THE HOBBIT Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
Under Hill and Over Hill
There were many paths that went up the mountains, and many passes that went over the mountains to the other side. But most of the paths were deceptions and were not safe. And most of the passes were full of evil things and terrible danger. And with the advice of Elrond and the memory of Gandalf, they followed the right path up to the right pass. But even the plans of wise wizards like Gandalf and good friends like Elrond can go wrong when you travel on dangerous adventures.
And this adventure was dangerous and the plans did go wrong. Everything was going well until there was a terrible thunderstorm, like a great battle in the sky! The lightning crashed onto the mountain peaks and the sound of thunder filled the night and rolled into every cave and cavern. Bilbo had never seen or imagined anything like it. The wind and rain blew in every direction, and the party was cold and wet.
“We cannot stay here!” said Thorin. “We will be blown off the mountain by the wind or we will drown in the rain or we will be hit by lightning or we will freeze in the cold!”
“Well, if you know a safe place to stay, take us there!” said Gandalf, who was feeling very irritable. He was quite afraid of the lightning too. The argument ended when Fili and Kili went to look for a safer place. They were the youngest Dwarves and they had the best eyes. It is always better to look for something if you want to find it, even if you find something you were not expecting.
Soon Fili and Kili came back. “We have found a dry cave,” they said, “not far from here on the path. We can all fit inside, even the ponies.”
“Have you explored the cave carefully?” asked the Wizard. Gandalf knew that caves in the mountains were usually occupied with something! “Yes, yes!” they said, but everybody knew that they could not have looked too carefully - they had returned too quickly. “It isn’t that big, and it does not go far back.”
That, of course, is the dangerous part about caves: you do not know how far they go back, or what is waiting for you inside. But the wind and rain and lightning were too much for the party. So they followed the path for a short time and there, behind a rock, was a hole in the side of the mountain. It felt good to hear the sound of the storm outside and not all around them. But the wizard was not going to take any risks. He lit up his staff and with its light they explored the cave from front to back.
They lit no fire - Gandalf would not allow it. They made their blankets comfortable and they began to fall asleep. It was a good thing that Bilbo was with them. He slept badly and had very scary dreams. He dreamed that a hole in the wall at the back of the cave got bigger and bigger, but he could not call out - he could only look. Suddenly he woke up and saw that part of his dream was true. There was a hole at the back of the cave! He was just in time to see the last of the ponies disappearing into it. He gave a very loud yell, as loud a yell as a Hobbit can give, which is surprising for their size.
Out jumped the goblins, big goblins, lots of goblins! The Dwarves and Hobbit were all grabbed and carried back into the hole before they knew what was happening. But not Gandalf! Bilbo’s yell woke him up and when the goblins came to grab him, there was a tremendous flash like lightning in the cave, and several goblins fell dead!
The hole at the back of the cave closed with a loud CRACK! and Bilbo and the Dwarves were on the wrong side of it! Where was Gandalf? The goblins carried them along the passage, deep, deep into the mountain, where goblins like to live. The passages were confusing, but the goblins knew their way, like you know your way to the nearest post office. They took the party down, down into the dark, and laughed in horrible voices as they went. Bilbo was more unhappy than when the troll had picked him up by his toes. He wished again and again for his comfortable Hobbit-home, and not for the last time.
The goblins pushed and pulled and scratched and bit them, and they ran and ran for a very long time until they came into a large cavern, with a huge red fire in the middle. It was full of goblins! The ponies were already there in a corner, and the goblins were looking through the baggage, smelling it, touching it and fighting over it. It was the last time Bilbo and the Dwarves saw the ponies, including the little teeny pony that was especially for Bilbo.
Bilbo and the Dwarves were pushed towards another corner of the cavern and there, in the shadows, sat a tremendous goblin with a huge head. Armed goblins were standing around him with axes and curved swords.
Now goblins are cruel and bad-hearted. They make no beautiful things, but they make clever things. Hammers, axes, swords, daggers and also instruments of torture they make very well. They can mine and tunnel almost as well as the Dwarves, when they want to, or they use their prisoners to do the work for them until they die from lack of food and water and light. “Who are these miserable persons?” said the Great Goblin.
“Dwarves, and this!” said one of the goblins, pushing Bilbo so that he fell onto the ground. “We found them hiding in our Front Cave.”
“What do you have to say for yourselves? Are you spies? Murderers? Friends of Elves? Thieves, I imagine?
