Chapter 23 Chapter 8: The Staircase of Cirise Unger

Gollum was tugging at Frodo's cloak, hissing in fear and impatience. "We have to go," he said. "We can't stand here. Go!" Reluctantly, Frodo turned his back on the west and followed his guide to the dark east.They left the whole circle of trees and walked stealthily on the road towards the mountains.The road went straight for some distance, and soon began to curve south, until it came to a mass of rocks visible from afar.The chaotic rock pile looked down at them, revealing an evil breath, which seemed darker than the gloomy sky.The road continued under its shadow, rounded it and began to climb again.

Frodo and Sam went forward with very heavy hearts, and had no more energy to worry about the dangers before them.Frodo bowed his head, and the burden on his chest began to pull him down again, and as soon as they passed the crossroads, the burden that had been all but forgotten in Ithilien began to remind Frodo of its presence again.Now, standing on the steep road, he raised his head wearily, as Gollum had said before: he saw the city of the Nazgul.He bent down, using the rocks beside the road to hide his figure. This narrow valley, a deep valley full of shadows, cuts directly into the mountains.On the other side, at the other end of the valley, on the dark throne of Iphildus, stood the walls and towers of Minas Morgul.The sky and the earth are shrouded in darkness, but there is light in this dead city. This is not the moonlight that was imprisoned in the bright marble walls a long time ago, and it is no longer the tower of the rising moon that bloomed in the valley in the past.The light emitted here is indeed very similar to the pale light emitted by the moon when it is in eclipse, like a will-o'-the-wisp, like a thick fog with a corrupt atmosphere, completely unable to illuminate any surrounding scenery.There are many windows on the tower and the city wall, like countless black holes leading to nothingness, but the top of the tower is still turning eeriely, first in one direction, then in another direction, it is a place watching the night Huge ghost.The three of them stood there, involuntarily infected by the ghostly aura, and stood helplessly on the spot.Gulu was the first to regain his composure. He pulled everyone's cloak nervously again, but he didn't want to make any sound. He almost forcibly pulled everyone forward. The passage of time also seemed to slow down, and every time I lifted my foot, it seemed that I had to struggle for several minutes.

In such a helpless situation they came to the white bridge, where the road glowed faintly, and continued on through the stream in the middle of the valley, leading to the city gate in a twist: There are wide flats on both sides of the river, and the grass is dotted with white flowers.The flowers, too, shimmered, beautiful but eerie, like twisted shapes from some nightmare.They also gave off an eerie morgue-like smell, a decaying smell that filled the air.The bridge connects the two banks in this way, and there are exquisitely crafted statues of humans and animals at the head of the bridge, but everything looks ugly and corrupt.The water below was very still, and it was still steaming, but the steam surrounding the bridge was icy cold.Frodo felt his mind go blank, his senses twitched, and suddenly, as if a power beyond his will, took over him, and made him run forward blindly with outstretched hands, shaking his head from side to side.Both Sam and Gollum ran forward, and just as the master came to the bridge and was about to fall under the bridge, Sam quickly grabbed his master's arm and held him up.

"Not this way! No, not this way!" whispered Gollum, but the hiss between his teeth cut the silence like scissors, and he fell to the ground in fright. "Come on, Mr. Frodo!" said Sam, into Frodo's ear. "Wake up! Not that way. Gollum says no, and I rarely agree with him." Frodo rubbed his brow, and looked away from the city on the hill.The shining tower made him yearn for it very much, and he had to constantly contend with the inner desire to rush up the hillside.At last, he managed to turn around, feeling at the same time that the Ring, against his will, was pulling the ring tightly forward; and, when he looked away, he seemed to lose his sight, the darkness before him For a moment it became completely impenetrable.Gollum, sprawled on the ground like a frightened puppy, had disappeared into the darkness.Sam supported his faltering master and followed as closely as he could.Not far from the river there was a gap in the stone wall beside the road, through which they entered a narrow path.To Sam's eyes the path shimmered at first, and dimmed when they were out of the sea of ​​dead flowers, winding quietly up the north slope of the valley.

