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Frodo and Sam gazed out in mingled loathing and wonder on this hateful land Between them and the smoking mountain, and about it north and south, all seemed ruinous and dead, a desert burned and choked They wondered how the Lord of this realm maintained and fed his slaves and his armies Yet armies he had As far as their eyes could reach, along the skirts of the Morgai and away southward, there were camps, some of tents, some ordered like small towns One of the largest of these was right below them Barely a mile out into the plain it clustered like some huge nest of insects, with straight dreary streets of huts and long low drab buildings About it the ground was busy with folk going to and fro a wide road ran from it south east to join the Morgul way, and along it many lines of small black shapes were hurrying
Neither he nor Frodo knew anything of the great slave worked fields away south in this wide realm, beyond the fumes of the Mountain by the dark sad waters of Lake Núrnen nor of the great roads that ran away east and south to tributary lands, from which the soldiers of the Tower brought long waggon trains of goods and booty and fresh slaves Here in the northward regions were the mines and forges, and the musterings of long planned war and here the Dark Power, moving its armies like pieces on the board, was gathering them together Its first moves, the first feelers of its strength, had been checked upon its western line, southward and northward For the moment it withdrew them, and brought up new forces, massing them about Cirith Gorgor for an avenging stroke And if it had also been its purpose to defend the Mountain against all approach, it could scarcely have done more
Now you go to sleep first, Mr Frodo, he said Its getting dark again I reckon this day is nearly over
Who says theres bad news? shouted the soldier
All right, all right said the tracker Ill say no more and go on thinking But whats the black sneak got to do with it all? That gobbler with the flapping hands?
Whose blames that? said the soldier Not mine That comes from Higher Up First they say its a great Elf in bright armour, then its a sort of small dwarf man, then it must be a pack of rebel Uruk hai or maybe its all the lot together
Neither he nor Frodo knew anything of the great slave worked fields away south in this wide realm, beyond the fumes of the Mountain by the dark sad waters of Lake Núrnen nor of the great roads that ran away east and south to tributary lands, from which the soldiers of the Tower brought long waggon trains of goods and booty and fresh slaves Here in the northward regions were the mines and forges, and the musterings of long planned war and here the Dark Power, moving its armies like pieces on the board, was gathering them together Its first moves, the first feelers of its strength, had been checked upon its western line, southward and northward For the moment it withdrew them, and brought up new forces, massing them about Cirith Gorgor for an avenging stroke And if it had also been its purpose to defend the Mountain against all approach, it could scarcely have done more
There they sat and made such a meal as they could Keeping back the precious lembas for the evil days ahead, they ate the half of what remained in Sams bag of Faramirs provision: some dried fruit, and a small slip of cured meat and they sipped some water They had drunk again from the pools in the valley, but they were very, thirsty again There was a bitter tang in the air of Mordor that dried the mouth When Sam thought of water even his hopeful spirit quailed Beyond the Morgai there was the dreadful plain of Gorgoroth to cross
Frodo and Sam gazed out in mingled loathing and wonder on this hateful land Between them and the smoking mountain, and about it north and south, all seemed ruinous and dead, a desert burned and choked They wondered how the Lord of this realm maintained and fed his slaves and his armies Yet armies he had As far as their eyes could reach, along the skirts of the Morgai and away southward, there were camps, some of tents, some ordered like small towns One of the largest of these was right below them Barely a mile out into the plain it clustered like some huge nest of insects, with straight dreary streets of huts and long low drab buildings About it the ground was busy with folk going to and fro a wide road ran from it south east to join the Morgul way, and along it many lines of small black shapes were hurrying
Whose blames that? said the soldier Not mine That comes from Higher Up First they say its a great Elf in bright armour, then its a sort of small dwarf man, then it must be a pack of rebel Uruk hai or maybe its all the lot together
I guess what itll be like, said Sam Where its narrower the Orcs and Men will just be packed closer Youll see, Mr Frodo
