Deep down here by the dark water lived old Gollum, a small slimy creature.
在这地底深处的一池黑水边，住着一个矮小的、滑腻腻的老家伙名叫咕噜。
I don’t know where he came from, nor who or what he was.
我不知道他来自何方，也不知道他究竟是谁，或是什么生物。
He was Gollum—as dark as darkness, except for two big round pale eyes in his thin face.
他就是咕噜，黑得就像周遭的黑暗，除了瘦脸上那双大而苍白的圆眼。
He had a little boat, and he rowed about quite quietly on the lake;
他有一艘小船，他在湖上寂静地划行，
for lake it was, wide and deep and deadly cold.
这个湖又广又深，死一般地冰冷。
He paddled it with large feet dangling over the side,
他的两只大脚伸出船舷外拍水前进，
but never a ripple did he make. Not he.
却连一点水声都不弄出来，绝对是一点也没有。
He was looking out of his pale lamp-like eyes for blind fish,
他用那双像油灯一样的苍白大眼搜寻湖中的盲鱼，
which he grabbed with his long fingers as quick as thinking.
再用快捷如闪念的细长手指将它们抓起来。
He liked meat too. Goblin he thought good, when he could get it;
他也喜欢吃肉。如果能抓到半兽人的话，他会觉得半兽人吃起来也不错，
but he took care they never found him out.
但他行事小心，从不会让半兽人发现他的行迹。
He just throttled them from behind, if they ever came down alone anywhere near the edge of the water, while he was prowling about.
在他四处游走寻找猎物的时候，若是有半兽人孤身来到水边，他就会从背后一下勒住他的脖子。
They very seldom did, for they had a feeling that something unpleasant was lurking down there,
但半兽人很少会孤身到水边来，因为他们也感觉到在这山底的深处，潜伏着某种不祥之物。
down at the very roots of the mountain.
很久以前，在挖掘隧道的时候
They had come on the lake, when they were tunnelling down long ago, and they found they could go no further;
他们曾经到湖上来过，当时他们发现隧道挖不下去了，
so there their road ended in that direction,
所以，通往这个方向的路就断在了这里，
and there was no reason to go that way—unless the Great Goblin sent them.
因此半兽人是没有理由到这里来的——除非他们的大王派他们来。
Sometimes he took a fancy for fish from the lake,
有时候，大王会心血来潮想要吃湖中的鱼，
and sometimes neither goblin nor fish came back.
但好多次，不仅鱼没有送来，就连捕鱼的半兽人也一去不回了。
Actually Gollum lived on a slimy island of rock in the middle of the lake.
其实咕噜就居住在湖中央一块潮湿的岩石上。
He was watching Bilbo now from the distance with his pale eyes like telescopes.
此刻，他正用他那双像望远镜一般的大白眼远远地观察着比尔博。
Bilbo could not see him, but he was wondering a lot about Bilbo,
比尔博看不见他，但他却在好奇地琢磨着比尔博，
for he could see that he was no goblin at all.
因为，他可以看得出来，眼前的生物不是半兽人。
Gollum got into his boat and shot off from the island, while Bilbo was sitting on the brink altogether flummoxed and at the end of his way and his wits.
咕噜跳进船中，箭一般地离开了湖心岛，此时比尔博正坐在水边，脑子里一团乱麻，既不知道该往何处去，也想不出下一步该怎么办。
Suddenly up came Gollum and whispered and hissed:
突然间，咕噜就从他眼前冒了出来，用带着嘶嘶的声音对他低语道：
“Bless us and splash us, my precioussss!
“我的宝贝，祝福我们，为我们洒上圣水吧！
I guess it’s a choice feast;
我想这是顿精美的大餐，
at least a tasty morsel it’d make us, gollum!”
至少可以给我们当一块美味的小点心，咕噜！”
And when he said gollum he made a horrible swallowing noise in his throat.
当他说“咕噜”的时候，他会从喉咙中发出一种恐怖的吞咽之声。
That is how he got his name, though he always called himself ‘my precious’.
这也是他获得这个名字的原因，尽管他总是称呼自己为“我的宝贝”。
The hobbit jumped nearly out of his skin when the hiss came in his ears,
当这种带着嘶嘶的声音传到耳中时，霍比特人差点被吓得魂飞魄散，
and he suddenly saw the pale eyes sticking out at him.
接着那双苍白的大眼也突兀地出现在他眼前。
“Who are you?” he said, thrusting his dagger in front of him.
“你是谁？”他将匕首伸到身前问道。
“What iss he, my preciouss?” whispered Gollum
“他嘶嘶谁，我的宝贝？”咕噜低语道
(who always spoke to himself through never having anyone else to speak to).
