The Hobbit / Хоббит. 10 класс - Загородняя И. Б. - Страница 16

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He went on and on, till the door behind had faded away. He was all alone. Soon he felt hot. As he went forward he saw a red light. He began to sweat. He heard gurgling noise of some huge animal snoring in its sleep down there in the red glow in front of him.

At this point Bilbo stopped. He was really frightened. But after a short halt he went on and saw the great hall of the ancient dwarves right at the Mountain’s root. There lay Smaug, a huge red-golden dragon. He was fast asleep.

Under the dragon and about him, lay piles of precious things, gold, gems and jewels.

Smaug lay, with wings folded, turned partly on one side, so that the hobbit could see his long pale belly covered with gems and gold. Behind him there were axes, swords and spears hanging. Bilbo’s heart was filled with the desire of dwarves; and he gazed at the gold beyond price and count.

Suddenly, almost against his will, he grasped a great two-handled cup, as heavy as he could carry, and looked up at the dragon. Smaug moved a wing, the rumble of his snoring changed.

Then Bilbo ran. But the dragon did not wake. The little hobbit rushed back up the long tunnel and soon he safely came out.

The dwarves were really excited. They were passing the cup from hand to hand and talking of their treasure. Suddenly they heard a tremendous noise in the mountain. The ground beneath them trembled.

Smaug woke up from an uneasy dream. There was a strange smell in his cave. And he couldn’t see the cup. Thieves! Such a thing had not happened since first he came to the Mountain! Smaug was furious. He thrust his head in vain at the little hole, and then he rushed towards the Front Gate. He wanted to catch the thief and kill him. He flew into the air and settled on the mountain-top in the green and scarlet flame. The dwarves crouched against the walls of the grassy terrace. They hoped to escape the frightful eyes of the hunting dragon.

“Quick! Quick!” Bilbo whispered. “The door! The tunnel! It’s no good here.” So they were going to creep inside the tunnel when Bifur cried: “My cousins! Bombur and Bofur – we have forgotten them, they are down in the valley!”

“We cannot leave them,” said Thorin. “Where are the ropes? Be quick!”

At any moment Smaug could find them near the cliff’s edge pulling the ropes. Finally Bofur came up, and still all was safe. Then Bombur came up, and still all was safe. And then they lifted some tools and stores. Just then the dragon came. They had just time to rush back to the tunnel, when Smaug came from the North. He licked the mountain-sides with flame, beat his great wings with a noise like a roaring wind. The ponies screamed with terror, burst their ropes and galloped off. The dragon swooped and turned to pursue them, and was gone. “That’ll be the end of our poor beasts!” said Thorin.

They crept further down the tunnel, and there they lay until dawn came through the crack of the door.

Smaug guessed from the ponies, and from the traces of the camps which he had discovered, that men had come up from the river and the lake; but he didn’t notice the door. He had hunted in vain till the dawn chilled his rage and then he went back to his golden couch to sleep.

When morning came the dwarves debated long on what they should do next.

“Now I will make you an offer,” said Bilbo. “I have got my ring and will creep down and see what Smaug is going to do. Maybe something will happen.”

The dwarves accepted the offer eagerly. Now Bilbo had become the real leader in their adventure. He had begun to have ideas and plans of his own. When midday came he got ready for another journey down into the Mountain. The sun was shining when he started, but it was as dark as night in the tunnel. “Old Smaug is tired and asleep,” he thought. “He can’t see me and he won’t hear me. Cheer up Bilbo!” He had forgotten or had never heard about dragons’ sense of smell.

Smaug certainly looked fast asleep, when Bilbo peeped once more from the entrance. But Smaug was only pretending to sleep! He was watching the tunnel entrance! Hurriedly Bilbo stepped back. Then Smaug spoke.

“Well, thief! I smell you and I hear your breath. Come on![83] Take something again!” But Bilbo answered, “No thank you, O Smaug the Tremendous![84] I did not come for presents. I only wished to have a look at you and see if you were really as great as tales say. I did not believe them.”

“Do you now?”[85] 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.[86]”

“Lovely titles!” said the dragon.

“I am the guest of eagles. I am Ring-winner[87] and Luck-wearer;[88] 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.[89] 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,[90]” 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,[91]” 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.

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