''Thank goodness,'' laughed Bilbo, and handed him the nicorette patch.
I think all great literature will read like this one day; just like on 15th August 1949 the proper prayers of the Mass ran Gaudeamus omnes in Domino, etc, and in 1951 they went Signum magnum apparuit in caelo. Testament to the fallacy that our godly forebears, who died fortified in Christ's Faith, were in error and that anyone, in their presumption and insolence, has any right whatsoever to change the Tradition of the Church on a whim, to adorn it or make it their own.
I don't smoke; I never saw the attraction, but the art of harvesting pipe-weed and smoking it from pipes was given us by the goodly folk of the Shire (Tobold the Old if I remember aright), as was the brewing of ales, and ornamental waistcoats (I am desperate to get one, but apparently I'm not fat enough to pull it off). It is to be remembered that all great men smoked; from C.S Lewis, who had the art of latinizing the Coverdale Psalter (I discovered this when I read his Latin Letters - he never once quoted the Vulgate, though he encouraged the reading of it); to Oscar Wilde - although he smoked cigarettes.
Just a thought. Oh and from now on Traddies will be known as the Sackville-Bagginses (or S.B's for convenience) on this 'blog. Very apposite if certain friends of mine familiar with Tolkien remember the worst of them!
FYI: I don't often make use of images from the film trilogy (the book is not in fact one), but I thought at the time (and still do) that Ian Holm made a fine Bilbo.
Who cares about the smoking; did Audry Hepburn have pet DEER?
ReplyDeleteA New England woman, not far from my parents, actually took in a fawn and raised it in her house as one would a dog or cat. Anyone who lives around deer knows that a doe is quite a tall animal at the hind legs! Quite personally, I prefer venison hamburger or wurst rather than these pests, who eat up flower gardens and make for nice speed bumps on unlit midnight country lanes.
ReplyDeleteAs for smoking: I used to be a chain-smoker of the worst degree. I was one of those persons with the constant smoke aura about him. If there were no deleterious effects from smoking cigarettes, I would gladly continue puffing away. Sadly, there are. No river of coffee can substitute for almighty nicotine. One has to make do, I suppose.
Audrey shouldn't smoke on the couch. Forget the ash scattered about. What if she burned a hole in the fabric? Given the demi-goddess worship Patricius bestows upon her, mere mortal mistake must always escape the déesse.
I gave up in 2000, and remain a non-smoking smoker to this day. I miss it like anything. the only thing that prevents me resuming the affair is the thought of the insurance company refusing to pay out, and my children calling somebody else "Daddy". Over the newsagent's shoulder I gaze with sick longing at those packets, like pictures of lost friends and relatives. Why can't those bloody scientists do something useful for a change, and genetically engineer non-carcinogenic Gauloises tobacco?
ReplyDeleteMy comment disappeared, damn Blogger.
ReplyDeleteYes Han, forgive the delay, but Audrey Hepburn did own a pet fawn. Her husband Mel Ferrer bought it for her after her dog Assam of Assam died, and she loved it.
I was against the UK smoking ban in 2007. Nowadays you see smokers standing outside in those tiny box designated smoking areas, or in the rain outside shops and depots; it's oppressive, and they have an air of ''second class citizen'' about them. It's unfortunate, really, and just goes to show how society can change (for the worse) within a few generations. There are moral implications too, which probably go unnoticed by most. It is to be remembered that this anti-smoking legislation (and anti-drinking will follow soon) has come to us from the same place as the legalisation of divorce and grotesque anti-Life and anti-Christian policy. This is why I am so suspicious of it. It has nothing to do with health - why would goody-two-shoes' in government and the NHS give a crap about my health in any meaningful sense> - it's about a new kind of cosmopolitan person, stripped of his liberties, and a slave to hackneyed campaigns pushed down our throats - don't forget your ''five-a-day,'' for example, as if that has any scientific basis!