My brother and I, both now in our fifties, use different versions of this - so I guess we picked it up at our different schools. Here they are:

"It was a dark and stormy night, the lightning flashed and the thunder roared, and the captain to his Mate, 'Mate, tell us a tale!' and this is the tale he told ..."

"It was a dark and stormy night, there were brigands in the mountains, and thieves, and the captain said to Antonio, 'Antonio, tell us a tale!', and this is the tale he told ..."