Forth3 then went the banners of the Wolf, and the men of the vanward fell to threading the rock-maze toward the north, and in two hours’ time were clear of the Dale under Shield-broad. All went in the same order as yesterday; but on this day the Sun-beam would bear her hauberk, and had a sword girt to her side, and her heart was high and her speech merry.
When they left the Dale under Shield-broad the way was easy and wide for a good way, the river flowing betwixt low banks, and the pass being more like a string of little valleys than a mere4 gap, as it had been on the other side of the Dale. But when one third of the day was past, the way began to narrow on them again, and to rise up little by little; and at last the rock-walls drew close to the river, and when men looked toward the north they saw no way, and nought5 but a wall. For the gap of the Shivering Flood turned now to the east, and the Flood came down from the east in many falls, as it were over a fearful stair, through a gap where there was no path between the cliffs and the water, nought but the boiling flood and its turmoil6; so that they who knew not the road wondered what they should do.
But Folk-might led the banners to where a great buttress7 of the cliffs thrust itself into the way, coming well-nigh down to the water, just at the corner where the river turned eastward8, and they got them about it as they might, and on the other side thereof lo! another gap exceeding strait, scarce twenty foot over, wall-sided, rugged9 beyond measure, going up steeply from the great valley: a little water ran through it, mostly filling up the floor of it from side to side; but it was but shallow. This was now the battle-road of the Host, and the vanward entered it at once, turning their backs upon the Shivering Flood.
Full toilsome and dreary10 was that strait way; often great stones hung above their heads, bridging the gap and hiding the sky from them; nor was there any path for them save the stream itself; so that whiles were they wading11 its waters to the knee or higher, and whiles were they striding from stone to stone amidst the rattle12 of the waters, and whiles were they stepping warily13 along the ledges14 of rock above the deeper pools, and in all wise labouring in overcoming the rugged road amidst the twilight15 of the gap.
Thus they toiled16 till the afternoon was well worn, and so at last they came to where the rock-wall was somewhat broken down on the north side, and great rocks had fallen across the gap, and dammed up the waters, which fell scantily17 over the dam from stone to stone into a pool at the bottom of it. Up this breach18, then, below the force they scrambled19 and struggled, for rough indeed was the road for them; and so came they up out of the gap on to the open hill-side, a great shoulder of the heath sloping down from the north, and littered over with big stones, borne thither20 belike by some ice-river of the earlier days; and one great rock was in special as great as the hall of a wealthy goodman, and shapen like to a hall with hipped21 gables, which same the men of the Wolf called House-stone.
There then the noise and clatter22 of the vanward rose up on the face of the heath, and men were exceeding joyous23 that they had come so far without mishap24. Therewith came weaponed men out from under House-stone, and they came toward the men of the vanward, and they were a half-score of the forerunners25 of the Wolf; therefore Folk-might and Face-of-god fell at once into speech with them, and had their tidings; and when they had heard them, they saw nought to hinder the host from going on their road to Silver-dale forthright26; and there were still three hours of daylight before them. So the vanward of the host tarried not, and the captains left word with the men from under House-stone that the rest of the Host should fare on after them speedily, and that they should give this word to each company, as men came up from out the gap. Then they fared speedily up the hillside, and in an hour’s wearing had come to the crest27 thereof, and to where the ground fell steadily28 toward the north, and hereabout the scattered29 stones ceased, and on the other side of the crest the heath began to be soft and boggy30, and at last so soft, that if they had not been wisely led, they had been bemired oftentimes. At last they came to where the flows that trickled31 through the mires32 drew together into a stream, so that men could see it running; and thereon some of the Woodlanders cried out joyously33 that the waters were running north; and then all knew that they were drawing nigh to Silver-dale.
No man they met on the road, nor did they of Shadowy Vale look to meet any; because the Dusky Men were not great hunters for the more part, except it were of men, and especially of women; and, moreover, these hill-slopes of the mountain-necks led no-whither and were utterly34 waste and dreary, and there was nought to be seen there but snipes and bitterns and whimbrel and plover35, and here and there a hill-fox, or the great erne hanging over the heath on his way to the mountain.
