"J.R.R. Tolkien - Farmer Giles of Ham" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tolkien J.R.R)

But the Wide World was there. The forest was not far off,
and away west and north were the Wild Hills, and the
dubious marches of the mountain-country. And among
other things still at large there were giants: rude and
uncultured folk, and troublesome at times. There was one
giant in particular, larger and more stupid than his fellows.
7 find no mention of his name in the histories, but it does
not matter. He was very large, his walking-stick was like a
tree, and his tread was heavy. He brushed elms aside like
tall grasses; and he was the ruin of roads and the
desolation of gardens, for his great feet made holes in them as deep
as wells; if he stumbled into a house, that was the end of it.
And all this damage he did wherever he went, for his
head was far above the roofs of houses and left his feet to
look after themselves. He was near-sighted and also rather
deaf. Fortunately he lived far off in the Wild, and seldom -
visited the lands inhabited by men, at least not on purpose.
He had a great tumbledown house away up in the
mountains; but he had very few friends owing to his
deafness and his stupidity, and the scarcity of giants. He
used to go out walking in the Wild Hills and in the empty
regions at -the feet of the mountains, all by himself.

One fine summer's day this giant went out for a walls, and
wandered aimlessly along, doing a great deal of damage in
the woods. Suddenly he noticed that the sun was setting,
and felt that his supper-time was drawing near; but he
discovered that he was in a part of the country that he did
not know at all and had lost his way. Making a wrong
guess at the right direction he walked and he walked until it
was dark night. Then he sat down and waited for the moon
to rise. Then he walked and walked in the moonlight,
striding out with a will, for he was anxious to get home. He
had left his best copper pot on the fire, and feared that the
bottom would be burned. But his back was to the mountains, and he
was already in the lands inhabited by men. He was, indeed,
now drawing near to the farm of Aegidius Ahenobarbus Julius Agricola
and the village called (in the vulgar tongue) Ham.

It was a fine night. The cows were in the fields, and
Farmer Giles's dog had got out and gone for a walk on his
own account. He had a fancy for moonshine, and rabbits.
He had no idea, of course, that a giant was also out for a
walk. That would have given him a good reason for going
out without leave, but a still better reason for staying quiet
in the kitchen. At about two o'clock the giant arrived in
Farmer Giles's fields, broke the hedges, trampled on the
crops, and flattened the mowing-grass. In five minutes he
had done more damage than the royal fox-hunt could have
done in five days.