Chapter 2

Roast Mutton
Up jumped Bilbo, and putting on his dressing-gown went into the dining-room. There he saw
nobody, but all the signs of a large and hurried breafast. There was a fearful mess in the room, and
piles
of unwashed !ro!s in the it!hen. "early e#ery pot and pan he possessed seemed to ha#e been used.
The
washing-up was so dismally real that Bilbo was for!ed to belie#e the party of the night before had not
been part of his bad dreams, as he had rather hoped. $ndeed he was really relie#ed after all to thin that
they had all gone without him, and without bothering to wae him up %&but with ne#er a than-you' he
thought() and yet in a way he !ould not help feeling just a trifle disappointed. The feeling surprised
him.
&*on+t be a fool, Bilbo Baggins,' he said to himself, &thining of dragons and all that outlandish
nonsense at your age,' -o be put on an apron, lit fires, boiled water, and washed up. Then he had a ni!e
little breafast in the it!hen before turning out the dining-room. By that time the sun was shining) and
the front door was open, letting in a warm spring bree.e. Bilbo began to whistle loudly and to forget
about the night before. $n fa!t he was just sitting down to a ni!e little se!ond breafast in the dining-
room
by the open window, when in waled /andalf. &My dear fellow,' said he, &whene#er are you going to
!ome0 1hat about an early start0-and here you are ha#ing breafast, or whate#er you !all it, at half
past
ten, They left you the message, be!ause they !ould not wait.'
&1hat message0' said poor Mr. Baggins all in a fluster.
&/reat 2lephants,' said /andalf, &you are not at all yourself this morning-you ha#e ne#er dusted
the mantel- pie!e,'
&1hat+s that got to do with it0 $ ha#e had enough to do with washing up for fourteen,'
&$f you had dusted the mantelpie!e you would ha#e found this just under the !lo!,' said /andalf,
handing Bilbo a note %written, of !ourse, on his own note-paper(.
This is what he read3
&Thorin and Company to Burglar Bilbo greeting,
4or your hospitality our sin!erest thans, and for your offer of professional assistan!e our
grateful a!!eptan!e. Terms3 !ash on deli#ery, up to and not e5!eeding one fourteenth of total profits
%if any() all tra#eling e5penses guaranteed in any e#ent) funeral e5penses to be defrayed by us or
our representati#es, if o!!asion arises and the matter is not otherwise arranged for.
&Thining it unne!essary to disturb your esteemed repose, we ha#e pro!eeded in ad#an!e to
mae re6uisite preparations, and shall await your respe!ted person at the /reen *ragon $nn,
Bywater, at $$ a.m. sharp. Trusting that you will be pun!tual.
&1e ha#e the honour to remain
&7ours deeply
&Thorin 8 Co.'
&That lea#es you just ten minutes. 7ou will ha#e to run,' said /andalf.
&But - ' said Bilbo.
&"o time for it,' said the wi.ard.
&But - 9said Bilbo again.
&"o time for that either, :ff you go,'
To the end of his days Bilbo !ould ne#er remember how he found himself outside, without a hat,
waling-sti! or say money, or anything that he usually too when he went out) lea#ing his se!ond
breafast half-finished and 6uite unwashed-up, pushing his eys into /andalf+s hands, and running as
fast
as his furry feet !ould !arry him down the lane, past the great Mill, a!ross The 1ater, and then on for a
whole mile or more. ;ery puffed he was, when he got to Bywater just on the stroe of ele#en, and
found
he had !ome without a po!et-hander!hief,
&Bra#o,' said Balin who was standing at the inn door looing out for him.
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again Roast Mutton
15
<ust then all the others !ame round the !orner of the road from the #illage. They were on ponies,
and ea!h pony was slung about with all inds of baggages, pa!ages, par!els, and paraphernalia. There
was a #ery small pony, apparently for Bilbo.
&Up you two get, and off we go,' said Thorin.
&$+m awfully sorry,' said Bilbo, &but $ ha#e !ome without my hat, and $ ha#e left my
po!ethander!hief
behind, and $ ha#en+t got any money. $ didn+t get your note until after =>.?@ to be pre!ise.'
