CHAPTER V: RIDDLES IN THE DARK

Bilbo awakens alone in utter darkness, groping through tunnels until he finds a small metal ring and pockets it. He reaches an underground lake where the creature Gollum appears. To determine Bilbo’s fate, they agree to a riddle-game: if Bilbo wins, Gollum shows him the way out; if he loses, Gollum eats him. They trade riddles evenly until, under pressure, Bilbo blurts, “What have I got in my pocket?”—which Gollum treats as the final question.

Gollum fails to guess correctly, and while stalling, he retreats to fetch a “precious” from his island—his ring—only to find it missing. He realizes Bilbo must have it and flies into a rage. Meanwhile, as Gollum searches, Bilbo accidentally slips the ring onto his finger and learns it makes him invisible when Gollum rushes past without seeing him.

Bilbo stealthily follows Gollum, who, fearing goblins might seize the ring, heads toward a “back-door” exit. At the passage mouth, Gollum blocks the way, sniffing and poised to spring. Bilbo wrestles with killing him but instead leaps unseen over Gollum and flees, as Gollum shrieks in loss and hatred.

Reaching the back door, Bilbo encounters armed goblin guards. The ring briefly isn’t on his finger, and the goblins spot him, but he swiftly dons it, evades their blind pursuit, and squeezes for the exit. His buttons pop off as he forces through the narrowing door, and, invisible, he darts into the sunlight-filled valley, leaving the goblins behind.