Chapter 17 Section 2 Swamp Road

Gollum moved quickly, his head stretched forward, and his hands often took the place of his feet.It was with great difficulty that Frodo and Sam were able to catch up with him, but he seemed no longer tempted to run away.If they fell behind, he would turn around and wait for them.After a while, he took the two of them to a narrow valley that he had seen before, but this time it was farther away from Eminmore. "Here it is!" he yelled, "There is a road down there, yes, we can follow it down, there is an exit there." He pointed to the swamp in the southeast.Even in the cool night sky, the stench of the swamp is still very pungent.

Gollum went down the chasm, and at last he turned and cried, "Come on! We can go down this way. Sméagol has been here before, and this is where I escaped the Orcs." He led the way, and the hobbits followed him down the chasm.It was not difficult to walk along the way, because the chasm was only fifteen feet deep and a dozen feet wide around here.There was indeed a stream running down below, and indeed it was one of the many streams that flowed down the hills to feed the fetid swamp.Gollum turned and walked southward, treading the shallow, rocky creek with his webbed feet, and seemed to take pleasure in touching the water, and sometimes he would giggle and even make some sort of tune Difficult song.

freezing cold, tingling palms, Biting the soles of the feet. boulders and boulders, like bones, No meat and no support. streams and ponds, Wet and cold: Refreshing in my heart! we want to- "Ha! Ha! What do we want?" he said, looking at the hobbit. "We tell you," he answered in a hoarse voice. "He guessed it, Baggins guessed it!" There was a gleam in his eye, and Sam noticed it in the dark, and decided it wasn't a kind gesture. live but not breathe, cold with dead air; never thirsty, never drink water; Wearing scale armor, but don't need to carry it.

on the suffocating land, put an island, Seen as high mountains, mistaken for a fountain, It's the bubbles that fly. so soft! so beautiful! we just hope can catch a fish, Juicy and luscious fish! These words just reminded Sam of one thing that he has been feeling uneasy since he knew that his master was going to take Gollum as a guide: the problem of food.He didn't think his master would have thought of it, but it was evident that Gollum had.How did Gulu get food and clothing during this period of tracking all over the mountains and plains? "I guess he probably doesn't eat very well," thought Sam. "He looks skinny. If there weren't any fish, I think he'd probably want to taste a hobbit. I'll bet if he met Will do it when we nap. Humph, I'll never let him have it, Sam won't be his victim!"

For a long time they staggered down the valley, at least for Frodo and Sam, who were sore.The valley meanders to the east, and as they advance, the water in the stream becomes shallower and wider, and finally, there is a little light in the sky.Gollum didn't look tired, but he stopped and looked up. "It's almost daytime," he whispered, as if daylight were some kind of monster that would sneak up on him and sneak up on him. "Sméagol stay here, and I'll stay here so Rhubarb won't see me." "We ought to be glad to see the sun," said Frodo; "but we'd better stay here, for we're too tired to walk any more."

"Yellowface is a pleasure to see, and you are not very wise," said Gollum. They can see far away. Hide with me!" The three of them leaned against the mountain wall by the valley and began to rest. The nearby mountain wall was only as high as a human being, and there were many stone grooves underneath that were not wet at all, and the stream flowed on the other side. Rodo and Sam lay resting in the recess.Gollum was rolling in the stream, as if looking for something. "We must eat first," said Frodo. "Are you hungry, Sméagol? There is not much for us to share with you, but we will share with you as long as there is."

Upon hearing the word hungry, Gollum's eyes lit up with a green light, and those eyes seemed to protrude much more than usual.For an instant, he seemed to revert to his old behavior pattern. "We're hungry, hiss, we're hungry, baby," he said. "What do they eat? Do they have any good fish?" His tongue slipped from between the yellow teeth and licked his pale lips. "No, we have no fish," said Frodo. "We have only this—" and he said, taking up a piece of Elves' food, "and water. I hope the water here is drinkable." "Hiss, hiss, good water," said Gollum, "drink it, drink it, take your chance! But dear, what do they have? Can you bite? Is it good?"

Frodo broke off a [HTH]lambas[HT] and handed it to him on the leaf where the dry food had been packed.Gollum smelled it, and his expression immediately changed. He showed a distorted expression of disgust and disgust, as if he was about to show his previous vicious look again. "Sméagol smells it!" he said. "The leaves from the Elf's dwelling! Damn! It stinks. He climbed those trees and never got the smell off his hands, my lovely hands." He dropped the leaves, Took a small corner of Lambas, took a bite; spit it out immediately, started violently cough. "Ah! no!" he mumbled, "you want to choke Sméagol! It tastes like dust, you can't eat it, he's starving, but Sméagol doesn't care. Good hobbit! Sméagol Go promised, he's going to starve. He can't eat hobbit food, he's going to go hungry, poor skinny Sméagol!"