&*on+t be pre!ise,' said *walin, &and don+t worry, 7ou will ha#e to manage without
po!ethander!hiefs,
and a good many other things, before you get to the journey+s end. As for a hat, $ ha#e got
a spare hood and !loa in my luggage.'
That+s how they all !ame to start, jogging off from the inn one fine morning just before May, on
laden ponies) and Bilbo was wearing a dar-green hood %a little weather-stained( and a dar-green
!loa
borrowed from *walin. They were too large for him, and he looed rather !omi!. 1hat his father
Bungo
would ha#e thought of him, $ daren+t thin. Bis only !omfort was he !ouldn+t be mistaen for a dwarf,
as
he had no beard.
They had not been riding #ery long when up !ame /andalf #ery splendid on a white horse. Be had
brought a lot of po!et-hander!hiefs, and Bilbo+s pipe and toba!!o. -o after that the party went along
#ery merrily, and they told stories or sang songs as they rode forward all day, e5!ept of !ourse when
they
stopped for meals. These didn+t !ome 6uite as often as Bilbo would ha#e lied them, but still he began
to
feel that ad#entures were not so bad after all. At first they had passed through hobbit-lands, a wild
respe!table !ountry inhabited by de!ent fol, with good roads, an inn or two, and now and then a dwarf
or
a farmer ambling by on business. Then they !ame to lands where people spoe strangely, and sang
songs
Bilbo had ne#er heard before. "ow they had gone on far into the Cone-lands, where there were no
people
left, no inns, and the roads grew steadily worse. "ot far ahead were dreary hills, rising higher and
higher,
dar with trees. :n some of them were old !astles with an e#il loo, as if they had been built by wi!ed
people. 2#erything seemed gloomy, for the weather that day had taen a nasty turn. Mostly it had been
as
good as May !an be, e#en in merry tales, but now it was !old and wet. $n the Cone-lands they had to
!amp
when they !ould, but at least it had been dry. &To thin it will soon be <une,' grumbled Bilbo as he
splashed along behind the others in a #ery muddy tra!. $t was after tea-time) it was pouring with rain,
and had been all day) his hood was dripping into his eyes, his !loa was full of water) the pony was
tired
and stumbled on stones) the others were too grumpy to tal. &And $+m sure the rain has got into the dry
!lothes and into the food-bags,' thought Bilbo. &Bother burgling and e#erything to do with it, $ wish $
was at home in my ni!e hole by the fire, with the ettle just beginning to sing,' $t was not the last time
that he wished that,
-till the dwar#es jogged on, ne#er turning round or taing any noti!e of the hobbit. -omewhere
behind the grey !louds the sun must ha#e gone down, for it began to get dar. 1ind got up, and the
willows along the ri#er-ban bent and sighed. $ don+t now what ri#er it was, a rushing red one, swollen
with the rains of the last few days, that !ame down from the hills and mountains in front of them. -oon
it
was nearly dar. The winds broe up the grey !louds, and a waning moon appeared abo#e the hills
between the flying rags. Then they stopped, and Thorin muttered something about supper, &and where
shall we get a dry pat!h to sleep on0' "ot until then did they noti!e that /andalf was missing. -o far he
had !ome all the way with them, ne#er saying if he was in the ad#enture or merely eeping them
!ompany for a while. Be had eaten most, taled most, and laughed most. But now he simply was not
there
at all,
&<ust when a wi.ard would ha#e been most useful, too,' groaned *ori and "ori %who shared the
hobbit+s #iews about regular meals, plenty and often(. They de!ided in the end that they would ha#e to
!amp where they were. -o far they had not !amped before on this journey, and though they new that
they soon would ha#e to !amp regularly, when they were among the Misty Mountains and far from the
lands of respe!table people, it seemed a bad wet e#ening to begin, on. They mo#ed to a !lump of trees,
and though it was drier under them, the wind shoo the rain off the lea#es, and the drip, drip, was most
annoying. Also the mis!hief seemed to ha#e got into the fire. *war#es !an mae a fire almost
anywhere
out of almost anything, wind or no wind) but they !ould not do it that night, not e#en :in and /loin,
who
were spe!ially good at it.
