Chapter 20 Section 7 Homecoming Journey

At last the hobbits started towards their homeland, anxious to see the Shire again, and did not begin at once, for Frodo felt a little uneasy.When they came to Brunan's Ferry he paused, seeming rather reluctant to cross.They noticed that his eyes seemed to wander, and that he was silent all day.It was October 6th. "Are you ill, Frodo?" whispered Gandalf, riding beside him. "Yes, I am not well," said Frodo; "it is my shoulder, and the wound still hurts, and the dark memory of the past haunts me, and that happened to be a year ago to-day." "Alas! Some wounds never heal," said Gandalf.

"I think it is true for me," said Frodo, "that there is no going back, and though I may go back to the Shire, all will be different, for I am changed. I have been wounded, poisoned Thorn and tooth, and burdened beyond measure, where shall I find my rest?" Gandalf did not answer. By the end of the second day, the pain and uneasiness had passed, and Frodo was cheerful again, as if he had no memory of the dark past.After that, the journey went fairly smoothly and the days passed quickly.They rode leisurely through the forests of golden and coppery leaves.Not long after, they came to Weathertop, and the road was quite dark as it was approaching evening.Frodo implored them all to hasten their steps. He made no effort to look at the hill, but with his head bowed and his cloak drawn tight, he rushed forward.That night, the weather changed, and there was a rainy wind from the west, strong and cold, and the golden leaves fluttered in the air like birds.When they came to Chet Forest the leaves were almost gone, and Breehill was surrounded by thick rain.

It was at the end of such a wet October day that five travelers arrived at the south gate of Bree in the evening.The doors were shut tight, the wind and rain were blowing in their faces; the sky was swirling with dark clouds, and they all felt their hearts sink, for they expected a warmer welcome than this. After they had yelled for a long time, the gatekeeper came out, and they noticed that he was carrying a big club.The gatekeeper looked at them in surprise, but when he realized that the people in strange clothes were Gandalf and a group of hobbits, he let them in with a big smile on his face.

"Come in!" he said, opening the door. "It's impossible for us to stay outside in this damn weather. Old Barryman should be able to welcome you at the Prancing Horse Inn, and you should be able to find out from him." Little news." "You may hear from us over there later," said Gandalf, laughing. "How is Harry?" The gatekeeper frowned. "Going on," he said, "you'd better ask Baalman. Good night!" "Good night to you too!" They greeted each other as they entered the door.At this time, they noticed many low houses built on the side of the road behind the fence, and many people came out of them and stared at them.When they came to Bill Fern's house, they noticed that the yard was in disarray and all the windows were boarded up.

"Won't your apple kill him, Sam?" said Pippin. "I'm not so optimistic, Mr. Pippin," said Sam. "I'd rather know how the poor pony is. I think about him a lot, and that horrible howl of the wolf." Finally, they When I came to the Prancing Horse Hotel, at least from the outside, there was no change here, there were still lights behind the red window grilles and low windows.They rang the bell, and Norbert came running up, opened a little opening to peep out; and gave a cry of surprise when he found them standing in the doorway. "Mr. Buttercup! Boss!" he yelled, "They're back!" "Oh, yeah? Let me teach them a lesson!" continued Butterbun's voice, and he rushed out with the stick.

However, when he saw the person in front of him clearly, he stopped suddenly, and his vicious expression instantly turned into a joyful one. "Noble, you big pig!" he yelled, "you don't remember the names of these old friends? You're scaring me like this in this bad time! Come on, come on! Where did you come from? To be honest, I thought I'd never see you again. You went out into the wilderness with that stalker, with the shadow man behind you. I'm so glad to see you and Gandalf. Quick Come in! Come in! Same room as before? There's no one there. In fact, almost every room is empty these days. I'll be honest, you'll find out later, I'm trying to scrape together dinner as soon as possible Hey, Norbert, don't be slow! Tell Bob! Ah, I forgot, Bob is gone, and he'll be home tonight. Come on, Norbert, take the guest's pony into the stable! Gandalf , I think you'll lead the horse there yourself. It's a fine horse, I told you the first time I saw it. Come, come in! You're welcome!" At least, Buttercup didn't change him at all. The habit of talking, still living the busy life that can't breathe.However, there was no one in the hotel, it was quiet everywhere, and there were only one or two people whispering in the hall.In the light of two candles lit by the shopkeeper, they saw that his face was wrinkled.

