Текст книги "The Hobbit / Хоббит. 10 класс"

Автор книги: Джон Рональд Руэл Толкин

Соавторы: И. Загородняя
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Текущая страница: 4 (всего у книги 9 страниц) [доступный отрывок для чтения: 4 страниц]

Chapter 8
Flies and Spiders

They walked in single file.[52]52
  гуськом


[Закрыть] The path was narrow and winding. There were black squirrels in the wood. There were queer noises too; but what made the noises they could not see. They saw dark dense cobwebs, often stretched from tree to tree. There were none stretched across the path, though.

The forest seemed endless, and they began to hate it. But they had to go on and on. The nights were the worst. But in the complete darkness they could see eyes. They slept all closely together, and took turns to watch; and when it was Bilbo’s turn, he could see pairs of yellow or red or green eyes in the distance, and then they slowly faded and disappeared and slowly shone again in another place. “Insect eyes” he thought, “not animal eyes.”

Bilbo was always hungry, for they were extremely careful with their provisions. They once shot a squirrel with an arrow, but when they roasted it, it had a horrible taste, and they shot no more squirrels. They were thirsty too, for they had very little water, and in all the time they had seen neither spring nor stream. And then they saw that their path was blocked by running water. It flowed fast and strong, and it looked black. They remembered that Beorn had warned them against it, so now they only thought of how to cross it without wetting themselves. Bilbo looked ahead and suddenly cried:

“There is a boat against the far bank!”

“How far away is it?” asked Thorin.

“Around twelve yards,[53]53
  12 ярдов – около 10 метров


[Закрыть]” answered Bilbo.

“We can’t jump it,” said Thorin.

“Can any of you throw a rope?” asked Bilbo.

Fili thought he could; so he took the rope in his hand, and then flung it across the stream.

“Not far enough!” said Bilbo who was looking forward. “Try again. I don’t think that the magic is strong enough to hurt you, if you just touch a wet rope.”

Fili picked up the hook. This time he threw it with greater strength.

“You have thrown it right into the wood on the other side now. Draw it back gently,” said Bilbo.

Fili pulled the rope back slowly, and soon the boat was close to them.

“Who’ll cross first?” asked Bilbo.

“I will,” said Thorin, “and you will come with me, and Fili and Balin. After that Kili and Oin and Gloin and Don; next On and Nori, Bifur and Bofur; and last Dwalin and Bombur.”

“There aren’t any oars. How are you going to push the boat back to the far bank?” asked the hobbit.

“Give me another rope and another hook,” said Fili. Then he threw the rope into the darkness ahead and as high as he could. The hook got stuck in the branches. “One of you,” said Fili, “should pull on the rope that is stuck in a tree on the other side. One of the others must hold the hook that we used at first, and when we are safe on the other side he can hook it on, and you can draw the boat back.”

In this way they were all soon on the far bank safe across the enchanted stream. But then something bad happened. Out of the gloom a deer ran into the dwarves and bowled them over. Then it prepared for a leap. High it jumped. But Thorin was quick: he shot into the leaping beast. They heard how the deer fell down. Just then Bilbo cried: “Bombur is drowning!”. It was only too true.[54]54
  Так оно и было.


[Закрыть] Bombur had only one foot on the land when the deer sprang over him. He stumbled and fell into the water.

They could still see his hood above the water when they ran to the bank.

Quickly they threw a rope with a hook to him. His hand caught it, and they pulled him to the shore. He was wet from hair to boots, of course, but that was not the worst. When they laid him on the bank he was already fast asleep; and fast asleep he remained in spite of all they could do.

Suddenly on the path ahead appeared some white deer. Before Thorin could cry out three of the dwarves had leaped to their feet and loosed off arrows from their bows. None found their mark.[55]55
  Ни одна из стрел не попала в цель.


[Закрыть] The deer turned and vanished in the trees, and in vain the dwarves shot their arrows after them.

“Stop! Stop!” shouted Thorin; but it was too late, the excited dwarves had wasted their last arrows, and now the bows that Beorn had given them were useless.

They were a gloomy party that night, and the gloom gathered still deeper on them in the following days. They were carrying the heavy body of Bombur. In a few days there was practically nothing to eat or to drink.

Two days later they came to a valley filled with oaks. “Is there no end to this damned forest?” said Thorin. “Somebody must climb a tree and have a look round.”