They soon found that it was impossible to make their way along the crest of the Morgai, or anywhere along its higher levels, pathless as they were and scored with deep ghylls In the end they were forced to go back down the ravine that they had climbed and seek for a way along the valley It was rough going, for they dared not cross over to the path on the westward side After a mile or more they saw, huddled in a hollow at the cliffs foot, the orc hold that they had guessed was near at hand: a wall and a cluster of stone huts set about the dark mouth of a cave There was no movement to be seen, but the hobbits crept by cautiously, keeping as much as they could to the thorn brakes that grew thickly at this point along both sides of the old water course
I dare say I shall, if we ever get so far, said Frodo and turned away
Well Sam went on Whatever they have to eat and drink, we cant get it Theres no way down that I can see And we couldnt cross all that open country crawling with enemies, even if we did get down
Whose blames that? said the soldier Not mine That comes from Higher Up First they say its a great Elf in bright armour, then its a sort of small dwarf man, then it must be a pack of rebel Uruk hai or maybe its all the lot together
There they sat and made such a meal as they could Keeping back the precious lembas for the evil days ahead, they ate the half of what remained in Sams bag of Faramirs provision: some dried fruit, and a small slip of cured meat and they sipped some water They had drunk again from the pools in the valley, but they were very, thirsty again There was a bitter tang in the air of Mordor that dried the mouth When Sam thought of water even his hopeful spirit quailed Beyond the Morgai there was the dreadful plain of Gorgoroth to cross
I dont like the look of things at all, said Sam Pretty hopeless, I call it �?saving that where theres such a lot of folk there must be wells or water, not to mention food And these are Men not Orcs, or my eyes are all wrong
Hardly twenty paces from where the hobbits lurked the small orc stopped Nar it snarled Im going home It pointed across the valley to the orc hold No good wearing my nose out on stones any more Theres not a trace left, I say Ive lost the scent through giving way to you It went up into the hills, not along the valley, I tell you
Ar Who says there isnt?
I do But I think well trust our luck together, Sam or our blessing Still, be careful now, if its very cold
I dare say I shall, if we ever get so far, said Frodo and turned away
All right, all right said the tracker Ill say no more and go on thinking But whats the black sneak got to do with it all? That gobbler with the flapping hands?
At last Frodo could go no further They had climbed up a narrow shelving ravine, but they still had a long way to go before they could even come in sight of the last craggy ridge I must rest now, Sam, and sleep if I can said Frodo He looked about, but there seemed nowhere even for an animal to crawl into in this dismal country At length, tired out, they slunk under a curtain of brambles that hung down like a mat over a low rock face
Ar Who says there isnt?
The river bed was now some way below the path They scrambled down to it, and began to cross it To their surprise they came upon dark pools fed by threads of water trickling down from some source higher up the valley Upon its outer marges under the westward mountains Mordor was a dying land, but it was not yet dead And here things still grew, harsh, twisted, bitter, struggling for life In the glens of the Morgai on the other side of the valley low scrubby trees lurked and clung, coarse grey grass tussocks fought with the stones, and withered mosses crawled on them and everywhere great writhing, tangled brambles sprawled Some had long stabbing thorns, some hooked barbs that rent like knives The sullen shrivelled leaves of a past year hung on them, grating and rattling in the sad airs, but their maggot ridden buds were only just opening Flies, dun or grey, or black, marked like ores with a red eye shaped blotch, buzzed and stung and above the briar thickets clouds of hungry midges danced and reeled
Whose blames that? said the soldier Not mine That comes from Higher Up First they say its a great Elf in bright armour, then its a sort of small dwarf man, then it must be a pack of rebel Uruk hai or maybe its all the lot together
I dont like the look of things at all, said Sam Pretty hopeless, I call it �?saving that where theres such a lot of folk there must be wells or water, not to mention food And these are Men not Orcs, or my eyes are all wrong
Orc gears no good, said Sam, waving his arms I wish Id got an orcs hide
Ar Who says there isnt?
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