The hobbit trudged along the path, completely unable to see Gollum ahead of him, and only when he stopped and waved back did he know where he was.At that time, there was a white-green light flashing in his eyes, which seemed to reflect the evil light of the Devil's Nest, or some kind of emotion in his heart.Frodo and Sam have always felt that the black hole of the Devil's Lair and the strange demon light followed them. Even though they kept driving on the hillside, they couldn't help the inner impulse, kept looking back, and forced themselves to look away. Back on the path in front of them, they couldn't speed up their pace, they could only move forward slowly.When they finally got out of the foul-smelling mist from the river, their breathing finally became smoother, and their heads were no longer so groggy, but now their limbs are extremely sore, as if they were carrying a heavy weight. It was as if the load had been carried all night, and it was also like going upstream against the flow of a waterfall.At last they were compelled to stop, and Frodo stopped, and sat down on the rock on which they had now climbed at last.Before them was a clearing on the edge of the valley, and the path went on around this rock, and then the terrain was more treacherous, and the narrow path led to the abyss on the right; Disappeared in a cloud of black air.

"I must rest, Sam," whispered Frodo; "it is heavy, Sam, heavy! I wonder how far I can go with it? At any rate, before we go on, I must take a break!" He pointed to the narrow and dangerous road in front of him. "Hush! Shh!" Gollum hurried back. "Shhhhh!" He put his fingers over his mouth and shook his head vigorously.He tugged on Frodo's sleeve, and pointed the way in front of him, but Frodo did not move. "No," he said, "not yet." Tiredness and pressure beyond ordinary people's imagination came like a torrent, and his limbs and bones seemed to be extremely heavy due to the curse. "I want to rest," he murmured.

Upon hearing these words, Gollum's fear and excitement became so strong that he spoke again, covering his lips and hissing, as if not to be heard by invisible eavesdroppers. "Can't be here, no, can't be resting here. Stupid! Eyes can see us, they'll see us when they get to the bridge. Go! Climb, climb! Come!" "Come, Mr. Frodo," said Sam, "he is right again, we really cannot stay here." "Well," said Frodo in a feeble voice, as though half asleep. "I'm willing to try." He stood up wearily. It's too late!At that moment, the rocks under their feet began to shake violently, and the deafening muffled sound passed through the ground again, echoing in the mountains; then, a dazzling red light shot out suddenly, behind the far east, this A red light shot into the sky, dyeing all the low clouds blood red.In this valley of shadow and pale twilight, the red light was unbearably intense.Under the light of the fire gushing out of the Gorgoros Basin, the steep mountains here look even more gloomy, followed by a loud sound

thunder. Minas Morgul responded, and it responded with bolts of lightning shooting from the tower to the clouds in the sky, and blue and white electric snakes rushed out from the tower and the adjacent hills, licking the low clouds, and the earth A howl, a piercing howl from the city, combined with the merciless howl of the vulture and the neighing of fear and rage from the horses, a piercing piercing sound from the city, rising slowly until beyond The limits of human hearing.The hobbit staggered and fell to the ground, unable to move with his hands over his ears. After the sound of fear ended, there was a long, painful silence. Frodo could not bear the pressure, and slowly raised his head.At the other end of the narrow valley, the evil city that was almost parallel to his line of sight, its sharp-toothed gate has been opened, and an unprecedented army stepped out from the gate.

The army was all clad in night-black armor, and Frodo could barely see them against the faint reflections of the ground and the shape of the walls: row upon row, row upon row of small figures, moving silently and swiftly, like black The waves of waves generally keep pouring out.Before their team, the leader was a group of well-ordered, shadow-like cavalry. The leader was a knight who was taller than all the knights. He was black all over, with only a crown like a helmet on his head. Dangerous flashes.He approached the bridge slowly, and Frodo's eyes followed him, unable to do anything else. Could this, could it be that the head of the Nine Knights had returned to the world again, leading his evil army to the battlefield?Yes, what is in front of you is the fallen king who walks in the nether world. His ice blade once assassinated the holder of the Lord of the Rings.The old wounds began to ache, and a chill came to Frodo's heart.

