来源:中国日报网
托尔金的《指环王》故事发生在中土大陆，但是现实版的“佛罗多”却是一位意大利人。他穿着霍比特人的服饰，住在霍比特人的小屋里，立志打造霍比特村庄，而且刚刚和朋友们一起完成了“销毁魔戒之旅”。
Nicolas Gentile (centre, kneeling), alongside his friends who joined him on his journey. Photograph: Giacomo Savini e Luciano Masiello, courtesy of Nicolas Gentile.
Nicolas Gentile, a 37-year-old Italian pastry chef, did not just want to pretend to be a hobbit – he wanted to live like one. First, he bought a piece of land in the countryside of Bucchianico, near the town of Chieti in Abruzzo, where he and his wife started building their personal Shire from JRR Tolkien’s fictional Middle-earth.
37岁的意大利糕点师尼古拉斯·金泰尔不想只是假装当霍比特人，他想像霍比特人一样生活。首先，他在阿布鲁佐大区基耶蒂市附近布基亚尼科镇的乡下买了一块地，在那里他和他的妻子着手打造他们自己的“夏尔郡”（J·R·R·托尔金笔下的中土大陆上的一个地区，主要居民是霍比特人）。
Then, on 27 August, alongside a group of friends and Lord of the Rings fans dressed as an elf, a dwarf, a hobbit, a sorcerer and humans, he walked more than 120 miles (200km) from Chieti to Naples, crossing mountains and rivers, to throw the “One Ring”, a central plot element of The Lord of the Rings saga, into the volcano crater of Mount Vesuvius.
然后，在8月27日那天，他和一群打扮成精灵、矮人、霍比特人、巫师和人类的朋友以及《指环王》粉丝们一起从基耶蒂市走了120多英里（200千米）到那不勒斯市，跨越了山川与河流，就为了将“至尊魔戒”扔进维苏威火山口中（《指环王》故事的核心情节）。
'Some time ago, I realised that books and films were no longer enough for me to satisfy my passion for the fantasy genre and, in particular, for the Lord of the Rings saga,” Gentile said. “I decided that I wanted to live my hobbit life to the fullest.”
金泰尔说：“前些时候，我意识到书和电影再也不能满足我对奇幻故事尤其是《指环王》的热情。我决定将霍比特人的生活进行到底。”
In the two hectares of land he bought, he has already built his first house, where he lives with his family, in hobbit clothes, and his doors are also open to visitors. Here, the pastry chef, who has a degree in geology, plans to build the caravan of the dwarves, the green dragon inn and a large version of Bilbo Baggins’ house. His goal is to transform this piece of Abruzzo into a hobbit village, with an adjoining farmhouse, where visitors will be able to live in a magical world, which, according to Gentile, is not too far from the way people live in Bucchianico.
在他买下的两公顷土地上，他已经盖好了自己的第一座房子，他和家人穿着霍比特人服装住在这里，并欢迎游客来参观。这位拥有地质学学位的糕点师计划在这里建造矮人的活动住宅、青龙客栈和放大版的比尔博·巴金斯小屋。他的目标是将阿布鲁佐的这块地改造成一个农舍相邻的霍比特村庄。据金泰尔介绍，游客们将能在这个魔幻世界中生活，而且这里的生活方式和布基亚尼科镇的居民差别并不太大。
caravan [ˈkærəvæn]: n. 活动住宅
'Over time, I realised that my friends, my relatives and the farmers of Bucchianico have always lived as hobbits. They work like hobbits, carrying out jobs that are all in close contact with nature. They celebrate like hobbits, by organising festivals and dances and even dress up as hobbits.”
“久而久之，我意识到我的朋友、亲人和布基亚尼科的农民一直都像霍比特人一样生活。他们像霍比特人一样工作，干的活儿也都与大自然亲密接触。他们像霍比特人一样庆祝，举办各种节日和舞会，甚至会打扮成霍比特人。”
Gentile, a 37-year-old pastry chef, lives with his family in a hobbit house, where they wear hobbit clothes. Photograph: Giacomo Savini e Luciano Masiello, courtesy of Nicolas Gentile.
In Bucchianico, the festival of the Banderesi is organised every year. It is one of the oldest festivals in Europe – celebrated for almost 500 years and in which people wear medieval clothes, sing songs, dance and prepare typical local dishes.
在布基亚尼科，每年都会庆祝班德莱西节。这是欧洲最古老的节日之一，已经有近500年历史，人们会在这个节日穿上中世纪服装、唱歌跳舞，还会做本地风味菜。
'Those are hobbit clothes,” says Gentile. ‘‘I realised that I have always lived in the Shire. The only thing missing was to become aware of it and build a village. I wanted people to enter my mind, my fantasy. Many make fun of us. Some think I am trying to escape from reality. Far from it. I am living my dream, my adventure. By purchasing that piece of land, I have removed it from a reality that I don’t like and am shaping it the way I want.”
金泰尔说：“那就是霍比特人的服装。我意识到自己其实一直住在夏尔郡，就差人们意识到这点，还有建一个村庄了。我想让人们进入我幻想的世界。许多人都取笑我们。有些人认为我只是试图逃离现实。根本不是。我是在实现我的梦想，践行我的冒险生活。通过买下那块土地，我已经让它脱离我不喜欢的现实，并且一步步将其塑造成我想要的样子。”
He says his “county” will be called the Contea Gentile, because of a copyright issue.
他说，由于版权问题，他的“郡”将被命名为康缇雅·金泰尔。
A visitor knocks on the door of a house in Gentile’s Shire in Abruzzo, Italy. Photograph: Giacomo Savini e Luciano Masiello, courtesy of Nicolas Gentile.
The houses will be built through crowdfunding and will be sustainable, using solar energy. Like a true hobbit, Gentile loves nature and his goal is to take care of it. He says his journey to Vesuvius to throw the ring into the crater was not just an extravagant walk by Lord of the Rings fans – he wanted to send a message.
土地上的农舍将通过众筹融资建造，并将采用太阳能来实现可持续的生活方式。和真正的霍比特人一样，金泰尔热爱大自然，并将保护大自然作为自己的目标。金泰尔表示，他到维苏威火山口扔戒指并不只是《指环王》粉丝的一次奢侈的徒步旅行，而是想传递一个信息。
'The earth today is threatened by pollution and the climate emergency, which are enemies as fearsome as Sauron. We wanted to show that our land, like Tolkien’s Middle-earth, must be saved and protected. That’s why we went there to throw the ring. I’m too much of an environmentalist to throw a piece of iron into nature, so I symbolically threw a piece of solidified lava into the crater and gave the ring to a little boy we met.
“今天的地球正遭受污染和气候紧急状态的威胁，这一危机就和索伦一样可怕。我们想表明的是，和托尔金笔下的中土大陆一样，我们的土地也必须得到拯救和保护。这就是为什么我们要去那里扔戒指。我是一个坚定的环保人士，绝不会往大自然扔一块铁制品，所以我只是象征性地往火山口扔了一块固结熔岩，然后把戒指送给了我们遇到的一个小男孩。”
'We met a lot of people over the course of those hundreds of kilometres. And the affection they showed us was incredible. The people on the street opened the doors to their houses for us, gave us food, offered to host us in their houses and let us take a shower. What is this if not magic?”
“在数百公里的跋涉途中，我们遇到了很多人。他们对我们流露的真情令人感动。沿街的住户向我们敞开大门，送给我们食物，邀请我们去做客，还让我们洗澡。还有什么比这更神奇的呢？”
英文来源：卫报
翻译&编辑：丹妮