1 Lambert: This gloom reminds me of the time cousin Wei-Lungbert came to visit from the mysterious Far East.
2 Lambert: Uncle Bilbert didn't have a spare room in his house, so he cleared out a stall in the barn. But because of all the straw it was unsafe to light a lamp.
3 Lambert: Wei-Lungbert took one look at the dark stall and promptly left for his homeland.
4 Mordekai: Did he give a reason?
4 Lambert: "Is unfit for hobbit-Asian!"

2018-03-17 Rerun commentary: I have a family tree for Lambert which I drew up when figuring out strip #3622 some years after this one. The tree I've drawn has Wei-Lungbert as the son of Lambert's Uncle Harold, who is mentioned in strip #2896, and who I've placed as Lambert's mother's brother. That strip also mentions the fact that Uncle Harold is Jewish, by conversion.

So we have the somewhat odd situation of a Jewish hobbit with a mysterious Far Eastern son with an obviously Chinese-inspired name.

It could also be possible that Wei-Lungbert is the offspring of another, as yet unmentioned, uncle or aunt of Lambert. Given typical hobbit family sizes, it seems likely that his mother would have had more siblings than just Harold. If Lambert had an aunt who had emigrated and married a mysterious Far Eastern husband, that could explain things perhaps a little more naturally. But that's kind of boring in comparison.

Perhaps all of this will be cleared up by the requirements of another future "hobbit" pun.