At the end of the third day they finally landed. Horses with provisions and the ponies for their own use were waiting for them. They packed what they could on the ponies, but none of the men of the town wanted to stay with them even for the night so near the Mountain. So the dwarves and Bilbo spent a cold and lonely night and their spirits fell.[74]
The next day they continued their journey. There was no laughter or song. The land about them looked depressing. There was little grass, and soon there was neither bush nor tree. They came to the Desolation of the Dragon.
They reached the Mountain which lay dark and silent before them. They made their first camp near a height called Ravenhill.[75] Thorin sent out an expedition to explore the land to the South where the Front Gate stood. For this purpose he chose Balin and Fili and Kili, and with them went Bilbo. They marched under the grey and silent cliffs to the feet of Ravenhill. There the river turned from the Mountain to the Lake, flowing noisily. Looking down they saw in the valley the grey ruins of ancient houses, towers, and walls.
“Once there was Dale,” said Balin. “The mountain’s sides were green with woods.” They went on and saw the dark opening in a great cliff-wall – the Front Gate. Out of it the waters of the Running River ran; and out of it too there came a steam and a dark smoke.
“Let us return!” Balin said.
“The dragon is still alive and in the halls under the Mountain then,” said the hobbit.
So they went back to the camp. They were alone without hope of further help. They were at the end of their journey, but it seemed, they were very far from the end of their quest.
But Mr Baggins was not as sad as the others. He often borrowed Thorin’s map and looked at it, thinking over the runes and the message of the moon-letters. He made the dwarves begin the dangerous search on the western slopes for the secret door. They moved their camp then to a long valley, walled with lower spurs of the Mountain. On this western side there were fewer signs of the dragon’s feet, and there was some grass for their ponies. From this western camp, day by day they searched for paths up the mountain-side. If the map was true, somewhere high above the cliff at the valley’s head must stand the secret door. Day by day they came back to their camp without success.
But at last unexpectedly they found it. Fili and Kili and the hobbit went back one day down the valley. Suddenly Bilbo saw rough steps going upwards. So he and the dwarves found traces of a narrow track, leading to the top of the southern edge, and it brought them at last to a narrow shelf. Looking down they saw that they were at the top of the cliff at the valley’s head and were gazing down on to their own camp below. Silently, clinging to the rocky wall on their right, they went in single file along the shelf, till the wall opened and they turned into a little steep-walled bay, grassy-floored, still and quiet. At its inner end a flat wall rose up. It was smooth and straight.
They were absolutely sure that they had found the door at last. They beat on it, they pushed at it, they begged it to move, and nothing happened. At last they had to return to the camp.
There was excitement in the camp that night. In the morning they prepared to move once more. Only Bofur and Bombur were left behind to guard the ponies and the food. The others went down the valley and up the newly found path, and so to the narrow shelf. Each of them had a rope wound tight about his waist, and so at last they reached the little grassy bay. There they made their third camp, hauling up what they needed from below with their ropes.
Meanwhile some of them explored the shelf beyond the opening and found a path that led higher and higher on to the mountain; but they were afraid to go very far that way.
The others who were busy with the secret of the door had no more success.
They had brought tools of many sorts from Lake-town, and at first they tried to use these. But when they struck the stone their tools broke.
Bilbo sat and thought looking at a large grey stone which lay in the centre of the grass.
“Tomorrow begins the last week of autumn,” said Thorin one day.
“And winter comes after autumn,” said Bifur.
“And next year after that,” said Dwalin. “What is our burglar doing for us?”
Bilbo heard this – the dwarves were on the rocks just above the place where he was sitting. “Good Gracious!”[76] he thought, “What can I do?!”
That night he was very miserable and hardly slept. The next day Bilbo sat gloomily in the grassy bay looking at the stone. He had a feeling that he was waiting for something. “Perhaps the wizard will suddenly come back today,” he thought. Soon he saw the orange ball of the sun sinking towards the level of his eyes. He went to the opening and there was a thin new moon above the rim of Earth.[77] At that very moment he heard a sharp crack behind him. There on the grey stone in the grass was a huge thrush,[78] nearly coal black, with pale yellow breast. Crack! It had caught a snail and was knocking it on the stone. Crack! Crack!
