The Hobbit / Хоббит. 10 класс - Страница 13

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“Do you now?” 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.”

“Lovely titles!” said the dragon.

“I am the guest of eagles. I am Ring-winner and Luck-wearer; 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. 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,” 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 “Your information is out of date,” he said.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!

Just then they heard a blow. The rock boomed, the walls cracked and stones fell from the roof on their heads. They ran down the tunnel, while behind them outside they heard the roar and rumble of Smaug’s fury. He was breaking rocks to pieces, smashing wall and cliff. In this way he felt better.

Then Smaug went away towards the Running River.

Chapter 13
Not at Home

Meanwhile, the dwarves silently sat in darkness. They ate and spoke little. At last after days and days of waiting, as it seemed, Thorin spoke:

“Let us try the door!” he said. “I must feel the wind on my face soon or die.”

So several of the dwarves got up and walked back to where the door had been. But they found that broken rock had blocked the upper end of the tunnel.

“We are trapped!” they cried. “This is the end. We will die here.”

“Come, come!” Bilbo said. “Don’t despair! I am going down the tunnel once again. The only way out is down. And I think that you all should come with me.” The dwarves agreed.

“Now please be careful!” whispered the hobbit, “and quiet! Don’t let us take any unnecessary risks!”

Down, down they went. Near the bottom Bilbo slipped on his ring and went ahead. But he did not need it: the darkness was complete, and they were all invisible, anyway. The hobbit came to the opening unexpectedly, put his hand on air, stumbled forward, and rolled into the hall! There he lay on the floor and was afraid to get up. But nothing moved. There was not a gleam of light. When at last he slowly raised his head, there was a pale white shine, above him and far off in the gloom. But certainly it was not a spark of dragon-fire.

Bilbo got up, and found that he did not know in what direction to turn. “I am sure Smaug is not at home today. Perhaps we can make a little light, and have a look round,” he thought.

“Light!” he cried. “Can anybody make a light?”

After a while the dwarves brought the torch. But they decided to wait in the tunnel for Bilbo’s report. So they sat near the door and watched.

Bilbo was climbing the great mound of treasure. Soon he stood upon the top, and still went on. Then they saw him stop for a moment; but they did not know the reason. It was the Arkenstone, the Heart of the Mountain. So Bilbo guessed from Thorin’s description. All the time as he climbed, the same white gleam had shone before him. Now the great jewel shone with magnificent light right before his feet.

Suddenly Bilbo lifted it, shut his eyes, and put it in his deepest pocket.

“Now I am a burglar indeed!” thought he. “But I suppose I must tell the dwarves about it – some time.” Down the other side of the great mound he climbed, and the spark of his torch vanished from the sight of the watching dwarves. But soon they saw it far away in the distance again. Bilbo was crossing the floor of the hall.

He went on, until he came to the great doors at the further side, and there a draught of air refreshed him, but it almost put out his light. He peeped carefully through and saw wide stairs going up into the gloom. And still there was no sound of Smaug. He was just going to turn and go back, when a black shape swooped at him. He fell. His torch dropped and went out! “It’s only a bat, I hope!” he thought.

“Thorin! Balin! Oin! Gloin! Fili! Kili!” he cried as loudly as he could. “The light’s gone out! Someone come and find and help me!”

The dwarves waited a moment or two, and then Thorin said, “We have to go and help our burglar.”

“It is our turn to help,” said Balin, “and I am ready to go.”

Gloin lit several more torches, and then they all crept out, one by one, and went along the wall. Soon they met Bilbo.

“It was only a bat and a dropped torch, nothing worse!” he said in answer to their questions. Now the dwarves wanted to explore the hall, and they were sure that Smaug was away from home. They forgot fear and gathered gems and stuffed their pockets. Thorin searched from side to side for something which he could not find. It was the Arkenstone; but he spoke of it yet to no one.

The dwarves took down weapons from the walls, and armed themselves.

Thorin put on Bilbo a small coat of mail, made for some young elf-prince long ago. It was of silver-steel, and with it went a belt of pearls and crystals. A beautiful light helmet decorated with white gems was set upon the hobbit’s head.

“Thorin!” Bilbo cried aloud suddenly. “What next? We are armed but it won’t help us kill the dragon. We are not looking for gold yet, but for a way of escape!”

“You speak the truth!” answered Thorin. “Let us go! I will guide you. I still remember the ways of this palace.” Then they gathered together, and passed through the gaping doors.

They had covered their bright mail again with their old cloaks and their helmets with their hoods, and one by one they walked behind Thorin. Up, up, the dwarves went, and they met no sign of life. Suddenly they saw an opening far above, and the air smelt sweeter.

“This is the great chamber of Thror,” said Thorin; “the hall of feasting and of council. Not far off now is the Front Gate.”

They passed through the ruined chamber. Tables, chairs and benches were overturned. Skulls and bones were on the floor among bowls and broken drinking-horns and dust. Soon they heard a sound of water. “There is the birth of the Running River,” said Thorin. “From here it runs to the Gate. Let us follow it!”

Beside the stream there was a stone-paved road. The friends ran along the road, and soon they saw the broad light of day coming through the huge arch. They were dazzled. They came to the Front Gate, and were looking out upon Dale.

Suddenly Bilbo realized that he was not only tired but also very hungry indeed.

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