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risen. Bilbo s pony began to stumble over roots and stones. They came to
the edge of a steep fall in the ground so suddenly that Gandalf s horse
nearly slipped down the slope.
 Here it is at last! he called, and the others gathered round him
and looked over the edge. They saw a valley far below. They could hear
the voice of hurrying water in rocky bed at the bottom; the scent of trees
was in the air; and there was a light on the valley-side across the water.
Bilbo never forgot the way they slithered and slipped in the dusk down
the steep zig-zag path into the secret valley of Rivendell. The air grew
warmer as they got lower, and the smell of the pine-trees made him
drowsy, so that every now and again he nodded and nearly fell off, or
bumped his nose on the pony s neck. Their spirits rose as they went down
and down. The trees changed to beech and oak, and hire was a comfortable
feeling in the twilight. The last green had almost faded out of the grass,
when they came at length to an open glade not far above the banks of the
stream.
 Hrnmm! it smells like elves! thought Bilbo, and he looked up at
the stars. They were burning bright and blue. Just then there came a
burst of song like laughter in the trees:
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O! What are you doing,
And where are you going?
Your ponies need shoeing!
The river is flowing!
O! tra-la-la-lally
here down in the valley!
O! What are you seeking,
And where are you making?
The faggots are reeking,
The bannocks are baking!
O! tril-lil-lil-lolly
the valley is jolly,
ha! ha!
O! Where are you going
With beards all a-wagging?
No knowing, no knowing
What brings Mister Baggins,
And Balin and Dwalin
down into the valley
in June
ha! ha!
O! Will you be staying,
Or will you be flying?
Your ponies are straying!
The daylight is dying!
To fly would be folly,
To stay would be jolly
And listen and hark
Till the end of the dark
to our tune
ha! ha.
So they laughed and sang in the trees; and pretty fair nonsense I
daresay you think it. Not that they would care they would only laugh all
the more if you told them so. They were elves of course. Soon Bilbo
caught glimpses of them as the darkness deepened. He loved elves, though
he seldom met them; but he was a little frightened of them too. Dwarves
don t get on well with them. Even decent enough dwarves like Thorin and
his friends think them foolish (which is a very foolish thing to think), or
get annoyed with them. For some elves tease them and laugh at them,
and most of all at their beards.
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 Well, well! said a voice.  Just look! Bilbo the hobbit on a pony, my
dear! Isn t it delicious!
 Most astonishing wonderful!
Then off they went into another song as ridiculous as the one I
have written down in full. At last one, a tall young fellow, came out from
the trees and bowed to Gandalf and to Thorin.
 Welcome to the valley! he said.
 Thank you! said Thorin a bit gruffly; but Gandalf was already off
his horse and among the elves, talking merrily with them.
 You are a little out of your way, said the elf:  that is, if you are
making for the only path across the water and to the house beyond. We
will set you right, but you had best get on foot, until you are over the
bridge. Are you going to stay a bit and sing with us, or will you go straight
on? Supper is preparing over there, he said.  I can smell the Wood-fires
for the cooking.
Tired as he was, Bilbo would have liked to stay awhile. Elvish singing
is not a thing to miss, in June under the stars, not if you care for such
things. Also he would have liked to have a few private words with these
people that seemed to know his name and all about him, although he had
never been them before. He thought their opinion of his adventure might
be interesting. Elves know a lot and are wondrous folk for news, and
know what is going on among the peoples of the land, as quick as water
flows, or quicker. But the dwarves were all for supper as soon  as possible
just then, and would not stay. On they all went, leading their ponies, till
they were brought to a good path and so at last to the very brink of the
river. It was flowing fast and noisily, as mountain-streams do of a summer
evening, when sun has been all day on the snow far up above. There was
only a narrow bridge of stone without a parapet, as narrow as a pony
could well walk on; and over that they had to go, slow and careful, one by
one, each leading his pony by the bridle. The elves had brought bright
lanterns to the shore, and they sang a merry song as the party went
across.
 Don t dip your beard in the foam, father! they cried to Thorin,
who was bent almost on to his hands and knees.  It is long enough
without watering it.
 Mind Bilbo doesn t eat all the cakes! they called.  He is too fat to
get through key-holes yet!
 Hush, hush! Good People! and good night! said Gandalf, who
came last.  Valleys have ears, and some elves have over merry tongues.
Good night!
And so at last they all came to the Last Homely House, and found
its doors flung wide.
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Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days
that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to;
while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may
make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway. They stayed long in
that good house, fourteen days at least, and they found it hard to leave.
Bilbo would gladly have stopped there for ever and ever-even supposing
a wish would have taken him right back to his hobbit-hole without trouble.
Yet there is little to tell about their stay.
The master of the house was an elf-friend-one of those people
whose fathers came into the strange stories before the beginning of History,
the wars of the evil goblins and the elves and the first men in the North.
In those days of our tale there were still some people who had both elves
and heroes of the North for ancestors, and Elrond the master of the house
was their chief. He was as noble and as fair in face as an elf-lord, as
strong as a warrior, as wise as a wizard, as venerable as a king of dwarves,
and as kind as summer. He comes into. many tales, but his part in the
story of Bilbo s great adventure is only a small one, though important, as
you will see, if we ever get to the end of it. His house was perfect, whether
you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting
and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all. Evil things did not
come into that valley.
I wish I had time to tell you even a few of the tales or one or two of
the songs that they heard in that house. All of them, the ponies as well,
grew refreshed and strong in a few days there. Their clothes were mended
as well as their bruises, their tempers and their hopes. Their bags were
filled with food and provisions light to carry but strong to bring them over
the mountain passes. Their plans were improved with the best advice. So
the time came to mid- summer eve, and they were to go on again with the
early sun on midsummer morning.
Elrond knew all about runes of every kind. That day he looked at
the swords they had brought from the trolls lair, and he said:  These are
not troll-make. They are old swords, very old swords of the High Elves of
the West, my kin. They were made in Gondolin for the Goblin-wars. They
must have come from a dragon s hoard or goblin plunder, for dragons and
goblins destroyed that city many ages ago. This, Thorin, the runes name
Orcrist, the Goblin-cleaver in the ancient tongue of Gondolin; it was a
famous blade. This, Gandalf, was Glamdring, Foe-hammer that the king
of Gondolin once wore. Keep them well!
 Whence did the trolls get them, I wonder? said Thorin looking at
his sword with new interest.
 I could not say, said Elrond,  but one may guess that your trolls
had plundered other plunderers, or come on the remnants of old robberies
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in some hold in the mountains of the North. I have heard that there are
still forgotten treasures of old to be found in the deserted caverns of the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]