Suddenly Bilbo understood. He stood on the shelf and called the dwarves. When they came, Bilbo quickly explained everything. The sun sank lower and lower, it sank into a cloud and disappeared. The dwarves groaned, but still Bilbo stood almost without moving. The little moon was dipping to the horizon. Evening was coming on. Then suddenly a red ray of the sun escaped through the cloud. A gleam of light came straight through the opening into the bay and fell on the smooth rock-face. The old bird, who had been watching from a high perch, gave a sudden trill. A piece of rock split from the wall and fell. A hole appeared suddenly about three feet from the ground. Quickly, the dwarves rushed to the rock and pushed – in vain.[79]
“The key! The key!” cried Bilbo. “Where is Thorin?”
Thorin ran up.
“The key!” shouted Bilbo. “The key that went with the map! Try it now while there is still time!”
Then Thorin stepped up and drew the key on its chain from round his neck. He put it to the hole. It fitted and it turned! Snap! The gleam went out, the sun sank, the moon was gone. Now they all pushed together, and slowly a part of the rock-wall moved. Long straight cracks appeared and widened. The door slowly, without a sound, swung inwards. Deep darkness lay before their eyes.
Chapter 12
Inside Information[80]
For a long time the dwarves stood in the dark before the door and debated, until at last Thorin spoke:
“Now is the time for our Mr Baggins to earn his Reward.”
“If you mean it is my job to go into the secret passage first, say so! I will go. Now who is coming with me?”
Nobody wanted to go with the hobbit. They were scared. Dwarves are not heroes, but calculating folk[81] who really like money.
So Bilbo went alone. It was a passage with smooth floors and smooth sides, going down to some distant end in the blackness below.
The hobbit slipped on his ring and crept quietly down, down, down into the dark. He was trembling with fear. But he was already a very different hobbit from the one that had started the journey long ago.[82]
He went on and on, till the door behind had faded away. He was all alone. Soon he felt hot. As he went forward he saw a red light. He began to sweat. He heard gurgling noise of some huge animal snoring in its sleep down there in the red glow in front of him.
At this point Bilbo stopped. He was really frightened. But after a short halt he went on and saw the great hall of the ancient dwarves right at the Mountain’s root. There lay Smaug, a huge red-golden dragon. He was fast asleep.
Under the dragon and about him, lay piles of precious things, gold, gems and jewels.
Smaug lay, with wings folded, turned partly on one side, so that the hobbit could see his long pale belly covered with gems and gold. Behind him there were axes, swords and spears hanging. Bilbo’s heart was filled with the desire of dwarves; and he gazed at the gold beyond price and count.
Suddenly, almost against his will, he grasped a great two-handled cup, as heavy as he could carry, and looked up at the dragon. Smaug moved a wing, the rumble of his snoring changed.
Then Bilbo ran. But the dragon did not wake. The little hobbit rushed back up the long tunnel and soon he safely came out.
The dwarves were really excited. They were passing the cup from hand to hand and talking of their treasure. Suddenly they heard a tremendous noise in the mountain. The ground beneath them trembled.
Smaug woke up from an uneasy dream. There was a strange smell in his cave. And he couldn’t see the cup. Thieves! Such a thing had not happened since first he came to the Mountain! Smaug was furious. He thrust his head in vain at the little hole, and then he rushed towards the Front Gate. He wanted to catch the thief and kill him. He flew into the air and settled on the mountain-top in the green and scarlet flame. The dwarves crouched against the walls of the grassy terrace. They hoped to escape the frightful eyes of the hunting dragon.
“Quick! Quick!” Bilbo whispered. “The door! The tunnel! It’s no good here.” So they were going to creep inside the tunnel when Bifur cried: “My cousins! Bombur and Bofur – we have forgotten them, they are down in the valley!”
“We cannot leave them,” said Thorin. “Where are the ropes? Be quick!”
At any moment Smaug could find them near the cliff’s edge pulling the ropes. Finally Bofur came up, and still all was safe. Then Bombur came up, and still all was safe. And then they lifted some tools and stores. Just then the dragon came. They had just time to rush back to the tunnel, when Smaug came from the North. He licked the mountain-sides with flame, beat his great wings with a noise like a roaring wind. The ponies screamed with terror, burst their ropes and galloped off. The dragon swooped and turned to pursue them, and was gone. “That’ll be the end of our poor beasts!” said Thorin.
They crept further down the tunnel, and there they lay until dawn came through the crack of the door.
Smaug guessed from the ponies, and from the traces of the camps which he had discovered, that men had come up from the river and the lake; but he didn’t notice the door. He had hunted in vain till the dawn chilled his rage and then he went back to his golden couch to sleep.
When morning came the dwarves debated long on what they should do next.
“Now I will make you an offer,” said Bilbo. “I have got my ring and will creep down and see what Smaug is going to do. Maybe something will happen.”