"I'm sorry," said Frodo, "but I can't help you. I thought this food would make you healthier if you would try it, but it seems you can't even try." The hobbit chewed silently, Lambas.Sam felt that he could enjoy the goodness of the dry ration again, and Gollum's reaction made him notice the taste of the stuff again, but he did not feel safe.Gollum watched every movement of their meals, like a loyal dog at the table.It was only when they had finished eating and packed up their things for a rest that he finally believed that they hadn't hidden anything good.Then, he turned and left, sitting far away and humming.

"Listen!" Sam whispered to Frodo, but not so softly that he didn't mind if Gollum could hear him at all: "We must rest, but there's this hungry wretch near, We cannot both fall asleep at the same time, whether he swears or not. Sméagol or Gollum, old habits die hard! Mr. Frodo, you go to bed first, and I will stay till I can't keep my eyes open. Call you again. We have to be careful while he's running around." "Perhaps you are right, Sam," said Frodo loudly, deliberately; "something has changed in him, but exactly what, and how profoundly, I am not sure. But seriously, I don't think there's a need to worry too much right now; however, take some time to spy on him if you want to. Give me two hours and wake me up."

Frodo was so tired that almost as soon as he had finished speaking, his head fell forward on his breast, and he fell asleep at once.Gollum didn't seem to be afraid anymore, he curled up and went to sleep nonchalantly, his breath hissing annoyingly through his teeth, but at least he didn't show any signs of acting rashly.After a while, Sam fearing that he might fall asleep if he only listened to his companion's breathing, stood up hastily, and poked Gollum cautiously.His hand twitched, but there was no other response.Sam bent down and whispered in his ear, "There are fish!" But there was still no response from the other party, not even the slightest change in breathing. Sam scratched his head and said, "Maybe really asleep!" He murmured to himself, "If I'm like Gollum, this guy will never have a chance to wake up." He tried to suppress what came to mind. The image of the sword and the rope in the picture, walked back to the master and sat down. When he awoke the sky had darkened, no brighter than it had been when they had breakfast.Sam jumped up at once.Not because he felt energized or hungry, but because he suddenly realized that he had slept through the day, at least nine hours!Frodo was still fast asleep, sprawled on the ground, and Gollum was gone.Sam began to find all kinds of reproachful words from the old fellow's rich vocabulary, and at the same time, he also realized that his master was right: at least for now, they had nothing to worry about at all.Both of them are fine and have not received any threats. "Poor fellow!" he said regretfully, "I don't know where he went?" "Not far, not far!" said a voice above him.He looked up and saw Gollum's large head and ears, looking at him with his back to the sky. "Wow! What are you doing there?" When Sam saw the figure of the other party, he immediately became suspicious again. "Sméagol is hungry," said Gollum, "and be back soon." "Come back now!" shouted Sam. "Hey! Come back!" But Gollum had disappeared.Frodo sat up rubbing his eyes at Sam's cry. "Hi!" he said, "what's the matter? What time is it?" "I don't know," said Sam, "I guess the sun must have gone down. He ran off again, saying he was hungry." "Don't worry!" said Frodo. "You can't control him, and you will know then that he will come back. At least the oath will hold for a little while. He will not leave his darling anyway. " Knowing that he had slept for hours with a hungry Gollum beside him, Frodo was not much troubled. "Don't think about all the things your old man said to you," he said. "You're exhausted. It's not bad anyway. At least we've all had a good rest. There's a tough road ahead. Probably the worst part of the road." "As far as the food part," Sam