Of course “somebody” was Bilbo, because he was the lightest. Poor Mr Baggins had never had much practice in climbing trees, but they lifted him up into the lowest branches of a huge oak, and he had to climb up.

In the end Bilbo got to the top. His eyes were almost blinded by the light. He saw all round him a sea of dark green; and there were everywhere hundreds of butterflies. But he could see no end to the trees and the leaves in any direction.

He climbed down full of despair. His report soon made the others as miserable as he was.

“The forest goes on for ever and ever and ever in all directions! What shall we do?” they cried.

That night they ate their last crumbs of food; and the next morning when they woke it was raining. The only good thing was that Bombur woke up suddenly. He had forgotten everything that had happened since they started their journey long ago. The last thing that he remembered was the party at the hobbit’s house.

When he heard that there was nothing to eat, he sat down and wept, for he felt very weak. “Why ever did I wake up!” he cried. “I was having such beautiful dreams. I dreamed I was walking in a forest rather like this one, only with torches on the trees; and there was a great feast going on.”

There was nothing now to be done but to tighten the belts round their empty stomachs, and go on. So they walked all that day very slowly.

Suddenly Balin, who was a little way ahead, called out: “What was that? I thought I saw a twinkle of light in the forest.” They all looked, and they saw a red twinkle in the dark. So they hurried along then. The light was in front of them and to the left of the path, and at last they saw torches and fires burning under the trees, but a good way off their track.

“It looks as if my dreams were coming true,” gasped Bombur. He wanted to rush into the wood after the lights. But the others remembered the warnings of the wizard and of Beorn. “A feast will be no good, if we never get back alive from it,” said Thorin. “But without a feast we won’t remain alive much longer anyway,” said Bombur, and Bilbo completely agreed with him. So they decided to leave the path and go into the forest together. They crawled quietly and peered round the trunks. They saw many people there, who looked like elves, all dressed in green and brown. The people were sitting in a great circle. There was a fire in the middle and there were torches fastened to some of the trees; but best sight of all: they were eating and drinking and laughing.

The smell of the meal was so delicious that all the dwarves got up and went into the ring to beg for some food. But as soon as the first stepped into the clearing, all the lights went out as if by magic.

They were lost in complete darkness and they could not even find one another. At last they managed to get together and count themselves by touch.[56]56
  наощупь


[Закрыть] They didn’t think of the food because they were really afraid to lose each other again. By that time they had forgotten where the path was.

Then Dori said in a loud whisper:

“I can see the lights are again over there.”

Up they all jumped. They heard the voices and the laughter quite clearly. When they got near the lights, Thorin said: “Don’t rush forward this time! I will send Mr Baggins alone first to talk to them. They won’t be frightened of him, and I hope they won’t do anything bad to him.” When they got to the edge of the circle of lights they pushed Bilbo suddenly from behind. Before he had time to slip on his ring, he stumbled forward into the full blaze of the fire and torches. It was no good. Out went all the lights again and complete darkness fell. But it was worse this time. They simply could not find the hobbit. They shouted and called: “Bilbo Baggins! Hobbit! Where are you?” but there was no answer.

Suddenly Dori stumbled across Bilbo. The hobbit was fast asleep. When he was awake he was not pleased at all.

“I was having such a lovely dream,” Bilbo grumbled, “about a most gorgeous dinner.”

“Good heavens! He is like Bombur now,” they said. “Don’t tell us about dreams.”

Soon Kili came and roused them all again, saying:

“There are hundreds of torches and many fires over there!”

Up they got again; it was the same again and this time the result was disastrous. Thorin stepped into the centre of the circle.

Out went all light. Bilbo was running round and round and calling:

“Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Fili, Kili, Bombur, Bifur, Bofur, Dwalin, Balin, Thorin Oakenshield.” Soon he was alone in complete silence and darkness. That was one of his most miserable moments. But he decided to sit down with his back to a tree and stay there until morning. Bilbo was dreaming about food when he felt something touch him. Something like a strong sticky string was against his left hand, and when he tried to move he found that his legs were already wrapped, so that when he got up he fell over.

Then the great spider came from behind him and attacked him. Bilbo had a desperate fight. He beat the creature off with his hands until he remembered his sword and drew it out. Bilbo cut the string around his legs and then he struck the spider with his sword and killed it.

The spider lay dead beside him. Somehow the killing of the giant spider, all alone by himself in the dark without the help of the wizard or the dwarves or of anyone else, made a great difference to Mr Baggins. He felt a different person, and much bolder in spite of an empty stomach.

