THE TALE SIMPLY TOLD

  A long, long time ago, before the age when Man
and Woman sailed in ships to lands they had never
seen, there existed in the Old World two empires: that
of Man and that of the Fair People.
  Man named his abode Civilization, for Man was an
acquisitive creature and names were things he could
possess. He could not fly on wings of gossamer, like a
fairy; nor hide in the gentle slope of a mountain, like a
giant; nor throw fire through a gust of wind, like a
dragon. So Man often found his strength in words.
  The Fair People had no cities or towns or houses.
Their home was Nature, and in it they could play or
hide or make themselves unseen to Man, who feared
Nature, for he could not control it.
  What Man could not control, he often sought to
change. Thus, over centuries, Man built his cities, and
his villages and diminished the Fair People’s domain.
  Where once lived a goblin, there rose a tavern.
  Where once swam a river maiden, a water wheel
spun.
  Forest to lumber, earth to road . . . Man expanded