What was he to do? If he cut the string which hung him up, the wretched
dwarf would tumble thump to the ground a good way below. Wriggling along
the branch (which made all the poor dwarves dance and dangle like ripe
fruit) he reached the first bundle.
Fili or Kili, he thought by the tip of a blue hood sticking out at
the top. Most likely Fili, he thought by the tip of a long nose poking
out of the winding threads. He managed by leaning over to cut most of
the strong sticky threads that bound him round, and then, sure enough,
with a kick and a struggle most of Fili emerged. I am afraid Bilbo
actually laughed at the sight of him jerking his stiff arms and legs as
he danced on the spider-string under his armpits, just like one of those
funny toys bobbing on a wire. Somehow or other Fili was got on to the
branch, and then he did his best to help the hobbit, although he was
feeling very sick and ill from spider-poison, and from hanging most of
the night and the next day wound round and round with only his nose to
breathe through. It took him ages to get the beastly stuff out of his