Chapter 24 Chapter 9 Shelob's Lair

It may be daylight now, as Gollum said, but the hobbits can't see any change at all; the only difference is that the sky was originally in total darkness, as if soaked in deep black ink. Among them, but now, the sky has become the same color as the night, and there are still gray gleams in many gaps.However, the earth is still shrouded in boundless shadows.Gollum walked ahead, and the hobbits walked shoulder to shoulder across the road between towering weathered rocks, as if they were passing under the watchful eyes of two statues.There was complete silence all around.Not far ahead, about a mile or so, was a tall gray mountain wall, which should also be part of this mountain range.It looks very dark, and it keeps climbing up, towering into the sky, blocking all the scenery in front of it.Beneath the rock face were gray shadows.Sam sniffed the nearby scents. "Damn! This smells so bad!" he said. "The stench from before is getting stronger." They were now in the shadows, and there was an opening in the middle of it.

"This is the way in," said Gollum softly. "This is the entrance to the tunnel." He didn't name it: Torek Ungol: Shelob's Lair.A strong stench emanated from it. This was not the corruption in the valley of the Morgul, but a disgusting stench, as if all kinds of indescribable filth had accumulated in the cave, in the dark. bred in it. "Is this the only way, Sméagol?" said Frodo. "Yes, yes," he replied, "yes, we must go this way." "You mean you've been in this hole before?" Sam said. "Phew! But you probably don't mind the smell."

A strange light flickered in Gollum's eyes. "He doesn't know what we mind, does he, baby? No, he doesn't understand. But Sméagol can stand a lot of things. Yes, he's been This road, oh yes, goes through the middle.This is the only way. " "I don't know what is emitting this stench, Sam said, "It's kind of like—well, never mind, I don't want to say. I'll bet it's where the goblins live, and it's been piled up for hundreds of years." "Orc or not," said Frodo, "if it is the only way, we must go in it." They took a deep breath at the mouth of the cave and went in.After walking a few steps, it became pitch black.Not since the dark mine passages of Moria had Sam and Frodo encountered such complete darkness; and, even it seemed deeper and denser.Inside the pit, there is also the feeling of air movement, echoes, and vast spaces.The air here is stagnant and heavy, and the sound seems to be absorbed.They seem to be walking in a terrifying world completely made up of the essence of darkness. The breath exhaled by this darkness will not only make people invisible to the eyes, but also erase all memories of colors and shapes in the brain.

Here is the eternal night, the night that never changes, everything here is night.At first, though, they could feel the difference around them; in fact, the sense of touch in their extremities seemed to be amplified to an uncomfortable degree.They can definitely feel that the walls are smooth, and the floor is very flat except for the occasional steps, all the way along the solid Climb upwards at a certain angle.This tunnel is so wide that when the two hobbits walk side by side, they can only touch the cave walls on both sides with their fingertips. They feel that they are completely separated by the darkness and the whole world. .

Gollum went in first, and seemed to be only a few steps away.When they were still in the mood to take care of him, they could hear his breathing right in front of them.However, after a short time, their senses became even more dull, and their sense of touch and hearing seemed to be paralyzed; they still had to grope forward, relying only on the willpower that came in at the beginning, hoping to penetrate it soon. Tunnel, to the other side of the hole.Not long after they had gone (this is only an inference, since the passage of time and the distance seemed to lose all meaning), Sam walked on the right, touching the wall, and could clearly feel an opening in that direction: he smelled a With a less heavy breath, he walked over again. "There's more than one fork in the road," he murmured reluctantly, as if he couldn't seem to get enough air to speak. "It's very much like a place where Goblins would live!" After that, first he, and then Frodo, passed through three or four such openings, some wider, some smaller; but the way they walked The road is undoubtedly the main road, because this road does not turn at all, and it is also the widest.But how long is this?How long will they have to endure, how long can they endure?

