In after-dinner talk,
Across the walnuts and the wine.

In after-dinner talk,
Across the walnuts and the wine.

His eye begets occasion for his wit;
For every object that the one doth catch
The other read more

His eye begets occasion for his wit;
For every object that the one doth catch
The other turns to a mirth-moving jest,
Which his fair tongue, conceit's expositor,
Delivers in such apt and gracious words,
That aged ears play truant at his tales,
And younger hearings are quite ravished,
So sweet and voluble is his discourse.

When thou dost tell another's jest, therein
Omit the oaths, which true wit cannot need;
Pick out read more

When thou dost tell another's jest, therein
Omit the oaths, which true wit cannot need;
Pick out of tales the mirth, but not the sin.

Rumor does not always err; it sometimes even elects a man.

Rumor does not always err; it sometimes even elects a man.

I don't ever want anything to come in the way of me truthfully telling a story.rn

I don't ever want anything to come in the way of me truthfully telling a story.rn

At this point therefore let us begin our narrative, without
adding any more to what has already been said; read more

At this point therefore let us begin our narrative, without
adding any more to what has already been said; for it would be
foolish to lengthen the preface while cutting short the history
itself.

Rumor is not always wrong

Rumor is not always wrong

Rumor doth double, like the voice and echo,
The numbers of the feared.

Rumor doth double, like the voice and echo,
The numbers of the feared.

A story, in which native humour reigns,
Is often useful, always entertains;
A graver fact, enlisted on read more

A story, in which native humour reigns,
Is often useful, always entertains;
A graver fact, enlisted on your side,
May furnish illustration, well applied;
But sedentary weavers of long tales
Give me the fidgets, and my patience fails.