The day after the fierce battle with the spiders, Birbo and the dwarves decided to use their last strength to try to find a way out before they starved or died of thirst. They got to their feet and staggered, eight to five, toward what was supposed to be a trail.
。In the end, they still failed. The long day slowly passed. Hundreds of flames suddenly appeared around them, making them look like they were surrounded by red stars. The Wood Elf jumped out with a bow and a spear in his hands.
The dwarves stopped.
They had no intention of resisting at all. Even if the dwarves were not in such a pitiful state, they were still happy to be captured alive because their knives could not shoot needles in the dark like the elves.
Compared to the sharp bow and arrow. They all stopped and sat on the ground waiting for the judgment of fate, except for Bilbo, who put on his ring quickly and hid away before he was discovered. And it was because of this that when elves
They tied up the dwarves, and when the whole team counted, they did not find or count the Hobbits at all.
When the elves held torches and led the captives through the forest, they did not hear Birbo's light footsteps at all. Every dwarf was blindfolded, but it was not of much use.
Because even Birbo, who had his eyes wide open, did not know which direction they were going in the forest. Moreover, they did not know where they were from the beginning. Bilbo could barely follow the torch with all his might
Although the dwarves were destitute, the elves still forced them to move as fast as possible. The king ordered them to return to the palace as soon as possible.
The torches stopped, and Birbo caught up with them just before they began to cross the bridge. This was the bridge that crossed the river at the entrance of the palace. The water under the bridge was dark, deep, and rapid. On the other side of the river was the opening of a huge cave.
The entrance was completely hidden under a hill filled with green trees. Cypress trees could be seen everywhere, and the roots of the trees near the river bank even reached into the river.
The elves pushed the captives across the bridge, but Birbo, who was at the back, hesitated. He did not like the feeling the cave gave him at all. He struggled for a long time before deciding that he could not abandon his friend. He rushed into the cave just in time to catch up with the last elf.
。As soon as he entered the cave, the door closed with a bang.
The tunnel in the cave was illuminated by the red light of the torches. The elven guards sang as they advanced through the winding tunnel. This place was different from the orc city. The cave was smaller and not as deep.
It was also very refreshing. The Elven King sat on a wooden throne, managing everything from his vast stone palace. In order to match the colors of autumn, he wore a crown made of red leaves and wild berries. In the spring, he
He would wear a crown woven from the flowers of the forest, and in his hand would be a scepter carved from oak.
The captives were brought to the king. Although his face was very solemn, he still ordered his subordinates to release them when he saw their tired and dejected appearance." Anyway, we don't need ropes here," he said."Brought in
You will never be able to escape from my magic door!”
He interrogated every dwarf in detail, asking them about their goal, the purpose of their trip, and where they came from. However, they were as tight-lipped as Thorin. This group of dwarves felt extremely humiliated and refused to fake it.
He pretended to maintain his etiquette on the surface.
"King, what have we done?”Balin was the oldest of the remaining people. "Is it a crime to be lost in the forest, hungry, thirsty, and hunted by spiders? Are these spiders your pets and guard dogs? Kill them!
Did they anger you?"
Such a question naturally angered the king. He replied,""Wandering in the forest without our permission is a crime. Have you forgotten that you are in our country, using the roads paved by my compatriots? Your companions are here
They chased and harassed us three times in the forest, and finally woke up the spiders in the forest! After you caused so much trouble, you gave me a reason to ask you why you came. If you don't want to tell me, I'll take you
I'll see when you learn to be reasonable and polite!”
Then, he ordered the dwarves to be locked up in their own cells and given food and water, but they were forbidden to leave the cell door unless one of them gave in and was willing to tell him what he wanted to know. However, he
He did not tell everyone that Sorin was also locked up by him. It was only later that Birbo discovered this matter.
※※※
Poor Mr. Baggins, he hid in that cave for a long time, never daring to take off his ring, never daring to sleep even in the deepest, darkest corner. To pass the time, he
He began to scout around the Elven King's palace. Magic had sealed the door, but if he was fast enough, he could still slip out. A large group of Wood Elves would sometimes set off on horseback or hunting under the leadership of the King.
