Oh, tell them all to go away! I'm not in!
I'm not at home! My life is disrupted!
I need a moment's peace! To be ignored!
To be ignited! --- I need to be myself.
I want to see valleys and rivers again.
I'm old, Gandalf. I know I don't look it.
But I begin to feel it - I feel thin.
Sort of stretched. I'm a lonely mountain.
*
Oh Gandalf!
All is not right here, or as it first appears.
It's my heart,
grown heavy with the weight of burden.
It's this ring.
My precious ----- life.
How must I leave it behind?
Help me, Gandalf. I leave tonight.
*
Of course, dear Bilbo.
I am your friend, remember ...
Leave it behind.
Empty your pockets -
Do not carry this burden with you,
for you are older and you are frail ...
Leave it behind, Bilbo
I am trying to help you.
Trust your heart as you once did -
those many years ago. Let it go!
*
It's mine.
It's time.
It's late.
The road is long -
out of Hobbiton.
My precious.
I want to (see) again,
and find a place
where I can rest
and write my books!
*
My dear Bilbo, my old friend,
the blank pages of your life
are waiting to be written down.
So go ... and write them down ...
The mountains shall return to you.
Empty your pockets, Bilbo ...
And fill you heart with solitude!
Is that so hard to do?
*
Why ---- no
and
yeeessssss!!!
I'm afraid so ---
*
There is an end to our books
and an end to our days here.
We can live richly and wisely
until our next meeting
- because the tale continues ...
It continues -- as it ends, it continues ...
I remain in awe of the story of this world.
*
I must write my book, Gandalf.
I am starving inside ...
*
Dear Bilbo -
The words will come in peaceful surroundings ...
But you must release yourself
and go into them -
Find your will - and go,
- and leave Bag End behind…
*
But I am set in my ways now, Gandalf
and oddly addicted to my precious things ...
But yes, you are right.
I will leave it to the young - my time here is done
All my maps - dog-eared, yellow and pale,
the old grey ink creeping into the creases.
Already it has faded - before its conception.
What should I do with a quiet life,
after dragons and trolls, journeys and gold?
If I don't go now - I will give in to madness!
I am already touched ...
The lonely mountain grows lonelier
inside me now ...
The mist grows colder ...
My bones are frail - it penetrates ...
The dragon is mere legend around these parts,
so much of what once was known,
is now known by those no longer.
How must I cope with absolute rest
after the secret horde of old Smaug's gold?
after the fresh taste of adventure?
*
My Dear Bilbo, you explore your life,
and all there is you will need to know,
by recreating it through your words!
But you must leave the burden behind!
Or everything around you will be evil
that you are unable to resist,
or defend yourself against ...
Don't forget that I'm here to help you.
*
I mean to be left alone ----- to find my retreat,
To name the maps and routes as sacred.
Take the journey as big as a Oliphant's footprint
and as crystal hard as the crags of Caradhras.
I want to see mountains again, Gandalf!
Hills, Elves and forests! And then find
somewhere quiet, where I can finish
my book. But I am stretched like daylight.
*
I think you should leave the ring behind,
Is that so hard to do?
*
Why no!
--------- and yessss!!
It's mine.
It's my own,
my
... precious.
*
It's been called that before, but not by you.
All these years between us, my good friend.
Trust me as you once did. And let it go ...
*
It is mine.
It's my riddle in the dark.
It's my precious life on Middle Earth.
But you are right.
It is late. The road is long.
Yes. It is time.
I will write my memoirs at Rivendell.
I will leave the ring behind with Frodo.
I am tired of the countless distractions.
The weariness of visits and interruptions.
My maps and dreams will lead me ever onwards.
The road that ends will begin again ...
And I have just thought of an ending for my book.
"And I lived happily ever after ...
... until the beginning of my days."
*
That I am sure you will do, since you are divine,
Dearest Bilbo.
*
Gandalf, I say this,
only to you ...
I must write my book in peace,
and for the rest of my days -
I don't expect
I should return - in fact,
I mean not to.
