Deep down here by the dark water lived old Gollum, a small slimy creature.
在這地底深處的一池黑水邊，住著一個矮小的、滑膩膩的老傢伙名叫咕嚕。
I don’t know where he came from, nor who or what he was.
我不知道他來自何方，也不知道他究竟是誰，或是什么生物。
He was Gollum—as dark as darkness, except for two big round pale eyes in his thin face.
他就是咕嚕，黑得就像周遭的黑暗，除了瘦臉上那雙大而蒼白的圓眼。
He had a little boat, and he rowed about quite quietly on the lake;
他有一艘小船，他在湖上寂靜地劃行，
for lake it was, wide and deep and deadly cold.
這個湖又廣又深，死一般地冰冷。
He paddled it with large feet dangling over the side,
他的兩隻大腳伸出船舷外拍水前進，
but never a ripple did he make. Not he.
卻連一點水聲都不弄出來，絕對是一點也沒有。
He was looking out of his pale lamp-like eyes for blind fish,
他用那雙像油燈一樣的蒼白大眼搜尋湖中的盲魚，
which he grabbed with his long fingers as quick as thinking.
再用快捷如閃念的細長手指將它們抓起來。
He liked meat too. Goblin he thought good, when he could get it;
他也喜歡吃肉。如果能抓到半獸人的話，他會覺得半獸人吃起來也不錯，
but he took care they never found him out.
但他行事小心，從不會讓半獸人發現他的行跡。
He just throttled them from behind, if they ever came down alone anywhere near the edge of the water, while he was prowling about.
在他四處遊走尋找獵物的時候，若是有半獸人孤身來到水邊，他就會從背後一下勒住他的脖子。
They very seldom did, for they had a feeling that something unpleasant was lurking down there,
但半獸人很少會孤身到水邊來，因為他們也感覺到在這山底的深處，潛伏著某種不祥之物。
down at the very roots of the mountain.
很久以前，在挖掘隧道的時候
They had come on the lake, when they were tunnelling down long ago, and they found they could go no further;
他們曾經到湖上來過，當時他們發現隧道挖不下去了，
so there their road ended in that direction,
所以，通往這個方向的路就斷在了這裡，
and there was noreason to go that way—unless the Great Goblin sent them.
因此半獸人是沒有理由到這裡來的——除非他們的大王派他們來。
Sometimes he took a fancy for fish from the lake,
有時候，大王會心血來潮想要吃湖中的魚，
and sometimes neither goblin nor fish came back.
但好多次，不僅魚沒有送來，就連捕魚的半獸人也一去不回了。
Actually Gollum lived on a slimy island of rock in the middle of the lake.
其實咕嚕就居住在湖中央一塊潮濕的岩石上。
He was watching Bilbo now from the distance with his pale eyes like telescopes.
此刻，他正用他那雙像望遠鏡一般的大白眼遠遠地觀察著比爾博。
Bilbo could not see him, but he was wondering a lot about Bilbo,
比爾博看不見他，但他卻在好奇地琢磨著比爾博，
for he could see that he was no goblin at all.
因為，他可以看得出來，眼前的生物不是半獸人。
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.
咕嚕跳進船中，箭一般地離開了湖心島，此時比爾博正坐在水邊，腦子裡一團亂麻，既不知道該往何處去，也想不出下一步該怎麼辦。
Suddenly up came Gollum and whispered and hissed:
突然間，咕嚕就從他眼前冒了出來，用帶著嘶嘶的聲音對他低語道：
“Bless us and splash us, my precioussss!
“我的寶貝，祝福我們，為我們灑上聖水吧！
I guess it's a choice feast;
我想這是頓精美的大餐，
at least a tasty morsel it'd make us, gollum!”
至少可以給我們當一塊美味的小點心，咕嚕！”
And when he said gollum he made a horrible swallowing noise in his throat.
當他說“咕嚕”的時候，他會從喉嚨中發出一種恐怖的吞嚥之聲。
That is how he got his name, though he always called himself ‘my precious’.
這也是他獲得這個名字的原因，儘管他總是稱呼自己為“我的寶貝”。
The hobbit jumped nearly out of his skin when the hiss came in his ears,
當這種帶著嘶嘶的聲音傳到耳中時，霍比特人差點被嚇得魂飛魄散，
and he suddenly saw the pale eyes sticking out at him.
接著那雙蒼白的大眼也突兀地出現在他眼前。
“Who are you?” he said, thrusting his daggerin front of him.