Or they would go to the eastern lands and forests to deal with related matters. If Birbo was careful enough, he could sneak out behind these people, but he would have to take great risks. More than once, he had almost died before the last elf left.
When she went out, she was caught by the door. He did not dare to move with the elves, because his shadow would still be visible in the light (although it was as blurry as when the torch was lit), and he had to worry about being hit.
He was discovered. In his few experiences of going out, he did not discover anything new. He didn't want to abandon these dwarves. In fact, he didn't know what to do without them. He could not keep up with the hunting elves on foot
Therefore, he had never found a way out of the forest. Every time he sneaked out of the cave, he could only run around in the forest in boredom, worried that he would get lost again, and bitterly wait for the opportunity to go back. He didn't know how to hunt, so
He could only starve outside the cave, but when he was inside, he could steal food from the warehouse or the table to survive when no one was paying attention.
"I'm like a cat burglar who can never escape. I can only steal from the same room day after day!”He thought,'This is the most boring and difficult day of this ill-fated, horrible, and exhausting adventure!
How I wish I could be back in my Habbie Cave, sitting by the warm fireplace, looking at the light of the oil lamp!”He often wished that he could find a way to contact the wizards to help, but of course, this was completely impossible. quickly
He realized that he had to solve all of this by himself.
Finally, after sneaking around for a week or two, he finally found out where all the dwarves were imprisoned by following all the guards. He found the cells of twelve dwarves in different locations in the palace.
Furthermore, he had familiarized himself with the interior of the palace. To his surprise, one day, he found out from the conversation between the guards that there was another dwarf locked in a particularly dark cell.
Mei's guy was Sorin and not long after, he confirmed this conjecture. In the end, after a series of twists and turns, he found Thorin without anyone noticing and made contact with the dwarf leader.
Thorin fell into a state of utter despair, and even his anger was worn away. Before he heard Bilbo's voice through the keyhole, he even considered telling the King all the inside story of the mission and his treasure (which was also
Let us know how depressed he was.) At that time, he almost couldn't believe his Duo! At last he convinced himself that it was not an illusion, and went to the door, where he had a long talk with the other hobbit.
With Birbo's help, Thorin was able to secretly pass on his information to the other dwarves. Birbo told everyone that Sorin was also imprisoned nearby. Before Sorin gave the order, no one could tell them the purpose of this mission.
Tell the king. Because Thorin knew the process of the Hobbit saving his men from the spiders, his heart was rekindled with hope. He decided that unless everything was hopeless, or the heroic invisible man could not think of a better way,
method (he was already impressed by the Hobbit), otherwise he would never have sacrificed his treasure in exchange for freedom.
After receiving the notice, the other dwarves also agreed with the leader's decision. They all thought of their share of the treasure (Although they hadn't gotten it yet, and hadn't even seen the dragon, they had already determined that the treasure belonged to them).
). If the Wood Elves were to get their hands on it, it would definitely shrink greatly. Besides, they all trusted Birbo. What Gandalf had predicted had happened! Perhaps it was because of this that he chose to leave them.
Looking at Birbo's side, he was not as confident as the dwarf. He did not like the feeling of being relied on by everyone, and he also hoped that the wizard would be by his side to assist him. But he knew it was no use, Gandalf might
They had already reached the other end of Gloomy Jungle. He sat down and thought about it again and again. His head was about to explode, but he could not come up with any good ideas. An Invisibility Ring was a good treasure, but it wasn't enough to save fourteen people.
He was very confident. Of course, as you can guess, he still managed to save all his companions in the end. And here's how he did it.
One day, when Birbo was scouting around, he discovered something very interesting. The gate was not the only entrance to the cave. There was a river flowing out from the bottom of the palace and finally crossing the slope at the entrance.