(由于从来没有其他人可以对话，他总是喜欢自言自语)。
This is what he had come to find out, for he was not really very hungry at the moment, only curious;
这是他跑到比尔博跟前来的真正原因，因为他这会儿肚子其实并不是很饿，只是感到很好奇，
otherwise he would have grabbed first and whispered afterwards.
否则他会先出手把他抓了再跟他说话的。
“I am Mr. Bilbo Baggins. I have lost the dwarves and I have lost the wizard, and I don’t know where I am;
“我是比尔博·巴金斯先生，我跟矮人走散了，跟巫师也走散了，我也不知道自己这是在哪儿，
and I don’t want to know, if only I can get away.”
可我并不想知道这是哪儿，只要我能离开这儿就行了。”
“What’s he got in his handses?” said Gollum, looking at the sword, which he did not quite like.
“他的嘶嘶手上嘶嘶什么？”咕噜盯着比尔博手中的短剑问道，他不是很喜欢这玩意儿。
“A sword, a blade which came out of Gondolin!”
“一把剑，出自刚多林的宝剑！”
“Sssss” said Gollum, and became quite polite.
“嘶嘶，”咕噜变得颇有礼貌起来，
“Praps ye sits here and chats with it a bitsy, my preciousss.
“或许你可以坐在这里，和他嘶嘶说说话，我的宝贝。
It likes riddles, praps it does, does it?”
他喜欢猜谜，也许喜欢，嘶不嘶？”
He was anxious to appear friendly, at any rate for the moment,
他急着要摆出一副友好的样子，至少暂时如此，
and until he found out more about the sword and the hobbit, whether he was quite alone really,
以了解更多有关这把宝剑和这个霍比特人的事情：他是不是真的只有孤身一人？
whether he was good to eat, and whether Gollum was really hungry.
他吃起来味道好不好？咕噜自己的肚子是不是真的饿了等等。
Riddles were all he could think of. Asking them, and sometimes guessing them,
猜谜是他当时惟一能想到的。出谜语给人猜，有时候也猜别人出的谜语，
had been the only game he had ever played with other funny creatures sitting in their holes in the long, long ago,
这是他和那些居住在自己洞穴里的其他有趣生物之间惟一玩过的游戏，
before he lost all his friends and was driven away, alone, and crept down, down, into the dark under the mountains.
但那是很久很久以前的事了，后来他失去了所有的朋友，被人赶走，孤身一人，往下钻，往下钻，一直来到这黑暗的大山最深处。
“Very well,” said Bilbo, who was anxious to agree,
“是的，猜吧。”比尔博迫不及待地同意了对方的提议，
until he found out more about the creature, whether he was quite alone,
因为他想更多地了解这个生物：他是不是只有孤单一人，
whether he was fierce or hungry, and whether he was a friend of the goblins.
他是否很凶猛，这会儿肚子饿不饿，以及他究竟是不是半兽人的朋友。
“You ask first,” he said, because he had not had time to think of a riddle.
“你先出谜语。”他说，因为他一时之间想不出什么谜语来。
So Gollum hissed:
于是咕噜就嘶嘶地开始说了：
What has roots as nobody sees,
什么有根却谁也见不到，
Is taller than trees,
个子比最高的大树还要高，
Up, up it goes,
它直直地插入天际，
And yet never grows?
却从来不长一分一毫？
“Easy!” said Bilbo. “Mountain, I suppose.”
“简单！”比尔博说，“应该是大山吧。”
“Does it guess easy? It must have a competition with us, my preciouss!
“它那么容易就猜出来了吗？我的宝贝，它跟我们较上劲儿了！
If precious asks, and it doesn’t answer, we eats it, my preciousss.
如果宝贝出的谜语，它猜不出来，我们就把它吃掉；
If it asks us, and we doesn’t answer, then we does what it wants, eh?
如果它出的谜语我们猜不出来，我们就满足它的要求，
We shows it the way out, yes!”
指给它出去的路，就这么着！
“All right!” said Bilbo, not daring to disagree, and nearly bursting his brain to think of riddles that could save him from being eaten.
“好吧！”比尔博不敢不同意，为了不让自己被吃掉，他开始绞尽脑汁思考能难倒对方的谜题。
Thirty white horses on a red hill,
三十匹白马在红色山丘上，
First they champ,
它们先是大声嚼啊嚼，
Then they stamp,
然后用力跺啊跺跺脚，
Then they stand still.
然后它们站定不动了。
That was all he could think of to ask—the idea of eating was rather on his mind.
这是他当时惟一想得出来的谜题——因为他满脑子都在想着吃东西。
It was rather an old one, too, and Gollum knew the answer as well as you do.
