>>14874144

36 t h e f e l l o w s h i p o f t h e r i n g

smoke: their leaves opened like a whole spring unfolding in a

moment, and their shining branches dropped glowing flowers

down upon the astonished hobbits, disappearing with a sweet

scent just before they touched their upturned faces. There

were fountains of butterflies that flew glittering into the trees;

there were pillars of coloured fires that rose and turned into

eagles, or sailing ships, or a phalanx of flying swans; there

was a red thunderstorm and a shower of yellow rain; there

was a forest of silver spears that sprang suddenly into the air

with a yell like an embattled army, and came down again into

the Water with a hiss like a hundred hot snakes. And there

was also one last surprise, in honour of Bilbo, and it startled

the hobbits exceedingly, as Gandalf intended. The lights went

out. A great smoke went up. It shaped itself like a mountain

seen in the distance, and began to glow at the summit. It

spouted green and scarlet flames. Out flew a red-golden

dragon – not life-size, but terribly life-like: fire came from his

jaws, his eyes glared down; there was a roar, and he whizzed

three times over the heads of the crowd. They all ducked,

and many fell flat on their faces. The dragon passed like an

express train, turned a somersault, and burst over Bywater

with a deafening explosion.

‘That is the signal for supper!’ said Bilbo. The pain and

alarm vanished at once, and the prostrate hobbits leaped to

their feet. There was a splendid supper for everyone; for

everyone, that is, except those invited to the special family

dinner-party. This was held in the great pavilion with the

tree. The invitations were limited to twelve dozen (a number

also called by the hobbits one Gross, though the word was

not considered proper to use of people); and the guests were

selected from all the families to which Bilbo and Frodo were

related, with the addition of a few special unrelated friends

(such as Gandalf ). Many young hobbits were included, and

present by parental permission; for hobbits were easy-going

with their children in the matter of sitting up late, especially

when there was a chance of getting them a free meal. Bringing

up young hobbits took a lot of provender

>>14874156

There were many Bagginses and Boffins, and also many

Tooks and Brandybucks; there were various Grubbs (re-

lations of Bilbo Baggins’ grandmother), and various Chubbs

(connexions of his Took grandfather); and a selection of

Burrowses, Bolgers, Bracegirdles, Brockhouses, Goodbodies,

Hornblowers and Proudfoots. Some of these were only very

distantly connected with Bilbo, and some had hardly ever

been in Hobbiton before, as they lived in remote corners of

the Shire. The Sackville-Bagginses were not forgotten. Otho

and his wife Lobelia were present. They disliked Bilbo and

detested Frodo, but so magnificent was the invitation card,

written in golden ink, that they had felt it was impossible to

refuse. Besides, their cousin, Bilbo, had been specializing in

food for many years and his table had a high reputation.

All the one hundred and forty-four guests expected a pleas-

ant feast; though they rather dreaded the after-dinner speech

of their host (an inevitable item). He was liable to drag in bits

of what he called poetry; and sometimes, after a glass or

two, would allude to the absurd adventures of his mysterious

journey. The guests were not disappointed: they had a very

pleasant feast, in fact an engrossing entertainment: rich,

abundant, varied, and prolonged. The purchase of provisions

fell almost to nothing throughout the district in the ensuing

weeks; but as Bilbo’s catering had depleted the stocks of most

of the stores, cellars and warehouses for miles around, that

did not matter much.

After the feast (more or less) came the Speech. Most of

the company were, however, now in a tolerant mood, at that

delightful stage which they called ‘filling up the corners’.

They were sipping their favourite drinks, and nibbling at their

favourite dainties, and their fears were forgotten. They were

prepared to listen to anything, and to cheer at every full stop.

My dear People, began Bilbo, rising in his place. ‘Hear!

Hear! Hear!’ they shouted, and kept on repeating it in chorus,

seeming reluctant to follow their own advice. Bilbo left his

place and went and stood on a chair under the illuminated

tree. The light of the lanterns fell on his beaming face; the