关于说瑟兰迪尔“暴躁冷酷”~~ 原文论据:
“The king looked sternly on Thorin, when he was brought before him, and asked him many questions. But Thorin would only say that he was starving……"But what brought you into the forest at all?" asked the king angrily.At that Thorin shut his mouth and would not say another word."Very well!" said the king. "Take him away and keep him safe, until he feels inclined to tell the truth, even if he waits a hundred years."(当梭林被带到国王面前时,国王严厉地看着他,问了他很多问题,但梭林只是说他饿坏了……“但你究竟为什么要跑进森林里来?”国王生气地问。对于这个问题,梭林闭上嘴,守口如瓶。“好吧!”国王说,“把他带走,安全地看好他,直到他愿意说出真相为止,即使他要等上一百年。”)《霍》”
“The prisoners were brought before him; and though he looked grimly at them, he told his men to unbind them, for they were ragged and weary.……Long and searchingly he questioned the dwarves about their doings, and where they were going to, and where they were coming from; but he got little more news out of them than out of Thorin. They were surly and angry and did not even pretend to be polite. "What have we done, O king?" said Balin, who was the eldest left. "Is it a crime to be lost in the forest, to be hungry and thirsty, to be trapped by spiders? Are the spiders your tame beasts or your pets, if killing them makes you angry?" Such a question of course made the king angrier than ever, and he answered: "It is a crime to wander in my realm without leave. Do you forget that you were in my kingdom, using the road that my people made? Did you not three times pursue and trouble my people in the forest and ' rouse the spiders with your riot and clamour? After all the disturbance you have made I have a right to know what brings you here, and if you will not tell me now, I will keep you all in prison until you have learned sense and manners!"(犯人们被带到了他(瑟兰迪尔)面前,虽然他冷冰冰地看着他们,他吩咐手下为他们松绑,因为他们衣衫褴褛又疲惫不堪……他盘问了他们很长时间,刨根问底,想弄清他们到底要干什么,和他们想到哪里去,他们从哪里来;但他从他们口中得到的信息并不比从梭林那里得知的多。他们粗暴、愤怒,甚至不想假装有礼貌。“我们做了什么,国王?”巴林说,在余下的人中他最年长,“难道在森林里迷了路,又饿又渴,被蜘蛛追杀是一种罪过不成?那些蜘蛛难道是你驯养的牲畜或者你的宠物,如果杀了它们惹你生气?”这样的问题当然让国王更加愤怒,所以他回答:“未经允许在我的领地上游逛就是罪过。难道你们忘了你们是在我的王国里,使用着我的人民建造的道路?难道你们没有先后三次在森林里追赶和惊扰我的人民,用这些骚乱和叫嚷唤醒了那些蜘蛛?总之,你们制造出的这些烦扰使我有权得知你们来此的原因,而如果你们现在不告诉我,我就把你们都关起来,直到你们学会一点理智和礼貌!”《霍》”
…………其实只要把原文摆上来,那个“暴躁冷酷”的说法也就不攻自破了。
