THE HOBBIT Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

The Secret Door

The day became clear and warm as Bilbo and the Dwarves arrived at Laketown in and on their barrels. And there, in the distance, Bilbo finally saw it: Lonely Mountain. The very top of the mountain was visible above the clouds. Bilbo had come very far and he had survived many adventures to see the mountain. And now he did not like to see it at all.

Boats came out from Laketown to pull the barrels towards the town. Soon, men were pulling the barrels from the water. Some men complained about the weight of the barrels. “I thought these barrels were supposed to be empty!” said one Lakeman. After he pulled it onto the pier, he opened it. To his tremendous surprise, out fell a very unhappy Dwarf. He was wet and bruised and there were sardines in his beard. It was Thorin.

There was a great commotion in the town that day! “Who are you and what are you doing here?” the Lakemen asked, after all the Dwarves were removed from their barrels. Bilbo was still wearing his ring. He found a safe place to watch as the townspeople came to see what the excitement was.

“I am Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror, King Under the Mountain!” said the Dwarf in a loud voice. “I have come back. I demand to see the Master of your town!” Then there was great excitement in the town. Some townspeople looked at the mountain, expecting it to turn to gold!

Thorin and the Dwarves were taken to the Master of Laketown. The Master and all the important people of Laketown were at a feast in the Great Hall. When the Dwarves appeared before the Master and his people, they all jumped from their chairs in surprise. But no one was more surprised than the Elves who were sitting at the Master’s table. Those Elves had helped push the barrels down the river to Laketown.

“These Dwarves are prisoners of our king! They must have escaped!” cried the Elves. “Is this true?” asked the Master. The Master did not really believe the Dwarves to begin with. “It is true that we were prisoners of the Elf king,” answered Thorin. “But he had no right to put us in prison.” The Master understood the power of the Elf king, and he did not want to be the Elf king’s enemy.

But the people at the feast, and the people in the town were very happy to see the return of the King Under the Mountain. The Master of Laketown was an intelligent man, and he did not want his townspeople to be angry with him. They were already singing old songs about the return of the King. When the forest Elves heard the happy singing, they began to wonder if their Elf king did not make the wrong decision to put the Dwarves in prison!

Thorin explained his objective to the Master of Laketown. The Master of Laketown and its people were ready to help Thorin and his party. After the feast, the forest Elves returned to the King’s palace. I do not know what happened to the Elf guard who lost his keys to Bilbo, but soon the Elf king knew about Thorin and his efforts to capture the treasure in Lonely Mountain. “We will see what happens if the Dwarves try to return this way with their treasure!” said the Elf king.

At the end of two weeks, Thorin was ready to begin his final journey to Lonely Mountain. For the first time, the Master was surprised and a little frightened. Maybe Thorin was the real, true King Under the Mountain! But the Master was not unhappy to see them leave. These unexpected guests were very expensive. They had eaten a considerable amount of food and they had drunk a considerable amount of beer while they were staying in Laketown.

So, one day, with a cold wind blowing from the north, the party took some boats to the north shore of Long Lake. There they met the horses and ponies the Master had given them. The Master had also given them supplies of food and tools for the rest of their journey. The Dwarves were very happy and excited to begin the final part of the adventure. The only person who was unhappy was Bilbo.

It was a long and difficult journey to Lonely Mountain. It was cold, and the land around the Mountain was empty. They did not talk and they did not laugh. They all thought about the dragon who was still inside the Mountain. Autumn was almost over, but here, close to the mountain, there were no leaves on the trees. There was no life at all. They had come to the Desolation of Smaug. 

As the party approached Lonely Mountain, they passed the ruined city of Dale. Dale was a prosperous town of men. They were allies of the Dwarves before the dragon came. Now the city was empty. They continued north, following the Running River that flowed out of the mountain. But they did not want to go too close to the front gates.

From behind a rock, they could see the dark opening to the Mountain. The front gates. Out of the opening came the River Running. And out of the gates came steam and dark smoke, and a horrible odor. “The dragon is still alive and in the halls under the Mountain. Or I imagine from the smoke,” said the Hobbit. 

The Dwarves and Bilbo were truly scared now. They were alone in this dangerous place. No help was coming. None of them had much spirit left to continue the journey. But Bilbo did not have the same feeling as the Dwarves. He often looked at Thorin’s map. And he often read the message of the moon-letters Elrond had read. It was Bilbo that made the Dwarves begin the dangerous search for the secret door on the western side of the Mountain.