said, "how long is our mission going to take? What do we do after we're done? This dry food keeps my feet moving, but it doesn't feel Really full. At least I am, and I don't mean any disrespect to the people who make dry food. What really worries me is that we have to eat a little every day, and it doesn't grow more. According to me Judging by our own judgment, the amount of dry food can probably last us for about three weeks, and that still has to be a belt-tightening situation. So far, we seem to have been too generous.” "I don't know how long it will take to accomplish this task," said Frodo. "We have been delayed a long time with Emynmore. But dear Sam, my best friend." , I don't think we need to think about what will happen after that. As you said, even if we have a chance to complete this mission, who knows what the end hope will be? If we do, who knows what will happen in the end What if the One Ring fell into flames and we were beside? Sam, do you think we'll need any bread at that time? I don't think we'll ever need it. If we can keep our energy up, let It’s enough that I can safely walk to Mount Doom. I’m even starting to feel like I might not even be able to do that.” Sam nodded quietly.He took his master's hand and bowed his head.He didn't kiss it, but let tears fall on it.Then he turned around, wiped his nose with his sleeve, and tried to walk around effortlessly, muttering to himself with forced composure, "Where did that damn guy go?" In fact, Gollum returned not long after, but his movements were so subtle that they were not noticed until he was beside them.His fingers and face were covered in black mud.He was still chewing something, but they didn't want to know what it was. "Maybe it's a bug or something that dug out of a hole," thought Sam. "Damn, the filthy wretch!" Gollum did not speak to them until he had gulped the brook water and washed his hands and face.At this moment, he licked his lips and walked over to them. "Much better," he said. "Have we rested enough? Shall we go on? Good hobbits, they slept soundly. Trust Sméagol? Very well, very well." The second part of their journey was not much different from the first half. As they went on, the creek became shallower and the terrain flatter. The bottom of the river became less and less rocky and replaced by There was a lot of mud, and finally the two banks were almost completely parallel to the river surface, and the river began to flow slowly and unrestricted.Tonight seemed to be coming to an end, but clouds and mists obscured the moon and stars, and they could only judge the arrival of morning through the faint gray light. They also came to the end of the stream in the coldest hour before dawn.The banks turned into mossy mounds, and after a succession of rotting rocks the stream gurgled into a brown swamp and disappeared.Although no one could feel any wind direction, the surrounding weeds still made a whirring sound and kept shaking. All kinds of low plants grew on both sides in front of them, some extended to the south, and some extended to the east.The mist spread among the dark, sounding pools, and some even emerged directly from the pools, and the unique stench of the swamp continued to fill the air.Just to the south, the lofty mountains of Mordor could be seen, looking a little like the clouds of demons dancing over the swamp. The hobbit can only rely on Gollum's leadership now.In this confused mist, they didn't know and couldn't guess that they had just entered the north side of the swamp, and the main and wide swamp area was still to the south of them.If they had a clearer understanding of the terrain, they might be able to spend a little more time walking back and going east, at least they could come to the wide plain of Dagora, which is the ancient battle in front of the gate of Mordor. battlefield.However, going this route would only be more dangerous.Because most of the demon king's soldiers and half-orcs come and go here, on that desolate and bare plain, even the cloak of the elves cannot prevent them