»Very necessary qualification« for a good Persian story-teller

In addition to having read all the known books on love and heroism, the teller of stories must have suffered greatly for love, have lost his beloved, drunk much good wine, wept with many in their sorrow, have looked often upon death and have learned much about birds and beasts. He must also be able to change himself into a beggar or a caliph in the twinkling of an eye.

(zit. nach: Elias Canetti, Das Buch gegen den Tod, Frankfurt am Main 2015, S. 22).