The dwarves accepted the offer eagerly. Now Bilbo had become the real leader in their adventure. He had begun to have ideas and plans of his own. When midday came he got ready for another journey down into the Mountain. The sun was shining when he started, but it was as dark as night in the tunnel. “Old Smaug is tired and asleep,” he thought. “He can’t see me and he won’t hear me. Cheer up Bilbo!” He had forgotten or had never heard about dragons’ sense of smell.
Smaug certainly looked fast asleep, when Bilbo peeped once more from the entrance. But Smaug was only pretending to sleep! He was watching the tunnel entrance! Hurriedly Bilbo stepped back. Then Smaug spoke.
“Well, thief! I smell you and I hear your breath. Come on![83] Take something again!” But Bilbo answered, “No thank you, O Smaug the Tremendous![84] I did not come for presents. I only wished to have a look at you and see if you were really as great as tales say. I did not believe them.”
“Do you now?”[85] said the dragon a bit flattered.
“Yes, I do,” replied Bilbo.
“So who are you and where do you come from?” asked the dragon.
“I come from under the hill. And I am unseen. I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly.[86]”
“Lovely titles!” said the dragon.
“I am the guest of eagles. I am Ring-winner[87] and Luck-wearer;[88] and I am Barrel-rider,” went on Bilbo.
“That’s better!” said Smaug.
Smaug did not understand everything, but he thought that he understood enough. “So it’s about Lake-men! They have a lot of barrels,” he thought.
“Very well, O Barrel-rider!” he said aloud. “Let me tell you I ate six ponies last night and I will catch and eat all the others before long.[89] In return for the excellent meal I will give you one piece of advice: don’t have business with dwarves!”
“Dwarves!” said Bilbo in pretended surprise.
“Don’t talk to me!” said Smaug. “I ate the ponies and I smelt the dwarves. Did you get a good price for that cup last night?” he went on. “You got nothing at all! Well, you see! Don’t believe them!” Bilbo was now beginning to feel really uncomfortable, but he spoke again.
“You don’t know everything, O Smaug the Mighty,[90]” said he. “Not gold alone brought us here.”
“What is it then?”
“Revenge,” Bilbo said.
Then Smaug laughed: “Revenge! My armour is like shields, my teeth are swords, my claws are spears, and my breath is death!”
“I have always understood,” said Bilbo, “that dragons were softer underneath, especially in the chest.”
The dragon stopped boasting. “Your information is out of date,[91]” he said. “I am protected above and below with iron scales and hard gems. No blade can pierce me.”
“Let me see your wonderful waistcoat of fine diamonds!”
“Yes, it is rare and wonderful, indeed,” said Smaug. The dragon rolled over. “Look!” he said. “What do you say to that?”
“Marvelous! Perfect! Flawless!” exclaimed Bilbo aloud, but he thought: “Old fool! There is a large hole on the left!” After that Mr Baggins decided to get away.
“Well, I really must not detain Your Magnificence any longer,” he said and ran up the tunnel.
It was evening when he came out. The dwarves wanted to hear his story. But the hobbit was worried and uncomfortable. The old thrush was sitting on a rock, listening to all that was said.
“I believe he is listening, and I don’t like the look of him,” said Bilbo crossly.
“Leave him alone!” said Thorin. “The thrushes are good and friendly. They were a magical race, and maybe this is one of those that were alive a couple of hundreds years or more ago. The Men of Dale used to understand their language, and used them for messengers to fly to the Men of the Lake.”
“Well, he’ll have news to take to Lake-town then,” said Bilbo; “but I don’t think there are any people left there that understand thrush-language.”
“Tell us what has happened!” cried the dwarves.
So Bilbo told them all he could remember.
“I am sure he knows that we came from Lake-town and had help from there,” added Bilbo.
Then the talk turned to the treasures of the dwarves. The most beautiful of all was the great white gem, which the dwarves had found beneath the roots of the Mountain, the Heart of the Mountain, the Arkenstone of Thrain. “The Arkenstone! The Arkenstone!” murmured Thorin in the dark. “It shone like silver in the firelight, like water in the sun, like snow under the stars!”
But Bilbo was only half listening to them.
“Shut the door!” he begged the dwarves. “Shut the door before it is too late!” Something in his voice gave the dwarves an uncomfortable feeling. Slowly Thorin kicked away the stone that blocked the door. Then it closed with a snap. No trace of a keyhole was left on the inside. They were shut in the Mountain!