The boss led everyone to the room where they lived in that strange night a year ago.They followed him with some unease, for everyone could see Buttercup was forcing a smile.The situation was different from before, but they didn't ask much, just waited quietly. As they had expected, after supper Mr. Butterburo came over to see if all was well.Everyone still thought it was good, and the food and beer at the Prancing Horse Hotel still tasted the same. "I dare not suggest that you come to the lobby this time," Buttercup said, "You must be very tired, and there won't be many people tonight anyway. However, if you are willing to take half an hour out before going to bed, I'd rather Wish to speak with you in private." "We are about to do so," said Gandalf, "we are not tired, we are light. Though we were wet, cold, and hungry, you have cured that Yes. Come on, sit down! If you have any more tobacco leaves, we will thank you very much." "I'd be happier if you wanted something else," said Buttercup. "That's all we need. , now we only have what we grow ourselves, which is not enough in itself. There is no tobacco coming out of the Shire these days, and I will find a way." When he came back, he took some enough for them for two or three A day's worth, and that's untrimmed leaves. "Southern leaves, this is the best we have, but as I always say, it is still not as good as the top leaves in the southern part of the Shire.

I really have to admit it, although I've been protecting Bree most of the time. ' They seated him in a large chair by the fire, Gandalf opposite, and the hobbit on a low stool between, and they talked for well over half an hour, and Buttercup exchanged a lot of news.Almost everything they said surprised the master beyond his imagination.Therefore, there are only these few words in Buttercup's mouth, saying "I can't believe it" over and over again, so many times that even Buttercup himself began to doubt his hearing. "Mr. Baggins, I can't believe it! Or should I call you Mr. Yamashita? I'm confused. Mr. Gandalf, I can't believe it! My God!

It's hard to imagine!Who would have thought that..." However, he himself provided a lot of information.According to him, the world situation is really bad. The business can't even be described as a recession, but it has fallen to the bottom at all. "Now, no one from outside comes to Bree at night," he said, "and people in the neighborhood stay at home at night and keep the door tightly closed. It's all since last year when strangers came. It started on this side, and more people came later. Some were just poor people fleeing the war, but most of them were full of bad people. Pretty disturbed here in Bree! God, ours There was real trouble, and someone was killed, really killed! No joke." "I see," said Gandalf, "how many died?" "Three and two," said Cream Bo refers to the big guy and the little guy. "Poor Matt Heather, Lori Apples, little Tom Pickthorn over the hill, and Willy Banks up there, and the Stadow family down the hill, they're all good people, we Miss them all. And Harry Goatshoe who used to guard the west gate, and Bill Fern both stood with those strangers and ended up going with them. I guess they let these people go Came in. I was talking about the night of the conflict. It was after we kicked them out, it was probably before the end of the year, and then the conflict happened around New Years, when we had a lot of snow." "Now They all became robbers and hid in the forests outside of Archit, or in the wilds of the north. It was like the bad years recorded in ancient legends, the roads were not safe, people dared not go far, and everyone The doors and windows are all shut. We'll have to send a lot of sentries to watch the fence, and a lot of people to watch the gate at night." "We're not being bothered," said Pippin, "we're still moving very slowly, and we don't even notice our surroundings. We thought we'd put our troubles behind us!" "Ah, gentlemen, it's a good thing you haven't," said Buttercup, "it's no wonder they didn't dare to think of you, they didn't dare to attack the armed men The ones with swords and shields and helmets will make them think twice before they do it. When I saw you, I really jumped." Then the hobbit realized that When they came back, everyone looked at them with surprised and curious eyes.They themselves have long been accustomed to fighting on horseback, or mixed with warriors, and they don't feel strange about the armor under their cloaks, the helmets and shields of Gondor and hussars, but such a scene appears in a quiet small village. It looked out of place.Gandalf was riding a tall gray horse, covered in snow, wearing a silver and blue cloak, and had the Granary Excalibur on his waist, which looked even more strange.