from being discovered. "How shall we go, Sméagol?" asked Frodo. "Must we pass through these fetid places?" "No, not at all," said Gollum, "if the hobbit wants to go straight to him soon, not at all. We can back up a little, and go around a little," his thin arms stretched north and east Waving, "You can walk the cold and hard road directly to the gate of his kingdom. Many of his minions will be there waiting for the arrival of guests, and will be more than happy to take you directly to him , oh, it's true. His magic eyes are always on that land. Long, long ago, Sméagol was sent by him there now. Gollum shuddered. "But Sméagol has used his eyes since then, yes, yes, I have learned to use my eyes and nose and feet since then. I know there are The other roads are more difficult and not so fast, but if we don't want to be discovered by him, follow Smeagol! He can take you through the swamp in this great fog. Follow Smeagol carefully That way, McGonagall, you might go a long, long way before he finds you." It was already dawn, a windless and silent morning, the stench of the swamp was still blowing with the wind, no sunlight could penetrate the low dark clouds, Gollum seemed very nervous and wanted to go on.So, after a brief rest, they set out again, and were soon lost in the silent mist, so that they could not see the surrounding hills and mountains at all.Then they walked on slowly in a row: Gollum, Sam, Frodo. Frodo seemed to be the most weary of the three, and although his progress was slow, he often lost his way.The hobbits soon discovered that the land that looked like a large swamp was actually composed of many ponds, soft mud and blocked rivers everywhere. Only extremely sharp eyes and careful steps could find the land here. out a tortuous passage.Of course Gollum was keen enough, and even he had to do his best.His long neck and head kept turning around, sniffing, muttering to himself; sometimes he would raise his hand to signal a pause, and walk a short distance by himself, testing the ground with his hands and feet , or even put your ears to the ground, listening to everything. It was exhausting, the cold, clammy winters that seemed to remain in this forgotten land, the only green being the green duckweed that floated on the surface of the stagnant pool.Dead grass and rotting thorns stood in the mist, like corpses from past summers. As the sky gradually brightened, the fog also slightly decreased, becoming thinner and more transparent.In this rotten and damp land, the sun is rising higher and higher, shining on this watery land, but the people below can only see a vague ghost floating above the mist.The pale orb radiated no warmth or color, but even this dim sunlight made Gollum frown and bow his head.He stopped and signaled everyone to rest, and the three of them began to rest in this weird swamp like animals being hunted.The place is completely shrouded in dead silence, and the only sound is the occasional sound of grass blades falling into the pool, or the sound of plants being pushed by the air flow that no one can sense. "Not even a bird!" Sam lamented. "Yes, no birds," said Gollum, "good birds!" He said, licking his teeth, "there are no birds here, but snakes and worms and things in the pool. Lots of things, lots of ugly things. No birds, ' he said sadly.Sam glared at him with a disgusted expression. Thus passed their third day with Gollum.After the night covered the land, they set off again, with only a short rest in the middle, and the rest of the time they were on their way.The reason they paused was not only to rest, but also to help Gollum, because now even he must be very careful when going forward, and sometimes even he himself does not know what to do next; because they have come to the dead swamp. In the very center of it, it was completely surrounded by darkness. They walked slowly, stooping to watch the ground at the same time, following those in front of them, watching Gollum's every move.The ground got wetter and the pond got bigger, making it harder for them to