'When I was young,' he says, 'I was a sailor and traveled to lands in all
the far corners of the world. I have been to strange places, and I have
seen and talked to strange people. Listen to me about a strange place,
and a stranger adventure.'
He stops, stares out to sea, and rubs his chin, deep in thought. His eyes
open wide as he looks back at us as his head turns from one side of the
seated audience to the other.
'After you've heard my story you'll decide for yourselves what to believe.'
Putting his wide-brimmed hat back on his head, he lowers himself
slowly to a large flat rock. He places his cane on the ground beside him
and crosses his legs just as I often do when I watch television.
Everyone's eyes are on him; it's very quiet.
'Come with me to lon n n g ago and far away,' he begins in his
deep voice. 'We're on a gallant, full-rigged sailing ship crossing a wild
and stormy sea. After many weeks, we drop anchor in the cove of a
mist-shrouded shore where high waves break against gray rocks. The
rocks are huge, black, and jagged, and they line the shoreline as far as I
can see in either direction.
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