The gravity of the air increased rapidly with time, and they seemed to encounter some kind of resistance stronger and denser than air in this darkness.They could feel something brush their heads or brush their hands as they walked along.It could be a parasitic plant, or some kind of tentacles.In the dark, they couldn't determine what these things were.Moreover, the stench continued to grow stronger.It kept increasing, until at last all the senses of the hobbit seemed to be blinded by this one smell, which made them more miserable. One hour, two hours, three hours, how long did they spend in this dark cave?Hours—days, maybe even weeks.

Sam went to Frodo's side, and they clasped their hands together, and with difficulty they found the courage to go on.At last, Frodo groped for the left-hand wall, and came suddenly before nothingness.He almost fell into the void.Here there was a gap in the rocks wider than any terrain had encountered before, and the smell coming out of it was so strong and menacing that Frodo retched.At that moment, Sam also staggered, almost falling into the void in front of him.Suppressing his nausea and boundless terror with difficulty, Frodo clasped Sam's hand and said. "Stand up!" he said hoarsely. "It's all coming from here, the stench and the sense of menace. Hurry up! Hurry up!" He mustered the last ounce of courage and willpower, pulled Sam up, and forced his limbs to keep moving .

Sam staggered behind.One step, two steps, three steps, and finally they took the sixth step.Perhaps they had passed through this fear-emitting, invisible opening, or perhaps it was something else; but all they knew was that suddenly it was easier for the two of them to move.It was as if the previous hostility had loosened its clutches.They continued to struggle, still holding hands.Almost immediately, however, they ran into another difficulty.The tunnel seemed to fork in two, and in the darkness they could not tell which one was wider or which was straighter.Where should they go?Is it left or right?They don't have any basis for judgment at all, but as long as they make a mistake, their lives may be endangered immediately.

"Where did Gollum go?" Sam gasped. "Why didn't he wait for us?" "Sméagol!" Frodo tried reluctantly to call the other person's name. "Sméagol!" But his voice was hoarse, almost instantly indistinguishable from his lips.There was no answer, no echo, not even a change in the air. "I think he's really gone this time," Sam muttered. "I think that's why he brought us this way. Gollum! You'll regret it if we meet again." Then, groping in the dark, they found the opening to the left blocked : If it's not a dead end, or a big rock fell in the middle of the road. "Can't go this way,

" "Whether right or wrong we must go the other way," said Frodo in a low voice. "And faster!" Sam gasped. "There's something worse here than Gollum. I can feel something watching us." They hadn't gone a few yards before a voice came from behind; in the heavy silence , it was terribly frightening: a bubbling, gurgling sound, a very long hissing sound.They turned around, but still couldn't see anything.They could only stand still like statues, staring at the unknown in the darkness. "It's a trap!" said Sam, and he seized the hilt of his sword at once, and as he did so he thought of the dreadful sight he had encountered on Tomb Hill. "I wish Tom was around!