这其实是个相当古老的谜语，咕噜就和各位读者一样熟知答案。
“Chestnuts, chestnuts,” he hissed. “Teeth! teeth! my preciousss;
“老掉牙了，老掉牙了。”他嘶嘶地说道，“是牙齿！牙齿！我的宝贝，
but we has only six!” Then he asked his second:
可我们只剩下六颗了！”然后他又出了第二个谜语：
Voiceless it cries,
无嗓却会叫，
Wingless flutters,
无翼能飞高，
Toothless bites,
无牙却会咬，
Mouthless mutters.
无嘴爱叨叨。
“Half a moment!” cried Bilbo, who was still thinking uncomfortably about eating.
“让我想一会儿！”比尔博喊道，他脑中还在满带懊恼地想着吃东西的事儿呢。
Fortunately he had once heard something rather like this before,
所幸的是，他以前曾经听到过类似的谜语，
and getting his wits back he thought of the answer.
因此心思稍一收回来之后就想出了答案。
“Wind, wind of course,” he said, and he was so pleased that he made up one on the spot.
“是风，当然是风！”他刚一喊出答案，心中就一阵欣喜，因为他顺势想出了自己的第二个谜语。
“This’ll puzzle the nasty little underground creature,” he thought:
“这下管保叫那个恶心的地底小生物想破头！”他心中暗忖道：
An eye in a blue face
蓝色脸上一只眼，
Saw an eye in a green face.
看见绿色脸上一只眼。
“That eye is like to this eye”
“那只眼就像我这只眼，”
Said the first eye,
第一只眼说，
“But in low place
“可是它在地来
Not in high place.”
我在天。”
“Ss, ss, ss,” said Gollum. He had been underground a long long time,
“嘶嘶，嘶嘶，嘶嘶。”咕噜只有“嘶嘶”却说不上话来。他已在地底住了很长很长的时间了，
and was forgetting this sort of thing.
都已经开始忘记这种事情了。
But just as Bilbo was beginning to hope that the wretch would not be able to answer,
但就在比尔博开始觉得这个坏家伙会猜不出答案时，
Gollum brought up memories of ages and ages and ages before,
咕噜却唤醒了很久很久很久以前的记忆，
when he lived with his grandmother in a hole in a bank by a river,
那时，他还和祖母一起住在河边的地洞里，
“Sss, sss, my preciouss,” he said. “Sun on the daisies it means, it does.”
“嘶嘶，嘶嘶，我的宝贝，” 他说，“这是太阳照在雏菊上啊，肯定是的。”
But these ordinary above ground everyday sort of riddles were tiring for him.
可是，这些简简单单的、在地面上实在是家常便饭式的谜语，
Also they reminded him of days when he had been less lonely and sneaky and nasty, and that put him out of temper.
对他来说却很是头疼，而且这些谜语也让他想起当年他没有这么孤独、这么鬼鬼祟祟、这么条件恶劣时的生活，
What is more they made him hungry;
这让他不由得光火起来。
so this time he tried something a bit more difficult and more unpleasant:
于是这次他想出了一个更难、更让人听了不舒服的谜语来：
It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
看不见，也摸不到，
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
听不见，也闻不着。
It lies behind stars and under hills,
躲在星辰后，藏在山丘下，
And empty holes it fills.
把空洞填满。
It comes first and follows after,
它先来一点，再全部赶到，
Ends life, kills laughter.
它终止生命，扼杀欢笑。
Unfortunately for Gollum Bilbo had heard that sort of thing before;
也该着咕噜倒楣，比尔博之前听到过这类的谜语，
and the answer was all round him any way.
所以答案早就已经喷薄欲出了。
“Dark!” he said without even scratching his head or putting on his thinking cap.
“是黑夜！”他连头都没搔，脑筋也没怎么开动，就喊出了答案。
A box without hinges, key, or lid,
一只盒子没有铰链、没有销子也没有盖，
Yet golden treasure inside is hid,
但金色宝藏却能安安心心在里面藏起来。
he asked to gain time, until he could think of a really hard one.
他出这个谜语只是为了争取时间，好想出一个真正难的来。
This he thought a dreadfully easy chestnut, though he had not asked it in the usual words.
他认为这个谜既老掉了牙，又简单得要命，尽管他对常见的表述稍稍作了些改动。
But it proved a nasty poser for Gollum.
可没想到这竟然把咕噜给难住了。
He hissed to himself, and still he did not answer; he whispered and spluttered.
他口中不停发出嘶嘶声，憋了半天也没有说出答案。接着他又低声细语，嘴巴里发出各种声音。
Jrr Tolkien