Just when these thoughts pierced through Frodo like a sharp sword, making him unable to move, the knight suddenly stopped at the head of the bridge, and all the troops behind him also stood still. For a moment, the world was silent, as heavy as death. .Perhaps it was the Ring calling to the Lord of the Dead, for he seemed to hesitate for a moment, sensing other powers entering his valley.The evil spirit exuding fear all over his body scanned the surroundings with invisible eyes.Frodo waited, motionless as a frog before the serpent's eye; and while he waited, he felt suddenly and definitely a desire stronger than ever--to wear the Ring!But even though the temptation was incomparably strong, he still didn't want to succumb to it.He knew that the ring would only betray him, and even if he wore the ring, he would not have the strength to face the Lord of the Den, and the time had not yet come.His own will no longer answered the call, but he felt with horror that a power came from without and manipulated his hand, and Frodo looked at the power (as he looked at the past history As if passing) let his hand slowly move towards the necklace on his neck; then, his own will began to intervene, slowly forcing his hand back, ordering it to find another thing on his chest.In his hands, the thing felt cold and hard. It was the small glass tube that Queen Galadriel had given him. It had been treasured in his chest all this time, and he hadn't remembered it until now.As soon as he touched it, all images of the Ring were driven out of his mind.

He sighed and hung his head. At the same moment the Necromancer turned and galloped across the bridge, followed by all his black-clad troops.Perhaps the elf's cloak deceived his eyes, or perhaps the mind of the little foe resisted his will with the elf's aid, but he had to go.The time has come, the lord has ordered him to bring his troops into the western battlefield immediately. He quickly disappeared on the other side of the road like a shadow melting into the darkness. Behind him, countless black figures continued to pass the bridge.Even in Isildur's heyday, there had never been such a powerful army in this valley.Never before had Anduin seen such a wicked and vast army, and this was only one of the many forces of Mordor. Frodo shuddered, and suddenly his thoughts turned to Faramir. "The storm has broken at last!" he thought. "Such a mountain of swords is going to Osgiliath. Will Faramir have time to cross the river? He has already guessed, but does he know the exact time? At the head of the nine knights Who will be able to guard the ferry during the personal conquest? There will be other troops coming... I am already too late, everything is already hopeless, it is all because of my delay on the road, everything is over. Even if I finish No one will know about this mission, and I will not be able to share this news with any living people, and everything will be wiped out." He was completely defeated by this desperate emotion, and began to sob, while the troops of the Morgul Still relentlessly move on.Then, as if from far away, through the memories of the Shire, one sunny morning, as the door opened, he heard Sam's voice saying, "Wake up, Mr. Frodo! Wake up!" He wouldn't be much surprised by that voice adding "Breakfast is ready!"Sam's voice was rather sharp indeed. "Wake up, Mr. Frodo! They're all gone," he said. With a dull sound, the gate of Minas Morgul was closed, and the last row of spears had disappeared at the other end of the road.The high tower still grinned grimly at the valley, but the light within it had disappeared, and the whole city fell into the dark silent shadow again, but it still stared at the valley covetously. "Wake up, Mr. Frodo! They are all gone, and we had better go too. There is still a power left in this place, which has eyes or can see