"Say not, so, my son," said Rosédès. "You will break all my resolutions."
"But not mine, mother," said Réginard. "I am strong, I am young, and slaying a dragon can hardly be more difficult than eating only three meals a day or counting the number of orcs one had slain, which was almost a rite of passage at my lycée. And since yesterday, I have learned what will can do. There are beings who have suffered worse fates than to be lost in the cavern of a dragon, and not only are not dead, but have amassed fortunes and acquired Rings of unlimited power. From the abysm where their enemy had plunged them, they have risen again with so much éclat and glory that they have dominated their former victor and precipitated him in his turn. No, my mother, no, I will break with the past, abandoning even my name, whereon a curse seems to lie; for your son must not bear the name of a man who must blush before every other man! I'll be Pérégrin no more."
"Heed your conscience, my son," said Rosédès. "But do not despair, in the name of your mother! Life is still beautiful at your age, son, for you have barely thirty-three years; and as a heart as pure as yours needs a name without blemish, take that of my father, Cotolon. I know you, Réginard; and in a little time, you will make this name illustrious. This only do I ask: that thou let me ride with this company."
"I will do according to your wishes, my mother," said the young hobbite. "And with your hope, I will hope. But since we have resolved, let us act promptly, before M. de Pérégrin returns."