find a firm footing, and many times they nearly sank into the bubbling, foaming pool.They are very glad that they have someone to lead them, otherwise they may never be able to get out of this swamp. At this time, the swamp became darker and darker, and even the air itself became dark and heavy.When the light came on, Sam rubbed his eyes, thinking something was wrong with his head.At first, he saw something out of the corner of his eye with his left eye. One light seemed to be fleeting, but another appeared immediately. It felt like glowing smoke, and some seemed to flicker on invisible candles. A fog of flames.Here and there they could be seen flying like veils stirred by invisible hands, but no one commented on them. At last, Sam could bear it no longer. "What are these, Gollum?" he said in a low voice. "These lights? They surround us all. Are we trapped? What are they?" Gollum looked up.He was looking at a pool of black water, but he was lying on the ground looking around, not knowing which way to go. "Yes, they're everywhere," he whispered, "these are deceiving lights, will-o'-the-wisps, yes, yes. Leave them alone! Don't look! Don't follow them! Where's the master?" Looking back, Sam saw that Frodo had left the party again, and he could not see him.He turned back a few steps and broke into the darkness, not daring to go too far, and not daring to call his master too loudly.Suddenly, he bumped into Frodo, who was standing still, looking at the will-o'-the-wisp, as if thinking about something.His hands hung limply by his sides, with a lot of water and mud dripping from them. "Come, Mr. Frodo!" said Sam, "don't look at them! Gollum says we must not look at them. We follow him, and get out of this accursed place!" "Okay," Frodo said, as if waking up from a dream, "here I am, let's go!" Sam hurried forward again, but accidentally tripped over a tree root, and he fell heavily. Fortunately, he supported him with his hands, but his hands were deeply sunk in the mud, causing his face to fall. Close to the pool on the ground.He heard a faint hissing sound, a strange smell wafted out, and the light began to flicker, floating around.For a moment, the pool of water in front of him became like a kind of window, allowing him to see another world.He pulled his hand out of the mud, and yelled back several steps. "There are dead things in it, dead faces in the water," he said in fear, "dead faces!" Gollum laughed: "This is the Dead Swamp, yes, yes, otherwise why is it called that?" He giggled. "You shouldn't be opening your eyes to see a will-o'-the-wisp while it's flickering!" "Who are they? What are they?" said Sam, turning to Frodo, tremblingly, "I don't know," answered Frodo in a dreamlike tone, "but I see them too." , I saw them in the pool when the will-o'-the-wisps lit up. I saw many faces: evil, stern faces, noble, sad faces, many proud and beautiful faces, with many weeds in their silvery hair. But They all stink, and are dead, and have begun to rot. There is a corrupt light within them..." Frodo covered his face with his hands, and said: "I don't know who they are, but I think I see Elves and Men, and Orcs beside them." "Yes, yes," said Gollum, "dead and rotting, Elves and Men and Orcs alike. Dead Marshes, there was a Great War here long ago, and Sméagol in his youth , I heard people say it before I met the baby. It was a terrible battle, tall humans with long swords, and terrible elves, screaming orcs, and they fought for months in front of the black gate. Since then, the swamp has appeared here, swallowing all the graves." "But this is from the last age," said Sam. "The dead can't really be here! Is this some kind of curse from the dark land?" "Who knows? Sméagol doesn't know," replied Gollum. "You can't touch them, and you can't meet them. We tried once, yes, baby, I tried once, but you just couldn't." See them. Can see images of them at best, but can't touch them. No baby! They're all dead." Sam stared at him with gloomy eyes, and couldn't help shivering, because he felt that he had