the changes around us, and we can stay in the same place. The longer it takes, the more likely it will find us. Come, Mr. Frodo!" Frodo looked up, and rose slowly.The despair had not left his heart, but the previous weakness had passed.He even showed a dignified smile, knowing that he had already decided everything in his heart, which was exactly the opposite of what he had thought before.The thing to do was to be done, and he didn't care if Faramir, Aragorn, and Elrond, Galadriel, and Gandalf couldn't share it with him.He held the cane in one hand and the gift Galadriel had given him in the other, and when he noticed the clear light streaming from his hand, he took it to his chest and held it against his chest. .Then, he turned around and left the magic cave where only a faint gray light remained, and prepared to continue walking up. It seemed that, when the gates of Minas Morgul opened, Gollum crept his way into the darkness, leaving the hobbits behind.He was crawling back now, his teeth chattering and his fingers rubbing. "Fool! Stupid!" he hissed. "Quick! They must not think the danger is over. It's not. Hurry up!" They made no answer, but followed him up the dangerous path.Even after all the danger they've been through, they don't like the situation, but thankfully it doesn't last long.Presently the path turned and the side of the hill leveled off again, and they came to a narrow opening in the rocks again, and they were at the first flight of stairs Gollum had spoken of.There was almost nothing to see around them, but when Gollum looked back, his eyes shimmered in the darkness, showing the way for them a few steps before. "Be careful!" he whispered. "Stairs, lots of them. Be careful!" They do need to be very careful.At first Frodo and Sam thought they were safer now that they had walls on either side at last, but the steps were almost as steep as ladders, and as they went higher they were more and more conscious of the darkness behind them.Each step is very narrow, and the width of each other is uneven, making it difficult for people to settle down.The edges of the steps were worn badly, and some were even broken, crumbling into flying ash with one more step.The hobbits struggled to move forward. In the end, they could only hold on to the stairs above with their hands, forcing their painful knees to bend and straighten continuously, but the stairs seemed to cut into the steep mountain endlessly. Still getting higher and higher. At last, just when they thought they could bear it no longer, they saw Gollum's eyes looking back at them. "Here we are!" he whispered. "The first rung is over. Clever hobbits can climb this high, very clever. Just a few more steps, yes." Frodo followed a swollen, aching Sam up the last step, and sat down on the ground, kneading his feet and knees.They were on a dark road, which seemed to go on and on; the only difference was that it had a gentler slope and no steps.Gollum did not let them rest long. "There's another ladder," he said, "a longer one, and we can rest after the next rung, not before." Sam wailed. "Did you just say it would be longer?" he asked. "Yes, hiss, and longer," said Gollum, "but not so hard to climb. The hobbit has climbed the straight, and the curved one will follow." "And after that?" Sam said. "We shall know then," said Gollum softly, "oh yes, we shall know then!" "I remember you said there was a tunnel over there," Sam said. "Is there a tunnel to go through?" "Oh, yes, there's a tunnel," said Gollum, "and the hobbit can go there after their rest. It's almost to the top, if they can walk up those steps. Very close, if they can get through. Oh ,yes!" Frodo couldn't help shivering all over. The previous climb had made his whole body hot, but suddenly he felt a cold sweat running down his body, as if a cold wind was blowing continuously