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&039;But Saruhbour: I cannot overlook hi, I suppose I have often wondered lately what I should do about Saruman&039;

&039;Who is Saru about his history?&039;

&039;Saruman is a Wizard,&039; answered Treebeard &039;More than that I cannot say I do not know the history of Wizards They appeared first after the Great Ships came over the Sea; but if they careat a the affairs of Men and Elves, soo: and he settled down at Angrenost, or Isengard as the Men of Rohan call it He was very quiet to begin with, but his farow He was chosen to be head of the White Council, they say; but that did not turn out too well I wonder now if even then Saruive no trouble to his neighbours I used to talk to hi abouter to listen I told his that he would never have found out by himself; but he never repaid me in like kind I cannot reot more and more like that; his face, as I remember it �C I have not seen it for many a day �C became like s in a stone wall: ith shutters inside

&039;I think that I now understand what he is up to He is plotting to become a Power He has athings, except as far as they serve him for the moment And now it is clear that he is a black traitor He has taken up with foul folk, with the Orcs Br to thearders are s that came in the Great Darkness that they cannot abide the Sun; but Saruman&039;s Orcs can endure it, even if they hate it I wonder what he has done? Are they Men he has ruined, or has he blended the races of Orcs and Men? That would be a black evil!&039;

Treebeard ru soo I began to wonder how Orcs dared to pass through my woods so freely,&039; he went on &039;Only lately did I guess that Saru out all the ways, and discoveringhavoc non on the borders they are felling trees �C good trees Some of the trees they just cut down and leave to rot �C orc-mischief that; but most are hewn up and carried off to feed the fires of Orthanc There is always a sard these days

&039;Curse him, root and branch! Many of those trees were my friends creatures I had known from nut and acorn; many had voices of their own that are lost for ever now And there are wastes of sturoves I have been idle I have let things slip It must stop!&039;

Treebeard raised himself from his bed with a jerk, stood up, and thuht trembled and sent up two jets of flareen fire in his eyes, and his beard stood out stiff as a great besom

&039;I will stop it!&039; he boomed &039;And you shall co your own friends that way, too; for if Saruman is not checked Rohan and Gondor will have an eneether �C to Isengard!&039;

&039;We will come with you,&039; said Merry &039;We will do e can&039;

&039;Yes!&039; said Pippin &039;I should like to see the White Hand overthrown I should like to be there, even if I could not be ofof Rohan&039;

&039;Good! Good!&039; said Treebeard &039;But I spoke hastily We must not be hasty I have become too hot I must cool myself and think; fur it is easier to shout stop! than to do it&039;

He strode to the archway and stood for sohed and shook hi froreen sparks He caain and was silent

After soain He seelas, Fladrif, aye, aye,&039; he sighed &039;The trouble is that there are so few of us left,&039; he said turning towards the hobbits &039;Only three remain of the first Ents that walked in the woods before the Darkness: only ive them their Elvish names; you may call them Leaflock and Skinbark if you like that better And of us three Leaflock and Skinbark are not rown sleepy, al by hirass of the meadows round his knees Covered with leafy hair he is He used to rouse up in winter; but of late he has been too drowsy to walk far even then Skinbark lived on the ard That is where the worst trouble has been He ounded by the Orcs, and many of his folk and his tree-herds have been h places, a the birches that he loves best, and he will not coether a fair coer folks �C if I could make them understand the need; if I could rouse them: we are not a hasty folk What a pity there are so few of us!&039;

&039;Why are there so fehen you have lived in this country so long?&039; asked Pippin &039;Have a great many died?&039;

&039;Oh, no!&039; said Treebeard &039;None have died froht say So years, of course: and rown tree-ish But there were never many of us and we have not increased There have been no Entings �C no children, you would say, not for a terrible long count of years You see, we lost the Entwives&039;

&039;How very sad!&039; said Pippin &039;Hoas it that they all died?&039;