" he thought.Then, surrounded by darkness, in the soup of rage and despair, he seemed to see a light: at first it was unbearably strong, as painful as someone who has not seen the sun for a long time looking directly into the sun.Then the light took on colors: green, gold, silver, white.In a faraway place, drawn as if by the hand of an elf, Queen Galadriel stood in the meadow of Lórien, holding many gifts in her hand.As for you, Ringbearer, he heard her say, far away but very clearly, I have this for you.The grunt was getting closer, and there was some sort of screeching of joints in between.It was preceded by a foul smell. "Master, master!" The crisis of life made his hoarse throat make a sound. "Gift from the Empress! Starlight! She said it would be your light in the dark. Starlight!" "Starlight?" Frodo seemed to be waking up from a big dream, and at first he couldn't understand what the other party said. "Yeah, why didn't I think of that? Illumination when all lights go out! Right now, it's really the only light that can help us." He slowly stretched his hand towards his chest, slowly holding up the small glass bottle that Galadriel had given him.At first it was faint and flickering like a star rising through a thick cloud; then its radiance grew stronger, and hope in Frodo's heart began to throb.It began to shine, and was a silver fire, a heart of light that flickered, as if Elendil himself had descended to let the light of the Silmaril on his brow shine upon the earth.The darkness began to recede, and the light seemed to form a shining transparent sphere, and the hand holding it was also flickering with white flames.Frodo stared in amazement at the wonderful gift, and wondered that he had carried it with him so long without realizing its power and light.He had almost completely forgotten the existence of the thing on the road until they came to Morgul Vale.Moreover, he didn't dare to use it at all along the way; because he was afraid that the light would reveal their whereabouts. Aiya Earendil Elenion Ancalima! He shouted, and he didn't know what it meant; it seemed that another power was chanting through his mouth, which was not oppressed by the stench here.But there are other powers in Middle-earth too, the ancient and powerful power of the night.Walking in the dark, she had heard the elves call out in ancient times, so it didn't bother her, and it didn't make her flinch.As Frodo spoke, he could distinctly feel menace and will looking at him.Not far in the tunnel, between the opening where they had nearly fallen and where they were now; he became aware of the slow emergence of many pairs of eyes, two dense and complex clusters of eyes - which turned out to be the The source of murderous intent. The brilliance of the starlight was refracted and shattered in the many-faced compound eyes, but behind them a pale, deadly fire began to heat, a flame long simmering in some evil consciousness.Those are the eyes of a cursed monster, full of beastliness, but possessing the evil wisdom that takes pleasure in hurting others, looking at the hopeless prey in front of them. Frodo and Sam, overwhelmed with fear, began to back away slowly, their own eyes caught by those eyes full of malice.They kept retreating, but those eyes kept moving forward.Frodo's hand began to tremble, and then the power of the starlight began to fade.Suddenly the eyes, for their amusement, set them free from some immobilizing spell, and sent them running about in vain; , those eyes are still chasing after him.They seemed to be tightly surrounded by the stench of some kind of death. "Stop! Stop!" he yelled in despair. "It's useless to run." The eyes slowly approached. "Galadriel!" he yelled, mustering up a sliver of courage as he struggled to hold the starlight aloft.The eyes stopped.It seemed suspicious, and relaxed for a moment.in frodo's heart At this moment a raging rage was ignited, and he had no time to think about it, no time to consider whether it was stupidity or bravery; so he held the starlight in his left hand and drew his sword in his right.The needle flashed blue light, and the sharp elf sword glowed softly under the white light.Then Frodo held up the Starlight in one hand, and the sword in the other; and thus the Hobbit of the Shire met those eyes with such courage. Those eyes wavered.When the light got closer and closer, they began to have doubts.One by one, the light in those eyes dimmed, and they began to recede.Never before had such a deadly light threatened them.They hide safely underground, safe from the sun, moon and stars.But now, a ray of starlight shoots into the ground, And it is still advancing.Those eyes flinched.One by one, the eyes began to go out, and a huge figure with indistinguishable light blocked the two people's sight.Those eyes are gone. "Master, master!" Sam yelled.He drew his sword himself, and followed closely behind. "Long live the stars! If they hear what we do, the elves will make us a song! I wish I lived to tell them these things and hear their songs. Master, wait, don't Stop chasing! Don't go into that cave! Now is our only chance. Let's get out of this stinking cave!" So they turned back in the same direction, first walking and then running, for the ground before them