“你是誰？”他將匕首伸到身前問道。
“What iss he, my preciouss?” whispered Gollum
“他嘶嘶誰，我的寶貝？”咕嚕低語道
(who always spoke to himself through never having anyone else to speak to).
(由於從來沒有其他人可以對話，他總是喜歡自言自語)。
This is what he had come to find out, for he was not really very hungry at the moment, only curious;
這是他跑到比爾博跟前來的真正原因，因為他這會兒肚子其實並不是很餓，只是感到很好奇，
otherwise he would have grabbed first and whispered afterwards.
否則他會先出手把他抓了再跟他說話的。
“I am Mr. Bilbo Baggins. I have lost the dwarves and I have lost the wizard, and I don't know where I am;
“我是比爾博·巴金斯先生，我跟矮人走散了，跟巫師也走散了，我也不知道自己這是在哪兒，
and I don't want to know, if only I can get away.”
可我並不想知道這是哪兒，只要我能離開這兒就行了。”
“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麼？”咕嚕盯著比爾博手中的短劍問道，他不是很喜歡這玩意兒。
“A sword, a blade which came out of Gondolin!”
“一把劍，出自剛多林的寶劍！”
“Sssss” said Gollum, and became quite polite.
“嘶嘶，”咕嚕變得頗有禮貌起來，
“Praps ye sits here and chats with it a bitsy, my preciousss.
“或許你可以坐在這裡，和他嘶嘶說說話，我的寶貝。
It likes riddles, praps it does, does it?”
他喜歡猜謎，也許喜歡，嘶不嘶？”
He was anxious to appear friendly, at any rate for the moment,
他急著要擺出一副友好的樣子，至少暫時如此，
and until he found out more about the sword and the hobbit, whether he was quite alone really,
以了解更多有關這把寶劍和這個霍比特人的事情：他是不是真的只有孤身一人？
whether he was good to eat, and whether Gollum was really hungry.
他吃起來味道好不好？咕嚕自己的肚子是不是真的餓了等等。
Riddles were all he could think of. Asking them, and sometimes guessing them,
猜謎是他當時惟一能想到的。出謎語給人猜，有時候也猜別人出的謎語，
had been the only game he had ever played with other funny creatures sitting in their holes in the long, long ago,
這是他和那些居住在自己洞穴裡的其他有趣生物之間惟一玩過的遊戲，
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，後來他失去了所有的朋友，被人趕走，孤身一人，往下鑽，往下鑽，一直來到這黑暗的大山最深處。
“Very well,” said Bilbo, who was anxious to agree,
“是的，猜吧。”比爾博迫不及待地同意了對方的提議，
until he found out more about the creature, whether he was quite alone,
因為他想更多地了解這個生物：他是不是只有孤單一人，
whether he was fierce or hungry, and whether he was a friend of the goblins.
他是否很兇猛，這會兒肚子餓不餓，以及他究竟是不是半獸人的朋友。
“You ask first,” he said, because he had not had time to think of a riddle.
“你先出謎語。”他說，因為他一時之間想不出什麼謎語來。
So Gollum hissed:
於是咕嚕就嘶嘶地開始說了：
What has roots as nobody sees,
什麼有根卻誰也見不到，
Is taller than trees ,
個子比最高的大樹還要高，
Up, up it goes,
它直直地插入天際，
And yet never grows?
卻從來不長一分一毫？
“Easy!” said Bilbo. “Mountain, I suppose.”
“簡單！”比爾博說，“應該是大山吧。”
“Does it guess easy? It must have a competition with us, my preciouss!
“它那麼容易就猜出來了嗎？我的寶貝，它跟我們較上勁兒了！
If precious asks, and it doesn't answer, we eats it, my preciousss.
如果寶貝出的謎語，它猜不出來，我們就把牠吃掉；
If it asks us, and we doesn't answer, then we does what it wants, eh?
如果它出的謎語我們猜不出來，我們就滿足它的要求，
We shows it the way out, yes!”
指給它出去的路，就這麼著！
“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！ ”比爾博不敢不同意，為了不讓自己被吃掉，他開始絞盡腦汁思考能難倒對方的謎題。
Thirty white horses on a red hill,
三十匹白馬在紅色山丘上，
First they champ,
它們先是大聲嚼啊嚼，
Then they stamp,
然後用力跺啊跺跺腳，
Then they stand still.
然後它們站定不動了。
That was all he could think of to ask—the idea of eating was rather on his mind.
這是他當時惟一想得出來的謎題——因為他滿腦子都在想著吃東西。
It was rather an old one, too, and Gollum knew the answer as well as you do.