&039;They did not die!&039; said Treebeard &039;I never said died We lost thehed &039;I thought s about the hunt of the Ents for the Entwives sung a Elves and Men frootten&039;

&039;Well, I as have not come west over the Mountains to the Shire,&039; said Merry &039;Won&039;t you tell us sos?&039;

&039;Yes, I will indeed,&039; said Treebeard, see pleased with the request &039;But I cannot tell it properly, only in short; and then we must end our talk: tomorroe have councils to call, and work to do, and in&039;

&039;It is rather a strange and sad story,&039; he went on after a pause &039;When the world was young, and the woods ide and wild, the Ents and the Entwives �C and there were Entmaidens then: ah! the loveliness of Fihtfooted, in the days of our youth! �C they walked together and they housed together But our hearts did not go on growing in the sas that they ht to other things, for the Ents loved the great trees; and the oods, and the slopes of the high hills; and they drank of the mountain-streams, and ate only such fruit as the trees let fall in their path; and they learned of the Elves and spoke with the Trees But the Entwives gave their minds to the lesser trees, and to the meads in the sunshine beyond the feet of the forests; and they saw the sloe in the thicket, and the wild apple and the cherry blossoreen herbs in the waterlands in surasses in the autus; but they wished them to hear and obey as said to the to their wishes, and bear leaf and fruit to their liking; for the Entwives desired order, and plenty, and peace (by which they s should reardens to live in But we Ents went on wandering, and we only caain Then when the Darkness came in the North, the Entwives crossed the Great River, and ardens, and tilled new fields, andthem more seldom After the Darkness was overthrown the land of the Entwives blossomed richly, and their fields were full of corn Many reatly; but ere only a legend to them, a secret in the heart of the forest Yet here we still are, while all the gardens of the Entwives are wasted: Men call them the Brown Lands now

&039;I reo �C in the time of the war between Sauron and the Men of the Sea �C desire caain Very fair she was still in h little like the Entmaiden of old For the Entwives were bent and browned by their labour; their hair parched by the sun to the hue of ripe corn and their cheeks like red apples Yet their eyes were still the eyes of our own people We crossed over Anduin and came to their land: but we found a desert: it was all burned and uprooted, for war had passed over it But the Entwives were not there Long we called, and long we searched; and we asked all folk that we one Some said they had never seen the aest, and some said east, and others south But nowhere that ent could we find thereat Yet the ood called, and we returned to it For ain and look for the Entwives, walking far and wide and calling them by their beautiful names But as time passed ent more seldom and wandered less far And now the Entwives are only a rey The Elvesthe Search of the Ents, and soues of Men But wecontent to chant their beautiful naht of the Entwives We believe that we ain in a time to come, and perhaps we shall find soether and both be content But it is foreboded that that will only be e have both lost all thathave And itnear at last For if Sauron of old destroyed the gardens, the Enemy today seems likely to wither all the woods

&039;There was an Elvish song that spoke of this, or at least so I understand it It used to be sung up and down the Great River It was never an Entish song,in Entish! But we know it by heart, and huue:

Ent

When Spring unfolds the beechen leaf, and sap is in the bough;

When light is on the ood strea, and breath is deep, and keen the mountain-air,

Come back to me! Come back to me, and say my land is fair!

Entwife

When Spring is coarth and field, and corn is in the blade;

When blosso snow is on the orchard laid;

When shower and Sun upon the Earth with fragrance fill the air,

I&039;ll linger here, and will not come, because my land is fair

Ent

When Suold

Beneath the roof of sleeping leaves the dreareen and cool, and wind is in the West,

Come back to me! Come back to me, and say my land is best!

Entwife

When Su fruit and burns the berry brown;

When straw is gold, and ear is white, and harvest comes to town;

When honey spills, and apple swells, though wind be in the West,

I&039;ll linger here beneath the Sun, because my land is best!

Ent

When Winter comes, the winter wild that hill and wood shall slay;

When trees shall fall and starless night devour the sunless day;

When wind is in the deadly East, then in the bitter rain

I&039;ll look for thee, and call to thee; I&039;ll coain!

