Meet 102-year-old Sam in Grey Harbor

Theodore 2021-10-13 13:05:49

On my eighty-eighth birthday, I dreamed of the marshland that I had just walked through. The blue wildfires stayed all year round, and the dead soldiers were under the water. Their sad faces were pale. Before waking up, I suddenly understood Frodo's despair here.

I was born dull, and I am still illiterate. In the past, I just need to say a few more words, Gandalf's eyebrows will be twisted together, he will say: Samwise, Samwise, you fool. But before he went to the Evergreen Land, he told me that the Hobbit should be like this, not knowing sorrow, not despairing. He smiled and lit his pipe at Bilbo Baggins, who was a little madly old—well, just like my old buddy. Then he said, Frodo, you should also say goodbye to your friends.

Master Frodo is an outlier in the Shire, I think. No one knows how a person like adventurer Bilbo has such a nephew. Frodo has blue eyes and a calm personality. After we came back, he was even more silent. He was bruised and bruised and lost an index finger. Even though Charles was beautiful, he couldn't get rid of the pain. Despite the disappointment, we can only send him to Varino. There, even the slow time can be used as medicine.

Back to my birthday dream, there is no sound and no smell in the dream. I can temporarily forget the lament and corruption of the undead in the swamp. So I can look directly at the face under the water. They died in the Second Age of Middle-earth, far beyond my imagination. I heard that even King Elrond of the Elven Kingdom was still very young. The corpse was decayed, and the evil atmosphere of Gangdo made the dead soldiers depend on the gods, so their souls were reluctant to leave. They want us to stay too. At that time, Frodo fell into the water without a word. It was the monster Guru who saved his life, and I should have been stunned. I had never thought of realizing that Frodo had come to the brink of desperation. Along the way, I always tell myself that if I hold on for a few more days, I will once again drink the sweet spring water of the Charles and eat the bright red strawberries...I can't understand Frodo's despair at all. Finally, when I was eighty-eight years old, in silent and tasteless dreams, I looked at the sad, unsatisfied faces of time, and saw the irreversible death of death. They stayed at the most painful moments of their lives, lost their future, and were unable to withdraw and return home. In such a situation, who can recall the sweet spring water and the bright red strawberries? They are all too far away, they are things from previous lives...

Many historians visited me and complimented me, saying, Warrior Sam, you are the real hero. Frodo lost long ago, it was you who fulfilled a great mission. At first I would be angry, I scolded them for not knowing my master Frodo at all! Later, I was confused again, because Frodo really failed. Now, I understand that this matter is not important at all. Frodo is of course a warrior. He said that he no longer remembers his hometown Shire, or the taste of water and food. Frodo insisted on walking to the end with a crutch called Despair.

In the crater, I once said Doverado:
I know that this is abnormal. In fact, we shouldn't even be here, but here we are. Like in those great stories, Mr. Frodo. Those really important things are full of darkness and danger. You often don’t want to know the ending, because how can the ending be happy? How can the world return to its previous trajectory, when so many bad things have not happened?
But in the end, This shadow will eventually disappear, even the darkness will surely fade away, a new day will come, and the sun will shine brighter. Those stories that accompany you, they mean something, even if you are too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand, I understand now, the role of the story, there are many opportunities to turn back, but they do not, they continue to move forward, because they insist on something.

After I was eighty-eight years old, I thought about whether what I said was too naive and foolish. The answer is no. Because we did not turn our heads, the dead soldiers did not turn their heads, the elves handed over the world to humans, and the ship that went to the Evergreen Land did not turn their heads. We did hold on to something in the dark. We still don't know the ending, the failure and success in the process are only a moment.

Well, young human, I am about to set sail for Varinor. Just as I wanted to keep Frodo, I tried to keep myself, you know, the Hobbits moved back in peace, not to mention Charles is too good to move. Why not live here like Melly and Pippin? But I still think that following in the footsteps of the master is the bounden duty of servants. Maybe I am as old as Bilbo a few decades ago. I am crazy. Charles is really rich in old fools, hehe...

You see, my boat is small and crude. You know, this is where I belong.

View more about The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King reviews

Extended Reading

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King quotes

  • Pippin: [singing to Denethor as Faramir leads the charge] Home is behind, the world ahead... and there are many paths to tread... Through shadow... To the edge of night... Until the stars are all alight... Mist and shadow, cloud and shade... All shall fade... all... shall... fade.

  • Denethor: My sons are spent. My line has ended. Rohan has deserted us. Theoden's betrayed me. Abandon your posts! Flee, flee for your lives!

    [He turns around, and Gandalf knocks him out with his staff]

    Gandalf: Prepare for battle!