already guessed why the other party wanted to touch these images. "Well, I don't want to see them again," He said, "Never again! Can we just keep going and get out of this place quickly?" "Yes, yes," said Gollum, "but very slowly, very slowly. Be very careful! Otherwise the hobbits will join them, and have little will-o'-the-wisps themselves. Follow Sméagol! Don't Look at those will-o'-the-wisps!" He hunched over and continued to the right, trying to find a way around the pool.The two of them followed Gollum closely, and used hands and feet like Gollum. "If we go on for a few more days, we will look like three little Gollums marching in line!" thought Sam. At last they rounded the edge of the black pool and managed to leap from patch to patch of grass.They often stumbled, stepped into the water with one foot, or fell into the water with their hands, so that their bodies were muddy, and even their necks turned black, and everyone felt that the other was full of stench. By the time they finally set foot on dry ground, it was already after midnight.Gollum hissed incessantly, and he seemed to be delighted with his handiwork, as if by some strange means, by means of sense, smell, and memory of shapes in the dark, he seemed to make him I know where I am, and I am sure how to take the road in front of me. "Let's go on!" he said. "Good hobbit! Brave hobbit! Of course we're very, very tired, and so are we, baby, we're all tired. But we gotta get our masters away from these strange fires, yes, Yes, we must!" As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately walked forward, almost at a trot, on the path formed by the weeds on both sides.The two behind them tried their best to keep up with his speed.But, after a while, he stopped again and began to sniff the air suspiciously, as if he felt something unhappy and uncertain again. "What happened?" Sam misunderstood the other party's actions. "Why do you smell like this? I almost passed out when I held my nose. You stink, the master stinks, and the whole place stinks!" "Yes, yes, and Sam stinks too!" replied Gollum, "poor Sméagol could smell it, but he held back to help the good master. But it doesn't matter, the air moves and changes , Sméagol doesn't understand, he's not happy." He walked on again, but his restlessness seemed to increase gradually, and he often stopped and craned his neck to look east and south.At first, the hobbit didn't feel anything bothering him at all, and then all three of them stopped suddenly, listening and smelling the changes in front of them.It seemed to Frodo and Sam that they heard a far-off shriek, and they shuddered; start to fall.As they stood and listened to the changes before them, they could hear in the distance the sound of a storm approaching, the will-o'-the-wisps flickering, fading, and finally dying out. Gollum would not go forward, and stood there, trembling and talking to himself, while a strong wind came and swept across the formerly misty swamp.The night became less gloomy, with enough brightness that they could vaguely see the intertwined mists flowing in the swamp.They looked up and saw the clouds shattered into pieces, and then, the moon suspended above the clouds appeared in the southern sky. The first sight of the moon had cheered the hobbit, but Gollum lay down on his stomach and began to curse Whiteface.Then, as Frodo and Sam stared into the sky and breathed the fresh air, a black cloud burst out of Mordor, and it was a hideous creature with wings.It blotted out the moonlight, uttered a shrill cry, and galloped westward with an evil speed that surpassed the breeze. The three of them were lying on the icy ground at the same time, not daring to raise their heads, but the terrifying shadow kept hovering, getting lower and lower, its wings had already begun to flap the stench in the swamp, and then it disappeared. In his anger, he hurried back to Mordor, and the sound of the wind seemed to leave with his whereabouts, and the Death Swamp fell into silence again.The wilderness as far as the eye can