Entwife

When Winter co ends; when darkness falls at last;

When broken is the barren bough, and light and labour past;

I&039;ll look for thee, and wait for thee, until we ether ill take the road beneath the bitter rain!

Both

Together ill take the road that leads into the West,

And far aill find a land where both our hearts&039;That is how it goes,&039; he said &039;It is Elvish, of course: lighthearted, quickworded, and soon over I daresay it is fair enough But the Ents could sayto stand up and take a little sleep Where will you stand?&039;

&039;We usually lie down to sleep,&039; said Merry &039;We shall be all right where we are&039;

&039;Lie down to sleep!&039; said Treebeard &039;Why of course you do! H putto young Entings, I did Well, you can lie on the bed I aht!&039;

Merry and Pippin clirass and fern It was fresh, and sweet-scented, and warlow of the trees faded; but outside under the arch they could see old Treebeard standing, ht stars peered out of the sky, and lit the falling water as it spilled on to his fingers and head, and dripped, dripped, in hundreds of silver drops on to his feet Listening to the tinkling of the drops the hobbits fell asleep

They woke to find a cool sun shining into the great court, and on to the floor of the bay Shreds of high cloud were overhead, running on a stiff easterly wind Treebeard was not to be seen; but while Merry and Pippin were bathing in the basin by the arch, they heard hi, as he came up the path between the trees

&039;Hoo, ho! Good , Merry and Pippin!&039; he boo I have been many a hundred strides already today Noill have a drink, and go to Entmoot&039;

He poured them out two full bowls from a stone jar; but from a different jar The taste was not the saht before: it was earthier and richer,and food-like, so to speak While the hobbits drank, sitting on the edge of the bed, and nibbling s was a necessary part of breakfast than because they felt hungry), Treebeard stood, hu up at the sky

&039;Where is Entmoot?&039; Pippin ventured to ask

&039;Hoo, eh? Ent round &039;It is not a place, it is a gathering of Ents �C which does not often happen nowadays But I have ed to make a fair number promise to come We shall le Men call it It is away south from here Wethey set off Treebeard carried the hobbits in his arms as on the previous day At the entrance to the court he turned to the right, stepped over the streareat tumbled slopes where trees were scanty Above these the hobbits saw thickets of birch and rowan, and beyond the pinewoods Soon Treebeard turned a little away froroves, where the trees were larger, taller, and thicker than any that the hobbits had ever seen before For a while they felt faintly the sense of stifling which they had noticed when they first ventured into Fangorn, but it soon passed Treebeard did not talk to thehtfully, but Merry and Pippin caught no proper words: it sounded like boom, boom, rumboom, boorar, boom, boom, dahrar booe of note and rhythht they heard an answer, a hum or a quiver of sound, that seehs above their heads, or perhaps from the boles of the trees; but Treebeard did not stop or turn his head to either side

They had been going for a long while �C Pippin had tried to keep count of the &039;ent-strides&039; but had failed, getting lost at about three thousand �C when Treebeard began to slacken his pace Suddenly he stopped, put the hobbits down, and raised his curled hands to his mouth so that they reat hoo out like a deep-throated horn in the woods, and seemed to echo from the trees Far off there came from several directions a similar hoom, hom, hoom that was not an echo but an answer

Treebeard now perched Merry and Pippin on his shoulders and strode on again, every now and then sending out another horn-call, and each time the answers came louder and nearer In this way they came at last to what looked like an ireen trees, trees of a kind that the hobbits had never seen before: they branched out right frolossy leaves like thornless holly, and they boreolive-coloured buds

Turning to the left and skirting this huge hedge Treebeard cah it a worn path passed and dived suddenly down a long steep slope The hobbits saw that they were descending into a great dingle, almost as round as a bowl, very wide and deep, crowned at the rirassclad inside, and there were no trees except three very tall and beautiful silver-birches that stood at the bottole: from the west and from the east

