The Tale
Frodo wakes in the cold early
hour before dawn finding Faramir bending over him, and for a moment he is
afraid. But Faramir bids him rise and follow. There is something he wants to
show him. A moment later Sam wakes up ‘by some instinct of watchfulness’ and
silently follows them past rows of sleeping men.
The moonlight has turned the
waterfall to a silken curtain of ‘melting icicles’. Once outside they take a
path along the side of the height. It winds its way upwards to a wide flat rock
like a platform where a guard is on watch. Looking out, Frodo sees that the
setting moon has changed the broad view, going as far as White Mountains, into
a vale of shadow and silver.
‘For a while Frodo stood
there on the high stone, and a shiver ran through him, wondering if anywhere in
the vastness of the night-lands his old companions walked or slept, or lay dead
shrouded in mist.’
Sam mutters that it’s a fine
view, but cold to the heart and bones. He wonders why they’re here. Faramir
answers that it’s worth a few shivers to see fair Ithil (the moon) glancing on
the white locks (hair) of Mt. Mindolluin (site of Minas Tirith). But Sam has
only himself to blame for his chilliness since he (once more) wasn’t summoned
along with Frodo. But he bids them look; there is something more to see.
Frodo and Faramir step
forward to look, but Sam hangs back. He is not too happy with heights. Looking
far down, Frodo sees the falls going into a distant pool below. In a moment, he
spies a small dark figure diving into the pool, ‘cleaving the black water as
neatly as an arrow or an edgewise stone.’
Faramir turns to the man on
watch, who turns out to be Anborn from before. Faramir asks him if THAT is a
black squirrel, or maybe they have black kingfishers in Mirkwood? No, replies Anborn, it has four limbs and
dives ‘manwise; a pretty mastery of the craft it shows, too.’ He and his men
are ready to shoot it to preserve the safety of their hideout, if the Captain
commands. Faramir turns to Frodo. Should they shoot it?
Frodo hesitates then says no,
though Sam, who guesses what they are looking at, wants to say yes, quicker and
louder. Faramir asks why shouldn’t they shoot, noting that Frodo has said
nothing about his ‘gangrel companion.’ His men have been hunting Gollum, and
now his trespassing on their hideout is a worse offense then hunting rabbits in
the highlands; his life is forfeit. But he wonders why so crafty a creature
sports so openly in the pool, revealing his whereabouts.
Frodo says perhaps so well
is their refuge hidden, perhaps he is not aware of it. Also, Gollum has a
mastering desire that leads him here. Faramir cautiously asks him if he means ‘the
burden’ that Frodo bears. Frodo answers, well yes, he knows what he bears and
desires it greatly, but he means something else. Gollum wants fish.
They look down at the pool
and see him swimming about and then ‘with marvellous agility a froglike figure
climbed out of the water and up on the bank’, where he begins gnawing at the
small glinting fish he has caught. Fish! Faramir laughs. Not as perilous as the
Ring, he implies, but maybe as deadly. Anborn asks if he should shoot; it is
their law. Faramir tells him to wait. This is a more complicated matter. He
turns to Frodo. Why should they spare this creature?
Gollum is wretched and
hungry, and doesn’t know he is breaking their law, Frodo pleads. Surely Gandalf
would have had him spare him for those reasons alone. But Frodo also feels
Gollum ‘is in some way bound up with his errand.’ Before the men caught them,
he was their guide.
The story grows ever
stranger, says Faramir. But he cannot just let Gollum go, to blab to every Orc
he meets the secrets of their location. He must be taken or killed, and his men
cannot get close enough to capture him. Frodo begs that he let him go down to
Gollum and get him. Faramir agrees to let him try, but if he fails, Gollum will
be killed. He takes Anborn’s bow, and the ranger leads Frodo down.
They go silently, and Anborn
stops some distance from the pool so Gollum will neither hear nor smell him.
Frodo creeps forward over the slippery rocks, and soon he hears Gollum
muttering to himself as he eats his fish, complaining ‘almost as unceasingly as
the waterfall’.
The moon has gone down, and ‘poor
Smeagol’ can at last eat his fish in peace. No, not in peace; the Precious is
lost again, the ‘dirty hobbits’ have abandoned him, and now Men will get the
Ring. He’d throttle them all, all the thieves, if he gets the chance. But nice
fish makes us strong. ‘Makes eyes bright and fingers tight, yes.’ He slavers
and gurgles as he eats.
Frodo shivers as he hears
that voice, and wonders if he should have them shoot and free him of it
forever. But Gollum has a claim on him now, and a ‘servant has a claim on the
master for service, even service in fear.’ He lead them out of the Dead Marshes
faithfully. And besides, Gandalf would have wanted him spared.
He calls to Smeagol, telling
him that Master is here, and that he should follow him lest the men find and
shoot him. Gollum is sullen at first, saying the Master isn’t nice for leaving
him and going off with new friends. Besides, he wants to finish his fish. He
won’t take it with him, and he won’t leave it.
In desperation Frodo
threatens that, by the oath Smeagol swore on the Precious, he will command that
the bones of the fish to choke him, and then he’ll never taste fish again. ‘Come,
Precious is waiting!’
Gollum hisses sharply, then
comes out of the darkness ‘crawling on all fours, like an erring dog called to
heel.’ He carries one fish and has another still in his mouth. He comes up to
Frodo and sniffs him. Finally, he takes
the fish out and stands up. He is obsequious again, calling Frodo nice Master,
nice hobbit. They should leave quickly, while there is no moon or sun yet.
Frodo explains they can’t
leave, but he promises they will. They are not safe yet. But for now, Smeagol
must trust him. Trust him? Why? And where is the ‘cross rude hobbit?’
Frodo explains he is ‘up there’
above them and they’re not leaving without him. His heart sinks. This is too
much like trickery. He doesn’t think Faramir will kill Gollum, but he’ll surely
be taken prisoner and tied up, and it ‘would seem a treachery to the poor
treacherous creature.’ He’ll never be able to explain it to him; he must simply
try to keep faith with both sides. ‘Come!’ he orders. ‘Or the Precious will be
angry!’
Gollum crawls along for a
while, snuffling and suspicious. Suddenly he becomes aware that something is
ahead, something not a hobbit. ‘Wicked! Tricksy! False!’ He turns back on
Frodo, a green light flickering in his bulging eyes, arms stretched out,
spitting with anger.
Anborn and two other men
grab him before he can reach Frodo, pinning him down ‘none too gently’ while he
twists and wriggles, biting and scratching. Frodo pleads with them to go easier
and pleads with Gollum to calm down and he won’t be hurt. Gollum spits at him.
The men carry him off and Frodo follows.
Back in the cave torches are
lit and men are stirring. Sam is there, and he looks at the limp Gollum carried
by the men. ‘Got him?’ he asks Frodo
laconically.
‘Yes. Well no, I didn’t get
him. He came to me because he trusted me at first, I’m afraid. I did not want
him tied up like this. I hope it will be all right; but I hate the whole
business.’
‘So do I,’ said Sam. ‘And nothing will ever be all right where that piece of misery is.’
Bits and Bobs
Not much to say here, except
to note Frodo’s mercy again, even against his instincts and his weariness of
dealing with Gollum, perhaps exacerbated by his time with nobler companions.
Sam continues to display his fear of heights and his eager willingness to
dispense with Gollum altogether. And Faramir, if they cannot catch him, says
they must kill him. Gollum, wretched as he is, can never understand or
recognize the severe mercy he is shown. The green light in his eyes shows that
the worse half of his personality is to the fore.
This is a fairly short chapter; I may be able to finish it next week.
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