“Thorin at your service!” he replied. It was not a very good response to a goblin king, but it was polite enough.
“We were looking for protection from the storm. The cave seemed like a convenient place. We had no intention to inconvenience goblins in any way.” That was true!
“So you say!” said the Great Goblin. “So you say! What are you doing here in the mountains in the first place, and where are you coming from, and where are you going? In fact, I would like to know all about you. It will not help you, though, Thorin Oakenshield, I know who you are. Tell me now, or I will prepare something very uncomfortable for you!”
Thorin was not sure exactly what to say at the moment, especially when he could not tell the truth to the goblin king. So, he invented a story about visiting relatives on the other side of the Misty Mountains.
“He is a liar, oh Great One!” said one of the goblins. “They killed several of us back in the cave with lightning, and he is carrying this!” The goblin showed the sword Thorin had taken from the troll cave.
The Great Goblin knew the sword immediately. He gave a great howl of anger when he saw it, and all the goblin soldiers made a tremendous noise. The sword had killed hundreds of goblins in the past, when the Elves of Gondolin hunted them in the hills or killed them on their castle walls. The Elves had named the sword Orcrist, Goblin-cutter, but the goblins just called it “Biter”. They hated it and hated even more anyone who carried it.
“Murderers and Elf-friends!” the Great Goblin shouted. “Cut them! Beat them! Bite them! Chew them! Take them away and throw them in dark holes full of snakes and never let them see the light again!” He was so angry that he jumped off his chair and ran towards Thorin with his mouth open, ready to bite Thorin’s head right off!
At that moment, all the lights in the cavern went out. The large fire turned into a column of blue smoke that rose all the way to the ceiling of the cavern and turned into a hot white light. The light fell in burning particles among the goblins and they began to scream in fear and pain! The smoke from the fire and the burning goblins filled the cavern, making it impossible to see anything. The goblins began to bite and kick and fight, as if they had all gone mad.
Suddenly a sword burned white in its own light. Bilbo saw the sword cut right through the Great Goblin as he stood in the smoke. He was killed instantly and the goblin soldiers all ran away from the sword in terror. The sword went back into its scabbard. “Follow me quick! They will come after us!” said a voice in the darkness. And before Bilbo understood what was happening, he was running as fast as he could run, at the back of the line of Dwarves, down a dark passage. Soon he could not hear the sound of the screaming goblins.
“Run faster, faster!” said the voice. “I can hear them coming!” They ran for a long time down black passages. Dori, who was at the back of the line next to Bilbo, put the Hobbit on his shoulders and began to run again, on and on in the dark. Then Gandalf lit up his staff. Of course it was Gandalf! He took out his sword again, and again it burned with a bright light. It burned in anger when there were goblins nearby, and now it was as bright as blue fire after killing the Great Goblin.
“Are we all here?” asked Gandalf. Thorin began counting, “two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven; where are Fili and Kili? Here they are! twelve, thirteen - and here’s Mr. Baggins: fourteen! Well, it could be worse, but it could be much better. No ponies, no food, and we do not know where we are going - and there are many angry goblins who want to eat us. Let’s go!”
On they went, as fast as they could. They could hear the goblins getting closer and closer. So they ran faster than ever, and poor Bilbo could not keep up, so the Dwarves took turns carrying him on their backs. But goblins travel faster than Dwarves in the dark, and these goblins knew the way. The Dwarves heard their yells and cries as they got closer and closer. Soon they could see the red of the goblin torch light behind them, and they were getting terribly tired.
“Why, oh, why did I ever leave my Hobbit-hole!” said poor Mr. Baggins, bouncing up and down on Bombur’s back. “Why, oh, why did we ever bring a Hobbit on a treasure hunt!” said poor Bombur, who was very fat, and having difficulty staying with the party. “Turn around, Thorin, and draw your sword!” shouted Gandalf. The goblins came around the corner and Glamdring and Orcrist were waiting for them. Many goblins fell dead to these terrible blades! The goblins turned around and ran away. But they did not go far.
The bravest and fastest goblins extinguished their torches and took off their iron shoes. These ran forward as quickly and silently as the wind in the dark, and the Dwarves and Gandalf did not hear them whey they came up quietly behind them. Suddenly, Dori, who was at the back of the line and carrying Bilbo, shouted out! A goblin grabbed him and he fell, and the Hobbit rolled off his shoulders into the darkness, bumped his head on a rock and remembered nothing more.
