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But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison house,
I could a tale read more
But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison house,
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
Make thy two eyes like stars start from their spheres,
Thy knotted and combined locks to part,
And each particular hair to stand on end
Like quills upon the fretful porpentine.
If a nation loses its storytellers, it loses its childhood.
If a nation loses its storytellers, it loses its childhood.
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.
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
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.
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.
And what so tedious as a twice-told tale.
And what so tedious as a twice-told tale.