see is once again shrouded in pale moonlight.Frodo and Sam stood up, rubbing their eyes, like children who have just had a bad dream, and happily faced the night sky as usual; but Gollum still lay motionless on the ground, as if fading away.They managed to pull him up, but he still refused to stand up. He kept holding his head with his big hands and insisted on lying on the ground. on the ground. He cries, "Necro! Winged ghoul! Babes are their masters. They can see everything and nothing can stop them. Damn you whiteface! They will tell him everything.He can see, he will know.O Gollum, Gollum, Gollum! ’ He was willing to get up and move on after the moon had sunk westward into Mount Torbranda. From then on Sam thought Gollum had changed again.He became more flattering and fawning, but Sam was sometimes surprised to see a strange gleam in his eye, especially when looking at Frodo.However, he will also use the original tone of speech more and more often.There was another concern for Sam: Frodo seemed weary, on the verge of collapsing, he didn't complain, in fact he hardly said a word, but walked as if he was carrying his back. A traveler with a heavy burden, moreover, the weight seemed to keep increasing, making his speed slower and slower.Finally, Sam must often ask Gollum to stop and wait for his master to follow. In fact, every time Frodo took a step towards the gate of Mordor, he felt the weight of the ring hanging around his neck became heavier; .But he was more troubled by the magic eyes, as he called them, which weighed far more than the ring, and made him unable to hold his head up when he walked.Those magic eyes are a kind of evil, growing hostility, you can clearly feel that it goes up mountains and seas, breaks through all the siege and danger, just wants to find you, let you be locked naked under the other party's sight .Frodo knew where the will was behind those eyes, as a common man can know the direction of the sun with his eyes closed.He was facing that direction, and the waves of force kept hitting him. Gollum may also feel the same power, but how does he struggle in his heart between facing Sauron's will, the temptation of the Lord of the Rings, and the oath he made?The hobbit could not understand it at all, and Frodo had no energy to think about it.But Sam was so engrossed in his master that he scarcely noticed that a dark shadow was cast over his own heart.He let Frodo walk in front, carefully watching every move of his master, supporting him from time to time, or encouraging him with clumsy words. When day at last came, the hobbits were amazed at how close they had become to the distant mountains.The air was cooler and cleaner now, and although the mountains of Mordor were still some distance away from them, they were no longer blurred like a castle on top of a cloud, but clear like a high wall on the other side of the wasteland.At last they had reached the edge of the swamp, and the wet ground had turned into dry, cracked mud.In front of him was a flat, barren slope, leading all the way to the desert in front of Sauron's gate. They seized the short time when the dawn still illuminated the earth, and hid under a huge black rock like bugs, lest they be discovered again by that terrifying evil shadow.The following journey seemed like a boundless nightmare, making it impossible to recall any real images in my mind.They struggled for two nights on this flat but roadless wasteland.The air seemed to them to be getting drier, and a bitter stench permeated their breath, drying their lips. Finally, on the morning of the fifth day, they stopped again.Before their eyes, under the light of dawn, the mountains of Mordor had become a huge obstacle covering the sky. Many broken hills stretched out from the foot of the mountains, and the nearest one was more than ten miles away.Frodo looked around in terror, and even after the horrors of the Dead Marshes, and the threat of the desolate land before him, what filled him with terror was the evil that slowly lifted its veil before him