Then one of the ponies too fright at nothing and bolted. Be got into the ri#er before they !ould
!at!h him) and before they !ould get him out again, 4ili and Dili were nearly drowned, and all the
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again Roast Mutton
16
baggage that he !arried was washed away off him. :f !ourse it was mostly food, and there was mighty
little left for supper, and less for breafast. There they all sat glum and wet and muttering, while :in
and
/loin went on trying to light the fire, and 6uarrelling about it. Bilbo was sadly refle!ting that
ad#entures
are not all pony-rides in May-sunshine, when Balin, who was always their loo-out man, said3 &There+s
a
light o#er there,' There was a hill some way off with trees on it, pretty thi! in parts. :ut of the dar
mass of the trees they !ould now see a light shining, a reddish !omfortable-looing light, as it might be
a
fire or tor!hes twinling. 1hen they had looed at it for some while, they fell to arguing. -ome said
&no'
and some said &yes.' -ome said they !ould but go and see, and anything was better than little supper,
less
breafast, and wet !lothes all the night. :thers said3 &These parts are none too well nown, and are too
near the mountains. Tra#ellers seldom !ome this way now. The old maps are no use3 things ha#e
!hanged
for the worse and the road is unguarded. They ha#e seldom e#en heard of the ing round here, and the
less in6uisiti#e you are as you go along, the less trouble you are liely to find.' -ome said3 &After all
there are fourteen of us.' :thers said3 &1here has /andalf got to0' This remar was repeated by
e#erybody. Then the rain began to pour down worse than e#er, and :in and /loin began to fight. That
settled it. &After all we ha#e got a burglar with us,' they said) and so they made off, leading their
ponies
%with all due and proper !aution( in the dire!tion of the light. They !ame to the hill and were soon in
the
wood. Up the hill they went) but there was no proper path to be seen, su!h as might lead to a house or a
farm) and do what they !ould they made a deal of rustling and !ra!ling and !reaing %and a good deal
of
grumbling and drafting(, as they went through the trees in the pit!h dar.
-uddenly the red light shone out #ery bright through the tree-truns not far ahead. &"ow it is the
burglar+s turn,' they said, meaning Bilbo. &7ou must go on and find out all about that light, and what it
is
for, and if all is perfe!tly safe and !anny,' said Thorin to the hobbit. &"ow s!uttle off, and !ome ba!
6ui!, if all is well. $f not, !ome ba! if you !an, $t you !an+t, hoot twi!e lie a barn-owl and on!e lie a
s!ree!h-owl, and we will do what we !an.'
:ff Bilbo had to go, before he !ould e5plain that he !ould not hoot e#en on!e lie any ind of owl
any more than fly lie a bat. But at any rate hobbits !an mo#e 6uietly in woods, absolutely 6uietly.
They
tae a pride in it, and Bilbo had sniffed more than on!e at what he !alled &all this dwar#ish ra!et,' as
they went along, though $ don+t sup-pose you or $ would noti!e anything at all on a windy night, not if
the
whole !a#al!ade had passed two feet off. As for Bilbo waling primly towards the red light, $ don+t
suppose e#en a weasel would ha#e stirred a whiser at it. -o, naturally, he got right up to the fire-for
fire
it was without disturbing anyone. And this is what he saw. Three #ery large persons sitting round a #ery
large fire of bee!h-logs. They were toasting mutton on long spits of wood, and li!ing the gra#y off
their
fingers. There was a fine toothsome smell. Also there was a barrel of good drin at hand, and they were
drining out of jugs. But they were trolls. :b#iously trolls. 2#en Bilbo, in spite of his sheltered life,
!ould
see that3 from the great hea#y fa!es of them, and their si.e, and the shape of their legs, not to mention
their language, whi!h was not drawing-room fashion at all, at all.
&Mutton yesterday, mutton today, and blimey, if it don+t loo lie mutton again tomorrer,' said
one of the trolls.
&"e#er a blining bit of manflesh ha#e we had for long enough,' said a se!ond. &1hat the +ell
1illiam was a-thinin+ of to bring us into these parts at all, beats me - and the drin runnin+ short,
what+s
more,' he said jogging the elbow of 1illiam, who was taing a pull at his jug.