很明显,那些矮人之所以会被瑟爸爸关押,是因为他们惊扰森林精灵在前、对精灵国王无礼于后。其中他们在这里对于瑟的态度尤其耐人寻味:照毕尔博的记述,其实也就是矮人们对森林精灵的描述,森林精灵们是一群“If they have a fault it is distrust of strangers. Though their magic was strong, even in those days they were wary. They differed from the High Elves of the West, and were more dangerous and less wise.(如果说他们有什么缺点的话,那就是不信任陌生人。虽然他们的魔法高强,在这样的日子里,他们非常机警。他们和西方的高种精灵不同,更危险,更不聪明。)《霍》”的家伙。但面对这些“更危险、更不聪明”的森林精灵们,那些矮人却选择了“反抗、粗暴、愤怒、甚至不想假装礼貌”,以及,“当面侮辱”——要知道森林精灵们跟那些毒蜘蛛共处同一片森林上千年,其间肯定有精灵死伤在蜘蛛毒液下,而矮人巴林却称蜘蛛是精灵“驯养的宠物”,暗示精灵和蜘蛛“同流合污”——成鲜明对比的是,当矮人们被雾山的黑暗妖物“Goblins(地妖)”抓住后,面对“地妖王(the Great Goblin)”的质询,梭林这样回答:
"Thorin the dwarf at your service!…..Of the things which you suspect and imagine we had no idea at all. We sheltered from a storm in what seemed a convenient cave and unused; nothing was further from our thoughts than inconveniencing goblins in any way whatever…….We were on a journey to visit our relatives, our nephews and nieces, and first, second, and third cousins, and the other descendants of our grandfathers, who live on the East side of these truly hospitable mountains,"(矮人梭林为您效劳!……我们的来意和你们怀疑猜想的那些完全无关。我们只是在一个看上去很合适的无人山洞里躲避暴风雨,我们绝对无意以任何方式惊扰麻烦你们……我们是去探望我们的亲戚们,我们的侄男甥女,我们一服、二服、三服内的堂表兄弟姐妹,和其他共一个祖父的子孙,他们就住在这个非常好客的山脉的东边,《霍》”
这跟他回答“精灵王”的质询时,反反复复只是嘟囔“we were starving(我们饿坏了)”其他万事不理的态度真是截然不同!如果再联想到他们到熊人贝奥因(Beorn)庄园时那种小心翼翼、亦步亦趋的做法,让人不得不怀疑:为什么这群矮人唯独面对“冷酷暴躁的精灵王”时骨头特别硬呢?是因为他们跟森林精灵格外的苦大仇深?但矮人家园莫利亚就是被炎魔和地妖们共同摧毁的,矮人和地妖之间还爆发过著名的“阿扎努比查战役(Azanulbizar)”,矮人们不可能痛恨森林精灵甚于痛恨地妖,那么,个人认为合理的解释就是:他们知道“精灵王”绝不会轻易伤害他们,所以才敢当面泄愤,表现一下杜林子孙的风骨。
巨龙袭击孤山埃雷博、逼得梭林和父祖一起逃亡是在第三纪2770年,在那之前矮人们在孤山定居已久,兴旺发达,生意做得很大,梭林以及巴林等年纪较长、地位较高的矮人不可能对近邻的黑森林精灵以及他们的国王一无所知。出于从远古辛格尔时期就开始聚集的两族仇隙,矮人们一边对毕尔博说着森林精灵“危险好战”,精灵王“冷酷暴躁”,一边心底明白可以跟瑟大王发发脾气出出气,瑟不但不会砍掉他们的头,还会“保护”他们免受毒蜘蛛等森林恶物的攻击,以及,让他们白吃白喝逃脱在森林里饿死的命运……事实证明,这种判断是对的。表面上“stern(严厉)、grim(冷酷)”的瑟兰迪尔,虽然用非常简洁精准的语言审问、谴责了他们一番,末了仍然没对他们进行任何实质上的伤害,这样,一位外表严峻、口才犀利、容易被激怒,但却心地仁慈善良(从援助长湖人就可以看出来)的精灵王就跃然纸上了。
下面偶们来看瑟兰迪尔的“酗酒”特性:
“……for the Wood-elves, and especially their king, were very fond of wine……(……因为森林精灵,特别是他们的国王,非常喜欢喝酒……)《霍》” “It must be potent wine to make a wood-elf drowsy; but this wine, it would seem, was the heady vintage of the great gardens of Dorwinion, not meant for his soldiers or his servants, but for the king's feasts only, and for smaller bowls, not for the butler's great flagons.(只有烈酒才能灌倒一个森林精灵,不过这种酒,我们会看到,是出自多卫宁大葡萄园的浓烈红酒,本来不是给国王的仆役或者卫兵喝的,而是只供给国王的宴会,而且应该用小杯喝,不该象管家这样用大瓶灌。)”
瑟大王爱喝酒,这一点似无疑问,而且在《魔戒》中他的儿子小莱也无意间透露出爱喝酒的习性(“Though I would sooner learn how they came by the wine.(我倒是想知道他们怎么样弄到了这些酒。)《双塔》”)'。但原著中没证据说他爱喝酒到了“酗酒”的地步,从原文来看,瑟喝那些多卫宁烈酒时也通常是“用小杯喝,而非用大瓶灌”,酗酒误事的是他的属下而非他自己。
至于那个“好战”……参考以上引文中那句“在我为黄金开战之前……”……不再说什么了