paragraph 01
When 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.
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袋底洞的比爾博先生宣布即將舉辦他的第一百一十一次生日宴會，屆時還會有特殊的驚喜。哈比屯就多了許多興奮的議論。
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paragraph 02
Bilbo was very rich and very peculiar, and had been the wonder 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.
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比爾博非常富有也非常古怪。自從他突然的消失又意想不到的回歸之后，他成為了夏爾的傳奇，到現在已經六十多年了。他從旅程中究竟帶回了多少財富，已經變成了當地的傳說。不管那些老人們怎么說，現在比較流行的說法是，在山丘的袋底洞里面到處都是塞滿了寶藏的隧道。但是這些財富本身并沒有讓他這么有名，讓他出名的是他令人驚訝的精力充沛。時光飛逝，但是歲月卻沒有在比爾博的身上留下痕跡。他的九十歲就和五十歲一樣。九十歲的時候，人們還說他是保養的好。但是一直都這樣年輕就令人驚訝了。總有些人搖著頭，覺得這事未免太好了。一個人同時擁有永駐青春和無盡財富是很不公平的一件事。
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paragraph 03
'It will have to be paid for,' they said. 'It isn't natural, and trouble will come of it!'
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“ 他會付出代價的，” 他們這樣說。“這不自然，會帶來麻煩的”。
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paragraph 04
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.
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但是麻煩很久沒有找上門了，而且比爾博先生是這樣的慷慨，以至于大多數人們樂意去原諒他的怪癖和好運。他保持著去親戚家做客的習慣（當然除了賽克威爾·巴金斯一家），而且他還在一些窮人和平凡的家族中有很多仰慕者。但是自從他的一些年輕的表親們長大后，他也就沒有了親密的朋友。
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paragraph 05
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'.
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這些表親中最年長的一個，也是比爾博最喜歡的一個，是小伙佛羅多·巴金斯。比爾博九十九歲的時候，他收養了佛羅多，把他帶回了袋底洞一起居住。他指定佛羅多為繼承者，并以此來希望賽克威爾·巴金斯一家可以不打這里的主意。比爾博和佛羅多恰好有相同的生日，九月二十二日。
“你最好過來住這里，佛羅多。” 一天，比爾博說起：“我們就可以一起開生日派對了。” 那個時候佛羅多還是少年。霍比特人把十二歲到三十三歲的時間，沒有脫去稚氣的年紀稱為少年。
十二年過去了。每一年，比爾博家的兩個人都在袋底洞舉辦了非常熱鬧的組合生日聚會。但是今年的秋天有一些不一樣，而且要提前計劃。比爾博馬上一百一十一歲了，111，一個非常特殊的數字，也是霍比特人中令人尊敬的長壽。老圖克自己也只活了130歲。佛羅多也要滿三十三歲了，這是一個重要的年紀，他即將迎來自己的成年。
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paragraph 06
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
No one had a more attentive audience than old Ham Gamgee, commonly known as the Gaffer. He held forth at The Ivy Bush, a small inn on the Bywater road; and he spoke with some authority, for he had tended the garden at Bag End for forty years, and had helped old Holman in the same job before that. Now that he was himself growing old and stiff in the joints, the job was mainly carried on by his youngest son, Sam Gamgee. Both father and son were on very friendly terms with Bilbo and Frodo. They lived on the Hill itself, in Number 3 Bagshot Row just below Bag End.
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臨水區和哈比屯傳出了一些閑言碎語，關于即將發生的事的謠言傳遍了整個夏爾。充滿了傳奇的比爾博先生有一次站在了風口浪尖之上，一些老家伙突然發現自己的記憶變得有市場起來。
沒有人能像哈姆·詹吉一樣吸引那么多聽眾，大家都叫他哈姆老爹。他在臨水路上一家名叫常春藤的小旅店擺著龍門陣，而且他的話具有某種權威性。他已經為袋底洞當了四十年的園丁了，而且也幫之前的園丁霍曼工作過一段時間。他現在越來越老了，關節也變得僵硬，所以他的工作基本上是他自己最小的兒子山姆·詹吉在做。父親和兒子都和比爾博還有佛羅多的關系不錯。他們獨自住在山下的袋邊路3號，正好在袋底洞的下面。
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- hold forth 侃侃而談
