The Bard said, “Once upon a time in the middle of a deep wood, there lived a poor woodcutter and his two motherless daughters, who were each as beautiful as the day is long...

(Bard from 'Someday' by Isaac Asimov)

Paul said, “Is that a Bard you’re listening to? I didn’t know you had one.”

Niccolo reddened and the look of unhappiness returned to his face. “Just an old thing I had when I was a kid. It ain’t much good.” He kicked at the Bard with his foot and caught the somewhat scarred and discolored plastic covering a glancing blow...

"...I thought I’d try this old thing again, but it’s no good.”

Paul turned off the Bard, pressed the contact that led to a nearly instantaneous reorientation and recombination of the vocabulary, characters, plot-lines, and climaxes stored within it. Then he reactivated it.

The Bard began smoothly, “Once upon a time...

Paul, who wasn’t listening to the Bard, said, “It’s easy. The Bard has memory-cylinders all fixed up for plot-lines and climaxes and things. We don’t have to worry about that. It’s just vocabulary we got to fix so it’ll know about computers and automation. and electronics and real things about today. Then it can tell interesting stories, you know, instead of about princesses and things...”

Paul said, “Listen, my dad says if I get into special computing school next year, he'll get me a real Bard, a late model. A big one with an attachment for space stories and mysteries. And a visual attachment, too!”