1illiam !hoed. &-hut yer mouth,' he said as soon as he !ould. &7er !an+t e5pe!t fol to stop here
for e#er just to be et by you and Bert. 7ou+#e et a #illage and a half between yer, sin!e we !ome down
from the mountains. Bow mu!h more d+yer want0 And time+s been up our way, when yer+d ha#e said
+than yer Bill+ for a ni!e bit o+ fat #alley mutton lie what this is.' Be too a big bite off a sheep+s leg
he
was toasting, and wiped his lips on his slee#e.
7es, $ am afraid trolls do beha#e lie that, e#en those with only one head ea!h. After hearing all
this Bilbo ought to ha#e done something at on!e. 2ither he should ha#e gone ba! 6uietly and warned
his
friends that there were three fair-si.ed trolls at hand in a nasty mood, 6uite liely to try toasted dwarf,
or
e#en pony, for a !hange) or else he should ha#e done a bit of good 6ui! burgling. A really first-!lass
and
legendary burglar would at this point ha#e pi!ed the trolls+ po!ets-it is nearly always worthwhile if
you
!an manage it-, pin!hed the #ery mutton off the spite, purloined the beer, and waled off without their
noti!ing him. :thers more pra!ti!al but with less professional pride would perhaps ha#e stu! a dagger
into ea!h of them before they obser#ed it. Then the night !ould ha#e been spent !heerily.
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again Roast Mutton
17
Bilbo new it. Be had read of a good many things he had ne#er seen or done. Be was #ery mu!h
alarmed, as well as disgusted) he wished himself a hundred miles away, and yet-and yet somehow he
!ould not go straight ba! to Thorin and Company empty-handed. -o he stood and hesitated in the
shadows. :f the #arious burglarious pro!eedings he had heard of pi!ing the trolls+ po!ets seemed the
least diffi!ult, so at last he !rept behind a tree just behind 1illiam.
Bert and Tom went off to the barrel. 1illiam was ha#ing another drin. Then Bilbo plu!ed up
!ourage and put his little hand in 1illiam+s enormous po!et. There was a purse in it, as big as a bag to
Bilbo. &Ba,' thought he warming to his new wor as he lifted it !arefully out, &this is a beginning,'
$t was, Trolls+ purses are the mis!hief, and this was no e5!eption. & +2re, +oo are you0' it s6ueaed,
as it left the po!et) and 1illiam turned round at on!e and grabbed Bilbo by the ne!, before he !ould
du! behind the tree.
&Blimey, Bert, loo what $+#e !opped,' said 1illiam.
&1hat is it0' said the others !oming up.
&Cumme, if $ nows, 1hat are yer0'
&Bilbo Baggins, a bur - a hobbit,' said poor Bilbo, shaing all o#er, and wondering how to mae
owl-noises before they throttled him.
&A burrahobbit0' said they a bit startled. Trolls are slow in the uptae, and mighty suspi!ious
about anything new to them.
&1hat+s a burrahobbit got to do with my po!et, anyways0' said 1illiam.
&And !an yer !oo +em0' said Tom.
&7er !an try,' said Bert, pi!ing up a sewer.
&Be wouldn+t mae abo#e a mouthful,' said 1illiam, who had already had a fine supper, &not
when he was sinned and boned.'
&E+raps there are more lie him round about, and we might mae a pie,' said Bert. &Bere you, are
there any more of your sort a-sneain+ in these here woods, yer nassty little rabbit,' said he looing at
the
hobbit+s furry feet) and he pi!ed him up by the toes and shoo him.
&7es, lots,' said Bilbo, before he remembered not to gi#e his friends away. &"o, none at all, not
one,' he said immediately afterwards.
&1hat d+yer mean0' said Bert, holding him right away up, by the hair this time.
&1hat $ say,' said Bilbo gasping. &And please don+t !oo me, ind sirs, $ am a good !oo myself,
and !oo bet-ter than $ !oo, if you see what $ mean. $+ll !oo beautifully for you, a perfe!tly beautiful
breafast for you, if only you won+t ha#e me for supper.'