had grown steeper; with every step they took they were farther away from the invisible stench, and they could fight for it. The strength and determination to climb more.However, they could still hear the voice of the watcher chasing after him hard. Maybe he was temporarily blind, but he was not defeated, and he still only cared about death.At the same time, a cold, weak breeze blew in front of my eyes.Finally, the opening of the cave appeared in front of him.They were out of breath and couldn't wait to find a place without a roof, so they rushed forward in two steps in three steps.However, they were surprised and took a few steps back in a row.The exit was blocked by something, but it wasn't rock; it was something soft and slightly elastic, but strong and indestructible.Air can pass through without any light entering.They charged forward again, only to be bounced back again. Frodo held up the starlight, inspected the foreground, and found a gray curtain, which not only could not penetrate the starlight, but could not illuminate it.It was as if it was a shadow cast by darkness, so no light could dispel it.At the mouth of the hole is a huge web that is tightly stitched, like the masterpiece of some kind of giant spider, neat but tighter and bigger, and each thread is as thick as a rope. Sam showed a solemn smile: "Spider web! Is that so? Spider web! So what if it's a spider! Go to hell, break it for me!" He slashed with his sword angrily, but where the blade passed The spider web keeps breaking.It would pull away a little, and then snap back like a drawn bowstring, snapping both the blade and the arm apart.Sam slashed three times with all his strength, and at last, he managed to break one of the countless spider threads, making a whoosh sound of breaking through the air.One of the ends swept across Sam's palm, causing him to cry out in pain and take a few steps back, Suctioning the wound with his mouth, "It will take days to cut a path, what shall we do? Are those eyes back?" "No, not yet," said Frodo. "It's just that I still feel that they are still looking at me, or at least thinking about me: maybe they are making some plans. If the light fades, or disappears, they will come back soon." "Trapped at last!" said Sam despondently, his rage burst out again with weariness and despair, "like a gnat caught in a spider's web. May Faramir's curse be swiftly upon Gollum body!" "Even so, it will not help us at all," said Frodo. "Come! Let us see what wonders the lancet can do. This is the blade of the Hammer. In the deep valley of Beleriand it was forged, there must be such a dreadful web. But you must stand behind and watch for it. I drive those eyes away. Here, take this starlight. Don't be afraid. Hold it up high, and pay close attention to what's in front of you!" Frodo walked up to the tangled web, turned around and slashed, and the sharp blade cut off countless spider threads.The sword with blue flames was as easy as a sickle weeding. The spider web naturally shrank and broke in front of the blade, hanging down limply.Soon a path was opened.He slashed and slashed, until at last all the webs within range were shattered; the upper half of the webs melted into a curtain that swayed in the wind.The trap is broken. "Come!" cried Frodo. "Quick! Quick!" His mind was filled with ecstasy that he could finally escape from this cave of despair.It seems that a lot of mellow wine has flowed into the blood vessels.He jumped out of the hole, yelling.After he experienced the endless darkness in the cave, the darkness outside seemed to become much brighter.The thick black smoke had climbed into the sky and became thinner.It seemed that the last hours of the day were drawing to a close, and the red glow of Mordor had faded much in the mist. But, to Frodo, it seemed to be a hopeful morning.He was almost at the edge of the high walls of Mordor, only taller.In front of his eyes was the deep valley of Cirise Angle, a gap in the black edge, with towering black rocks on both sides, like two guards in the sky.It only takes a sprint, and it can be rushed over at once! "The pass is finally here, Sam!" Regardless of the hoarseness of his voice, after finally getting out of the oppression of the dull air, everything seemed to be liberated. "The pass! Run, run, we're going through it, there's no time for anyone to stop us!" Sam forced his legs forward as fast as he could, but even though he was happy to be free of the restriction, he still felt uncomfortable. restless; when he ran, he would look back at the dark archway from time to time, worried that he might see eyes or some shape rushing out to hunt them down.He or his master knew too little of Shelob's lair, which had many exits. She is the evil will in the form of a spider, and has dwelt there for countless ages, and she even dwelt in the kingdom of the elves in the west, and now she has fallen into the sea.There Beren fought in the dreadful mountains of Doriath, and there Lucien set foot on the green earth, and met her fateful encounter.There is no story of how Sheloh escaped from the ruins and came here, for few records survived of those dark days. But here she is, dwelt here even before Sauron came, and the foundation of Barad-d'oh was laid; serving no