THE DECAMERONby Boccaccio GiovanniTHE INDUCTION OF THE AUTHOR TO THE FOLLOWING DISCOURSESGracious Ladies, so often as I consider with my selfe, and observerespectively, how naturally you are enclined to compassion; as manytimes doe I acknowledge, that this present worke of mine, will (inyour judgement) appeare to have but a harsh and offensive beginning,in regard of the mournfull remembrance it beareth at the verieentrance of the last Pestilentiall mortality, universally hurtfull...　

Tartuffe or the Hypocriteby Jean Baptiste Poquelin MoliereTranslated by Curtis Hidden PageINTRODUCTORY NOTEJean Baptiste Poquelin, better known by his stage name of Moliere,stands without a rival at the head of French comedy. Born at Paris inJanuary, 1622, where his father held a position in the royalhousehold, he was educated at the Jesuit College de Clermont, and forsome time studied law, which he soon abandoned for the stage. His lifewas spent in Paris and in the provinces, acting, directingperformances, managing theaters, and writing plays. He had his share...　

Gobseckby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Ellen MarriageDEDICATIONTo M. le Baron Barchou de Penhoen.Among all the pupils of the Oratorian school at Vendome, we are, Ithink, the only two who have afterwards met in mid-career of alife of letterswe who once were cultivating Philosophy when byrights we should have been minding our De viris. When we met, youwere engaged upon your noble works on German philosophy, and Iupon this study. So neither of us has missed his vocation; andyou, when you see your name here, will feel, no doubt, as much...　

Marieby H. Rider HaggardAN EPISODE IN THE LIFE OF THE LATE ALLAN QUATERMAINDEDICATIONDitchingham, 1912.My dear Sir Henry,Nearly thirty-seven years have gone by, more than a generation, sincefirst we saw the shores of Southern Africa rising from the sea. Sincethen how much has happened: the Annexation of the Transvaal, the ZuluWar, the first Boer War, the discovery of the Rand, the taking ofRhodesia, the second Boer War, and many other matters which in thesequick-moving times are now reckoned as ancient history....　

ON SLEEP AND SLEEPLESSNESSby Aristotletranslated by J. I. Beare1WITH regard to sleep and waking, we must consider what they are:whether they are peculiar to soul or to body, or common to both; andif common, to what part of soul or body they appertain: further,from what cause it arises that they are attributes of animals, andwhether all animals share in them both, or some partake of the one...　

EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOONOnce upon a time there was a poor husbandman whohad many children and little to give them in the wayeither of food or clothing. They were all pretty, but theprettiest of all was the youngest daughter, who was sobeautiful that there were no bounds to her beauty.So onceit was late on a Thursday evening in autumn,and wild weather outside, terribly dark, and raining soheavily and blowing so hard that the walls of the cottageshook againthey were all sitting together by the fireside,each of them busy with something or other, when...　

400 BCON ULCERSby Hippocratestranslated by Francis AdamsWe must avoid wetting all sorts of ulcers except with wine, unlessthe ulcer be situated in a joint. For, the dry is nearer to the sound,and the wet to the unsound, since an ulcer is wet, but a sound part isdry. And it is better to leave the part without a bandage unless aunless a cataplasm be applied. Neither do certain ulcers admit of...　

The Trampling of the Liliesby Rafael SabatiniCONTENTSPART ITHE OLD RULECHAPTERI. MONSIEUR THE SECRETARYII. LORDS OF LIFE AND DEATHIII. THE WORD OF BELLECOURIV. THE DISCIPLES OF ROUSSEAUPART IITHE NEW RULEV. THE SHEEP TURNED WOLVESVI. THE CITIZEN COMMISSIONERVII. LA BOULAYE DISCHARGES A DEBTVIII. THE INVALIDS AT BOISVERTIX. THE CAPTIVESX. THE BAISER LAMOURETTEXI. THE ESCAPEXII. THE AWAKENINGXIII. THE ROAD TO LIEGEXIV. THE COURIER...　

