he told me he in turn had known a sage who said he 'd heard , at quite an early age , from some historian his father met -- who 'd gotten it from older sources yet -- this myth , to which our forebears once inclined : `` in long-forgotten ages out of mind this middle world was planned and built by god , with sky and water , woods and brush and sod , according to a well-intended plan to make a home for sentient life .