by the door. Something is outside!”
突然间，门里边的一个半兽人大喊道：“门旁边有个影子，外面有东西!”
Bilbo’s heart jumped into his mouth. He gave a terrific squirm. Buttons burst off in all directions. He was through, with a torn coat and waistcoat, leaping down the steps like a goat, while bewildered goblins were still picking up his nice brass buttons on the doorstep.
比尔博的心又跳到了嗓子眼儿。他奋力一挣，纽扣往四面八方爆开，人终于挤了出去，外套和背心都扯破了。但他顾不得这些了，只见他像只山羊一样一蹦一跳地冲下阶梯，而那帮不明就里的半兽人则还在门口捡着他散落在台阶上的漂亮的铜纽扣。
Of course they soon came down after him, hooting and hallooing, and hunting among the trees. But they don’t like the sun: it makes their legs wobble and their heads giddy. They could not find Bilbo with the ring on, slipping in and out of the shadow of the trees, running quick and quiet, and keeping out of the sun; so soon they went back grumbling and cursing to guard the door. Bilbo had escaped.
当然，他们没过多久就呜里哇啦狂喊着追了下来，在林子里展开搜索。但他们不喜欢陽光，因为陽光会让他们两腿发软，头脑发晕。比尔博戴着戒指，他们当然找不到。此时他正在树林的陰影中穿梭，迅捷而又悄无声息地奔跑着，尽量不让自己被陽光照到。因此，那些半兽人很快就抱怨着、咒骂着回去守大门去了。比尔博终于逃离了险境。
