The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late

The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late was a song composed by Bilbo Baggins. The title of this version is given in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book; it may be related to the poem The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon.
== History ==
In the The Prancing Pony in Bree, Frodo Baggins jumps on a table and recites this song, only referred to as "a ridiculous song invented by Bilbo".The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Chapter IX: "At the Sign of the Prancing Pony"
== Form ==
There follows the tale, in thirteen ballad-like five-line stanzas, introducing each element in turn: "the Man in the Moon" himself, the ostler's "tipsy cat/that plays a five-stringed fiddle", the little dog, the "hornéd
cow".
As with many ballads of this form, it scans rather well to the tune of the theme from "Gilligan's Island." Which can be played to the guitar line of "Stairway to Heaven." Such are the dangers of the folk form.
== Lyrics ==
There is an inn, a merry old inn
beneath an old grey hill,
And there they brew a beer so brown
That the Man in the Moon himself came down
One night to drink his fill.
The ostler has a tipsy cat
that plays a five-stringed fiddle;
And up and down he runs his bow,
Now squeaking high, now purring low,
Now sawing in the middle.
The landlord keeps a little dog
that is mighty fond of jokes;
When there's good cheer among the guests,
He cocks an ear at all the jests
And laughs until he chokes.
They also keep a hornéd cow
as proud as any queen;
But music turns her head like ale,
And makes her wave her tufted tail
and dance upon the green.
And O! the rows of silver dishes
and the store of silver spoons!
For Sunday there's a special pair,
And these they polish up with care
on Saturday afternoons.
The Man in the Moon was drinking deep,
and the cat began to wail;
A dish and a spoon on the table danced,
The cow in the garden madly pranced,
and the little dog chased his tail.
The Man in the Moon took another mug,
and then rolled beneath his chair;
And there he dozed and dreamed of ale,
Till in the sky the stars were pale,
and dawn was in the air.
Then the ostler said to his tipsy cat:
'The white horses of the Moon,
They neigh and champ their silver bits;
But their master's been and drowned his wits,
and the Sun'll be rising soon!'
So the cat on his fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle,
a jig that would wake the dead:
He squeaked and sawed and quickened the tune,
While the landlord shook the Man in the Moon:
'It's after three!' he said.
They rolled the Man slowly up the hill
and bundled him into the Moon,
While his horses galloped up in rear,
And the cow came capering like a deer,
and a dish ran up with the spoon.
Now quicker the fiddle went deedle-dum-diddle;
the dog began to roar,
The cow and the horses stood on their heads;
The guests all bounded from their beds
and danced upon the floor.
With a ping and a pong the fiddle-strings broke!
the cow jumped over the Moon,
And the little dog laughed to see such fun,
And the Saturday dish went off at a run
with the silver Sunday spoon.
The round Moon rolled behind the hill
as the Sun raised up her head.
She hardly believed her fiery eyes;
For though it was day, to her surprise
they all went back to bed!
== Behind the Scenes ==
According to J.R.R. Tolkien, this poem survived to "our time" in the form of the simplified nursery rhyme "Hey Diddle Diddle".
"Here it is in full," said Tolkien. "Only a few words of it are now, as a rule, remembered."
as proud as any queen.
But music turns her head like ale,
And makes her wave her tufted tail
And dance upon the green."
and "O! the rows of silver dishes/ and the store of silver spoons."
At the climactic moment
"With a ping and a pang the fiddle-strings broke!
the cow jumped over the Moon,
And the little dog laughed to see such fun
And the Saturday dish went off at a run
with the silver Sunday spoon."
Note that the cow is able to jump over the Moon with ease because the Man in the Moon has temporarily brought it down to Earth.
Part of Tolkien's brilliance in establishing the epic mood is his ability to introduce a version of a familiar saying and give the reader a sense of hearing the old proverb afresh, as if spoken for the first time, in the heat of the moment.