in the morning light. realm.Even in the swamp full of undead, there are still some dilapidated greenery preserved; however, here, whether it is spring or summer, there will never be any greenery.Not a blade of grass grows here, and everything withers, not even moss or fern that can grow on rotten things can survive here.The hollows in the ground here are covered with a sickly gray mud and soot, as if the mountains had spit their dying blood at the foot of the mountain.Many dusty rocks piled up here one after another, and huge stone pillars formed by flames and high temperature also stood here, looking like tombstones in an endless cemetery.These were what Frodo saw in the morning light.他们眼前所面对的，就是抵达魔多之前的最后一个考验，也是他的奴隶最后的纪念碑，在所有其他的丰功伟业都随风而逝之后，可能只有这块荒地会留存下来：这块病态、无药可救的死寂大地。除非大海将此地的邪恶与污染完全冲刷殆尽，否则此地将永恒如一。 「我觉得好想吐，」山姆说，佛罗多没有回答。 他们站在这块土地之前，像是明知噩梦在前，却必须尽量忍住不睡觉的人一样无奈，因为，他们知道必须要经过这段阴影，才能够看到早上的太阳。天色越来越亮，地面上的凹洞和染有剧毒的土堆变得越来越清晰。太阳高挂在天空，穿行在云朵和一道道的黑烟中；可是，在这块大地上，即使连阳光都变得病态般的虚弱。哈比人并不喜欢这种阳光，它看起来一点也不友善，只是徒然让他们的行踪被揭露在众多敌人的眼前，而他们就像是漫游在黑暗魔君王国中的一缕鬼魂。 由于他们已经太过疲倦，无法继续往前，因此，他们找了个地方休息。一开始，他们坐在一颗大石之下，沉默地休息著；没想到，大石间突然冒出了恶臭的浓烟，让他们喘不过气来。咕鲁是第一个反应的人，他咒骂著、咳呛著站了起来，完全不管身后的哈比人，就手脚并用地逃开。山姆和佛罗多紧跟在后，好不容易才来到了一个圆形的坑洞中，它在面临西方的部分特别高耸。这个坑洞中温度很低，在底部还有反射著七彩光芒的恶心油渍。他们不得已，只能瑟缩在这恶心的坑洞中，希望藉由它的阴影可以躲过魔眼的注意。 白天过得很慢，他们觉得口乾舌燥，但他们只敢从水壶中稍稍喝几口水。他们上次装水的时候是在之前的溪谷中，从他们现在所在之处往回望去，那里似乎变成了一个世外天堂。哈比人轮班值日，一开始，不管他们有多累，两个人都睡不著；但是，慢慢的，随著太阳躲进缓慢移动的云朵中，山姆打起了瞌睡。那时是佛罗多轮值的时候，他靠在坑洞的斜坡上，但那并无法解除他胸口所感觉到的沉重负担，他抬头看著布满一道道黑烟的天际，看见奇怪的魅影，黑色骑马的身影、来自过去的幻影。他在半睡半醒之间搞不清楚过了多久，最后终于失去了意识。 山姆突然间醒了过来，以为自己听见主人的叫喊声。天色已经接近黄昏，佛罗多不可能发出任何的叫喊声，因为其实他已经睡著了，几乎快要滑到池底去了。咕鲁坐在他身边，一时间，山姆以为他正准备叫醒佛罗多，但细看之下才发现不是这样。咕鲁正在自言自语，史麦戈正在和另外一个共用同样身体，但说话时带著更多嘶嘶声的人格争论，苍白与绿色的光芒不断在他眼中闪烁互换。 「史麦戈发过誓了！」第一个人格说。 「是的，是的，我的宝贝，」另一个人格回答道：「我们发过誓了，要拯救我们的宝贝，不让他找到它，永远不会。但它正在逐渐靠近他，没错，一步一步越来越近。我们不知道，我们不知道这哈比人想要怎么做，是的，我们不知道。」 「我不知道，我不行。在主人手上，史麦戈发过誓要帮助主人！」 「是的，是的，要帮助主人：宝贝的主人。但如果我们是主人，那么我们就可以帮忙自己，是的，而且也不会破坏诺言。」 「但史麦戈说过他会非常非常乖。好哈比人！他把残酷的绳子从史麦戈的脚上拿走。他很好心的对我说话。」 「非常非常乖，呃，我的宝贝？那我们就乖一点，和鱼一样，只对我们自己好。当然，不，不会，不会伤害好哈比人。」 「但是我们是以宝贝起誓！」史麦戈的声音抗议道。 「那就抢下它，」另一个声音说：「让它变成我们的！这样我们就会变成主人了，咕鲁！让另外一个哈比人，那个疑心重的坏哈比人在地上爬，没错，咕鲁！」 「但不会害到那个好哈比人吧？」 「喔，不，如果这不会让我们高兴，我们就不会这样做。可是，我的宝贝，他还是巴金斯家的人，是巴金斯家的人偷走了。他找到它，什么也不说，我们恨巴金斯家的人。」 「不，这个巴金斯家的人例外。」 「才不，每个巴金斯家的人都一样，还有所有藏起宝贝的人。我们一定要拿到宝贝！」 「可是他会看见的，他会知道的。他会把它从我们手中夺走！」 「他看见了，他也知道了，他听见我们作出愚蠢的承诺，违背他的命令。是的，一定要拿到它。死灵在搜索了，一定要拿到它！」 「不能为了他这样做！」 「不，好孩子。你看，我的宝贝，如果我们有了它，那么我们就可以躲过他的搜索，对吧？或许我们可以变得很强，变得比死灵要强。史麦戈大王？伟大的咕鲁？至尊咕鲁！每天都可以吃鱼，一天吃三次，海上捞来的新鲜鱼。最珍贵的咕鲁！一定要拿到它。我们想要它，我们要它，我们要它！」 「可是他们有两个人，他们会很快醒过来，杀死我们！」史麦戈最后挣扎道：「不是现在，时候还没到。」 「我们想要它！但是，」这个人格暂停了很长的一段时间，彷佛想到了什么新点子：「时候还没到，呃？或许吧，她可以帮忙，是的，她可以。」 「不，不要！不要走那边！」史麦戈哭喊著：「要的！我们想要它！我们想要它！」 第二个人格每次说话的时候，咕鲁的细长手指就会伸向佛罗多，然后在史麦戈说话的时候又会猛然抽回来。最后，两只手臂似乎终于达成了协议，都开始抽搐著伸向佛罗多的脖子。 山姆躺著不动，对这场争辩感到十分的好奇，半闭著眼睛看著咕鲁的一举一动。在他简单的小脑袋中，咕鲁原本最大的危险是他的食欲，他想要吃掉哈比人的欲望；这时，他才意识到这并非是这样：咕鲁感受得到魔戒恐怖的召唤，所谓的[HTH]他[HT]就是黑暗魔君，但山姆也很好奇她是谁？或许是这个小怪物，在四处漫游的过程中所结交的怪物朋友。然后，他就将此事忘得一乾二净，因 为眼前的状况已经变得越来越危险，他觉得四肢非常的沉重，但他还是使尽全身力气坐了起来。他心中有某种预感，警告自己不要让对方知道他听见了之前的争论。他重重地叹了口气，夸张地伸了个懒腰。 「什么时候了？」他睡眼惺忪地问。 咕鲁从齿缝间发出了一声长长的嘶嘶声，他站了起来，全身肌肉紧绷，似乎准备做些什么，然后他又趴了下去，四肢著地爬到坑洞边。「好哈比人，好山姆！」他说：「头晖晖，是啊，头晖晖！让好史麦戈来看守！不过，已经傍晚了，天色已经渐渐暗下来，该走了。」 「正好！」山姆说：「也是我们该出发的时间了。」但是，他的心中也不禁开始怀疑，到底应该放任咕鲁继续乱跑比较危险，还是将他留在身边比较危险。「该死！我真希望他被呛死！」他嘀咕著。他踉跄地走下坑底，将主人叫醒。 诡异的是，佛罗多觉得神清气爽，他之前一直在作梦，黑暗的阴影已经消退了，在这块暗影潜伏的大地上竟然有美丽的影像来拜访他。他记不起来到底是什么，但却知道自己因为那影像而觉得心情轻松，又很高兴，他的重担似乎也变得比较轻了些。咕鲁兴高采烈地欢迎他，他咯咯笑著，拍打著细长的手指，边摸著佛罗多的膝盖，佛罗多对他露出微笑。 「来吧！」他说：「你很聪明，很忠实的替我们带路，这是最后的一个阶段了。把我们带到门口，我就不会再要求你跟著一起来了。只要把我们带到门口，你接下来想去哪里都可以，只要不是投靠魔王都好。」 「去大门吗？」咕鲁露出害怕和惊讶的表情：「主人说要去大门！是的，他这样说。好史麦戈一定会遵命的，是的，遵命。但是当他比较靠近之后，我们可以再看看。一点都不漂亮，喔，不，喔，不！」 「出发吧！」山姆说：「我们赶快把这件事情解决！」 他们在逐渐降临的暮色中，爬出坑洞，速度缓慢地在这片死寂的大地上前进。他们走了不久，又再度感觉到和死灵乘著翅膀降临同样的恐惧。他们停了下来，趴在这带著恶臭的地面上，但是天空中却没有发现任何不一样的景象。很快的这阵威胁感又消失了，或许它只是执行巴拉多的某个任务，而在高空飞翔而已。过了一阵子之后，咕鲁站了起来，继续弯腰驼背地往前走，不断地浑身发抖。 大概在什夜之后一个小时的时候，恐惧感又再度袭来；但这次的感觉比较遥远、比较模糊，似乎它正在高空，用极高的速度扑向西方。不过，咕鲁却害怕得不得了，认为众人的行踪已经被发现，因而敌人正派出大军来猎杀他们。 「三次了！」他哭叫道：「三次就真的很危险，他们感觉到我们在这里，他们感觉到宝贝了！宝贝是他们的主人，我们今天不能再走了，一点用都没有，没用！」 恳求和好言相劝完全失去了效用，直到佛罗多板著脸，生气地命令他，并且一只手放到剑柄上，咕鲁才终于站起来。最后，他狂嚎一声，像是头被毒打的狗一样继续前进。 就这样，他们一路毫不休息，一直赶路到第二天清晨，这期间他们一直丧气地垂著头，除了耳畔呼啸的风声之外，什么也听不见，什么也看不见。