before he could say knife they had whisked the trays and a couple of
small tables into the parlour and set out everything afresh.
     Gandalf sat at the head of the party with the thirteen, dwarves all
round: and Bilbo sat on a stool at the fireside, nibbling at a biscuit
(his appetite was quite taken away), and trying to look as if this was
all perfectly ordinary and. not in the least an adventure. The dwarves
ate and ate, and talked and talked, and time got on.
     “I suppose you will all stay to supper?” he said in his politest
unpressing tones. “Of course!” said Thorin. “And after. We shan’t get
through the business till late, and we must have some music first. Now
to clear up!” Thereupon the twelve dwarves-not Thorin, he was too
important, and stayed talking to Gandalf-jumped to their feet and
     Off they went, not waiting for trays, balancing columns of plates,
each with a bottle on the top, with one hand, while the hobbit ran
after them almost squeaking with fright: “please be careful!” and
“please, don’t trouble! I can manage.” But the dwarves only started to
sing:
     “Chip the glasses and crack the plates!
     Blunt the knives and bend the forks!
     That’s what Bilbo Baggins hates-