Several Ents had already arrived More were co Treebeard As they drew near the hobbits gazed at them They had expected to see a number of creatures as much like Treebeard as one hobbit is like another (at any rate to a stranger&039;s eye); and they were veryof the kind The Ents were as different from one another as trees from trees: some as different as one tree is frorowth and history; and some as different as one tree-kind from another, as birch from beech; oak fronarled like hale but ancient trees (though none looked as ancient as Treebeard); and there were tall strong Ents, clean-limbed and smooth-skinned like forest-trees in their priether there were about two dozen standing on the wide grassy floor of the dingle, and asin

At first Merry and Pippin were struck chiefly by the variety that they saw: the ht, and length of leg and ar from three to nine) A few seemed more or less related to Treebeard, and reminded them of beech-trees or oaks But there were other kinds Soe splayfingered hands, and short thick legs Soered hands and long legs; some the fir (the tallest Ents), and others the birch, the rowan, and the linden But when the Ents all gathered round Treebeard, bowing their heads slightly,and intently at the strangers, then the hobbits saw that they were all of the same kindred, and all had the same eyes: not all so old or so deep as Treebeard&039;s, but all with the sareen flicker

As soon as the whole co in a wide circle round Treebeard, a curious and unintelligible conversation began The Ents began to murmur slowly: first one joined and then another, until they were all chanting together in a long rising and falling rhyth away there and rising to a great booh he could not catch or understand any of the words �C he supposed the language was Entish �C Pippin found the sound very pleasant to listen to at first; but gradually his attention wavered After a long ti) he found hi, since Entish was such an &039;unhasty&039; language, whether they had yet got further than Good Morning; and if Treebeard was to call the roll, howall their names &039;I wonder what the Entish is for yes or no,&039; he thought He yawned

Treebeard was immediately aware of him &039;Hm, ha, hey, my Pippin!&039; he said, and the other Ents all stopped their chant &039;You are a hasty folk, I was forgetting; and anyway it is wearisoet do I have told your nareed that you are not Orcs, and that a new line shall be put in the old lists We have got no further yet, but that is quick work for an Entle, if you like There is a well of good water, if you need refreshing, away yonder in the north bank There are still soins I will co&039;

He put the hobbits down Before they walked away, they bowed low This feat seee by the tone of their murmurs, and the flicker of their eyes; but they soon turned back to their own business Merry and Pippin clih the opening in the great hedge Long tree-clad slopes rose frole, and away beyond thee there rose, sharp and white, the peak of a high mountain Southwards to their left they could see the forest falling away down into the grey distance There far away there was a pale green glilimpse of the plains of Rohan

&039;I wonder where Isengard is?&039; said Pippin

&039;I don&039;t know quite where we are,&039; said Merry; &039;but that peak is probably Methedras, and as far as I can reard lies in a fork or deep cleft at the end of the e There seems to be a smoke or haze over there, left of the peak, don&039;t you think?&039;

&039;What is Isengard like?&039; said Pippin &039;I wonder what Ents can do about it anyway&039;

&039;So do I,&039; said Merry &039;Isengard is a sort of ring of rocks or hills, I think, with a flat space inside and an island or pillar of rock in the middle, called Orthanc Saruate, perhapswall, and I believe there is a streah it; it comes out of the mountains, and flows on across the Gap of Rohan It does not seem the sort of place for Ents to tackle But I have an odd feeling about these Ents: somehow I don&039;t think they are quite as safe and, well, funny as they seem They seem slow, queer, and patient, almost sad; and yet I believe they could be roused If that happened, I would rather not be on the other side&039;

&039;Yes!&039; said Pippin &039;I knohat you ht be all the difference between an old cow sitting and thoughtfully chewing, and a bull charging; and the change ht come suddenly I wonder if Treebeard will rouse the roused Treebeard got roused hiain&039;