== In adaptations ==
=== The Hobbit film trilogy ===
In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Bofur sings a revised version of this song whilst eating in Rivendell. The song's lyrics are as follows:
“There is an inn, there's an inn, there's a merry old inn
beneath an old grey hill,
And there they brew a beer so brown
The Man in the Moon himself came down
one night to drink his fill.
Oh, the ostler has a tipsy cat
that plays a five-stringed fiddle;
And up and down he saws his bow
Now squeaking high, now purring low,
now sawing in the middle.
So, the cat on the fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle,
a drink that'll wake the dead,
He squeaked and he sawed and he quickened the tune,
And the landlord shook the Man in the Moon:
‘It's after three!’ he said.
== See also ==
*Tilion, the Maia of the Moon
*Arien, the Maia of the Sun
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Albanian 	Njeriu në Hënë shkoi në shtrat shumë vonë
Arabic 	رجل في القمر سهر لوقت متأخر
Armenian 	Լուսնի մարդը շատ ուշ գնաց քնելու
Azerbaijani 	Aydakı Adam çox gec yatdı
Belarusian Cyrillic	Як Месячны дзед засядзеўся
Bengali 	দ্য ম্যান ইন দ্য মুন অনেক দেরি করে ঘুমাতে গেল
Bosnian 	Čovek na Mesecu je kasno legao u krevet
Breton 	Paotr e vec'h lann zo chomet dihun re ziwezhat
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Човекът от Луната осъмна на Земята
Catalan 	L'Home de la Lluna se'n va anar a dormir massa tard
Chinese 	月中老人熬长夜
Croatian 	Čovjek na Mjesecu je prekasno otišao u krevet
Czech 	Muž na Měsíci šel spát příliš pozdě
Danish 	Månemanden ude for sent
Dutch 	De Man in de Maan bleef te laat op
Estonian 	Kuu mees läks magama liiga hilja
Finnish 	Kuu-ukko kun unohtui juhlimaan
French 	L'homme dans la lune a veillé trop tard
Georgian 	მთვარის კაცი გვიანობამდე იჯდა
German 	Der Mann im Mond trank gutes Bier
Hebrew 	איש הסהר נשאר נורא מאוחר
Hindi 	द आदमी इन द चंद्रमा बहुत देर से बिस्तर पर गया
Italian 	L'Uomo della Luna andò a letto troppo tardi
Japanese 	月の男は寝るのが遅すぎた
Korean 	달에 사는 사나이는 너무 늧게 일어났다
Latvian 	Cilvēks uz Mēness aizgāja gulēt pārāk vēlu
Lithuanian 	Žmogus Mėnulyje nuėjo miegoti per vėlai
Macedonian Cyrillic	Човекот на Месечината си легна предоцна
Nepalese 	चन्द्रमामा मानिस धेरै ढिलो ओछ्यानमा गए
Norwegian 	Månemannen ute for sent
Occitan 	L'Òme de la Luna s'endormí tròp tard
Persian 	مرد ماه‌نشین تا دیروقت بیدار بود
Polish 	Jak Człek z Księżyca za późno poszedł spać
Punjabi 	ਚੰਦਰਮਾ ਵਿੱਚ ਮਨੁੱਖ ਬਹੁਤ ਦੇਰ ਨਾਲ ਸੌਣ ਲਈ ਗਿਆ
Russian 	Как Лунный дед засиделся
Sardinian 	S'Òmine de sa Luna s'est andadu a dormire meda tardu
Serbian 	Човек на Месецу је прекасно легао у кревет (Cyrillic) Čovek na Mesecu je prekasno legao u krevet (Latin)
Sicilian 	L'Omu di la Luna si misi a dormiri troppu tardu
Slovak 	Muž na Mesiaci išiel spať príliš neskoro
Slovenian 	Človek na Luni je šel spat prepozno
Spanish 	Al Hombre de la Luna se le hizo un rato tarde
Swedish 	Mångubben ute för sent
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Місячанин спати запізно ліг
Urdu 	چاند میں آدمی بہت دیر سے سونے پر گیا
==References==
it:C'è una locanda, un'allegra locanda
Category:Poems in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
Category:Poems in The Fellowship of the Ring