“I will give you a name,” he said to the sword, “and I will call you Sting.” After that he went to look around. The forest was gloomy and silent, but Bilbo had to look for his friends.

He crept quietly in the direction from which the cries for help had come. Soon he noticed spider-webs. Suddenly he saw, too, that there were huge and horrible spiders in the branches above him. He heard their voices. The spiders were talking about the dwarves!

“It was a serious struggle,” said one, “but I hope they are juicy.”

“Don’t hang them too long,” said another, “kill them.”

Bilbo was horrified, now that he noticed the dwarves hanging in the shadows.

Then one of the spiders went to the dwarves. “There is no time now,” thought Bilbo. So he picked up a stone and threw it at the spider. The stone struck the spider on the head, and it dropped senseless off the tree.

The next stone went through a big web, and took off the spider sitting in the middle of it. After that there was panic in the spider-colony, and they forgot about the dwarves. They could not see Bilbo, but they knew the direction from which the stones were coming. So they ran towards the hobbit. Bilbo, however, soon slipped away to a different place. The idea came to him to lead the spiders further and further away from the dwarves. So he began to dance among the trees and he sang a song to annoy them, and also to let the dwarves hear his voice.

This is what he sang:

 
“Old fat spider spinning in a tree!
Old fat spider can’t see me!
Stop your spinning and look for me!
You’ll never catch me up your tree!”
 

As he sang he threw some more stones. Practically all the spiders in the place came after him: some dropped to the ground, others raced along the branches. They were quick and frightfully angry.

Then quieter than a mouse he crawled back. He had precious little time, he knew. He had to rescue the dwarves.

He cut the strings with his sword and rescued Fili, Kili, Bifur, Bofur, Don, Nori and Bombur. But there were still five dwarves hanging at the end of the branch when the spiders began to come back. Bilbo tried to scare away the spiders. But he had taken off his ring when he rescued Fili and he had forgotten to put it on again, so now they all began to hiss:

“Now we see you, you nasty little creature! We will eat you!”

While this was going on, the other dwarves were cutting the threads with their knives. Then the battle began. Some of the dwarves had knives, and some had sticks, and all of them could get at stones; and Bilbo had his sword, Sting.

Many of the spiders were killed. But Bilbo was really tired; only four of the dwarves were able to stand firmly. Already the spiders were beginning to weave their webs all round them again from tree to tree. In the end Bilbo decided to open the secret of his ring to the dwarves. He was sorry about it, but he had to do it.

“I am going to disappear,” he said. “I will draw the spiders off, if I can; and you must keep together and go in the opposite direction. To the left there, that is the way towards the place where we last saw the elf-fires.”

So Bilbo suddenly slipped on his ring, and to the great astonishment of the dwarves he vanished.

Soon they heard the sound of his song behind the trees on the right. That upset the spiders greatly. They went in the direction of the voice. Then the dwarves got together in a knot, and threw stones at the spiders on the left, and ran through the ring and went on.

The dwarves were very tired and weak. Every now and then[57]57
  Время от времени


[Закрыть] they had to turn and fight the spiders.

Suddenly Bilbo appeared. “Go on! Go on!” he shouted. “I will fight them!” And he killed many spiders; they had become afraid of Sting, and did not come very near. At last the spiders went back to their dark colony.

The dwarves then had a chance to rest.

They lay for some time, but very soon they began to ask questions. They wanted to know the story of the ring. And then they asked Bilbo where they were, and where their path was, and what they were going to do next? So you can see that they had changed their opinion of Mr Baggins very much, and had begun to have a great respect for him. They really expected Bilbo to think of some wonderful plan for helping them. Bilbo began to feel proud of himself.

All of a sudden[58]58
  Внезапно


[Закрыть] Dwalin asked, “Where is Thorin?” It was a terrible shock. Of course there were only thirteen of them, twelve dwarves and the hobbit. Where was Thorin?

Thorin had been caught much faster than they had. Do you remember Bilbo falling asleep, as he stepped into a circle of light? The next time it had been Thorin who stepped forward, and as the lights went out he fell like a stone. Then the Wood-elves had come to him, and bound him, and carried him away. The feasting people were Wood-elves, of course. These are not wicked folk.

In a great cave some miles within the edge of Mirkwood there lived their greatest king. This great cave had many passages and wide halls; but it was lighter than any goblin-dwelling. The king’s cave was his palace, and the strong place of his treasure, and the fortress of his people against their enemies.

