W hen Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be
celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special
magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.
wonde
Bilbo was very rich and very peculiar, and had been the
r of the Shire for sixty years, ever since his remarkable
disappearance and unexpected return. The riches he had brought back from his travels
had now become a local legend, and it was popularly believed, whatever the old folk
might say, that the Hill at Bag End was full of tunnels stuffed with treasure. And if that
was not enough for fame, there was also his prolonged vigour to marvel at. Time wore
on, but it seemed to have little effect on Mr. Baggins. At ninety he was much the same
as at fifty. At ninety-nine they began to call him well-preserved, but unchanged would
have been nearer the mark. There were some that shook their heads and thought this
was too much of a good thing; it seemed unfair that anyone should possess (apparently)
perpetual youth as well as (reputedly) inexhaustible wealth.
'It will have to be paid for,' they said. 'It isn't natural, and trouble will come of it!'
But so far trouble had not come; and as Mr. Baggins was generous with his
money, most people were willing to forgive him his oddities and his good fortune. He
remained on visiting terms with his relatives (except, of course, the Sackville-
Bagginses), and he had many devoted admirers among the hobbits of poor and
unimportant families. But he had no close friends, until some of his younger cousins
began to grow up.
The eldest of these, and Bilbo's favourite, was young Frodo Baggins. When Bilbo
was ninety-nine, he adopted Frodo as his heir, and brought him to live at Bag End; and
the hopes of the Sackville-Bagginses were finally dashed. Bilbo and Frodo happened to
have the same birthday, September 22nd. 'You had better come and live here, Frodo my
lad,' said Bilbo one day; 'and then we can celebrate our birthday-parties comfortably
together.' At that time Frodo was still in his tweens, as the hobbits called the
irresponsible twenties between childhood and coming of age at thirty-three.
Twelve more years passed. Each year the Bagginses had given very lively
combined birthday-parties at Bag End; but now it was understood that something quite
exceptional was being planned for that autumn. Bilbo was going to be eleventy-one, 111,
a rather curious number and a very respectable age for a hobbit (the Old Took himself
had only reached 130); and Frodo was going to be thirty-three, 33) an important number:
the date of his 'coming of age'.
Tongues began to wag in Hobbiton and Bywater; and rumour of the coming
event travelled all over the Shire. The history and character of Mr. Bilbo Baggins
became once again the chief topic of conversation; and the older folk suddenly found
their reminiscences in welcome demand.