"Now, friend, by the clear of the moon and this firelight will I tell what I may and can of my tale.

Thus it is: If I be wholly of the race of Adam I wot not nor can I tell thee how many years old I may be.

For there are, as it were, shards or gaps in my life, wherein are but a few things dimly remembered, and doubtless many things forgotten.

I remember well when I was a little child, and right happy, and there were people about me whom I loved, and who loved me.

It was not in this land; but all things were lovely there; the year's beginning, the happy mid-year, the year's waning, the year's ending, and then again its beginning.