THE MODEL MILLIONAIREUNLESS one is wealthy there is no use in being a charming fellow.Romance is the privilege of the rich, not the profession of theunemployed. The poor should be practical and prosaic. It isbetter to have a permanent income than to be fascinating. Theseare the great truths of modern life which Hughie Erskine neverrealised. Poor Hughie! Intellectually, we must admit, he was notof much importance. He never said a brilliant or even an ill-natured thing in his life. But then he was wonderfully good-looking, with his crisp brown hair, his clear-cut profile, and his...　

OF THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESSDavid Hume1741NOTHING is more apt to surprize a foreigner, than theextreme liberty, which we enjoy in this country, ofcommunicating whatever we please to the public, and ofopenly censuring every measure, entered into by the king orhis ministers. If the administration resolve upon war, it is...　

THE SPHINX WITHOUT A SECRETONE afternoon I was sitting outside the Cafe de la Paix, watchingthe splendour and shabbiness of Parisian life, and wondering overmy vermouth at the strange panorama of pride and poverty that waspassing before me, when I heard some one call my name. I turnedround, and saw Lord Murchison. We had not met since we had been atcollege together, nearly ten years before, so I was delighted tocome across him again, and we shook hands warmly. At Oxford we hadbeen great friends. I had liked him immensely, he was so handsome,...　

HIGH-WATER MARKWhen the tide was out on the Dedlow Marsh, its extended drearinesswas patent. Its spongy, low-lying surface, sluggish, inky pools,and tortuous sloughs, twisting their slimy way, eel-like, towardthe open bay, were all hard facts. So were the few green tussocks,with their scant blades, their amphibious flavor and unpleasantdampness. And if you choose to indulge your fancyalthough theflat monotony of the Dedlow Marsh was not inspiringthe wavy lineof scattered drift gave an unpleasant consciousness of the spentwaters, and made the dead certainty of the returning tide a gloomy...　

AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF THE WEALTH OF NATIONSby Adam Smith1776BOOK FOUROF SYSTEMS OF POLITICAL ECONOMYINTRODUCTIONPOLITICAL economy, considered as a branch of the science of astatesman or legislator, proposes two distinct objects: first, toprovide a plentiful revenue or subsistence for the people, ormore properly to enable them to provide such a revenue orsubsistence for themselves; and secondly, to supply the state orcommonwealth with a revenue sufficient for the public services....　

A Mortal Antipathyby Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.PREFACE."A MORTAL ANTIPATHY" was a truly hazardous experiment. A very wiseand very distinguished physician who is as much at home in literatureas he is in science and the practice of medicine, wrote to me inreferring to this story: "I should have been afraid of my subject."He did not explain himself, but I can easily understand that he feltthe improbability of the, physiological or pathological occurrence onwhich the story is founded to be so great that the narrative couldhardly be rendered plausible. I felt the difficulty for myself as...　

The Yellow Godor An Idol of Africaby H. Rider HaggardCHAPTER ISAHARA LIMITEDSir Robert Aylward, Bart., M.P., sat in his office in the City ofLondon. It was a very magnificent office, quite one of the finest thatcould be found within half a mile of the Mansion House. Its exteriorwas built of Aberdeen granite, a material calculated to impress theprospective investor with a comfortable sense of security. Otherstucco, or even brick-built, offices might crumble and fall in anactual or a financial sense, but this rock-like edifice of granite,surmounted by a life-sized statue of Justice with her sca　

THE MESSENGERSTHE MESSENGERSBy Richard Harding Davis1- Page 2-THE MESSENGERSWhen Ainsley first moved to Lone Lake Farm all of his friends askedhim the same question. They wanted to know, if the farmer who sold itto him had abandoned it as worthless, how one of the idle rich, who couldnot distinguish a plough from a harrow, hoped to make it pay? Hisanswer was that he had not purchased the farm as a means of getting richer...