And the delight is that the tale repeated by many is always new, for it is never exactly the same; the fib fattens as it grows old, so that it may serve your pleasure many a time and oft:
“Whan oon had herde a thinge ywis,
He come forthright to another wight,
And gan him tellen anon ryght,
The same thynge that him was tolde,
Or hyt a forlonge way was olde,
But gan sommewhat for to eche (increase)
To this tydynge in this speche
More than hit ever was . . .
As fire ys wont to quyk and goo