&Eoor little blighter,' said 1illiam. Be had already had as mu!h supper as he !ould hold) also he
had had lots of beer. &Eoor little blighter, Cet him go,'
&"ot till he says what he means by lots and none at all,' said Bert. &$ don+t want to ha#e me throat
!ut in me sleep. Bold his toes in the fire, till he tals,'
&$ won+t ha#e it,' said 1illiam. &$ !aught him anyway.'
&7ou+re a fat fool, 1illiam,' said Bert, &as $+#e said afore this e#ening.'
&And you+re a lout,'
&And $ won+t tae that from you. Bill Buggins,' says Bert, and puts his fist in 1illiam+s eye.
Then there was a gorgeous row. Bilbo had just enough wits left, when Bert dropped him on the
ground, to s!ramble out of the way of their feet, before they were fighting lie dogs, and !alling one
another all sorts of perfe!tly true and appli!able names in #ery loud #oi!es. -oon they were lo!ed in
one
another+s arms, and rolling nearly into the fire i!ing and thumping, while Tom wha!ed at then both
with a bran!h to bring them to their senses-and that of !ourse only made them madder than e#er. That
would ha#e been the time for Bilbo to ha#e left. But his poor little feet had been #ery s6uashed in Bert+s
big paw, and he had no breath in his body, and his head was going round) so there he lay for a while
panting, just outside the !ir!le of firelight.
Right in the middle of the fight up !ame Balin. The dwar#es had heard noises from a distan!e, and
after wait-ing for some time for Bilbo to !ome ba!, or to hoot lie an owl, they started off one by one
to
!reep towards the light as 6uietly as they !ould. "o sooner did Tom see Balin !ome into the light than
he
ga#e an awful howl. Trolls simply detest the #ery sight of dwar#es %un!ooed(. Bert and Bill stopped
fighting immediately, and &a sa!, Tom, 6ui!,' they said, before Balin, who was wondering where in
all
this !ommotion Bilbo was, new what was happening, a sa! was o#er his head, and he was down.
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again Roast Mutton
18
&There+s more to !ome yet,' said Tom, &or $+m mighty mistoo. Cots and none at all, it is,' said he.
&"o burra- hobbits, but lots of these here dwar#es. That+s about the shape of it,'
&$ re!on you+re right,' said Bert, &and we+d best get out of the light.'
And so they did. 1ith sa!s in their hands, that they used for !arrying off mutton and other
plunder, they waited in the shadows. As ea!h dwarf !ame up and looed at the fire, and the spilled jugs,
and the gnawed mutton, in surprise, pop, went a nasty smelly sa! o#er his head, and he was down.
-oon
*walin lay by Balin, and 4ili and Dili together, and *ori and "ori and :ri all in a heap, and :in and
/loin and Bifur and Bofur and Bombur piled un!omfortably near the fire.
&That+ll tea!h +em,' said Tom) for Bifur and Bombur had gi#en a lot of trouble, and fought lie
mad, as dwar#es will when !ornered.
Thorin !ame last-and he was not !aught unawares. Be !ame e5pe!ting mis!hief, and didn+t need to
see his friends+ legs sti!ing out of sa!s to tell him that things were not all well. Be stood outside in
the
shadows some way off, and said3 &1hat+s all this trouble0 1ho has been no!ing my people about0'
&$t+s trolls,' said Bilbo from behind a tree. They had forgotten all about him. &They+re hiding in
the bushes with sa!s,' said he.
&:, are they0' said Thorin, and he jumped forward to the fire, before they !ould leap on him. Be
!aught up a big bran!h all on fire at one end) and Bert got that end in his eye before he !ould step aside.
That put him out of the battle for a bit. Bilbo did his best. Be !aught hold of Tom+s leg-as well as he
!ould, it was thi! as a young tree-trun -but he was sent spinning up into the top of some bushes,
when
Tom i!ed the spars up in Thorin+s fa!e.