It was also the dungeon of his prisoners. So to the cave they dragged Thorin – not too gently, because they did not love dwarves, and thought he was an enemy. In ancient days they had had wars with some of the dwarves, whom they accused of stealing their treasure. The dwarves said that they only took their part, because the elf-king had asked them to shape his raw gold and silver,[59]59
  сделать украшения из золота и серебра


[Закрыть] and had afterwards refused to give them their pay. The elf-king was really rich but very greedy. His people didn’t work metals or jewels, they didn’t cultivate the earth. All this was well known to every dwarf. So Thorin was angry, when they took their spell off him and he came to his senses.[60]60
  пришёл в себя


[Закрыть]

The king asked Thorin many questions. But Thorin only said that he was starving. “Why did you and your folk three times try to attack my people?” asked the king.

“We did not attack them,” answered Thorin; “we came to beg, because we were starving.”

“Where are your friends now? What are they doing?”

“I don’t know, but I think they are starving in the forest.”

“What were you doing in the forest?”

“We were looking for food and drink, because we were starving.”

“But why did you come into the forest?” asked the king angrily.

At that Thorin shut his mouth and did not say another word. “Very well!” said the king. “Take him away and keep him safe, until he tells the truth.” Then the elves shut him in one of the secret caves with strong wooden doors, and left him. They gave him a lot of food and drink, though. So there poor Thorin lay.

Chapter 9
Barrels Out of Bond[61]61
  В бочках – на волю


[Закрыть]

The day after the battle with the spiders Bilbo and the dwarves tried for the last time to find a way out before they died of hunger and thirst. They got up and walked on. Suddenly they saw Wood-elves with their bows and spears. They told the dwarves to stop. There was no thought of a fight. So they simply stopped and sat down and waited – all except Bilbo, who put on his ring and disappeared.

The elves bound the dwarves in a long line. Bilbo was walking silently behind them. Suddenly the torches stopped, and they began to cross the bridge. The bridge led across the river to the king’s doors. In a great hall with pillars sat the king on a wooden chair. On his head was a crown of berries and red leaves, for it was autumn again. In the spring he wore a crown of woodland flowers. In his hand he held a staff of oak.

The prisoners were brought before him; he told his men to unbind them. “They need no ropes in here,” said he. “There is no escape from my magic doors for those who are once brought inside.”

The king asked the dwarves about their doings, and where they were going to, and where they were coming from; but he didn’t get more news out of them than out of Thorin. They were angry and did not even pretend to be polite.

“What have we done, king?” said Balin, who was the eldest now. “Is it a crime to be lost in the forest, to be hungry and thirsty, to be trapped by spiders?” The king answered: “It is a crime to wander in my kingdom without leave.[62]62
  без разрешения


[Закрыть] Do you forget that you were in my kingdom, using the road that my people made? Did you not pursue and trouble my people in the forest? Now I have a right to know why you came here, and so tell me now, or I will keep you all in prison!” Then he ordered to put the dwarves in separate cells and to give them food and drink. But be did not tell them that Thorin was also his prisoner. Bilbo found that out.

Poor Mr Baggins lived in that place all alone; he didn’t take off his ring. Bilbo walked around the king’s palace to know it better.

Eventually he managed to find out where each dwarf was kept. He found all their twelve cells in different parts of the palace. One day he heard the talk of the guards and learned that there was another dwarf in prison too, in a deep dark place. He guessed at once, of course, that that was Thorin. At last after many difficulties he managed to find the place, and to talk with the chief of the dwarves. Thorin felt miserable, and was even beginning to think of telling the king all about his treasure and his quest, when he heard Bilbo’s little voice at his keyhole. He could hardly believe his ears. Soon he had a long talk with the hobbit on the other side.

So Bilbo took secretly Thorin’s message to each of the other dwarves, telling them that Thorin, their chief, was also in prison, and he told them not to open their secret. The other dwarves quite agreed when they got the message. They didn’t want to share the treasure, and they all trusted Bilbo.

Bilbo sat and thought and thought, but no bright idea came.

One day Bilbo discovered a very interesting thing: the great gates were not the only entrance to the caves. A stream flowed under part of the lowest regions of the palace, and joined the Forest River. There was a water-gate at the place where underground water came out of the mountain. There the rocky roof came down close to the surface of the stream, and from it a grating[63]63
  решётка


[Закрыть] could be dropped right to the bed of the river[64]64
  до дна реки


[Закрыть] to prevent anyone coming in or out that way. But the grating was often open, because a lot of traffic went out and in by the water-gate. There was a dark tunnel leading deep into the heart of the hill; but at one point the roof had an opening which was covered with great oaken trapdoors. These opened up into the king’s cellars. There stood many barrels. The Wood-elves, and especially their king, liked wine very much. The wine and other goods were brought from far away, from the vineyards of Men in distant lands.

