Smaug lay, with wings folded like an immeasurable bat, turned partly on one side,
so that the hobbit could see his underparts and his long pale belly crusted
with gems and fragments of gold from his long lying on his costly bed.
Behind him where the walls were nearest could dimly be seen coats of mail,
helms and axes, swords and spears hanging; and there in rows stood great jars and vessels filled
with a wealth that could not be guessed.
To say that Bilbo’s breath was taken away is no description at all.
There are no words left to express his staggerment,
since Men changed the language that they learned of elves in the days
when all the world was wonderful. Bilbo had heard tell and sing of dragon-hoards before,
but the splendour, the lust, the glory of such treasure had never yet come home to him.
His heart was filled and pierced with enchantment and with the desire of dwarves;
and he gazed motionless, almost forgetting the frightful guardian,
at the gold beyond price and count.

The stars are far brighter
Than gems without measure,

The moon is far whiter

Than silver in treasure:

The fire is more shining

On hearth in the gloaming

Than gold won by mining,

So why go a-roaming?

“Where did you go to, if I may ask?” said Thorin to Gandalf as they rode along.
“To look ahead,” said he.
“And what brought you back in the nick of time?”
“Looking behind,” said he.