Gandalf smiled. "Okay, okay!" he said, "if these people are scared when they see the five of us, then we've met a lot more enemies than them before. But at least while we're here, you don't have to Too worried." "How long will you stay?" Buttercup said, "Frankly, I'm glad to have you all around me. You know? We're not used to this kind of trouble, and people tell me those The rangers are gone. I don't think I understand what they've done for us until now. After they've gone, there's something worse than bandits. The wolves have been howling outside the fence last winter, and there's The shadows are running around, and the thought of it is enough to freeze your blood, and the past year has been a rough one for us." "I expected that," said Gandalf, "almost everywhere these days. Restless. Barryman, take heart! You were on the brink of great trouble, and I'm glad you didn't get any worse. Better times are coming, maybe better than you remember; Ranger Come back, we came back with them. Baalman, there is another emperor in this world, and he will start to take care of your side soon!" "At that time, the green road will reopen, his emissary will go north, and people will begin to trade, to communicate, and the wicked will be driven out of the wilderness. In fact, the wilderness will no longer be wilderness, and there will be many peoples who will dwell on lands that were previously considered wilderness." Buttercup shook his head. "It wouldn't be so bad if there were some honest people on the road again!" he said, "but we don't want to see those sneaky people anymore, and we don't want outsiders coming into Bree, or even near Bree." Well, we want to live in peace. I don't want a bunch of strangers camping out and messing up the field.

