| |
| “A PLEASANT and a winsome tale,” | |
| The Student said, “though somewhat pale | |
| And quiet in its coloring, | |
| As if it caught its tone and air | |
| From the gray suits that Quakers wear; | 5 |
| Yet worthy of some German bard, | |
| Hebel, or Voss, or Eberhard, | |
| Who love of humble themes to sing, | |
| In humble verse; but no more true | |
| Than was the tale I told to you.” | 10 |
| |
| The Theologian made reply, | |
| And with some warmth, “That I deny; | |
| ’T is no invention of my own, | |
| But something well and widely known | |
| To readers of a riper age, | 15 |
| Writ by the skilful hand that wrote | |
| The Indian tale of Hobomok, | |
| And Philothea’s classic page. | |
| I found it like a waif afloat, | |
| Or dulse uprooted from its rock, | 20 |
| On the swift tides that ebb and flow | |
| In daily papers, and at flood | |
| Bear freighted vessels to and fro, | |
| But later, when the ebb is low, | |
| Leave a long waste of sand and mud.” | 25 |
| |
| “It matters little,” quoth the Jew; | |
| “The cloak of truth is lined with lies, | |
| Sayeth some proverb old and wise; | |
| And Love is master of all arts, | |
| And puts it into human hearts | 30 |
| The strangest things to say and do.” | |
| |
| And here the controversy closed | |
| Abruptly, ere ’t was well begun; | |
| For the Sicilian interposed | |
| With, “Lordlings, listen, every one | 35 |
| That listen may, unto a tale | |
| That’s merrier than the nightingale; | |
| A tale that cannot boast, forsooth, | |
| A single rag or shred of truth; | |
| That does not leave the mind in doubt | 40 |
| As to the with it or without; | |
| A naked falsehood and absurd | |
| As mortal ever told or heard. | |
| Therefore I tell it; or, maybe, | |
| Simply because it pleases me.” | 45 |
| |
