Declaration Of The Rights Of The Hobbit

[The Lady of Ithilien]

(Preliminary notes: I found this on a Spanish language Tolkien site yesterday; it is by the Tolkien Society of Spain and appears on several sites, but apparently none in English, so I figured it would be useful to try to translate it. It's too long for one post, so I split it into two parts. Note: I'm not a professional translator, so this may or may not be an accurate translation. Please read the translator's notes post.)

UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF THE HOBBIT - PART I

Considering that liberty, justice and peace in the Shire have as a basis the recognition of the intrinsic dignity of equal and inalienable rights for all members of the family of hobbits (I clarify that I don’t know what this paragraph means, but Mr. Baggins has said we should insert it because it looks nice);

Considering that the lack of recognition and belittlement of the rights of hobbits have brought about barbaric abuse, and that it has been proclaimed the highest aspiration of any hobbit, the advent of a Shire where all are free of the awfulness of running out of pipeweed;

The General Assembly Hobbytla proclaims:

The current Universal Declaration of the Rights of the Hobbit as a shared ideal that all towns of the Shire should make an effort to respect and to make respected:

Article 1. – Todos los hobbits nacen. Ejem. Todos los hobbits nacen libres e iguales en dignidad y derechos. Quiero decir, no es que todos los hobbits nazcan derechos; es más recuerdo al hijo de los Matojo, que tuvo dificultades y sacó primero una mano, pero luego todo fue bien. QuerÃ*a significar que todos los hobbits nacen libres e iguales en dignidad e iguales en derechos, no se si ustedes me entienden. No sé, creo que para ser el primero ha quedado algo confuso.

Article 2. – All hobbits have all the rights proclaimed in this Declaration, without distinction of listing in the Book or family connections. This means that the Cortinilla, no matter how very nosey they may be, also have them.

Article 3. – Every hobbit has the right to life, liberty and security of his/her person, including when it’s night and he/she is traveling through the Old Forest.

Article 4. – No one may be subject to bondage or thralldom, exception made for Bob and Nob (who are in thralldom by their own wishes because Butterbur always has behaved well with them), except Saturdays and Sundays, when they may have a free day.

Article 5. – Nobody may be subjected to torture or pain or treatment that is cruel, inhumane or degrading, even though his name is Gollum and he doesn’t pronounce “S’s� well.

Article 6. – Every hobbit has the right to be a hobbit, and to be recognized by the rest as a hobbit, even though he/she may be very ugly or have no hair on his/her feet.

Article 7. – All hobbits are equal before the law and have, without distinction, correct and equal protection of the law. This means that the Tooks shall not receive special favorable treatment.

Article 8. – Every hobbit has the right to be sheltered by the Thain or some other official of the Shire, except in the case where he/she is being chased by a wolf, when one must adhere to the procedure expounded in Article 14.

Article 9. – No hobbit may be arbitrarily reprimanded by an official of the Shire, even rogamos sepan disculpar al Oficial Pedregal quien, debido a su avanzada edad, a veces se confunde, como aquella vez en que el chico pequeño de los Pardal estaba... eh?..., si, ya lo dejo.

Article 10. – Every hobbit has the right to be heard publicly by others, even if his/her conversation is quite boring, for the sake of exhibiting his/her problems and his/her claims, even though they waste our time.

Article 11. – Every hobbit has the right to be considered innocent as long as his/her guilt cannot be proven. Then, he/she will have the right to be guilty.

Article 12. – No hobbit shall be the object of arbitrary interference in his/her private life, his/her family, his/her smial, or his/her correspondence, nor of attacks on his/her honor or his/her reputation. This goes for los Cortinilla, who hear of it.

Continued in Part II