2018/8/13 （网图）
在西方文学史上，猜谜语（Riddles）的历史源远流长；精通八国语言，尤其古代英语（450AD – 1100AD），甚至能够完整地打造出自己的中土世界（Middle-Earth）语言 - Quenya的J.R.R. Tolkien在他的奇幻文学创作中采用Riddles的题材也就毫不出奇。
猜谜语的场景一般出现在两相争执的状态中，主人公(Protagonist)和反面角色(Antagonist)达成协议，他们将不用刀枪或挥拳头扔石头等来解决困境，而是用智慧来摊平道路。如J.R.R. Tolkien的the Hobbit，当Bilbo在地下岩洞Misty Mountains里初遇Gollum时，Gollum同意Bilbo的请求：如果Bilbo回答出他的谜语，他将给Bilbo指一条出路；否则，就吃了Bilbo；Bilbo答应了，说：“Fair Enough”（很公平）。
下面是Gollum和Bilbo之间猜的谜语和谜底，非常有趣。
The riddles of Bilbo and Gollum
Gollum:
What has roots as nobody sees,
Is taller than trees,
Up, up it goes,
And yet never grows?
[A mountain]
Bilbo:
Thirty white horses on a red hill,
First they champ,
Then they stamp,
Then they stand still.
[Teeth]
Gollum:
Voiceless it cries,
Wingless flutters,
Toothless bites,
Mouthless mutters.
[Wind]
Bilbo:
An eye in a blue face
Saw an eye in a green face.
"That eye is like to this eye"
Said the first eye,
"But in low place,
Not in high place."
[The sun]
Gollum:
It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
It lies behind stars and under hills,
And empty holes it fills.
It comes first and follows after,
Ends life, kills laughter.
[Dark]
Bilbo:
A box without hinges, key, or lid,
Yet golden treasure inside is hid.
[An egg]
Gollum:
Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
All in mail never clinking.
[Fish]
Bilbo:
No-legs lay on one-leg,
two-legs sat near on three-legs,
four-legs got some.
[Fish on a table,
man on a stool,
cat gets the scraps]
Gollum:
This thing all things devours:
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down.
[Time]
Gollum原名Smeagol，也是Hobbit人，属于早先3支Hobbit部落中的一支—Stoor。有一天，Smeagol跟好朋友也是cousin Deagol出去划船钓鱼时，Deagol在水底捡到一个指环，这就是后面“One Ring to Rule Them All”的指环王（the Lord of the Rings），Sméagol 杀了Déagol, 成为继Sauron, Isildur 和Deagol之后的指环王第四位拥有人。后面在岩洞里，Bilbo捡到Gollum的One Ring，之后在Gandalf的要求下，不情愿地把One Ring留给国自己的cousin Frodo, Frodo在the Fellowship和各路精灵地帮助下开始了漫长艰难的毁掉One Ring的历险行程。
猜谜语是Hobbit人的爱好，在作者把Gollum第一次曾现在读者面前时，猜谜语这一场景淋漓尽致地表现了Gollum被One Ring控制的辛酸史。Gollum有两面性–-一是拥有One Ring前的Hobbit Smeagol：天真，快乐，享受生活（猜谜语时的专注神情可爱极了，为the Hobbit加分不少，也让他成为文学史上非常生动可爱的一个反面人物）；还有被One Ring侵蚀后的Gollum，贪婪，孤独，矛盾与绝望（手里拿着石头准备砸Bilbo，如果猜不出来的话）。Gollum生活的所有乐趣只有One Ring，他是Frodo的未来版，如果Frodo手上的One Ring不被及时毁灭的话。在火山口Crack of Doom，最后关头，Frodo也不想放掉手上的One Ring了，他对Sam说：“I have come, but I do not choose now to do what I came to do. I will not do the deed. The Ring is mine! ”
Frodo手上的One Ring是被动放弃的，Gollum最终还是跟踪爬上Crack of Doom，他咬断隐身人Frodo套着One Ring的手指，最终得到One Ring；由于兴奋过度，他掉入万丈深渊的火焰中，临终还在叫喊着他的Precious One Ring：“Precious, Precious, Precious, my Precious”。
知道了Gollum的历史后，我们就能深切体会到Gollum谜语背后的心境与处境。Goplum 在犯了谋杀罪拥有One Ring后众叛亲离，孤独地在Misty Mountains地底岩洞里生存了几百年：我的生活里没有树，没有花，没有朋友….当然，Gollum 非常狡猾，他能够熟练地在Sméagol 和Gollum 之间游刃有余：打不过时，就是可怜的Gollum, 处境博人同情；一但赢了，就是要杀人的Sméagol, 对对手毫无怜悯。你看他在与Bilbo猜谜语的时候，无不随时随地寻找杀机。
Tolkien 的谜语运用只是一种文化传承；在西方文学史上，最早且最著名的谜语可能就是Sophocles在Oedipus Rex里的Sphinx谜语了。
Question: What goes on four legs in the morning, one two legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening? (什么早上四条腿，中午两条腿，晚上三条腿)
Answer: Man, who crawls on four legs as an infant, walks on two legs as an adult, and walks with a cane as an elderly citizen. (是人，婴儿时四条腿爬，成年时两条腿行走，老年时柱着拐棍缓刑。)
还有的谜语答案本身就是谜语，如Lewis Carroll的Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland。
Question: Why is a raven like a writing desk?
Answer 1by Sam Lloyd: Poe wrote on both.
Answer 2 by Aldous Huxley: Because there is ‘b’ in both and an ‘n’ in neither.
猜谜语用在故事情节的进展中，不仅仅显示出身处困境中主人公的智慧，也让作品本身妙趣横生，显示了创作者驾驭文字的能力与丰富的想象创造力。J.R.R. Tolkien 笔下Gollum和Bilbo之间的谜语，与众多名家如莎士比亚，圣经等作品中的谜语一起，是西方文学史上熠熠生辉令人难忘的篇章。
