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 In after-dinner talk,
 Across the walnuts and the wine.  
 In after-dinner talk,
 Across the walnuts and the wine. 
 With a tale forsooth he cometh unto you, with a tale which 
holdeth children from play, and old men read more 
 With a tale forsooth he cometh unto you, with a tale which 
holdeth children from play, and old men from the chimney corner. 
 An' all us other children, when the supper things is done,
 We set around the kitchen fire an' has read more 
 An' all us other children, when the supper things is done,
 We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun
  A-list'nin' to the witch tales 'at Annie tells about
   An' the gobble-uns 'at gits you
    Ef you
     Don't
      Watch
       Out! 
 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. 
 I cannot tell how the truth may be;
 I say the tale as 'twas said to me.  
 I cannot tell how the truth may be;
 I say the tale as 'twas said to me. 
Out of their saddles into the dirt--and thereby hangs a tale.
Out of their saddles into the dirt--and thereby hangs a tale.
Soft as some song divine, thy story flows.
Soft as some song divine, thy story flows.
 In this spacious isle I think there is not one
 But he hath heard some talk of Hood and read more 
 In this spacious isle I think there is not one
 But he hath heard some talk of Hood and Little John,
  Of Tuck, the merry friar, which many a sermon made
   In praise of Robin Hood, his outlaws, and their trade. 
 In vain would I seek to discover
 Why sad and mournful am I,
  My thoughts without ceasing read more 
 In vain would I seek to discover
 Why sad and mournful am I,
  My thoughts without ceasing brood over
   A tale of the time gone by.
    [Ger., Ich weiss nicht was soll es bedeuten,
     Dass ich so traurig bin:
      Ein marchen aus alten Zeiten
       Das kommt mir nicht aus dem Sinn.]