It converged with the Jungle River, and there was a water gate where the underground water flowed out of the cave. The ceiling of the cave was very low, almost as high as the surface of the water. There was also an iron gate that led straight to the riverbed to prevent anyone from entering or leaving the palace from here.
However, this iron gate was usually open because it was one of their main roads. If anyone came in from this side, he would find himself in a dark tunnel that led all the way to the underground. however
Somewhere in the tunnel, which was directly below the cave, there was a large trap door. This door led directly to the king's wine cellar, which was filled with barrels of wine. The wood elves loved wine the most.
The king was even more addicted to alcohol. However, there were no grapes planted in this area. The wine and other goods were transported by their compatriots in the south or brewed in distant human wineries.
Birbo hid behind a large barrel and discovered the existence and use of the trapdoor. From the conversation between the king's attendants, he knew that the wine and other goods were all transported from the Long Lake along the river or by land.
It was shipped over. From the sound of it, there was a rather prosperous human town there. This town was built on an island in the lake. It relied on bridges to communicate with the outside world and avoid enemy attacks (especially the attacks of evil dragons).
These barrels were transported up from Long Lake along the dense forest river. Sometimes, these barrels were tied together to serve as rafts, and sometimes they were loaded onto large flat-bottomed boats.
When the buckets were empty, the elves would throw them down through the trapdoor. When the water gate was opened, the buckets would flow along the river to a protruding riverbank downstream, near the eastern edge of Gloomy Jungle. People will collect buckets there
He tied them together and floated them back to the entrance of the long lake, where the human town was located.
Birbo sat on the ground, thinking about everything about the water gate. He wanted to confirm if he could use it as an escape route. In the end, in desperation, he finally thought of a plan to escape.
The prisoners had just had dinner. The guards left along the tunnel, taking the light of the torches with them, plunging the cell into darkness. Birbo heard the king's steward say good night to the captain of the guards.
" Come with me," he said." Try the new wine that has just been delivered. I should be busy clearing the old buckets tonight. Let's have a drink to warm up first.”
"Excellent!" The captain smiled and said,"I'll taste it with you first to see if it's suitable for the king to drink." There's a banquet tonight. It'll be rude if the wine is too bad!”
Hearing their conversation, Birbo immediately tensed up. Because he knew that good luck was still with him. He finally had the chance to try the escape plan he had thought of before. He followed the two elves until he
They walked into a cellar and sat down at a table with two large glasses. Soon, they started chatting and drinking happily. Birbo's luck was really good. Only very strong wine could make the wood elves drunk.
It seemed that this barrel of wine was a mellow wine produced by the winery of the Duwinian. It was not the usual light wine for servants and soldiers to drink, but a fine wine that was drunk in a small glass at the king's celebration. The steward's way of drinking was a complete waste of this
The wine also gave Birbo and the others the best chance to escape.
After a while, the captain began to nod and finally fell asleep on the table. The manager continued to talk to himself for a while and did not notice the other party at all. Soon, he began to feel dizzy. Then, he fell beside his friend and began to fight.
Snore. The hobbit slipped quietly inside, the captain's key changed hands at once, and Bilbo flew off to his cell. The pile of keys weighed so much that even with the ring on Bilbo's finger, he was still on tenterhooks.
- because the keys inevitably hit each other, scaring Birbo half to death each time.
He opened Balin's door first, and as soon as the dwarf came out, he carefully locked it. You can imagine how surprised Ba Lin was, but he was still very happy to be able to leave the small stone prison and was ready to stop and ask questions.
She told him what Birbo wanted to do and his next plan.
"There's no time!" "Come with me," said the hobbit. We must stay together and not split up. Everyone must escape. This is our last chance. If we're discovered, God knows
Where will the king lock you up! I bet you'll be handcuffed next time. Be good and don't ask questions!"
Then, he rescued his companions one by one. In the end, there were twelve people gathered behind him. Due to the long term imprisonment and the influence of darkness, these guys were all clumsy. Whenever they have someone in the dark
When he tripped or grumbled, Birbo felt his heart almost jump out of his chest. "These damn dwarves!" he muttered to himself. Fortunately, everything went smoothly and they did not encounter any guards. fact
On that night, a grand banquet was held in the forest and the hall outside. Almost all the king's subordinates were drinking and making merry.