The hobbits turned back The voices of the Ents were still rising and falling in their conclave The sun had now risen high enough to look over the high hedge: it gleamed on the tops of the birches and lit the northward side of the dingle with a cool yellow light There they saw a little glittering fountain They walked along the rireens �C it was pleasant to feel cool grass about their toes again, and not to be in a hurry �C and then they cli water They drank a little, a clean, cold, sharp draught, and sat down on a rass and the shadows of the sailing clouds passing over the floor of the dingle The e and re that had ever happened to the came over them for the faces and voices of their companions, especially for Frodo and Sam, and for Strider

At last there ca up they saw Treebeard co towards them with another Ent at his side

&039;Hain,&039; said Treebeard &039;Are you getting weary, or feeling iet ie now; but I have still got to explain things again to those that live a long way off, far froet round to before the Moot, and after that we shall have to decide what to do However, deciding what to do does not take Ents so long as going over all the facts and events that they have to , we shall be here a long tiht you a coalad is his Elvish name He says he has already made up his mind and does not need to re us to a hasty Ent You ought to get on together Good-bye!&039; Treebeard turned and left the the hobbits sole when he would show any signs of &039;hastiness&039; He was tall, and see skin on his arreen He could bend and sway like a slender tree in the wind At last he spoke, and his voice though resonant was higher and clearer than Treebeard&039;s

&039;Ha, ho for a walk!&039; he said &039;I ae But it is only a nickname, of course They have called me that ever since I said yes to an elder Ent before he had finished his question Also I drink quickly, and go out while so their beards Come with ave a long-fingered hand to each of the hobbits All that day they walked about in the woods with hihed if the sun cahed if they ca: then he stooped and splashed his feet and head ater; he laughed sometimes at some sound or whisper in the trees Whenever he saw a rowan-tree he halted a while with his ar

At nightfall he brought the reen bank Rowan-trees grew in a circle about it, and there ater (as in all ent-houses), a spring bubbling out from the bank They talked for a while as darkness fell on the forest Not far away the voices of the Ent on; but now they seereat voice would rise in a high and quickening alad spoke gently in their own tongue, aled to Skinbark&039;s people, and the country where they had lived had been ravaged That seeh to explain his &039;hastiness&039;, at least in the matter of Orcs

&039;There were rowan-trees in alad, softly and sadly, &039;rowan-trees that took root when I was an Enting, o in the quiet of the world The oldest were planted by the Ents to try and please the Entwives; but they looked at them and smiled and said that they knehere whiter blosso Yet there are no trees of all that race, the people of the Rose, that are so beautiful to rew, till the shadow of each was like a green hall, and their red berries in the autumn were a burden, and a beauty and a wonder Birds used to flock there I like birds, even when they chatter; and the rowan has enough and to spare But the birds becareedy and tore at the trees, and threw the fruit down and did not eat it Then Orcs came with axes and cut downnames, but they did not quiver, they did not hear or answer: they lay dead

O Orofarne, Lassemista, Carnimirie!

O rowan fair, upon your hair hohite the blossom lay!

O rowan mine, I saw you shine upon a suht, your leaves so light, your voice so cool and soft;

Upon your head how golden-red the crown you bore aloft!

O rowan dead, upon your head your hair is dry and grey;

Your crown is spilled, your voice is stilled for ever and a day

O Orofarne, Lassemista, Carnimirie!

The hobbits fell asleep to the sound of the soft singing of Bregalad, that seeues the fall of trees that he had loved

The next day they spent also in his coo far from his &039;house&039; Most of the time they sat silent under the shelter of the bank; for the as colder, and the clouds closer and greyer; there was little sunshine, and in the distance the voices of the Ents at the Moot still rose and fell, so, so, soht ca clouds and fitful stars

The third day broke, bleak and windy At sunrise the Ents&039; voices rose to a great cla wore on the wind fell and the air grew heavy with expectancy The hobbits could see that Bregalad was now listening intently, although to them, down in the dell of his ent-house, the sound of the Moot was faint

The afternoon ca west towards theyellow beams between the cracks and fissures of the clouds Suddenly they were aware that everything was very quiet; the whole forest stood in listening silence Of course, the Ent-voices had stopped What did thatback northwards towards Derndingle