one but herself. She drank the blood of men and elves, and in the dark It became incomparably bloated, constantly weaving all kinds of dark cobwebs. For, all living things are her food, and all she spits out is darkness.Her offspring were crossed with various males, and the hybrids she hatched were scattered by her from Iferdus to the Eastern Hills, including Dol Guldur and In the vast territory of Mirkwood.But none of them surpassed her, Shelob the great, the last of Ungolian's world-wreckering offspring.Gollum had met him many years ago; Sméagol loved to dig and explore any dark cavern, and for that he bowed and adored her.Her evil is also by his side anytime and anywhere, cutting off the path of light and regret for him.He also promised her that he would bring her food. But her desire was not his desire.She knows little about towers, rings, or anything made by human power; her only simple desire is the death of all other creatures, in exchange for her food and appetite, so that she continues to bloat until the mountains Until it can no longer hold her, and the darkness can no longer hide her.However, that desire will take a long time to be fulfilled, and she has been hungry for a long time, because Sauron's power is constantly expanding, and all creatures dare not approach his border.The city in the valley is dead, no elves or humans are willing to approach, only those hapless orcs are left.They taste bitter and unpalatable.But she still had to feed; however the poor things dug their way, she always found a way to eat them.But she kept craving sweeter meat. Gollum brought them to her at last this time: "When the time comes, when the time comes," he used to say to himself when his evil side came to the fore, as he went from Eminmore to the Morden Even more so when she was at Gu, "We'll know then. It should be good, oh yes, when she drops those bones and clothes, we'll find it, we'll find the treasure, for poor Shi McGonagall brings a small reward of food. We'll keep our word and save the baby. Oh yes. She'll know when we put it away properly. Oh yes, we'll pay her back then , my baby. We will repay everyone well!" In his heart, he had been planning like this until he sneaked up to her and bowed his knees in front of his companion while he was asleep, hoping to keep her from knowing about it. . As for Sauron: he knew where she hid.It pleased him that she could be hungry and dissatisfied at times, yet retain her intimidating power, a more perfect Guardian than all his abilities could ever create.As for those orcs, they were useful servants. Anyway, he had a lot of them. If Shelob caught a few orcs to fill his stomach, he didn't mind. It was a loss not worth feeling sorry for.Just as people occasionally throw some bait to their cat (he always calls her his kitten, but they have nothing to do with each other), so Sauron will give him some useless food. The prisoner was thrown before her.He would deliberately drive them into the cave, and let his subordinates report her hunting performance.Therefore, they lived together peacefully, content with their own schemes, not worried about any attacks or anger and tricks from each other.Never before or now has any prey escaped Shelob's snare, and now her rage and hunger are swelled like never before. But Sam knew nothing of this evil they bothered; his only clue was a build-up fear, a restlessness he could not see; Unable to lift like lead.He felt that the surroundings of his body were full of fear, and there was likely to be a large army stationed at the pass.And the master just ran forward without any defense.Therefore, he moved his eyes away from the concave hole in the cliff on the left, looked ahead, and found two things that made him feel more suspicious.He noticed that Frodo's unsheathed sword still gleamed blue; and he noticed that though the sky behind him was black, the windows in the tower still shone red. "Orcs!" he muttered. "We absolutely can't rush there so recklessly. There are orcs around, or things worse than orcs." Then he resumed his original cautious attitude, covering the precious star light with his hands.His hands glowed red for a moment, and then he put the bottle in his breast pocket and rewrapped the elf's cloak.Then he tried to catch up faster.His master had already rushed farther and farther, almost twenty paces away; under the darkness, his gray figure would soon disappear in the vastness. Sam had the Starlight just in his breast pocket when she came.Not far in front of him on the left, suddenly there was a terrifying figure that had never been seen before, and it made people's heart shattered, rushing out from another opening under the cliff.This is like a collection of evil spirits awakened from people's nightmares. Her body is like a spider, but it is more hungry than a carnivorous beast. Her eyes The light of wisdom in her body makes her more terrifying than ordinary beasts.Those compound eyes were the ones he thought he had defeated, flinching from earlier. Now there was a frightening light again, all focused on her protruding forehead.She also had weird horns, and behind her stubby neck was a bloated, deformed body that looked like an ugly, bulging pouch that dangled lewdly between her legs; The black top