"Here's Lincoln's version of the tale: "'It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: "And this, too, shall pass away." How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! -- how consoling in the depths of affliction!' -An Address by Abraham Lincoln Before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, September 30, 1859

"Have already found Jewish and Sufi versions of the Tale and would like to use the collective intelligence of Boing Boing readers to find versions from other cultures-I know that a Hindu version exists somewhere)

Send any leads on the tale to avisolo@yahoo.com

posted by Cory Doctorow at 05:40:25 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments