Джон Толкин - The Hobbit / Хоббит. 10 класс

Then Dori said in a loud whisper:

“I can see the lights are again over there.”

Up they all jumped. They heard the voices and the laughter quite clearly. When they got near the lights, Thorin said: “Don’t rush forward this time! I will send Mr Baggins alone first to talk to them. They won’t be frightened of him, and I hope they won’t do anything bad to him.” When they got to the edge of the circle of lights they pushed Bilbo suddenly from behind. Before he had time to slip on his ring, he stumbled forward into the full blaze of the fire and torches. It was no good. Out went all the lights again and complete darkness fell. But it was worse this time. They simply could not find the hobbit. They shouted and called: “Bilbo Baggins! Hobbit! Where are you?” but there was no answer.

Suddenly Dori stumbled across Bilbo. The hobbit was fast asleep. When he was awake he was not pleased at all.

“I was having such a lovely dream,” Bilbo grumbled, “about a most gorgeous dinner.”

“Good heavens! He is like Bombur now,” they said. “Don’t tell us about dreams.”

Soon Kili came and roused them all again, saying:

“There are hundreds of torches and many fires over there!”

Up they got again; it was the same again and this time the result was disastrous. Thorin stepped into the centre of the circle.

Out went all light. Bilbo was running round and round and calling:

“Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Fili, Kili, Bombur, Bifur, Bofur, Dwalin, Balin, Thorin Oakenshield.” Soon he was alone in complete silence and darkness. That was one of his most miserable moments. But he decided to sit down with his back to a tree and stay there until morning. Bilbo was dreaming about food when he felt something touch him. Something like a strong sticky string was against his left hand, and when he tried to move he found that his legs were already wrapped, so that when he got up he fell over.

Then the great spider came from behind him and attacked him. Bilbo had a desperate fight. He beat the creature off with his hands until he remembered his sword and drew it out. Bilbo cut the string around his legs and then he struck the spider with his sword and killed it.

The spider lay dead beside him. Somehow the killing of the giant spider, all alone by himself in the dark without the help of the wizard or the dwarves or of anyone else, made a great difference to Mr Baggins. He felt a different person, and much bolder in spite of an empty stomach.

“I will give you a name,” he said to the sword, “and I will call you Sting.” After that he went to look around. The forest was gloomy and silent, but Bilbo had to look for his friends.

He crept quietly in the direction from which the cries for help had come. Soon he noticed spider-webs. Suddenly he saw, too, that there were huge and horrible spiders in the branches above him. He heard their voices. The spiders were talking about the dwarves!

“It was a serious struggle,” said one, “but I hope they are juicy.”

“Don’t hang them too long,” said another, “kill them.”

Bilbo was horrified, now that he noticed the dwarves hanging in the shadows.

Then one of the spiders went to the dwarves. “There is no time now,” thought Bilbo. So he picked up a stone and threw it at the spider. The stone struck the spider on the head, and it dropped senseless off the tree.

The next stone went through a big web, and took off the spider sitting in the middle of it. After that there was panic in the spider-colony, and they forgot about the dwarves. They could not see Bilbo, but they knew the direction from which the stones were coming. So they ran towards the hobbit. Bilbo, however, soon slipped away to a different place. The idea came to him to lead the spiders further and further away from the dwarves. So he began to dance among the trees and he sang a song to annoy them, and also to let the dwarves hear his voice.

This is what he sang:

As he sang he threw some more stones. Practically all the spiders in the place came after him: some dropped to the ground, others raced along the branches. They were quick and frightfully angry.

Then quieter than a mouse he crawled back. He had precious little time, he knew. He had to rescue the dwarves.

He cut the strings with his sword and rescued Fili, Kili, Bifur, Bofur, Don, Nori and Bombur. But there were still five dwarves hanging at the end of the branch when the spiders began to come back. Bilbo tried to scare away the spiders. But he had taken off his ring when he rescued Fili and he had forgotten to put it on again, so now they all began to hiss:

“Now we see you, you nasty little creature! We will eat you!”

While this was going on, the other dwarves were cutting the threads with their knives. Then the battle began. Some of the dwarves had knives, and some had sticks, and all of them could get at stones; and Bilbo had his sword, Sting.

Many of the spiders were killed. But Bilbo was really tired; only four of the dwarves were able to stand firmly. Already the spiders were beginning to weave their webs all round them again from tree to tree. In the end Bilbo decided to open the secret of his ring to the dwarves. He was sorry about it, but he had to do it.

“I am going to disappear,” he said. “I will draw the spiders off, if I can; and you must keep together and go in the opposite direction. To the left there, that is the way towards the place where we last saw the elf-fires.”

So Bilbo suddenly slipped on his ring, and to the great astonishment of the dwarves he vanished.

Soon they heard the sound of his song behind the trees on the right. That upset the spiders greatly. They went in the direction of the voice. Then the dwarves got together in a knot, and threw stones at the spiders on the left, and ran through the ring and went on.