For many days they searched. They climbed up and down the steep side of the Mountain, but they did not find any secret door, or any door at all! But at last, as you can imagine, it was Bilbo who found what they were looking for. As he was walking with Fili and Kili further to the south of the Mountain, they saw a large stone that looked like a pillar. Behind it, Bilbo saw steps, steps going up a path hidden by the rocks.

They went up the steps excitedly. In some places the path disappeared! In other places, they rediscovered the path. After a long and dangerous climb, they arrived at an open space on the right side of the path. It was a secluded area, with grass on the ground. To their left there was nothing - only open air and a long fall. They looked down. Far below, they could see their camp.

The space they were in was not a cave. It was open to the sky above. At the far side of the space, there was a high, flat wall. Near the ground, the wall was perfectly smooth. Only Dwarves could have made the wall so smooth and perfect. But there were no signs of a door post. There were no signs of a doorknob. There were no signs of a keyhole. But they were certain they had found the secret door!

They hit the door with their hands. They kicked the door with their strong boots (Bilbo did not kick the door - Hobbits, you remember, do not wear shoes!). They pushed at the door. They implored the door to open. They spoke fragments of magic spells to try to open the door. Nothing worked. Finally they were tired. They rested on the grass near the wall. Soon it began to get dark. They began the long and dangerous climb down the path to tell the other Dwarves.

There was excitement in the camp that night. The next day, they prepared to move all their equipment and supplies up the dangerous path to the secret door. But Bombur refused to climb the path. “I am too fat to climb the path!” he said. “I am not a mountain goat! I am sure I would fall, and then you would be thirteen again.” So, Bombur stayed at the camp with the horses and ponies.

The Dwarves had brought tools with them - picks and hammers. They used their picks and hammers, banging against the wall. But their tools broke! And their hands were hurt badly! And they were terrified of the loud noises they were making. Bilbo could do nothing to help the Dwarves and the Dwarves were not able to discover the secrets of the door. So Bilbo did nothing. He sat on the grass and he thought. Then he heard the Dwarves talking. 

“The last week of autumn begins tomorrow.” said Thorin. “What is our burglar doing for us? Since he has an invisible ring, I think he should use it and go through the front gates to discover what is going on.” “You said sitting on the doorstep and thinking would be my job,” said Bilbo. “Not to mention getting inside, so I am sitting and thinking.” But I am afraid Bilbo was not thinking much of the job. He was thinking about his comfortable Hobbit hole, far in the distance.

As Bilbo sat and thought, he stared at a large gray stone in the center of the grass. There were large snails on the stone. They crawled slowly along the surface of the rock. The sun was going down and the new moon was coming up. At that very moment he heard a sharp CRACK! There on the gray stone was an enormous bird - a thrush. It was almost black, with a yellow breast with dark spots. Crack! It had caught a snail and was knocking it on the stone. Crack! Crack!

Suddenly Bilbo understood. Quickly Bilbo explained to the Dwarves. He reminded them about the message on the map: “stand by the gray stone when the thrush knocks, and the last light of the setting sun on Durin’s Day will shine on the keyhole.” The sun went lower and lower, and their hopes fell. The sun sank behind a cloud and then disappeared. The Dwarves could not control their sadness.

“We have run out of time!” cried Thorin. Then suddenly, when they had lost all hope, a ray of sunlight passed through the cloud. A finger of red light shined into the secluded area and touched the smooth rock wall. The old thrush who was watching from the stone made an excited tweet. Then there was a loud crack! A piece of wall cracked from the wall and fell. A hole appeared suddenly about one meter from the ground.

Quickly, the Dwarves ran to the rock and pushed with all their strength. Nothing happened. “The key! The key!” cried Bilbo. “Where’s Thorin?” Thorin came quickly. “The key!” shouted Bilbo. “The key that went with the map! Try it now while there is still time!”

Then Thorin approached the wall. He took the key from around his neck. He put it in the hole. It fit! He turned it! Snap! The ray of sunlight disappeared. The sun sank, the moon was gone, and the sky was dark.

Now they all pushed together. Slowly, a part of the rock wall began to move inward. And suddenly, where a few moments before there was no sign of a door, now a door one and half meters high and one meter wide was visible in the rock wall. With one more push, the door swung inwards silently. There was a deep, dark hole in the side of the mountain, like an open mouth.