JELOM: When I was but a little lad, I proved so well observant, My parents sought to send me off, to be a mage's servant. There was a mage of great renown, who'd done them favors plenty, So I was sent to work for him 'till I was one and twenty. The mage, though wise, was growing old, his hearing rather last rate - And so it seemed he heard me wrong when I said he could cast straight. He seemed surprised, but took me in, and after but a fast wait, The knife came out, and with a shout, I found myself a castrate! The accident, it was well meant, though soon my clothes fit tighter, I learned to serve with excess verve, and even as a fighter. So now I've learned - and tossed and turned - to make myself a master, Of scarves and wraps, and bags with flaps, for foes to cause disaster. A life not bad, for a stalwart lad, the Goddess thus did send me, As not-a-man, I need not plan for women to defend me. And so I came to a sort of fame, as a quintessential servant, To set a place with the utmost grace, there is no one more fervent; Or to twist and wrap, in my clothing's trap, and move at such a fast rate, Which I'd not have learned, had I not been turned, an accidental castrate!