Bilbo discovered the trapdoors and their use, and learned how the wine and other goods came from the Long Lake. There was a town of Men there built on bridges. From Lake-town the barrels were brought up the Forest River. Often the barrels were tied together; sometimes they were loaded onto flat boats.

When the barrels were empty the elves dropped them through the trapdoors, opened the water-gate, and the barrels floated out on the stream, until they were carried by the current to the eastern edge of Mirkwood. There they were collected and tied together and floated back to Lake-town, which stood close to the point where the Forest River flowed into the Long Lake.

For some time Bilbo sat and thought about this water-gate. He wanted to use it for the escape of his friends, and at last he had a plan.

One evening two guards took meal to the prisoners and then decided to taste the new wine that had just come in. Bilbo followed the two elves, until they entered a small cellar and sat down at a table. Soon they began to drink and laugh merrily.

In a little while the guards were fast asleep.

Then the hobbit stole the keys from the guards and went to unlock the dwarves’ cells.

First he unlocked Balin’s door, and locked it again carefully as soon as the dwarf was outside. Balin was most surprised and wanted to ask a lot of questions, but the hobbit just said, “No time now! You must follow me! We must all keep together. All of us must escape, and this is our last chance.”

Then he opened other cells. All went well, and they met no guards. Fortunately there was a great autumn feast that night. Almost all the king’s folks were eating, drinking and dancing. At last Bilbo and the dwarves came to Thorin’s dungeon, which was not far from the cellars.

When Bilbo whispered to him to come out and join his friends, Thorin said, “Gandalf spoke true, as usual. You are a fine burglar. Now we are all for ever at your service.[65]65
  Теперь мы все перед вами в неоплатном долгу.


[Закрыть] But what comes next?” Bilbo saw that the time had come to explain his idea.

At first the dwarves didn’t like Bilbo’s plan at all, but in the end they had to do just what Bilbo suggested. So they followed the hobbit and crept down into the lowest cellars.

There was little time to lose. The empty barrels were standing in rows in the middle of the floor waiting to be pushed off. Soon they found thirteen barrels with room enough for a dwarf in each. In fact the barrels were too large, and Bilbo put some straw inside. At last twelve dwarves were packed. Bilbo closed holes in the sides of the barrels, and now he was left alone again.

In a minute or two elves came laughing into the cellars. They had left a merry feast in one of the halls and wanted to return as soon as they could.

So they quickly rolled one barrel and then another to the dark opening and soon all the barrels with dwarves went down.

At this moment Bilbo suddenly discovered the weak point in his plan. Of course he was not in a barrel himself, nor was there anyone to pack him in!

Now the elves were rolling the last barrel to the doors! In despair poor little Bilbo held it tightly and was pushed down with it. He fell down into the water with the barrel on top of him. He came up again clinging to the wood like a rat, but he could not scramble on top. Though his ears were full of water, he could hear the elves still singing in the cellar above. Then suddenly the trapdoors fell with a boom and their voices faded away. He was in the dark tunnel, in icy water, all alone.

At last Mr Baggins came to a place where the trees grew thinner. The dark river opened suddenly wide, and there it joined the main water of the Forest River flowing down from the king’s great doors. Then the water of the Forest River swept all the barrels away to the north bank. On the shallow shore most of the barrels ran aground. There were people on the banks. They quickly pushed all the barrels together, and when they had counted them they tied them together and left them till the morning. Poor dwarves! Bilbo slipped from his barrel, and then quietly walked to some small houses that he could see near the water’s edge. He was cold, wet and hungry.

Bilbo had to steal a loaf and a bottle of wine and a pie. He started sneezing and he left wet footprints, so the rest of the night he had to pass wet and far from a fire, but the bottle helped him to do that, and he even slept a little on some dry leaves.

Bilbo woke again with a loud sneeze. It was already grey morning. He was no longer dripping but he felt really cold. He scrambled down as fast as he could and managed to get onto the barrels. The elves started pushing the barrels with their poles down to Lake-town.

So the dwarves and Bilbo had escaped the dungeons of the king.