After some hard work, they finally arrived at Thorin's cell. It was located in the deepest part of the palace, but fortunately, it was not too far from the wine cellar.
"Everyone, listen to me!" When Bilbo signaled him to leave the cell, Thorin said,"Gandalf is indeed prescient. When the time came, you did show your talent as a Snitch. No matter how it ends
Well, I think we all owe you a big favor. What should we do next?"
Birbo thought it was time to explain the plan, but he was not sure if every dwarf could escape successfully. He was right, because they didn't like the plan at all, even in danger.
It didn't stop them from complaining.
"We'll definitely be injured all over and even drown!”"We thought you were clever when you got the key," they muttered. This idea is crazy!"
"Alright then!" Birbo felt very frustrated and angry. "All of you, return to your cells. I will lock the doors for you one by one. You can spend time thinking of better ideas. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I try next time
He probably wouldn't be able to get the key!”
This was a huge blow to them, so they all calmed down. In the end, they had to follow Birbo's advice, because it was obvious that they could not escape from above, let alone break into the big sealed by magic.
It was not a good idea to complain in the corridor and wait for people to catch them. So, they followed the Hobbit and sneaked into the lowest cellar. They passed by a door, through which they could still see the president.
Guan He and the captain were smiling as they fell asleep with loud snores. Though Bilbo had kindly slipped back and put the key back on the captain's belt, the expressions of the two next day were still very distorted for a long time.
He couldn't even smile.
"This will at least save him some trouble!”Mr. Baggins said to himself,"He's not bad, and he's not bad to prisoners. They would be even more confused tomorrow morning. They'll think we have powerful demons
He could pass through these doors and disappear without a trace! Speaking of disappearing! If we want to succeed, the main event will be later!”
Ba Lin stood at the door and looked at the captain and the manager. If there was anything wrong with the other party, he had to inform everyone immediately. The others rushed into the wine cellar with the trap door. Time was running out, Bilbo knew, and soon
An elf would be ordered to come down and help the steward throw the empty bucket into the water. In fact, these buckets were already on the floor, waiting for someone to push them down. Some of the barrels were wine barrels, which were of little use,
This was because other than the small opening, the bucket was very difficult to open, and it would be even more difficult to close. However, there were also some barrels carrying other goods, such as cream and apples.
They soon found thirteen barrels big enough to hold the dwarves. In fact, the space in the barrel was still a little too big. The dwarves began to worry about the rolling and collision as soon as they entered. And therefore, Birbo went to great lengths to find
He gathered a lot of straw and stuffing, hoping to make the dwarves more comfortable. In the end, the twelve dwarves were all put into the bucket. Sorin was the most troublesome. He kept twisting and complaining in the bucket, sounding like he was locked in a small room.
The big dog in the cage. Ba Lin, who was the last to enter, kept nagging about the ventilation problem. Before the lid was closed, she started complaining about her breathing. In addition, Birbo had to mend the hole next to the bucket.
The lid was closed. He busied himself in and out alone, hoping that this bold plan would have a glimmer of hope of success.
However, the change came too quickly. A minute or two after Balin's lid was closed, the elves 'laughter and the light of the torches could be heard. A few elves walked into the wine cellar, laughing and laughing, and started singing a song with a bad accent. he
They had a great time at the banquet and wanted to go back as soon as possible.
"Where's Chief Jia Li 'an?”someone said. "I didn't see him appear all night. He should have told us what to do.”
" It would be bad if that guy was late," another person said."I don't want to waste time here while everyone is having fun!”
"Haha!" Someone shouted,"The old man fell asleep with a glass of wine! It seemed like he and the captain were holding their own small banquet.”
"Wake him up! Wake him up!" the others said impatiently.