When sunset came, they were getting clear of the miry ground, and the stream which they had come across amidst of the mires had got clearer and greater, and rattled36 down between wide stony37 sides over the heath; and here and there it deepened as it cleft38 its way through little knolls39 that rose out of the face of the mountain-neck. As the Host climbed one of these and was come to its topmost (it was low enough not to turn the stream), Face-of-god looked and beheld40 dark-blue mountains rising up far off before him, and higher than these, but away to the east, the snowy peaks of the World-mountains. Then he called to mind what he had seen from the Burg of the Runaways41, and he took Folk-might by the arm, and pointed42 toward those far-off mountains.
‘Yea,’ said Folk-might, ‘so it is, War-leader. Silver-dale lieth between us and yonder blue ridges43, and it is far nigher to us than to them.’
But the Sun-beam came close to those twain, and took Face-of-god by the hand and said: ‘O Gold-mane, dost thou see?’ and he turned about and beheld her, and saw how her cheeks flamed and her eyes glittered, and he said in a low voice: ‘To-morrow for mirth or silence, for life or death.’
But the whole vanward as they came up stayed to behold44 the sight of the mountains on the other side of Silver-dale, and the banners of the Folk hung over their heads, moving but little in the soft air of the evening: so went they on their ways.
The sun sank, and dusk came on them as they followed down the stream, and night came, and was clear and starlit, though the moon was not yet risen. Now was the ground firm and the grass sweet and flowery, and wind-worn bushes were scattered round about them, as they began to go down into the ghyll that cleft the wall of Silver-dale, and the night-wind blew in their faces from the very Dale and place of the Battle to be. The path down was steep at first, but the ghyll was wide, and the sides of it no longer straight walls, as in the gaps of their earlier journey, but broken, sloping back, and (as they might see on the morrow) partly of big stones and shaly45 grit46, partly grown over with bushes and rough grass, with here and there a little stream trickling47 down their sides. As they went, the ghyll widened out, till at last they were in a valley going down to the plain, in places steep, in places flat and smooth, the stream ever rattling48 down the midst of it, and they on the west side thereof. The vale was well grassed, and oak-trees and ash and holly49 and hazel grew here and there about it; and at last the Host had before it a wood which filled the vale from side to side, not much tangled50 with undergrowth, and quite clear of it nigh to the stream-side. Thereinto the vanward entered, but went no long way ere the leaders called a halt and bade pitch the banners, for that there should they abide51 the daylight. Thus it had been determined52 at the Council of the Hall of the Wolf; for Folk-might had said: ‘With an Host as great as ours, and mostly of men come into a land of which they know nought at all, an onslaught by night is perilous53: yea, and our foes54 should be over-much scattered, and we should have to wander about seeking them. Let us rather abide in the wood of Wood-dale till the morning, and then display our banners on the hill-side above Silver-dale, so that they may gather together to fall upon us: in no case shall they keep us out of the Dale.’
There then they stayed, and as each company came up to the wood, they were marshalled into their due places, so that they might set the battle in array on the edge of Silver-dale,
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收听单词发音
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1
smote
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
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onset
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| n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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nought
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| n.／adj.无，零 | |
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turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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buttress
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| n.支撑物；v.支持 | |
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eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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wading
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| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的现在分词 ) | |
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rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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warily
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| adv.留心地 | |
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ledges
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| n.（墙壁，悬崖等）突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 )；（平窄的）壁架；横档；（尤指）窗台 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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16
toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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scantily
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| adv.缺乏地；不充足地；吝啬地；狭窄地 | |
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breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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19
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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hipped
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| adj.着迷的，忧郁的 | |
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clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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forerunners
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| n.先驱( forerunner的名词复数 )；开路人；先兆；前兆 | |
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forthright
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| adj.直率的，直截了当的 [同]frank | |
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crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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boggy
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| adj.沼泽多的 | |
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trickled
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| v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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32
mires
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| n.泥潭( mire的名词复数 ) | |
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joyously
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| ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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plover
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| n.珩，珩科鸟，千鸟 | |
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rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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knolls
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| n.小圆丘，小土墩( knoll的名词复数 ) | |
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40
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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41
runaways
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| （轻而易举的）胜利( runaway的名词复数 ) | |
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42
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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43
ridges
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| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
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44
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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45
shaly
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| adj.页岩的 | |
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46
grit
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| n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关 | |
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47
trickling
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| n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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48
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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49
holly
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| n.[植]冬青属灌木 | |
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50
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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51
abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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52
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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53
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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54
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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