return

1282 the return of the king
good, very good.’ Then Treebeard praised all their deeds, of
which he seemed to have full knowledge; and at last he
stopped and looked long at Gandalf.
‘Well, come now!’ he said. ‘You have proved mightiest,
and all your labours have gone well. Where now would you
be going? And why do you come here?’
‘To see how your work goes, my friend,’ said Gandalf,
‘and to thank you for your aid in all that has been achieved.’
‘Hoom, well, that is fair enough,’ said Treebeard; ‘for to be
sure Ents have played their part. And not only in dealing with
that, hoom, that accursed tree-slayer that dwelt here. For there
was a great inrush of those, burárum, those evileyed-blackhanded-bowlegged-flinthearted-clawfingered-foulbelliedblood-thirsty,
morimaite-sincahonda, hoom, well, since you are
hasty folk and their full name is as long as years of torment,
those vermin of orcs; and they came over the River and down
from the North and all round the wood of Laurelindórenan,
which they could not get into, thanks to the Great ones who
are here.’ He bowed to the Lord and Lady of Lórien.
‘And these same foul creatures were more than surprised
to meet us out on the Wold, for they had not heard of us
before; though that might be said also of better folk. And not
many will remember us, for not many escaped us alive, and
the River had most of those. But it was well for you, for if
they had not met us, then the king of the grassland would
not have ridden far, and if he had there would have been no
home to return to.’
‘We know it well,’ said Aragorn, ‘and never shall it be
forgotten in Minas Tirith or in Edoras.’
‘Never is too long a word even for me,’ said Treebeard.
‘Not while your kingdoms last, you mean; but they will have
to last long indeed to seem long to Ents.’
‘The New Age begins,’ said Gandalf, ‘and in this age it
may well prove that the kingdoms of Men shall outlast you,
Fangorn my friend. But now come tell me: what of the task
that I set you? How is Saruman? Is he not weary of Orthanc