Tom got the bran!h in his teeth for that, and lost one of the front ones. $t made him howl, $ !an tell
you. But just at that moment 1illiam !ame up behind and popped a sa! right o#er Thorin+s head and
down to his toes. And so the fight ended. A ni!e pi!le they were all in now3 all neatly tied up in sa!s,
with three angry trolls %and two with burns and bashes to remember( sitting by them, arguing whether
they should roast them slowly, or min!e them fine and boil them, or just sit on them one by one and
s6uash them into jelly3 and Bilbo up in a bush, with his !lothes and his sin torn, not daring to mo#e for
fear they should hear him.
$t was just then that /andalf !ame ba!. But no one saw him. The trolls had just de!ided to roast
the dwar#es now and eat them later-that was Bert+s idea, and after a lot of argument they had all agreed
to
it.
&"o good roasting +em now, itFd tae all night,' said a #oi!e. Bert thought it was 1illiam+s.
&*on+t start the argument all o#er-again. Bill,' he said, &or it will tae all night.'
&1ho+s a-arguing0' said 1illiam, who thought it was. Bert that had spoen.
&7ou are,' said Bert.
&7ou+re a liar,' said 1illiam) and so the argument beg all o#er again. $n the end they de!ided to
min!e them fine and boil them. -o they got a bla! pot, and they too out their ni#es.
&"o good boiling +em, 1e ain+t got no water, and it+s a long way to the well and all,' said a #oi!e.
Bert and 1illiam thought it was Tom+s.
&-hut up,' said they, &or we+ll ne#er ha#e done. And yer !an fet!h the water yerself, if yer say any
more.'
&-hut up yerself,' said Tom, who thought it was 1illiam+s #oi!e. &1ho+s arguing but you. $+d lie
to now.'
&7ou+re a booby,' said 1illiam.
&Booby yerself,' said Tom.
And so the argument began all o#er again, and went on hotter than e#er, until at last they de!ided
to sit on the sa!s one by one and s6uash them, and boil them ne5t time.
&1ho shall we sit on first0' said the #oi!e.
&Better sit on the last fellow first,' said Bert, whose eye had been damaged by Thorin. Be thought
Tom was taling.
&*on+t tal to yerself,' said Tom. &But if you wants to sit on the last one, sit on him. 1hi!h is
he0'
&The one with the yellow sto!ings,' said Bert.
&"onsense, the one with the grey sto!ings,' said a #oi!e lie 1illiam+s.
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again Roast Mutton
19
&$ made sure it was yellow,' said Bert.
&7ellow it was,' said 1illiam.
&Then what did yer say it was grey for0' said Bert.
&$ ne#er did. Tom said it.'
&That $ ne#er did,' said Tom. &$t was you.'
&Two to one, so shut yer mouth,' said Bert.
&1ho are you a-talin+ to0' said 1illiam.
&"ow stop it,' said Tom and Bert together. &The night+s gettin+ on, and dawn !omes early. Cet+s
get on with it,'
&*awn tae you all, and be stone to you,' said a #oi!e that sounded lie 1illiam+s. But it wasn+t.
4or just at that moment the light !ame o#er the hill, and there was a mighty twitter in the bran!hes.
1illiam ne#er spoe for he stood turned to stone as he stooped) and Bert and Tom were stu! lie
ro!s
as they looed at him. And there they stand to this day, all alone, unless the birds per!h on them) for
trolls, as you probably now, must be underground before dawn, or they go ba! to the stuff of the
mountains they are made of, and ne#er mo#e again. That is what had happened to Bert and Tom and
1illiam.
&25!ellent,' said /andalf, as he stepped from behind a tree, and helped Bilbo to !limb down out
of a thorn-bush. Then Bilbo understood. $t was the wi.ard+s #oi!e that had ept the trolls bi!ering and
6uarrelling, until the light !ame and made an end of them.
The ne5t thing was to untie the sa!s and let out the dwar#es. They were nearly suffo!ated, and
#ery annoyed3 they had not at all enjoyed lying there listening to the trolls maing plans for roasting
them
and s6uashing them and min!ing them. They had to hear Bilbo+s a!!ount of what had happened to him
twi!e o#er, before they were satisfied.