from the top of the mountain.He stood up straight, trembling all over, and said, "Okay, let's go!" He said, "It's really not suitable for sitting for a long time." The road seemed to go on for miles, and the cold wind kept blowing mercilessly against them.The mountain seemed to provoke them with the breath of death, not wanting them to go to find out, or wanting to blow them into the darkness behind them.All they knew was that they seemed to be coming to an end because they couldn't feel any wall to the right.They can't see anything, they can only feel that they are surrounded by gray shadows all around, but occasionally a dark red light bursts out from the low-hanging clouds, and at that moment, they will see ahead and to the left and right. There are mountains towering into the clouds, as if they are big pillars reaching the sky.They seemed to have climbed several hundred feet straight to a rock shed with a cliff to the left and a deep ravine to the right.Gollum led them closer to the bottom of the cliff. For a while, it seemed that they were no longer going to climb up, but the ground became more rugged, and it seemed extremely dangerous in the dark.The road was full of fallen rocks of various sizes, and they could only proceed very slowly and carefully.Both Sam and Frodo had lost any sense of time, nor could they remember how long they had been in the Morgul Vale, and the night seemed never to leave.After a period of time, they saw a tall obstacle bulge in front of them again, and then another staircase appeared again.They stopped again, and later began to continue their climb.This is a very long and tiring process, but this time the stairs did not cut into the mountain, but meandered upward like a snake on the backward cliff, and one of them was even close to the cliff that went straight up and down. Frodo looked nearer, and saw below him the endless chasm that led down to the Vale of Morgul.The roads below all exude a strange light, extending all the way to the nameless realm. The ladder has been winding upwards, and finally, after a straight climb, it has reached another stage.The road in front of us avoided the main passage, followed the gap it had cut itself in the mountains, and penetrated into the gap of Iferdus.The hobbit could vaguely see towering and uneven rocks on both sides, and a gap deeper than night in between, where countless streams of cold air kept biting.At this time, the red light in the sky seemed to become more intense, but they were completely unsure whether this meant that this shadowy place was finally facing the morning, or that Sauron was using his evil fire to torture Gorgon. Golos Basin. Frodo looked up, and farther off he seemed to see the end of the road, and against the crest of the hills against the red sky, a deep cleft seemed to be cut between two shoulders on which Each has a rock in the shape of a horn. He stopped and looked more carefully. The rock corner on the left was taller and thinner, and there was some kind of red light emitting from it, or it might be the red light from the sky shining through the hole in it.He could see clearly now that it was a tall black tower.He touched Sam's arm and pointed forward. "I don't like the look of it!" said Sam. "The secret passage you speak of is guarded at the end," He turned to Gollum and growled, "I guess you already knew that, didn't you?" "Yes, all the roads are watched," said Gollum, "of course they are, but the hobbits must try, and this is probably the weakest spot of surveillance. Perhaps they are all off to the Great Battle." , maybe so!" "Perhaps," muttered Sam, "well, at least it looks a long way off, and we'll have a long way to go to get there, and a long tunnel to go. Mr Frodo, I Think you should sleep for a while. I don't know what time it is, day or night, but I know we've been walking for a