Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days
that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to;
while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome,
may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway. They stayed
long in that good house, fourteen days at least, and they found it
hard to leave. Bilbo would gladly have stopped there for ever and
ever-even supposing a wish would have taken him right back to his
hobbit-hole without trouble. Yet there is little to tell about their
stay.
     The master of the house was an elf-friend-one of those people whose
fathers came into the strange stories before the beginning of History,
the wars of the evil goblins and the elves and the first men in the
North. In those days of our tale there were still some people who had
both elves and heroes of the North for ancestors, and Elrond the
master of the house was their chief. He was as noble and as fair in
face as an elf-lord, as strong as a warrior, as wise as a wizard, as
venerable as a king of dwarves, and as kind as summer. He comes into.
many tales, but his part in the story of Bilbo’s great adventure is
only a small one, though important, as you will see, if we ever get to
the end of it. His house was perfect, whether you liked food, or