is dotted with disgusting marks, but the belly underneath is pale, translucent, and constantly stinking.Her legs were bent, their twisted joints rising above the level of her back, the hairs on them standing like steel needles, and there was a claw at the end of each leg.As soon as she squeezed her limp body and folded limbs out of the hole, she ran at lightning speed and leaped with all her might.She sits just between Sam and her master.She might not have seen Sam, or had avoided him because of the light on him, and had focused all her attention on Frodo, who had lost his light and was running defenseless.He ran fast, but Shelob was faster, and she could catch him in a few leaps. Sam gasped, and mustered all his strength to tear his throat open and shouted, "Watch out behind you!" he growled. "Master, be careful! I—" But his voice was suddenly muffled.One long, sticky hand covered his mouth, another grabbed his neck, and something else wrapped around his feet.Unprepared, he just fell into the arms of the attacker. "Caught it!" Gollum hissed in his ear. "Finally, my darling, we've got him. Yes, the stinky hobbit. We got this one. She can get another one. Oh yes, Shelob will get him, not Sméagol. He promised he would never hurt the master. But he got you anyway, you filthy cunning!" He spat on Sam's neck Mouth phlegm.Enraged by the other party's betrayal, and under the panic of seeing that he could not rescue his master immediately, the slow Sam in Gollum's eyes suddenly burst out with power that no one could have expected. Gollum could of course have moved faster and harder, but he was too careless.His hand let go, and the hand covering Sam slipped away, and Sam bent over and continued to rush forward, trying to break free from the restraint around his neck.His sword was still in his hand, and on his left arm hung the staff that Faramir had given them.In a panic he tried to turn around and stab the enemy, but Gollum was too quick.He stretched out his slender hand and grabbed Sam's wrist like lightning: his fingers were like steel clamps, and he ruthlessly bent Sam's hand forward until Sam screamed in pain and let go of the treasure. Sword, let it fall to the ground.At the same time, Gollum's other hand tightened its grip on Sam's throat.Sam made a last-ditch effort.He stood firmly on the ground with both feet, and used all his strength to fly backwards.Even such a simple trick was beyond Gollum's expectation of Sam, and so Gollum took the full weight of Sam's body in the belly.He let out a sharp breath, and let go of the hand that was holding the opponent's throat for an instant; but the hands that grabbed the opponent's sword wrist did not budge.Sam lunged forward, stood up, leaned on Gollum's grip on his wrist, and turned quickly to the right.Sam grasped the cane with his left hand, and swung it up, and with a click, it hit Gollum's outstretched arm.Gollum exclaimed, and finally let go.Sam took a further step, not wanting to waste time changing hands, and he just swung another blow with his left hand. Gollum slipped aside, and the blow that had been aimed at his head hit him in the back.The cane snapped in two.That's enough for him.He has always preferred the hunting method of sneak attacking from behind, and he rarely fails.But this time, under his own provocation, he wasted his time talking and humiliating the other person before he put both hands on the other person's throat.Every step of his plan had been fatally flawed since that terrifying light had emerged from the darkness. Now, he must face an angry foe no smaller than himself.This is not his fight.Sam picked up the sword from the ground and prepared to swing it.Gollum let out a low howl, and jumped away like a big frog on all fours.Before Sam had time to react, he was running back to the cave with incredible speed.Sam gave chase with a sword in hand.At this time, his killing intent had already made him only remember the goal of chasing and killing Gollum. But before he had time to overtake him, Gollum was gone.Then, when he stood at the entrance of the dark cave, the stench in the cave came to his nostrils, and he slapped him twice as if trying to wake him up, reminding him of Frodo and the monster chasing him suddenly.He turned around abruptly, shouted his master's name frantically, and ran forward desperately.He is too late.Gollum's plan had succeeded. Ungolian is the most evil huge creature in the land where the main god lives.At first she may have been an elf of nature, but in the end she turned into a gigantic ugly spider with the ability to weave dark webs.Under the order of Marco, the demon king of the sky, she poisoned the main god tree with terrible venom.Even, when she fled to Middle-earth with the Demon King After entering the world, there was a conflict over the competition for elf diamonds.If it wasn't for the demon troops under the demon king to drive her away, even the demon king would be defeated by her.Later, she hid at the bottom of Beleriand's Fear Mountain, where many huge spiders lived in the valley of death.Shelob was probably one of her offspring.After Beleriand landed in the Second Age of the Sun, Ungolian fled to the Desert of Harad; there, having nothing else to hunt, she devoured herself.