&-illy time to go pra!tising pin!hing and po!et-pi!ing,' said Bombur, &when what we wanted
was fire and food,'
&And that+s just what you wouldn+t ha#e got of those fellows without a struggle, in any !ase,' said
/andalf.
&Anyhow you are wasting time now. *on+t you reali.e that the trolls must ha#e a !a#e or a hole
dug somewhere near to hide from the sun in0 1e must loo into it,'
They sear!hed about, and soon found the mars of trolls+ stony boots going away through the
trees. They followed the tra!s up the hill, until hidden by bushes they !ame on a big door of stone
leading to a !a#e. But they !ould not open it, not though they all pushed while /andalf tried #arious
in!antations.
&1ould this be any good0' ased Bilbo, when they were getting tired and angry. &$ found it on the
ground where the trolls had their fight.' Be held out a largish ey, though no doubt 1illiam had
thought
it #ery small and se!ret. $t must ha#e fallen out of his po!et, #ery lu!ily, before he was turned to
stone.
&1hy on earth didn+t you mention it before0' they !ried.
/andalf grabbed it and fitted it into the ey-hole. Then the stone door swung ba! with one big
push, and they all went inside. There were bones on the floor and a nasty smell was in the air) but there
was a good deal of food jumbled !arelessly on shel#es and on the ground, among an untidy litter of
plunder, of all sorts from brass buttons to pots full of gold !oins standing in a !orner. There were lots of
!lothes, too, hanging on the walls-too small for trolls, $ am afraid they belonged to #i!tims-and among
them were se#eral swords of #arious maes, shapes, and si.es. Two !aught their eyes parti!ularly,
be!ause of their beautiful s!abbards and jewelled hilts. /andalf and Thorin ea!h too one of these) and
Bilbo too a nife in a leather sheath. $t would ha#e made only a tiny po!et-nife for a troll, but it was
as
good as a short sword for the hobbit.
&These loo lie good blades,' said the wi.ard, half drawing them and looing at them !uriously.
&They were not made by any troll, nor by any smith among men in these parts and days) but when we
!an
read the runes on them, we shall now more about them.'
&Cet+s get out of this horrible smell,' said 4ili -o they !arried out the pots of !oins, and su!h food
as was un-tou!hed and looed fit to eat, also one barrel of ale whi!h was still full. By that time they felt
lie breafast, and being #ery hungry they did not turn their noses up at what they had got from the
trolls+
larder. Their own pro#isions were #ery s!anty. "ow they had bread and !heese, and plenty of ale, and
ba!on to toast in the embers of the fire. After that they slept, for their night had been disturbed) %and
they
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again Roast Mutton
20
did nothing more till the afternoon. Then they $ brought up their ponies, and !arried away the pots of
gold, and buried them #ery se!retly not far from the tra! by the ri#er, putting a great many spells o#er
them, just in !ase they e#er had the-!han!e to !ome ba! and re!o#er them. 1hen that was done, they
all
mounted on!e more, and jogged along again on the path towards the 2ast.
&1here did you go to, if $ may as0' said Thorin to /andalf as they rode along.
&To loo ahead,' said he.
&And what brought you ba! in the ni! of time0'
&Cooing behind,' said he.
&25a!tly,' said Thorin) &but !ould you be more plain0'
&$ went on to spy out our road. $t will soon be!ome dangerous and diffi!ult. Also $ was an5ious
about replenishing our small sto! of pro#isions. $ had not gone #ery far, howe#er, when $ met a !ouple
of friends of mine from Ri#endell.'
&1here+s that0' ased Bilbo,
&*on+t interrupt,' said /andalf. &7ou will get there in a few days now, if we+re lu!y, and find out
all about it As $ was saying $ met two of 2lrond+s people. They were hurrying along for fear of the
trolls.
$t was they who told me that three of them had !ome down from the mountains and settled in the woods
not far from the road) they had frightened e#eryone away from the distri!t, and they waylaid strangers.
&$ immediately had a feeling that $ was wanted ba!. Cooing behind $ saw a fire in the distan!e
and made for it. -o now you now. Elease be more !areful, ne5t time, or we shall ne#er get anywhere,'
&Than you,' said Thorin.