hobbit

"It would be well indeed," said Elrond; "but I fear that will not come about in this age of
the world, or for many after."
When the tale of their joumeyings was told, there were other tales, and yet more tales,
tales of long ago, and tales . of new things, and tales of no time at all, till Bilbo's head fell
forward on his chest, and he snored comfortably in a corner.
He woke to find himself in a white bed, and the moon shining through an open window.
Below it many elves were singing loud and clear on the banks of the stream.
"Sing all ye joyful, now sing all together?
The wind's in the free-top, the wind's in the heather;
The stars are in blossom, the moon is in flower,
And bright are the windows of Night in her tower.
Dance all ye joyful, now dance all together!
Soft is the grass, and let foot be like feather!
The river is silver, the shadows are fleeting;
Merry is May-time, and merry our meeting.
Sing we now softly, and dreams let us weave him!
Wind him in slumber and there let us leave him!
The wanderer sleepeth. Now soft be his pillow!
Lullaby! Lullaby! Alder and Willow!
Sigh no more Pine, till the wind of the morn!
Fall Moon! Dark be the land!
Hush! Hush! Oak, Ash, and Thorn!
Hushed be all water, till dawn is at hand!"
"Well, Merry People!" said Bilbo looking out. "What time by the moon is this? Your lullaby
would waken a drunken goblin! Yet I thank you."
"And your snores would waken a stone dragon - yet we thank you," they answered with
laughter. "It is drawing towards dawn, and you have slept now since the night's
beginning. Tomorrow, perhaps, you will be cured of weariness."
"A little sleep does a great cure in the house of Elrond," said he; "but I will take all the
cure I can get. A second good night, fair friends!" And with that he went back to bed and
slept till late morning.
Weariness fell from him soon in that house, and he had many a merry jest and dance,
early and late, with the elves of the valley. Yet even that place could not long delay him
now, and he thought always of his own home. After a week, therefore, he said farewell to
Elrond, and giving him such small gifts as he would accept, he rode away with Gandalf.
Even as they left the valley the sky darkened in the West before them, and wind and rain
came up to meet them.
"Merry is May-time!" said Bilbo, as the rain beat into his face. "But our back is to legends
and we are coming home. I suppose this is a first taste of it."
"There is a long road yet," said Gandalf.
"But it is the last road," said Bilbo. They came to the river that marked the very edge of
the borderland of the Wild, and to the ford beneath the steep bank, which you may
remember. The water was swollen both with the melting of the snows at the approach of
summer, and with the daylong rain; but they crossed with some difficulty, and pressed
forward, as evening fell, on the last stage of their journey. This was much as it had been
before, except that the company was smaller, and more silent; also this time there were
no trolls.
At each point on the road Bilbo recalled the happenings and the words of a year ago-it
seemed to him more like ten-so that, of course, he quickly noted the place where the
pony had fallen in the river, and they had turned aside for their nasty adventure with Tom
and Bert and Bill. Not far from the road they found the gold of the trolls, which they had