towers

604 the two towers
be hasty, that is my motto. But if I had seen you, before I
heard your voices – I liked them: nice little voices; they
reminded me of something I cannot remember – if I had seen
you before I heard you, I should have just trodden on you,
taking you for little Orcs, and found out my mistake afterwards.
Very odd you are, indeed. Root and twig, very odd!’
Pippin, though still amazed, no longer felt afraid. Under
those eyes he felt a curious suspense, but not fear. ‘Please,’
he said, ‘who are you? And what are you?’
A queer look came into the old eyes, a kind of wariness;
the deep wells were covered over. ‘Hrum, now,’ answered the
voice; ‘well, I am an Ent, or that’s what they call me. Yes,
Ent is the word. The Ent, I am, you might say, in your
manner of speaking. Fangorn is my name according to some,
Treebeard others make it. Treebeard will do.’
‘An Ent?’ said Merry. ‘What’s that? But what do you call
yourself ? What’s your real name?’
‘Hoo now!’ replied Treebeard. ‘Hoo! Now that would be
telling! Not so hasty. And I am doing the asking. You are in
my country. What are you, I wonder? I cannot place you.
You do not seem to come in the old lists that I learned when
I was young. But that was a long, long time ago, and they
may have made new lists. Let me see! Let me see! How did
it go?
Hm, hm, hm.
Learn now the lore of Living Creatures!
First name the four, the free peoples:
Eldest of all, the elf-children;
Dwarf the delver, dark are his houses;
Ent the earthborn, old as mountains;
Man the mortal, master of horses:
Beaver the builder, buck the leaper,
Bear bee-hunter, boar the fighter;
Hound is hungry, hare is fearful ...