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5. Explain how you understand the proverb.
Whether the weather is cold
Or whether the weather is hot
We'll weather the weather
Whatever the weather
Whether we like it or not.
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Fog on the Barrow-Downs
(Extract from the book by J. R. R. Tolkien "The Lord of the Rings". Abridged)
That night they heard no noises. But either in his dreams or out of them, he could not tell which, Frodo
heard a sweet singing running in his mind;¹ a song that seemed to come like a pale light be-hind a grey rain-
curtain.
The vision melted into waking;² and there was Tom whistling; and the sun was already slanting down the
hill and through the open window.
After breakfast they made ready to say farewell, as nearly heavy of heart³ as was possible on such a
morning; cool, bright, and clean under a washed autumn sky of thin blue. The air came fresh from the North-
West.
They rode off along a path and looked out from the hill-top over lands under the morning. It was now as
clear and far-seen as it had been veiled and misty when they stood upon the knoll in the Forest. They took a
deep draught of the air.
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Their way wound along the floor of the hollow, and round the green feet of a steep hill into another
deeper and broader valley. As they journeyed the sun mounted, and grew hot. Each time they climbed a
ridge the breeze seemed to have grown less. When they caught a glimpse of the country westward the distant
Forest seemed to be smoking, as if the fallen rain was steaming up again. A shadow now lay round the edge
of sight, a dark haze above which the sky was like a blue cap.
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On that side the hills were higher and looked
down upon them; and all those hills were crowned with green mounds, and on some were standing stones,
pointing upwards like jagged teeth out of green gums. The view was somehow disquieting; so they turned
from the sight and went down into the hollow circle. In the midst of it there stood a single stone, standing
tall under the sun above, and at this hour casting no shadow. They set their backs
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against the east side of the
stone. It was cool, as if the sun had had no power to warm it. There they took food and drink.
Riding over the hills, and eating their fill,
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lying a little too long;
these things are, perhaps, enough to
explain what happened. However, that may be: they woke suddenly from a sleep they had never meant to
take. The standing stone was cold, and it cast a long pale shadow. The sun was gleaming through the mist;
north, south, and east, the fog was thick, cold and white. The air was silent, heavy and chill.
The hobbits
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sprang to their feet in alarm, and ran to the western rim. They found that they were upon an
island in the fog. Even as they looked out in dismay towards the setting sun, it sank before their eyes into a
white sea, and a cold grey shadow sprang up in the East behind. The fog rolled up to the walls and rose