"You may live in peace, Baalman," said Gandalf; "there is plenty of space between the Eshin and the Greyflood, or along the River Spirit to the south, within a distance of Bree There were no people on the ride for several days. There used to be a lot of people living in the north, at the end of the green road, on the North Hill side, or by Lake Everdine." "On the dead man's bank? Buttercup looked even more puzzled. "They say it's haunted there, and no one but brigands would want to go there!" "Wanderers go there," said Gandalf. But in fact, the real name there is Fornoster Elan, Norbury of the King. One day, the Emperor will come here, and then, you will see some really good people come here Bring it." "Well, I think that sounds a lot more promising," said Buttercup, "and my business will be better, as long as he doesn't bother Bree." "He won't," Gandalf said: "He knows this place very well, and he likes it very much!" On the big chair, hundreds of miles from here, I guess he'll drink from a gold cup. What's the Prancing Horse to him? What's beer? Of course I don't mean my beer is bad, Gandalf. Beer tastes really good since you came last fall and said something nice about me. That's my only consolation in this bad year!" "Ah!" said Sam, "but he Said your beer has always been good!" "He said?" "Of course he said—he is the Strider, the leader of the Rangers, you haven't figured it out yet?" He finally figured it out, Cream Bo's expression became very ridiculous.The eyes on his big face were wide open, and his mouth could not be closed. "Striker!" said he with difficulty, when he recovered his breath. "He wears a crown and all those jewels and gold cups! My God! What time is this?" "Better times, at least for Bree So it is," said Gandalf. "I hope, no, I'm sure," Buttercup said. "Wow, this is the best Monday I've heard in months. I think I'll sleep better tonight! You give me so much Something to think about, but I can wait until tomorrow. I'm going to bed, and I think you're going to be sleepy too. Hey, Norbert!" He went to the door and yelled, "Nobert, you slob! "Noble!" he said, patting himself on the head, "I seem to remember something again?" "Mr. Buttercup, I hope it's not another letter!" said Merry. "Oh, oh, Mr. Liquorbuck, you don't embarrass me anymore! Ah, you made me forget what I was thinking. Where did I just say? Noble, the stables, ah! By the way, I have You guys remember Bill Fern and the horse theft? The pony you bought is here, and it came back by itself. Where has it been, I think you know better than me Clear. At that time he looked like an old dog tired and skinny, but he came back alive and Norbert took over to take care of him. "Wow! My Bill?" Sam yelled, "God, no matter what my dad says, I'm lucky! Another wish granted! Where is it?" Sam had to look at Bill before he would sleep. They remained at Bree the next day.In the evening, Uncle Butter could find no reason to complain about the bad business.Curiosity overwhelmed fear, and his room was bursting.The hobbit came to the lobby to greet him and answer many questions.Breemen have good memories, and many have been asking Frodo if his book is ready. "Not yet," he replied, "I'm going home and sorting out my notes." He promised to describe the astonishing events that took place in Bree, and that would barely balance the coverage, allowing for a book almost entirely devoted to the lesser-than-important history of the South. The book is a little more interesting. Then, a young man asked for a song, but everyone fell silent, he was stared at several times, and no one dared to repeat the request.Obviously, people don't want to cause trouble in the lobby. The day when the party was still there was still very peaceful, and no sound disturbed Bree at night.They got up very early the next morning, however, and though it was still raining, they wanted to get to the Shire before dark, which would take them a long time. The people of Bree came out to see them off with joy, the happiest they had been in a year, and the villagers who had never seen these strangers in shining armor before were amazed.With Gandalf's white beard, he seemed to be emitting light, and his blue cloak seemed to be just a cloud covering the sun. The four hobbits seemed to be heroes from legends; The laughing people also fell silent at this time, and began to think that all of this might be well-founded. "Well, good luck to you, and hope you bring it home!" said Buttercup, "I should have warned you that the Shire was not in very good shape, if what we heard was right. They said there were some weird things going on. But one thing after another, I forgot. Excuse me, you really changed when you came back, and you seem to be the kind of people who can handle trouble. I believe you Everything will be taken care of. Good luck to you! The sooner you come back the better I shall be!" They bade him good-bye as well, and left the inn, through the west gate, towards the Shire.Beside them was Bill the pony, with his load of luggage as before; but he walked beside Sam, looking contented. "I wonder what old Barriman means?" said Frodo. "I can guess something," Sam said sullenly. "What I saw in the mirror: trees felled, my dad kicked out, I should have gone back sooner." Now," Merry said, "leaves are out of stock everywhere." "Whatever the problem," said Pippin, "I think Rosso must be behind the scenes." said Gandalf, "you forget Saruman, who was interested in the Shire before Mordor." "Well, at least you will go with us," said Merry, "and things will soon It will be settled.” “I am with you now,” said Gandalf, “but soon I will not, I will not go to the Shire, you must take care of it yourself, and all your troubles before This moment. Don't you understand? My time is past. My job is no longer to set things right, nor should I help people to do so. As for you, my dear friends, you don't need help Yes, you have grown up. In fact, you have already excelled and can be compared with those great men, and I no longer need to worry about you!" Take a good walk, I've never had a good conversation with him in my life, he's a family man and I'm meant to run around. My days of running around are over though, we should have a lot going on We can talk." Soon after, they came to the place where they had said goodbye to Bombadil on East Avenue, and they had some hopes that they could see him here to say hello to everyone.However, everyone was disappointed. The ancient tombs in the south and the old forest in the distance were covered with thick fog. They stopped, and Frodo looked thoughtfully south. "I should like to see the old chap again," said he, "how he is doing, I wonder?" "You may rest assured that he will be as he was before," said Gandalf, "I think he must be Still living a quiet life, not interested in what we do, except our meeting with the tree man. Maybe you can visit him later, but if I were you, I would rush home Go, or you won't be there before the gates at Brandywine Bridge close." "But there's no gate there?" said Merry, "and you know there's no gate on that road. Of course, there's Buck Field but they would have let me in any time." "You must mean that there was no door before," said Gandalf, "I think you will meet later, and you may have the gate at Buckland. Unexpected trouble, but you'll be all right. Farewell, dear friends! It's not the last time, the time is not up yet.goodbye! He let Shadowfax off the road, and the horse leaped across the causeway.Gandalf gave a cry, and, like the north wind, he rushed towards the Tomb Mound, and disappeared. "Well, we're just like the beginning, and we're down to four of us again," said Merry, "and we're leaving everyone behind, one by one, and it really looks like a waking dream!"" Not to me," said Frodo, "it seems to me more like going to sleep."