long time." "Yes, we must rest," said Frodo; "let us seek a shelter from the wind, and gather strength for the last journey." For he felt that this must be the last time.The horror of the land outside the mountain and the mission to be performed there seem to be very distant things, and now it will not bother him for the time being. There is only one thing in his mind, and that is how to cross the seemingly impenetrable obstacle in front of him .As long as he can complete this impossible task, it seems that the job in the distance will become easier to carry out.At least, that's what he thought when he was worn out and in the shadow of Cirith Ungol. They sat down between two huge rocks, Frodo and Sam more inwardly, and Gollum lay on his stomach near the exit, where the hobbit ate his last meal before stepping into the Unknown. A meal, perhaps the last meal they will have together.They ate some of the food of Gondor, added some of the dry food of the Elves, and drank some water at last; but, as they sparingly drank, they could barely moisten their lips. "Wonder if we'll ever find water to drink again?" Sam said. "But I suppose they'll drink water even there? Goblins do drink water, don't they?" "Yes, they drink," said Frodo, "but say no more, what they drink is not what we can drink." "Then we should fill the jug all the more," said Sam, "but there is no water here at all, and I can't even hear it, and Faramir says you shall not drink any water from the Morgul." "What he says is, drink not any water that flows from Imrad Morden," said Frodo; "we are no longer in that valley, and if there is a spring here, it flows into the valley, not out of it. the valley." "I don't think so," Sam said. "At least not until I die of thirst. There's something sinister about this place." He sniffed. "And there's a strange smell, have you noticed? There's a weird smell, I don't like it." "I don't like anything here," said Frodo. "Whether it be steps or stones, smell or bones, the ground, water, and wind seem to be cursed, but we are destined to pass this way." "Yes, it is true," said Sam, "if we had known anything about this place before we set off, we wouldn't be here now, but I suppose that's how things are for the most part. The bravery in legends and stories Behavior, Mr. Frodo, those deeds which I used to call adventures, I used to think they were all sought by great men, for they were looking for excitement, for some amusement in the tedium of life. But that's not how true or memorable stories develop. Usually, people stumble into the vortex of history by mistake, or their path is arranged in this way. I think, they are just like us , there are many chances to turn back, but they choose to stick to it. If they do turn back, we will not know, because they will be forgotten by history. We have all heard the stories of people who continued, but not all A happy ending--at least, not a happy ending for the protagonist in the story and the readers outside. You know, just go home, and everything is all right, only a little changed, like Mr. Bilbo. But, These are not the best stories, although it is our dream to fall into such a story! I don’t know what kind of story we have fallen into now?” "I don't know," said Frodo, "but I can't be sure. That's what the story really is. Take your favorite story for example: you may know, or even guess." What kind of story is it, is it a happy ending or a tragic ending, but the protagonists in the story are not so lucky, and you don’t want them to know the ending first.” "Yes, master, of course. Take Beren as an example. He never thought that he would take the elf diamond from the Iron Crown of Angolodrome, but he did it anyway. That place is more beautiful than we are now. Darker and far more dangerous than the other. But, of course, it was a long story, beyond joy, sorrow, and