“You Shall Not Pass!”, faisait
dire Peter Jackson à notre vénéré Gandalf le Gris à la fin du premier
film du Seigneur des Anneaux. Dans la vidéo ci-dessous, à 2m35s environ :
Cette citation est tellement connue, tellement emblématique de la
trilogie, que c’est devenu un meme, presque qu’aussi populaire que
le mythique “My Precious”. En voici un tout petit exemple
trouvé sur internet, ou un détournement.
Sauf que dans le bouquin, la citation exacte est “You cannot pass!”,
et non “You shall not pass”. Voici le passage complet, tiré du livre
original (l’emphase est de mon fait) :
The Balrog reached the bridge. Gandalf stood in the middle of the
span, leaning on the staff in his left hand, but in his other hand
Glamdring gleamed, cold and white. His enemy halted again, facing him,
and the shadow about it reached out like two vast wings. It raised the
whip, and the thongs whined and cracked. Fire came from its nostrils.
But Gandalf stood firm.
‘You cannot pass,’ he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead
silence fell. ‘I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame
of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame
of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass.’
The Balrog made no answer. The fire in it seemed to die, but the
darkness grew. It stepped forward slowly on to the bridge, and
suddenly it drew itself up to a great height, and its wings were
spread from wall to wall; but still Gandalf could be seen, glimmering
in the gloom; he seemed small, and altogether alone: grey and bent,
like a wizened tree before the onset of a storm.
From out of the shadow a red sword leaped flaming.
Glamdring glittered white in answer.
There was a ringing clash and a stab of white fire. The Balrog fell
back, and its sword flew up in molten fragments. The wizard swayed on
the bridge, stepped back a pace, and then again stood still.
‘You cannot pass!’ he said.
With a bound the Balrog leaped full upon the bridge. Its whip whirled
and hissed.
‘He cannot stand alone!’ cried Aragorn suddenly and ran back along
the bridge. ‘Elendil!’ he shouted. ‘I am with you, Gandalf!’
‘Gondor!’ cried Boromir and leaped after him.
At that moment Gandalf lifted his staff, and crying aloud he smote
the bridge before him. The staff broke asunder and fell from his hand.
A blinding sheet of white flame sprang up. The bridge cracked. Right
at the Balrog’s feet it broke, and the stone upon which it stood
crashed into the gulf, while the rest remained, poised, quivering like
a tongue of rock thrust out into emptiness.
With a terrible cry the Balrog fell forward, and its shadow plunged
down and vanished. But even as it fell it swung its whip, and the
thongs lashed and curled about the wizard’s knees, dragging him to the
brink. He staggered and fell, grasped vainly at the stone, and slid
into the abyss. ‘Fly, you fools!’ he cried, and was gone.
Et voilà, c’était la déception du jour. Vous en voulez une deuxième ?
Intéressez-vous à la toute dernière phrase de cette citation, le tout
aussi célèbre “Fly, you fools!“. Je vous rassure, le “My
Precious” n’est quant à lui pas une tromperie ;-).