Then with a crash ca shout: ra-hooust had struck thean like sole beats and boo

We come, we come with roll of dru: ever nearer and louder rose their song:

We come, we come with horn and drualad picked up the hobbits and strode fro line approaching: the Ents were swinging along with great strides down the slope towards them Treebeard was at their head, and so step with their feet and beating time with their hands upon their flanks As they drew near the flash and flicker of their eyes could be seen

&039;Hoom, hom! Here we come with a booht sight of Bregalad and the hobbits &039;Coard!&039;

&039;To Isengard!&039; the Ents cried in ard!&039;

To Isengard! Though Isengard be ringed and barred with doors of stone;

Though Isengard be strong and hard, as cold as stone and bare as bone,

We go, we go, we go to war, to hew the stone and break the door;

For bole and bough are burning now, the furnace roars �C we go to war!

To land of gloom with tramp of dooard with doom we come!

With doo as they , swung into the line beside Treebeard The old Ent now took the hobbits back, and set theain, and so they rode proudly at the head of the singing coh they had expected soe that had co of a flood that had long been held back by a dike

&039;The Ents made up their minds rather quickly, after all, didn&039;t they?&039; Pippin ventured to say after so paused, and only the beating of hands and feet was heard

&039;Quickly?&039; said Treebeard &039;Hoom! Yes, indeed Quicker than I expected Indeed I have not seen the roused; and we never are roused unless it is clear to us that our trees and our lives are in great danger That has not happened in this Forest since the wars of Sauron and the Men of the Sea It is the orc-work, the wanton hewing �C raru the fires, that has so angered us; and the treachery of a neighbour, who should have helped us Wizards ought to know better: they do know better There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men bad enough for such treachery Doith Saruman!&039;

&039;Will you really break the doors of Isengard?&039; asked Merry

&039;Ho, hm, well, we could, you know! You do not know, perhaps, how strong we are Maybe you have heard of Trolls? They areBut Trolls are only counterfeits, made by the Enemy in the Great Darkness, in er than Trolls We are made of the bones of the earth We can split stone like the roots of trees, only quicker, far quicker, if our minds are roused! If we are not hen, or destroyed by fire or blast of sorcery, we could split Isengard into splinters and crack its walls into rubble&039;

&039;But Saruman will try to stop you, won&039;t he?&039;

&039;Hotten it Indeed I have thought long about it But, you see, er than I am, by many lives of trees They are all roused now, and their ard But they will start thinking again before long; they will cool down a little, e take our evening drink What a thirst we shall have! But let theo, and there is ti to have started&039;

Treebeardwith the others for a while But after a tiain Pippin could see that his old brorinkled and knotted At last he looked up, and Pippin could see a sad look in his eyes, sad but not unhappy There was a light in thereen flaht

&039;Of course, it is likely enough, h that we are going to our doom: the last , doo been growing in our hearts; and that is e arenow It was not a hasty resolve Now at least the last hed, &039;we may help the other peoples before we pass away Still, I should have liked to see the songs come true about the Entwives I should dearly have liked to see Fis like trees bear fruit only in their own time and their oay: and sometimes they are withered untireat pace They had descended into a long fold of the land that fell away southward; now they began to clie The woods fell away and they caroups of birch, and then to bare slopes where only a few gaunt pine-trees grew The sun sank behind the dark hill-back in front Grey dusk fell

Pippin looked behind The nu? Where the diht he saw groves of trees But they were orn were awake, and the forest was rising,if sleep and shadow had deceived hirey shapes moved steadily onward There was a noise like wind innear the crest of the ridge now, and all song had ceased Night fell, and there was silence: nothing was to be heard save a faint quiver of the earth beneath the feet of the Ents, and a rustle, the shade of a whisper as ofleaves At last they stood upon the sureat cleft at the end of the mountains: Nan Curunir, the Valley of Saruard,&039; said Treebeard