The dwarves were very tired and weak. Every now and then [57]they had to turn and fight the spiders.

Suddenly Bilbo appeared. “Go on! Go on!” he shouted. “I will fight them!” And he killed many spiders; they had become afraid of Sting, and did not come very near. At last the spiders went back to their dark colony.

The dwarves then had a chance to rest.

They lay for some time, but very soon they began to ask questions. They wanted to know the story of the ring. And then they asked Bilbo where they were, and where their path was, and what they were going to do next? So you can see that they had changed their opinion of Mr Baggins very much, and had begun to have a great respect for him. They really expected Bilbo to think of some wonderful plan for helping them. Bilbo began to feel proud of himself.

All of a sudden [58]Dwalin asked, “Where is Thorin?” It was a terrible shock. Of course there were only thirteen of them, twelve dwarves and the hobbit. Where was Thorin?

Thorin had been caught much faster than they had. Do you remember Bilbo falling asleep, as he stepped into a circle of light? The next time it had been Thorin who stepped forward, and as the lights went out he fell like a stone. Then the Wood-elves had come to him, and bound him, and carried him away. The feasting people were Wood-elves, of course. These are not wicked folk.

In a great cave some miles within the edge of Mirkwood there lived their greatest king. This great cave had many passages and wide halls; but it was lighter than any goblin-dwelling. The king’s cave was his palace, and the strong place of his treasure, and the fortress of his people against their enemies.

It was also the dungeon of his prisoners. So to the cave they dragged Thorin – not too gently, because they did not love dwarves, and thought he was an enemy. In ancient days they had had wars with some of the dwarves, whom they accused of stealing their treasure. The dwarves said that they only took their part, because the elf-king had asked them to shape his raw gold and silver, [59]and had afterwards refused to give them their pay. The elf-king was really rich but very greedy. His people didn’t work metals or jewels, they didn’t cultivate the earth. All this was well known to every dwarf. So Thorin was angry, when they took their spell off him and he came to his senses. [60]

The king asked Thorin many questions. But Thorin only said that he was starving. “Why did you and your folk three times try to attack my people?” asked the king.

“We did not attack them,” answered Thorin; “we came to beg, because we were starving.”

“Where are your friends now? What are they doing?”

“I don’t know, but I think they are starving in the forest.”

“What were you doing in the forest?”

“We were looking for food and drink, because we were starving.”

“But why did you come into the forest?” asked the king angrily.

At that Thorin shut his mouth and did not say another word. “Very well!” said the king. “Take him away and keep him safe, until he tells the truth.” Then the elves shut him in one of the secret caves with strong wooden doors, and left him. They gave him a lot of food and drink, though. So there poor Thorin lay.

The day after the battle with the spiders Bilbo and the dwarves tried for the last time to find a way out before they died of hunger and thirst. They got up and walked on. Suddenly they saw Wood-elves with their bows and spears. They told the dwarves to stop. There was no thought of a fight. So they simply stopped and sat down and waited – all except Bilbo, who put on his ring and disappeared.

The elves bound the dwarves in a long line. Bilbo was walking silently behind them. Suddenly the torches stopped, and they began to cross the bridge. The bridge led across the river to the king’s doors. In a great hall with pillars sat the king on a wooden chair. On his head was a crown of berries and red leaves, for it was autumn again. In the spring he wore a crown of woodland flowers. In his hand he held a staff of oak.

The prisoners were brought before him; he told his men to unbind them. “They need no ropes in here,” said he. “There is no escape from my magic doors for those who are once brought inside.”

The king asked the dwarves about their doings, and where they were going to, and where they were coming from; but he didn’t get more news out of them than out of Thorin. They were angry and did not even pretend to be polite.

“What have we done, king?” said Balin, who was the eldest now. “Is it a crime to be lost in the forest, to be hungry and thirsty, to be trapped by spiders?” The king answered: “It is a crime to wander in my kingdom without leave. [62]Do you forget that you were in my kingdom, using the road that my people made? Did you not pursue and trouble my people in the forest? Now I have a right to know why you came here, and so tell me now, or I will keep you all in prison!” Then he ordered to put the dwarves in separate cells and to give them food and drink. But be did not tell them that Thorin was also his prisoner. Bilbo found that out.

Poor Mr Baggins lived in that place all alone; he didn’t take off his ring. Bilbo walked around the king’s palace to know it better.

Eventually he managed to find out where each dwarf was kept. He found all their twelve cells in different parts of the palace. One day he heard the talk of the guards and learned that there was another dwarf in prison too, in a deep dark place. He guessed at once, of course, that that was Thorin. At last after many difficulties he managed to find the place, and to talk with the chief of the dwarves. Thorin felt miserable, and was even beginning to think of telling the king all about his treasure and his quest, when he heard Bilbo’s little voice at his keyhole. He could hardly believe his ears. Soon he had a long talk with the hobbit on the other side.