A short story about a short, rather silly Hobbit...
The old Hobbit walks into his favorite coffeehouse and greets all the fine folks there. There are LOTS of folks these days, laughing and dancing about. As he hobbles his way across the room, he spies a lovely princess above the crowd, teetering precariously on a Pedestal the Hobbit's old mind had put her upon. The crowd of men all around her are shouting, laughing, and shoving each other about.
Now just at this moment, while all the fellows seem to be Preoccupied, the lovely princess slips and falls from the pedestal. The Hobbit, springing forward, catches the lovely princess in his small arms. She says she is grateful, and gives the Hobbit a kiss for his gallantry. The Hobbit smiles, and feeling heroic, strong, and special in some way, returns the kiss enthusiastically. With a hug and a smile, the sweet Princess dances away into the crowd.
As the Hobbit watches, all the other fellows smile at the return of the Princess, and dancing and joking about, they pick her up in their arms and place her, once more, upon the shining pedestal. This is all a wonderfull game, you see, that she was playing, all along. She sways unsteadily and watches about her, looking for the next smiling face in the crowd that would catch her as she falls. The Hobbit goes to a corner booth and sits, no longer feeling very heroic, or brave, or in the least bit special at all.
One of the revelers stops over by the booth, and seeing the Hobbit so sad, asks about the cause. Upon hearing this silly tale, the friend chides the Hobbit, "Hey! Loosen up, Man! It is all in good fun! This is all just a game, after all. I have caught my share of princesses, and have been caught by some, myself. Cheer up good Hobbit and join in the game!" The Hobbit can take no comfort from this, and is further saddened by this revelation. Looking about him in the room, he spies a few other folks, his friends, also sitting in other booths. Some of these seem sad, others mad, and some have tears in their eyes. He watches as one leaves, crying. He sees another, looking in the window next to his booth This is an old friend, peering in the window, but they do not come in. The Hobbit opens the window and asks why his friend does not come in, " I cannot play that game any more, it is far to painfull to bear." Says the friend.
Now the Hobbit, in a burst of rage, jumps up on his table and tells everyone that this game must STOP. "People are getting hurt!" he cries, "Folks are crying, Folks are LEAVING!" He Shouts! " This game is no Game at ALL, But rather folks playing with each others minds, breaking each others hearts". The crowd turns to look at the noisy Hobbit. "OK!" Shouts back the crowd, "no problem, silly Hobbit." And with that, all the folks leave and the room starts to empty. He watches sadly as all of his friends cross the street to another coffeehouse across the way, and all go inside, even the ones who had been sadly sitting in the booths, even the friend who had been peering in the window. Puzzled and sadder still, he sits back down in his small corner.
The sweet Princesses, whom he had caught, tarried a bit before leaving, sees the little guy in the corner, all alone, and wanders over to ask why he has sent all his friends away, why he is not playing the game. "Thank you once more, kind sir." she says. "You caught me rather well for one so short. Come over, come across the street and play and perhaps I will let you catch me again." She smiles a glistening smile. "No, Lovely Princess," he says with a wry , tight grin, Perhaps sometime, if you need a break from the game, you might come over and share a cup of tea with me, that we might talk a spell, but catching falling Princesses is no sport for a Hobbit to play." With some surprise, the Princess asks, "Why ever not?"
The Hobbit responds sadly, "Because, sweet Princess, if I were to fail in the catching, I might cause hurt to you, and this would sadden me endlessly. And if I were to catch you incorrectly, or ineptly, then it would make of me a fool. And each time it is not I that catches you, It would surly break my heart."
"You are a silly Hobbit." The Princess replies, and is off through the door and across the street.
Now the room is empty. The cheery laughter and dancing is gone with the folks that made it. The old Hobbit knows that the game will continue. That folks will get hurt. That folks will still sadly sit in dark corners. But this he cannot stop, and his rage did nothing but bring him loneliness, to be company for his sadness. So he goes across the street, to talk to his friends.
He says that he is sorry, and that he now knows he cannot stop the game, nor stop folks from being hurt by it. He promises that, while he cannot play this game, he will not try to stop it anymore. He tells them he will take up a table, facing away from the crowd, and be company for those that might want it. He asks them to please come back, and bring the good cheer and laughter back were it had been.
"But." Says he, "I shall still watch the door, and if any of my friends are sent, crying, out that door, never to return, I shall STILL have words to say about that, to those that caused it". "Play your games", he says, "with some compassion, with some respect for one another, and if you find yourself starting to play, with someone who does not know the rules. Please make sure they know, before hand, and not after their hearts are in pieces on the floor."
And so.... The Game goes on.....
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Baggins@netcom.comLast updated by Baggins on 1/3/97