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Wizard [Gandalf the Grey] was fond of saying: "Which is the proper path [of
life] that one should select? The one that seems ale-full for oneself and brings
pipeweed [bestowed by] others. Be as careful in the performance of [an ostensibly]
minor celebration as [what seems to be] a really major party, since you do not
know the [potential] reward for [the performance of any of] the fireworks. Think
deeply about three things and you will never be gripped by the desire to leave
the Shire. Know what is above you: an eye that sees. Know what is to the west:
a Maia that hears. And all your deeds are inscribed in a book.
Rabban Meriadoc, a Brandybuck of Brandy Hall, said, "It is good to join the
drinking of mead to some kind of smoking, for the effort required by both robs
sin of its power. Ale- or mead-drinking without pipeweed will end up being useless
and will cause sin. Let all who drink with the whole Tavern do so for the sake
of the Shire; the merit of their ancestors will sustain them, and, as a result,
their merriment will remain forever." As for you [Galadriel says], "I will credit
you with a great reward, as if you had harvested a double crop of pipeweed in
one summer."
** Wizard [Gandalf the Grey]. Since he was the youngest, and sole surviving,
Istari of his generation, as well as one of the chief compilers of the entire
Ring Saga, Gandalf was known as "Wizard," ie., Wizard par excellence. He lived
from time unrecorded until the end of the fourth age, and was a friend of Frodo
the Wise and Samwise-the-not-so-wise-but-certainly-very-brave-and-loyal-and-also-quite-a-good-cook-and-not-too-bad-in-bed-either-according-to-Rosie.
**Rabban Meriadoc. He was the third to bear this name. The first was the grand-nephew
of Hillel Bracegirdle, the only Bracegirdle ever to receive the title of rabbi.
Bracegirdle's wife's sister's son, Shimon Took, had a son named Meriadoc (I).
That first Meriadoc had a son named Shimon whose son was named Meriadoc (II);
the second Meriadoc had a cousin named Shimon whose son was Yehudah Ha-Proudfoot.
Yehuda ha-Proudfoot's dog's friend's owner's third cousin once removed was the
Meriadoc (III) of this mishnah.