But fate, as Merlin always taught us, is inexorable. Life is a jest of the Gods, Merlin liked to claim, and there is no justice. You must learn to laugh, he once told me, or else you'll just weep yourself to death.

Folk tell their children that success lies in working hard and being thrifty, but that is as much nonsense as supposing that a badger, a fox and a wolf could build a church. The way to wealth is to become a Christian bishop or a monastery's abbot and thus be imbued with heaven's permission to lie, cheat and steal your way to luxury.

In a cruel land, you either learned to laugh at cruelty or spent your life weeping.

I make myself laugh at everything, in case I should have to weep

I volunteered for this life, wanted it and am not going to bitch about it now that I've got it.

Enemies come soon enough in a mans life,' he told me, 'you don't need to seek them out