The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #163099   Message #3887750
Posted By: Jim Dixon
09-Nov-17 - 04:22 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: The One-Eyed Merchant
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The One-Eyed Merchant
I can't do chords, but lyrics are my specialty.
Transcribed by me from YouTube:
(This sounds incomplete to me. Is there a part 2 somewhere?)


THE ONE-EYED MERCHANT
As recorded by Bob Pegg on "Ancient Maps"

It was a one-eyed merchant who came into the inn
With his tall standing staff and his bags of rabbit skin.
He walked among the tables of the side a drinker's lair(?),
But no one seemed to notice as he tried to sell his wares.

It wasn't very long before his hopes began to shrink.
He crept towards the innkeeper and bought himself a drink,
Then he saw us in the corner and he slid up like snail.
He sat down next to Star-Shy(?) and began to tell his tale.

He used to be a sailor before he lost his eye,
And he set off as a wanderer his fortune for to try.
He'd seen the wonders of the world and heard a siren sing,
And once a tribe of tiny men had crowned him as their king.

He'd seen more things with his one good eye than many see with two,
And now he was and old man; he had little left to do.
But there was still one journey, one last trip to make,
Before he trod the final track that every man must take.

It was many and many a year ago that he heard the story told
Of a treasure few men knew about: a cup of beaten gold.
But his merchant's mind was not drawn on by the thought of gold alone.
Set in the cup's deep bottom was a priceless azure stone.

By chance he'd found an ancient map in an ancient tomb,
And he'd been on the trail of the fabulous cup under many a sun and moon.
Through mountain forest plain it went with never a twist or bend,
And here in the one outside the inn was the start of a journey's end.

The merchant stopped and glared at us; his voice was dark and low.
"I've come so far on the quest," he said, "and no further can I go.
My bones are old and weary; my sinews they grow slack,
And I'm looking for another one to bring the treasure back.

"I do not crave possession; I only wish to see
If you will end my quest," he said, "and fetch the cup for me.
Once I have it in my sight, my eyes can drink their fill.
Then you may keep the golden cup and use it as you will."