"Are there things you wish to tell me?" the wise man asked.

"Yes, many things," replied the visitor, "but I haven't the courage or the words to express them."

"I see," said the wise man. "Then it seems we're both at a disadvantage."

"Really?" the visitor said. "In what way are you at a disadvantage?"

"Well, just as you cannot trust yourself to confide in me, I am now so old I have become very forgetful. For example, if you came to see me tomorrow I would almost certainly forget that you had come to see me today."

The visitor considered this carefully.

"So," he said, "if I came to see you tomorrow and told you about things that happened a very long time ago to someone that neither of us knows, you would never imagine that I might be talking about myself?"

"Precisely!" said the wise man. "But then of course if you were to come to my door tomorrow I might not remember you and I might not let you in."

The visitor considered this problem too for a while:

"Well in that case," he said, "when I come tomorrow I will announce myself as... well... let me see... how about... The English Knight?"

"The English Knight will be ideal," said the wise man. And they were both very pleased with themselves, until the visitor looked worried again.

"But how will you remember tomorrow that we agreed on the English Knight today?" he asked.

"Oh, don't you worry about that," the wise man replied. "I'm very wise indeed especially when it comes to deciding on what to remember and what to forget."

So, every day and for many days, The English Knight visited his wise friend and each time he would tell him a story. Some were amusing and some sad; most were quite ordinary and a few were rather disturbing.