Ambition
Three men met at a tavern table. One was a weaver, another acarpenter and the third a ploughman.
Said the weaver, "I sold a fine linen shroud today for two piecesof gold. Let us have all the wine we want."
"And I," said the carpenter, "I sold my best coffin. We will havea great roast with the wine."
"I only dug a grave," said the ploughman, "but my patron paid medouble. Let us have honey cakes too."
And all that evening the tavern was busy, for they called oftenfor wine and meat and cakes. And they were merry.
And the host rubbed his hands and smiled at his wife; for his guestswere spending freely.
When they left the moon was high, and they walked along the roadsinging and shouting together.
The host and his wife stood in the tavern door and looked afterthem.
"Ah!" said the wife, "these gentlemen! So freehanded and so gay!If only they could bring us such luck every day! Then our son neednot be a tavern-keeper and work so hard. We could educate him,and he could become a priest."
Words in this poem
- ploughman n.
- One who plows, or who holds and guides a plow; hence, a husbandman. Chaucer.
- spending n.
- The act of expending; expenditure. Spending money, money set apart for extra (not necessary) personal expenses; pocket money.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ambition is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Madman: His Parables and Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #5616; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Kahlil Gibran, Ambition, in The Madman: His Parables and Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5616, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gibran-madman/ambition.html, id L27294.
About this section
Ambition is prose, printed in 9 paragraphs. It is part of the edition and is kept for reading, but nothing here is measured: the line breaks are the printer's, so no metre, rhyme scheme or scansion is stated.
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