regret, before the Fairy Diamonds came to Elendil at last. By the way, my lord, I Never thought about it! We have—in the glass bottle that the queen gave you, there is actually the light left by the diamond! Yes, we are actually in the same story! This story is still going on ──Don’t great stories never end?” "No, the story never ends," said Frodo, "but characters come and go; and when their plots are over, they go away, and ours will, sooner or later, be over." "Then we'll have a good rest and a good night's sleep!" said Sam with a wry smile. "That's all I really want, Mr. Frodo. All I want is ordinary rest and a good night's sleep. Waking up to work hard in the garden all day, I think this may be the goal of my hard work all my life, those big projects are not in my character at all. However, I still want to know if we will be let go in the future into songs and stories? Of course, we are in stories! But I mean, to put into words, stories told by the fireside, or after many, many years, from a book with red and in the big black book. Then people would say, "Let's hear about Frodo and the Lord of the Rings!" and they'd say, "Well, that's my favorite story. Brave, aren't you, Daddy?" "Yes, boy, he's the most famous of the hobbits, and that should explain everything."" "That explains too much," laughed Frodo, and it was a clear, hearty laugh.Such a voice had not been heard in this land since Sauron came to Middle-earth.Suddenly Sam felt as if all the rocks were listening, and the high walls were falling on them.But Frodo didn't take it seriously at all, and he laughed again. "Yeah, Sam," he said, "it puts me in such a good mood to hear you say that, as if the story had already been written. But you've left out one important character: the stoic Sam Weiss." Dad, I want to hear more stories about Sam, Dad, why don't they put him in a little more? I like his talking the most. It makes me laugh every time. If there is no Sam, Frodo is afraid It’s not far to go, is it, Dad?”” "Well, Mr. Frodo," said Sam, "you mustn't be joking. I am very serious." "Me too," said Frodo, "I still am, and we think too much. Sam, you and I, are still stuck at the worst part of the story, and, as is likely, someone on this side will say: "Dad, stop reading it, we don't want to hear it!"" "Perhaps," said Sam, "but I don't want to be the one who says it. It's fine that what has been done is recorded in the story, yes, and even Gollum might be good in the story, At least it will be better than your performance. According to him, he himself liked stories very much before, so I don’t know if he thinks he is a good person or a bad person?” "Gollum!" he yelled, "do you want to be a hero—where has this fellow gone?" There was no sign of him either at the entrance or in the nearby shadows, and instead of eating their food, he took his customary sip of water, and then he seemed to curl up and sleep as before.Last time they thought he disappeared because he wanted to find something to eat nearby, but this time it was obvious that he slipped away again while the two were talking, but this time for what? "I don't like it when he sneaks away without saying anything," Sam said, "at least not right now. He can't find something to eat here, unless he wants to eat rocks. Well, there's not even moss in here." nothing!" "It's no use worrying about him," said Frodo. "Even if we knew which way to go, we couldn't get far without him, and it seems we'll have to put up with his eccentricities. Let him play." "It's all the same, but I'd rather have him under my watch," Sam said, "and, if he's playing tricks, I'd rather be able to see what he's doing. You remember he never made it clear what's going on here Is there a guard? Now we see a tower over here, maybe it's empty, maybe it's not. Do you think he's gone to find the garrison inside? Orcs