Garian was not very happy to be woken up, and the ridicule of the others made him even more embarrassed. " You're all late," he muttered."I've been waiting here and waiting. You guys are having fun up there. Even I'm too happy.
I'm tired and fell asleep!"
"Yes, yes, you're so tired that you didn't even have time to take your hand off the wine glass! Let us have a taste before we get tired too! There was no need to wake that guy up. From his expression, he had already drunk quite a bit.”
They all drank a round, and their spirits suddenly rose, but they were not so drunk that they did not know what was going on. "Help me, Garian!" "You've had too much to drink, you've gone senile!" You put the emptiness
The bucket had become a bucket for storing things.”
"Just do it!" The steward said," You just want to be lazy. These are the buckets. Do as I say!"”
" Alright, alright," they said as they rolled the bucket into the opening."If the king's good things and wine are pushed back to the humans to enjoy, it's your responsibility anyway!”
Get off, get off, get off,
The bucket rolled all the way into the hole!
Push harder! Boom!
He fell into the water and ran out along the river!
They sang and pushed the bucket into the water. Some of the barrels were empty, while others were filled with dwarves. One by one, they all fell to the bottom, knocking into each other and swirling in the current.
It was then that Birbo discovered the fatal flaw in his plan. You probably noticed it not long ago and secretly laughed at his negligence. However, if you were in his shoes, I'm afraid you wouldn't be as good as him.
Half-strong-he was not in the barrel, and even if he had the chance, no one would fill the barrel for him! It seemed that he would really lose all his friends this time (most of the barrels had fallen through the dark trapdoor).
He would become a sneaky cat burglar in the elven cave and would never have a chance to escape. Even if he could escape through the gate immediately, he would not have much chance of finding the dwarves. He did not know how to get to the bucket collection site by land
Fang, he didn't know what kind of misfortune these guys would encounter without his help. He had not told the dwarves what he had discovered and what his next plan was.
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, the cheerful elves began to sing beside the door. Some of them had already begun to pull the iron gate of the water gate to let the bucket float out of the hole.
Drifting out along the black water
Drift back to the road you came from!
Leaving halls and caves,
Leaving the heights of the northern mountains,
The forest is wide and dark,
The trees in the shadows dimmed!
Drifting over the land of trees,
Across the windswept river bank
Over the rapids, over the weeds,
Over the river and waves,
Through the white mist,
Across the valley of the night!
Following the leaping stars,
Into the icy cold cloud dust;
Turning at dawn,
Over the rapids, over the sands,
Go south, go south!
Seeking sun and day,
Back to the plains, back to the wheat fields,
The field where the cows grazed!
Back to the garden by the hill,
Wild berries are on the verge of ripening,
Through the sun and day,
Go south, go south!
Drifting out along the black water,
Drift back to the road you came from!
At this moment, the last bucket was thrown into the water! Poor Birbo didn't know what to do. In desperation, he could only hug the bucket and be pushed down. He fell into the water with a splash, bobbing up and down in the dark water.
The bucket was still pressing down on him.
He was like a drowning dog. It was not easy for him to hold the bucket and float up, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not climb up to the top of the bucket. Every time he willed it, the wooden bucket would roll around, causing him to roll back into the water. This bucket is empty
Therefore, it could float on the surface of the water as easily as a cork. Although he was a little wet, he could still hear the elves singing happily in the room above. Then the door slammed shut.
The song had died away, and he was alone in the dark river, no one else as miserable as he was, stuffed into buckets.
Soon, a gray light appeared in the darkness ahead. He could hear the sound of the water gate rising slowly. At the same time, he found himself in a pile of containers of various sizes. He could only force himself not to.
He was hit by these barrels. When the barrels began to flow out, he realized that even if he had just climbed up the barrels, it would be a waste of effort, because the sudden drop in the height of the cave was not left for the Hobbits.
Through the gap.
Just like that, the bucket drilled out and passed through the low treetops on both sides of the river. Birbo wondered how the other dwarves felt. Did a lot of water flow into their buckets? Some of the barrels floating close to him seemed to be on the same draft
Deep. He guessed that it was most likely a bucket containing dwarves.
