"GL4" - читать интересную книгу автора (vol06)

remainder of Western Men, as originally planned.' Of course, looking
back over the texts from Trotter's first appearance, there is no possibility
that my father had 'originally planned' to make Trotter anything but a
hobbit. The first suggestion that he might not be appears in Queries and
Alterations (p. 223, $6). But by 'originally planned' my father may well
have been thinking no further back than to the drafts for the opening of
the 'Bree' chapter in the third phase (p. 331), where the idea that the
Rangers were Men, 'the last remnant of the kingly people from beyond
the Seas', first emerged, though this was not taken up in the chapter as
actually written at that time. It may be that he had felt for some time
that Trotter should not be a hobbit, but (as he said of the name 'Bingo',
p. 221) he was now too used to the idea to change it. Even now, he did not
follow up his directive, and Trotter remains Peregrin Boffin.
As in FR, Frodo sits alone and falls asleep during the music; but the
song Earendil was a mariner is not present (though the word '? Mes-
senger' written at the top of the page is a hint of it).(6)

He woke to the sound of ringing laughter. There was no longer
any music, but on the edge of his waking sense was the echo of a
voice that had just stopped singing. He looked, and saw that Bilbo
was seated on his stool, set now near to the middle fire, in the
centre of a circle of listeners.
'Come now, tell us, Bilbo!' said one of the Elves, 'which is the
line which Peregrin put in?'
'No! ' laughed Bilbo. 'I leave you to guess - you pride yourselves
on your judgement of words.'
'But it is difficult to discriminate between two hobbits,' they
laughed.
'Nonsense!' said Bilbo. 'But I won't argue the matter. I'm
sleepy, after so much sound and song!' He got up and bowed and
came back beside Frodo.
'Well, that's that,' he said. 'It went off better than I expected. As
a matter of fact, quite a lot of it was Peregrin's.'

'I am sorry I did not hear it,' said Frodo. 'I heard the Elves
laughing as I woke up.'
'Never mind,' said Bilbo. 'You'll hear it again, very likely. Just a
lot of nonsense, anyway. But it is difficult to keep awake here,
until you get used to it - not that hobbits ever acquire the Elves'
appetite for song and poetry and tales of all sorts. They will be
going on for a long while yet.

The words of the chant to Elbereth (identical in both texts) are
different from the form in FR:

Elbereth Gilthoniel sir evrin pennar oriel
dir avos-eithen miriel
bel daurion sel aurinon
pennaros evrin eriol.