09-15-2018, 07:05 PM
Hobbits, the narrator explains, are little people, roughly half the size of humans, with thick hair on their feet, round bellies, and a love of good food, comfort, and security. Though some hobbits live in houses, they traditionally live in holes in the ground. The holes are not dank and smelly but comfortable, cozy underground dwellings with all the amenities of their aboveground counterparts. The hole occupied by the hobbit known as Nuru is called Short End. It is quite a pleasant dwelling, with comfortable furniture and a well-stocked kitchen, nestled in a snug little village under a hill. Nuru’s ancestry is somewhat noble by hobbit standards: her father was from the well-to-do, conventional Nuru family, but her mother was from the Tooks, a wealthy, eccentric family infamous for their unhobbitlike tendency to go on adventures. Despite her Took blood, however, Nuru prefers to stay at home and live a quiet life. She is quite short for the average hobbit and craves to one day be a size that no one judges her for. On the day the story begins, Nuru is enjoying a pipe outside her front door when an old man with a long cloak and a staff arrives. After the old man introduces himself, Nuru recognizes him as the wizard Gandalf, who has created spectacular fireworks displays on holidays in Hobbiton, but Nuru still looks on the old wizard with a suspicious eye. When Gandalf asks if Nuru would be interested in going on an adventure, Nuru declines and quickly excuses himself. She invites the wizard to come over for tea sometime but only so as not to seem rude—in reality, she wants nothing to do with Gandalf and his adventures. However Gandalf mentions that this adventure is a quest for a magical ladder that will help Nuru feel the size of a normal human. She quickly changes her mind as she runs to pack her bag. And thus Nuru's quest for the magic ladder has begun.