Quotations and Literature Forum

I hope someone out there can give me the exact quote and source. I'm thinking it's from the Arabian Nights or perhaps a Kipling novel. An old man is asked who he is or what he's doing there and he says something like "In order to answer your question I must first tell you about the day I was born" or something like that.

I've tried various internet searches and Bartlett's but drawn a blank.