The Hobbit
霍比特人
约翰•罗纳德•瑞尔•托尔金
约翰•罗纳德•瑞尔•托尔金，（1892—1973），一般简称为J•R•R•托尔金，牛津大学教授，古英语专家。童年家境窘迫，12岁时成了孤儿。1911年到牛津大学的埃克塞学院学习古英语、日耳曼语、威尔士语与哥特语，显示出令人瞩目的语言学天赋。第一次世界大战中赴法参战，后因病回国。曾在里兹大学、牛津大学任教，1959年退休。托尔金的著作不多， 1937年，托尔金完成了他的第一部作品《霍比特人历险记》。尽管这是一部童话，但它同样适合成人阅读。由于这部作品销量不错，出版商说服托尔金创作续集。这一鼓励促使托尔金花费16年的时间完成了他最有名的作品——史诗三部曲《魔戒》。 《魔戒》无论是从销售量还是读者评价来讲，都称得上是20世纪最流行的文学作品之一。托尔金的重要影响在于，在《魔戒》成功之后，奇幻小说这一文学体裁迅速发展起来。本文选自《霍比特人》的第一章。 “从前有个霍比特人，住在地洞里。”这句话看似平淡，稍加咀嚼却十分引人入胜。这是本书开篇第一句，也是整个魔戒传奇的第一句，历来被称为经典开场白。

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy① smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.
It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with paneled② walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats—the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill—The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it—and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining-rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left-hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep-set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river.
This hobbit was a very well-to-do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours’ respect, but he gained—well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.
 
翻译（反白可见）
      从前有个霍比特人，住在地洞里。这并非是那种又肮脏又潮湿，布满了小虫，且满是腐臭气味的洞穴；但它也不是那种又干燥又光秃，除了沙子连个家具都没有的无聊洞穴。这个洞穴是霍比特人的居所，是个舒舒服服的地方。
     这座洞穴的大门像舷窗般浑圆，漆成了绿色，在其正中央还有个黄色的闪亮门把。打开大门，便会进入一个像隧道一样圆管状的客厅：这是个没有烟雾的舒适客厅，有着精心装饰的墙壁，地板上铺着地毯和瓷砖，四处还摆着许多打磨光亮的椅子。霍比特人非常喜欢有客人来访，因此这洞穴里还有很多很多的衣帽架。隧道继续延伸，蜿蜒地深入山丘中，附近许多英里的人们都叫这座山丘为“小丘”，小丘各个方向还盖了许多圆形的小门。霍比特人可是不爬楼梯的：卧室、浴室、酒窖、餐点室（还有更多的呢！）、更衣室（他用一整间房间来放衣服）、厨房、饭厅，全部都在同一层楼，也都在同一条走廊上。最好的房间都是在左手边（里面也一样），因为只有这个方向的房间才有窗户，这些浑圆的窗户可以俯瞰他美丽的花园，和一路延伸向河边的翠绿草地。
      这名霍比特人生活相当富裕，他姓巴金斯。巴金斯一家人自古以来就居住在小丘这一带，附近的邻居都很尊敬他们；不单只是因为他们大部分都很有钱，也是因为他们从来不冒险，不会做任何出人意料的事情：你在问巴金斯一家人任何问题之前，都可以先预料到他们的答案，根本不必要浪费这个力气。这个故事就是关于一名巴金斯家人如何意外地卷入冒险之中，并且做出和说出许多出人意料的事情来的。他或许失去了邻居们的尊敬，但是至少获得了──算啦！到最后你就会知道他获得了什么东西。