A tale of misery and happiness

Once I met a jolly good fellow,
funny and witty he was truly,
even making laugh his own shadow,
yet never he acted too goofy,

especially in the presence of females,
who he adored to an insanely abnormal level;
one walks in,he forgets all his mates,
and follows the seduction of the tempting devil.

You think it was his plain nature?,
how 'bout I,dear reader,take ya
to a winding and dying time,
filled with grief,better not cry.

The spell the immortals cast upon the dreamers,
the forgotten mother of all present sleepers,
conservatives prefer and like it,
liberals merely like and despise it,
it's the time that's already passed---
the past.

Here,you see a grey scenario,
a world full of sadness and pain,
where such things as bread and water,
like fame today,was hard to gain.

Reality was harsh,even towards those,
whom you may call innocent,young bros.
Men?! Pah! "Men" is what they want to be,
therefore working hard hours, eight daily.

Their fathers had left the families,
so who else could've taken care of these?
Our wise little friend,little back then,
was there,among and the saddest of them.

His body was slowly dying,so did his mind,
everything burns,when the sun shines so bright.
The heat causes insanity,makes him forget himself,
but then he remembers: his sister needed his help.

Boy,was she hungry!,for she couldn't earn her own money,
their mother?Unfortunately,this poor woman,had a weak body.
A sickness, a curse,preventing her from duties,
so she cries and unwillingly sends her son to do these.

The boy forgot to sleep when he heard his girls coughing,
his smiles,they vanished,and noone saw him laughing.
He became a machine,doing task to task to task,
until one day,he met an old man with a ridiculous mask.

He first thought he was insane and crazy,
he escaped from a lunatic asylum,didnt he?
Yet,that old man just kept doing it,
laughing and playing and makin jokes like a little kid.

The children all loved him,
the boy despised him.
Why was he allowed to have fun and joy out there,
while I have to keep dreaming this endless nightmare?

Where is the logic,where is the justice?
Tell me and answer why do this I must,if
the big man up in the clouds in the sky,
already wouldn't care,even if I'd die.

The waterfall of tears,it seems,
running down his childish cheeks
caused the old man,who heard about the boy's grief,
to go up to him and hand him a golden handkerchief.

The boy was surprised and was thanking and stammering,
noone ever before has given him such a beautiful thing.
The man kept smiling,but right now with a sad face.
He said no child should be forced to endure this pain.

He told him he couldn't give him neither goods nor jewelry.
Having to work til his life's end seemed to be his destiny.
But then,the old man asked him to to do him a thing,
he asked that he shall never forget again to smile and grin.

Life is never fair,
so why should you even care?
At least, don't show this cruel world your defeat
by bringing laughter to every new person you meet.

They looked each other in the eye,
and suddenly there was,I can't believe it!,a smile!
Right there,on the face of that strong little boy
there was a sign that said: I'll bring the world joy!

So he kept working and kept smiling all day,
his family was happy and his fears went away.
He worked even harder,one day he got lucky
got rich,gave everything to mom,and went outta Kentucky.

He wanted to see the world,
meet new cities and girls.
And once,in Paris' extravagant brightening light,
he,the former unlucky,has found a friend in mine.

And until this very day,this man's still smiling,
he helps bringing happiness to all those crying.
So if you wanna know what's truly behind a man's mask:
just be surprised,do what I did,go to him and....well,ask.