“Be careful what you wish for,”
The wand’ring fey replied,
“For if your wishing goes amiss,
You’ll wish today you’d died.”

“Pah!” said the first man.
“I take no heed of that.
I wish for gold and silver,
Enough to fill a cooking vat.”

Heartened by his fellow,
the second man gave a shout:
“I wish for a never-draining cup of wine!
This way I’ll never be without.”

Said the third man, “I have a wish-
I wish that I knew all
Knowing why the wind doth blow-
Knowing why the leaves doth fall.”

“Well,” said the fey, with a curl of the mouth.
“I see that you are foolish, but who am I to say?
I will grant your wish, but you shall see-
You will regret it one day.”

With not a sound, the fey faded away.
The men celebrated their sly.
They walked to the village, with a shout and a hey,
But foolish they were; a fey does not lie.

(to be continued)