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Old 12-26-2007, 10:53 PM   #29
Gwathagor
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Brown Barrabury

"My dear Hazel,

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a letter from you, my youngest niece. Letter-writing is an art and skill which I fear is falling into disuse among young hobbits these days, but I see your parents have diligently seen to your education and upbringing. You reflect well upon them.

As to the contents of your letter, my answers are these: Yes, Yes, and Yes.

Yes, I can still recall nearly all of the adventures which I had in my wild youth. I am not so old yet, that I would forget!

Yes, I can tell you which is my favorite adventure, of them all (if one can or should separate them).

Yes, I WILL tell you what it is. When I went traveling with Frodo, Samwise, and Peregrin, I met many great lords of men and elves. Many battles I fought and many foes I slew. I saw the fall of empires, and the rebirth of nations. But of all these things, great though they may be, the memory I treasure above all is my memory of the Ents. Ents are to trees what shepherds are to sheep; without them, the trees would run amok and cause a great deal of trouble. The Ents look after the trees and protect them. The Chief Ent, Treebeard (or Fangorn, which is his name in Elvish) is one of the mightiest creatures I have ever met. He could tear apart stone like sod and crack metal like dead wood. In spite of this, he is also one of the wisest beings East of the Sea. During our time among the Ents, Thain Peregrin and I had many long conversations with Treebeard, which mostly consisted of him relating a few of his innumerable memories (did I mention he is also one of the oldest beings in the world?).

My memories of the Ents, however, in part stand out because they are somewhat sad. You see, dear Hazel, the Ents are dwindling. They have not had children for many thousands of years, ever since the disappearance of the Entwives. I asked Treebeard about it once, and learned a very great deal. He had told us a little during the first day or so of our acquaintance, but I am afraid I was frightfully curious. And now, Hazel, I shall relate to you that conversation.
"

The sunlight changed and Brown looked up from his book. He shook himself and took a deep breath. He had quite forgotten himself and the time, and consequently had just read the first two-thirds of the first volume of "Meriadoc Brandybuck's Letters and Speeches", and probably missed second breakfast at Fred's.

Bother, he thought.

He set the tome down, stood up and shouldered his knapsack. Then, on a second thought, he retrieved the book again from the rubble of the farm-cottage and shoved it in his bag. It was very heavy.

"Better be worth the extra weight," he muttered grimly. "Who knows? The weather might turn sour, and then I'll want something to read inside."

Brown had been reading for several hours, as a matter of fact, and the sun was now high in the sky; it was nearly luncheon-time, and Brown was getting hungry. He could have stopped, and considered the possibility more than once as he made his brisk way east towards Brandy Hall. However, he had already spent longer than he intended on the road that day and was eager to see Fred and arrive at his cousins' by supper. So he pressed on hard, and arrived at Fred and Tansy's house on the outskirts of town only a few minutes after midday.

He leaned against the gatepost for moment to catch his breath, then swung the gate open, skipped down the garden path and knocked on the cottage door. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw a group of hobbit-lasses turning down the lane about a mile back.

Hullo, he thought. This is unexpected.

Last edited by Gwathagor; 12-28-2007 at 11:55 PM.
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