'I thought before your tale began,' <br />The Student murmured, 'we should have <br />Some legend written by Judah Rav <br />In his Gemara of Babylon; <br />Or something from the Gulistan,-- <br />The tale of the Cazy of Hamadan, <br />Or of that King of Khorasan <br />Who saw in dreams the eyes of one <br />That had a hundred years been dead <br />Still moving restless in his head, <br />Undimmed, and gleaming with the lust <br />Of power, though all the rest was dust. <br /> <br />'But lo! your glittering caravan <br />On the road that leadeth to Ispahan <br />Hath led us farther to the East <br />Into the regions of Cathay. <br />Spite of your Kalif and his gold, <br />Pleasant has been the tale you told, <br />And full of color; that at least <br />No one will question or gainsay. <br />And yet on such a dismal day <br />We need a merrier tale to clear <br />The dark and heavy atmosphere. <br />So listen, Lordlings, while I tell, <br />Without a preface, what befell <br />A simple cobbler, in the year ? <br />No matter; it was long ago; <br />And that is all we need to know.'<br /><br />Henry Wadsworth Longfellow<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/tales-of-a-wayside-inn-part-2-interlude-ii/