or something—" "No, I don't think so," answered Frodo; "if he had any tricks, I don't think he would. At least I don't think his tricks would be to go to the Goblins, or any Enemy-lord for that matter." Servant. Why wait till now, why take so much effort, and come so near the land he fears? How many times since we have been with him, he could have betrayed us. No, if he If there is really any trick, it must be his own secret trick, which is completely unknown to outsiders." "Well, Mr. Frodo, I think you are right," said Sam, "but that doesn't reassure me. I don't want to make any mistake, and I don't doubt that he will happily hand us over." To the Orc, he might kiss the other's hand; but I forgot there was his babe, indeed, I think the whole thing could be put under [HTH]Baby for poor Sméagol[HT] This may be the only point in his plot, but I don't understand how he can carry out his plot by bringing us here?" "Perhaps he doesn't know it himself," said Frodo, "and I don't think there's a complete and clear plan in his bewildered head. I think he just wants to keep the baby out of the hands of the Demon Lord." , delay as much as possible. Because if the Demon King gets the Lord of the Rings, it will be the last disaster for him and the whole world. On the other hand, his purpose of delaying time is also to wait for the right time.” "Yes, it's a fight between a coward and a filth, as I said before," said Sam, "but the closer you get to the devil, the more the coward becomes more of a filth. Remember me What he said: If we can finish this road, there is no way he will just let us take the ring in." "We are not done yet," said Frodo. "Yes, but we can't relax until then. As long as we get distracted, the dirty ghost will attack us very quickly. However, master, it is still safe for you to take a nap now, as long as you are human By my side. I'd be glad if you could squint for a while. I'll keep an eye on everything for you; as long as you're close to me, so I can hold you, there's no way anyone can get away without Sam finding out.碰你一根汗毛。」 「睡觉！」佛罗多叹气道，他的口气彷佛是在沙漠中看见绿洲的幻影一样。 「是啊，我即使在这边都睡得著。」 「主人，那就睡吧！躺在我的大腿上睡吧。」 几小时之后，咕鲁从另一个方向鬼鬼祟祟地回来了。眼前的山姆靠在岩石上，脑袋歪著，呼吸十分沉重，佛罗多躺在他的大腿上熟睡著。山姆的褐色小手放在他苍白的额头上，另一只手则是放在主人的胸前，两人的表情都十分的祥和。 咕鲁看著他们，他瘦削、饥饿的面孔上掠过一种奇怪的表情，他眼中的光芒消失了，变得微弱、灰败，苍老而疲倦；他的脸上似乎笼罩著痛苦的阴影，摇著头，回头看著山顶，似乎陷入某种内心的挣扎中。然后他又转回头，伸出一只颤抖的手，非常小心地碰触著佛罗多的膝盖，几乎可以说是一种爱怜的动作。在那么一瞬间，如果两名睡著的哈比人看得见，他们会认为眼前站著的是一名疲倦的年老哈比人，经历了早该归于尘土的漫长岁月、所有的朋友和亲戚也全都失去，年轻的活力也早已不复记忆，只剩下又老又弱的臭皮囊。只是，在那一碰之下，佛罗多动了动，发出低微的喊声，山姆立刻惊醒过来。他先看到的景象是咕鲁「准备对主人动手」，至少，在他的心中是这样想的。 「喂！」他粗鲁地说：「你在干什么？」「没有，没有，」咕鲁柔声说：「好主人！」 山姆说：「就算是吧，你这个老坏蛋，之前偷偷摸摸跑到别的地方去，是做什么坏事？」 咕鲁缩回了手，眼中又再度隐隐闪动出绿色的光芒，他看起来似乎化身成一个人面蜘蛛，趴在地上，双眼突出地看著对方。刚刚那一瞬间已经消逝了，无法再追回。「偷偷摸摸，偷偷摸摸！」他嘶嘶地说：「哈比人真是有礼貌，是啊。喔，好哈比人！史麦戈带他们来到其他人都不知道的秘密道路。他虽然很累、又渴，是啊，很渴很渴，他还是带领著他们到处找路，搜寻可能的出路，他们就只会说偷偷摸摸，偷偷摸摸。真是好朋友，喔，是的宝贝，真是好啊！」 山姆觉得有些后悔，但依旧不是很相信对方。「抱歉，」他说：「我很抱歉，只怪你不该把我从睡梦中吵醒。而且我是不应该睡著的，所以我才会有些惊慌。可是，佛罗多先生很累了，我请他眯一下，结果就变成这样了。抱歉。但是你刚刚到底去了哪里？」 「偷偷摸摸，哼……」咕鲁说，眼中的绿光依旧没有消失。 「喔，好吧，」山姆说：「随便你爱怎么说都可以！我想反正这也不会离事实太远。现在我们最好一起偷偷摸摸的走。什么时候了？是今天吗？还是已经过了一天了？」 「已经是明天了，」咕鲁说：「你们已经睡过一天了。很愚蠢，很危险，如果不是可怜的史麦戈偷偷摸摸的看守你们。」 「我觉得自己很快就会厌倦偷偷摸摸这个字眼了！」山姆说：「不过，别在意，我会把主人叫起来的。」他温柔地抚弄著佛罗多的头发，弯下身轻轻的呼喊著他的名字。 「佛罗多先生，快醒来！快醒来！」 佛罗多动了动，张开眼，露出微笑。「山姆，你叫得有点早了吧？」他说：「天还是黑的呢！」 「是的，这里一直都是黑漆漆的，」山姆说：「咕鲁回来了，佛罗多先生，他说这已经是隔天了。所以我们必须继续往前走，那是最后一阶了。」 佛罗多深吸一口气，坐了起来。「最后一阶！」他说：「嗨，史麦戈！找到吃的东西了吗？你有休息过吗？」 「没吃的、没休息，史麦戈什么都没有，」咕鲁说：「他只会偷偷摸摸。」 山姆发出啧啧的声音，但还是忍住不再多说什么。 「史麦戈，不要替自己取绰号，」佛罗多说：「这样不聪明，不管是真的还假的都一样。」 「史麦戈必须要接受别人给他的东西，」咕鲁回答：「好心的山姆魏斯先生给了我这个绰号，他是那么见识广博的哈比人。」 佛罗多看著山姆。「是的，主人，」他说：「当我突然醒过来，发现他就在我身边的时候，我的确这样叫他。我说过我很抱歉了，看来我得要收回这句话。」 「算了吧，不要太在意，」佛罗多说：「不过，既然我们都已经到了这个地方，史麦戈，你和我都一样，告诉我，我们在前面的路上可以自己找到方向吗？我们已经看到了那条路、也找到了进去魔多的方法，我想之前的承诺已经算是完成了。你已经照著你所承诺的做了，你不需要再受到任何的牵绊：你可以回去找东西吃，可以自由自在地休息，不管你想怎么样都可以，只是不能去投靠魔王的奴仆。有一天，我或是那些记得我的人，可能会给你一些奖赏。」 「不，不，时候还没到！」咕鲁哀嚎著说：「喔，不行！他们不能够只靠自己找道路，对吧？喔，真的不行。隧道就在眼前了，史麦戈必须继续下去。不能休息，不能吃东西。还没到……」