"I hope the lid is tight enough!" He wanted to, but soon, he would be unable to protect himself and could not take care of these dwarves. He managed to keep his head above the water, but the cold water still made him tremble. he did not know
Whether Dao would freeze to death before his luck changed, how long could he last, or whether he should take the risk to swim to the shore.
Not long after, Birbo's good luck came. The rapid river water washed a few buckets onto the old tree roots near the shore.
Birbo seized the opportunity to climb up the bucket when it was more stable. He was drenched and sprawled on the bucket, trying to keep his balance. Although the wind was cold, it was much better than the river. When the bucket flowed out again, he
He could only hope that he would not fall into the water again.
Then, the barrels began to collide with each other and were washed into the river again. At this moment, it was as difficult as he thought to maintain his balance, but he still managed to do it, but it was quite uncomfortable. Luckily, he
It was light, the bucket was big enough, and the hole on it allowed it to hold a lot of water. This feeling was like riding a round pony without a saddle, and the horse wanted to roll on the ground all the time.
Just like that, Mr. Baggins managed to hold on until he reached a place where the trees on both sides were sparse. He could see the pale sky, and the dark river suddenly widened and merged with the dense forest river flowing out of the king's gate. here
The river surface no longer seemed to be shrouded in shadows, reflecting the clouds and stars in the sky. Then, the torrent of the Jungle River washed all the barrels to the north bank, where there was an entire alluvial sandbar.
The rocks acted as a barrier, blocking the flow of the river. Most of the barrels were washed up on the beach, and only a few hit the giant rock.
There were many people standing on the shore. They quickly gathered the barrels together and waited for the next morning to deal with them. Poor Dwarves! Birbo was much more comfortable now. He slipped down from the bucket and ran to the shore, to the house on the shore
Go nearby. As long as there was a chance, he would immediately stuff the food into his mouth without thinking. He had been forced to endure for a long time, and hunger had become his companion. This time, he naturally would not be polite. addition to this
Besides, he also found a campfire, which was a tempting sight for him, who was soaked and dressed in rags.
※※※
There is no need to describe his experience that night in detail here, because we are now almost at the end of our journey eastward, and the last and most astonishing adventure will follow, so we must hurry up. Of course, borrow
With the help of the ring, he had a comfortable life at first. But in the end, the water droplets and wet footprints he left behind betrayed him. Moreover, he also started to sneeze. No matter where he hid, in the end, he would sneeze because
He was discovered by a thunderous sneeze. Soon, the village by the river was in turmoil. However, Birbo still took a loaf of bread, a bottle of wine, and a pie that did not belong to him and fled into the forest. the next
He could no longer get close to any flames and could only pass the time wet. The bottle of wine helped him overcome his problem. In fact, he even dozed off in the chilly wind.
He sneezed loudly and woke up. The sky was already bright, and the riverside was also busy. The elves began to arrange the wooden barrels and assemble them into rafts so that their compatriots could drive these boats to the town on the lake. bill
Beau sneezed again. His clothes were all dry now, but he felt cold all over. He ran as fast as he could with his frozen feet and managed to get onto the raft without anyone noticing in the chaos. Fortunately,
Luckily, there was no sun at that time, so his shadow would not reveal his whereabouts. Thank God! He did not sneeze for the time being.
The elves pushed the raft away from the shore with long poles, panting as they tried to push everything into the water. The barrels were now tied together and floating in the water.
"It's really heavy this time!" Someone complained," They draw too much water. Sometimes the bucket is full. If it had floated here during the day, we might have taken the time to open it and take a look.”They said.
"There's no time!" The punter said,"Hurry up and push!"
At last they drifted away from the shore, slowly at first, but then the elves pushed the raft away with long poles beside the rock, and the raft drifted faster and faster toward the lake on the other side of the river.
They had finally escaped from the king's dungeon and passed through the forest. However, no one could be sure if they would be able to keep their lives in the end.
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