這其實是個相當古老的謎語，咕嚕就和各位讀者一樣熟知答案。
“Chestnuts, chestnuts,” he hissed. “Teeth! teeth! my preciousss;
“老掉牙了，老掉牙了。 ”他嘶嘶地說道，“是牙齒！牙齒！我的寶貝，
but we has only six!” Then he asked his second:
可我們只剩下六顆了！”然後他又出了第二個謎語：
Voiceless it cries,
無嗓卻會叫，
Wingless flutters,
無翼能飛高，
Toothless bites,
無牙卻會咬，
Mouthless mutters.
無嘴愛叨叨。
“Half a moment!” cried Bilbo, who was still thinking uncomfortably about eating.
“讓我想一會兒！”比爾博喊道，他腦中還在滿帶懊惱地想著吃東西的事兒呢。
Fortunately he had once heard something rather like this before,
所幸的是，他以前曾經聽到過類似的謎語，
and getting his wits back he thought of the answer.
因此心思稍一收回來之後就想出了答案。
“Wind, wind of course,” he said, and he was so pleased that he made up one on the spot.
“是風，當然是風！”他剛一喊出答案，心中就一陣欣喜，因為他順勢想出了自己的第二個謎語。
“This'll puzzle the nasty little underground creature,” he thought:
“這下管保叫那個噁心的地底小生物想破頭！”他心中暗忖道：
An eye in a blue face
藍色臉上一隻眼，
Saw an eye in a green face.
看見綠色臉上一隻眼。
“That eye is like to this eye”
“那隻眼就像我這隻眼，”
Said the first eye,
第一隻眼說，
“But in low place
“可是它在地來
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。”咕嚕只有“嘶嘶”卻說不上話來。他已在地底住了很長很長的時間了，
and was forgetting this sort of thing.
都已經開始忘記這種事情了。
But just as Bilbo was beginning to hope that the wretch would not be able to answer,
但就在比爾博開始覺得這個壞傢伙會猜不出答案時，
Gollum brought up memories of ages and ages and ages before,
咕嚕卻喚醒了很久很久很久以前的記憶，
when he lived with his grandmother in a hole in a bank by a river,
那時，他還和祖母一起住在河邊的地洞裡，
“Sss, sss, my preciouss,” he said. “Sun on the daisies it means, it does.”
“嘶嘶，嘶嘶，我的寶貝，” 他說，“這是太陽照在雛菊上啊，肯定是的。”
But these ordinary above ground everyday sort of riddles were tiring for him.
可是，這些簡簡單單的、在地面上實在是家常便飯式的謎語，
Also they reminded him of days when he had been less lonely and sneaky and nasty, and that put him out of temper.
對他來說卻很是頭疼，而且這些謎語也讓他想起當年他沒有這麼孤獨、這麼鬼鬼祟祟、這麼條件惡劣時的生活，
What is more they made him hungry;
這讓他不由得光火起來。
so this time he tried something a bit more difficult and more unpleasant:
於是這次他想出了一個更難、更讓人聽了不舒服的謎語來：
It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
看不見，也摸不到，
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
聽不見，也聞不著。
It lies behind stars and under hills,
躲在星辰後，藏在山丘下，
And empty holes it fills.
把空洞填滿。
It comes first and follows after,
它先來一點，再全部趕到，
Ends life, kills laughter.
它終止生命，扼殺歡笑。
Unfortunately for Gollum Bilbo had heard that sort of thing before;
也該著咕嚕倒楣，比爾博之前聽到過這類的謎語，
and the answer was all round him any way.
所以答案早就已經噴薄欲出了。
“Dark!” he said without even scratching his head or putting on his thinking cap.
“是黑夜！”他連頭都沒搔，腦筋也沒怎麼開動，就喊出了答案。
A box without hinges, key, or lid,
一隻盒子沒有鉸鏈、沒有銷子也沒有蓋，
Yet golden treasure inside is hid,
但金色寶藏卻能安安心心在裡面藏起來。
he asked to gain time, until he could think of a really hard one.
他出這個謎語只是為了爭取時間，好想出一個真正難的來。
This he thought a dreadfully easy chestnut, though he had not asked it in the usual words.
他認為這個謎既老掉了牙，又簡單得要命，儘管他對常見的表述稍稍作了些改動。
But it proved a nasty poser for Gollum.
可沒想到這竟然把咕嚕給難住了。
He hissed to himself, and still he did not answer; he whispered and spluttered.
他口中不停發出嘶嘶聲，憋了半天也沒有說出答案。接著他又低聲細語，嘴巴里發出各種聲音。
Jrr Tolkien