FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE STORKSby Hans Christian AndersenON the last house in a little village the storks had built a nest,and the mother stork sat in it with her four young ones, who stretchedout their necks and pointed their black beaks, which had not yetturned red like those of the parent birds. A little way off, on theedge of the roof, stood the father stork, quite upright and stiff; notliking to be quite idle, he drew up one leg, and stood on the other,so still that it seemed almost as if he were carved in wood. "It...
The Vicar of Wakefieldby Oliver GoldsmithA TALESupposed to be written by HimselfSperate miseri, cavete faelicesADVERTISEMENTThere are an hundred faults in this Thing, and an hundred things might be said to prove them beauties. But it is needless. A book may be amusing with numerous errors, or it may be very dull without a single absurdity. The hero of this piece unites in himself the three greatest characters upon earth; he is a priest, an husbandman, and the father of a family. He is drawn as ready to teach, and ready to obey, as simple in affluence, and majestic in adversity. In this age of
THE GRATEFUL BEASTS[11][11] From the Hungarian. Kletke.There was once upon a time a man and woman who had threefine-looking sons, but they were so poor that they had hardlyenough food for themselves, let alone their children. So thesons determined to set out into the world and to try their luck.Before starting their mother gave them each a loaf of bread andher blessing, and having taken a tender farewell of her and theirfather the three set forth on their travels.The youngest of the three brothers, whose name was Ferko, was abeautiful youth, with a splendid figure, blue eyes, fair hair,...
THE IDLE THOUGHTS OF AN IDLE FELLOW.THE IDLE THOUGHTSOF AN IDLE FELLOW.by JEROME K. JEROME.1- Page 2-THE IDLE THOUGHTS OF AN IDLE FELLOW.PREFACEOne or two friends to whom I showed these papers in MS. havingobserved that they were not half bad, and some of my relations havingpromised to buy the book if it ever came out, I feel I have no right to...
The Essays of Montaigne, V12by Michel de MontaigneTranslated by Charles CottonEdited by William Carew Hazilitt1877CONTENTS OF VOLUME 12.XVIII. Of giving the lie.XIX. Of liberty of conscience.XX. That we taste nothing pure.XXI. Against idleness.XXII. Of Posting.XXIII. Of ill means employed to a good end.XXIV. Of the Roman grandeur.XXV. Not to counterfeit being sick.XXVI. Of thumbs.XXVII. Cowardice the mother of cruelty.XXVIII. All things have their season.XXIX. Of virtue.XXX. Of a monstrous child....
Vera, The Mediumby Richard Harding DavisPart IHappy in the hope that the news was "exclusive", the Despatchhad thrown the name of Stephen Hallowell, his portrait, apicture of his house, and the words, "At Point of Death!" acrossthree columns. The announcement was heavy, lachrymose, bristlingwith the melancholy self-importance of the man who "saw thedeceased, just two minutes before the train hit him."But the effect of the news fell short of the effort. Save thatcity editors were irritated that the presidents of certainrailroads figured hastily on slips of paper, the fact that an...
The Trumpet-Majorby Thomas Hardybeing a tale of the Trumpet-Major, John Loveday, a soldier in thewar with Buonaparte, and Robert, his brother, first mate in theMerchant Service.PREFACEThe present tale is founded more largely on testimonyoral andwrittenthan any other in this series. The external incidentswhich direct its course are mostly an unexaggerated reproduction ofthe recollections of old persons well known to the author inchildhood, but now long dead, who were eye-witnesses of thosescenes. If wholly transcribed their recollections would have filled...
The Golden Asseby Lucius ApuleiusTranslated by William AdlingtonDedicationTo the Right Honourable and Mighty Lord, THOMAS EARLE OF SUSSEX, Viscount Fitzwalter, Lord of Egremont and of Burnell, Knight of the most noble Order of the Garter, Iustice of the forrests and Chases from Trent Southward; Captain of the Gentleman Pensioners of the House of the QUEENE our Soveraigne Lady.After that I had taken upon me (right Honourable) in manner of that unlearned and foolish Poet, Cherillus, who rashly and unadvisedly wrought a big volume in verses, of the valiant prowesse of Alexander the Great, to t
A Simpletonby Charles ReadePREFACE.It has lately been objected to me, in studiously courteous terms ofcourse, that I borrow from other books, and am a plagiarist. Tothis I reply that I borrow facts from every accessible source, andam not a plagiarist. The plagiarist is one who borrows from ahomogeneous work: for such a man borrows not ideas only, but theirtreatment. He who borrows only from heterogeneous works is not aplagiarist. All fiction, worth a button, is founded on facts; andit does not matter one straw whether the facts are taken frompersonal experience, hearsay, or printed books;
The Unseen World and Other Essaysby John FiskeTO JAMES SIME.MY DEAR SIME:Life has now and then some supreme moments of pure happiness, which in reminiscence give to single days the value of months or years. Two or three such moments it has been my good fortune to enjoy with you, in talking over the mysteries which forever fascinate while they forever baffle us. It was our midnight talks in Great Russell Street and the Addison Road, and our bright May holiday on the Thames, that led me to write this scanty essay on the "Unseen World," and to whom could I so heartily dedicate it as to you? I on
Tales of TroyTales of Troyby Andrew Lang1- Page 2-Tales of TroyTHE BOYHOOD AND PARENTSOF ULYSSESLong ago, in a little island called Ithaca, on the west coast of Greece,there lived a king named Laertes. His kingdom was small andmountainous. People used to say that Ithaca "lay like a shield upon thesea," which sounds as if it were a flat country. But in those times shields...
THE SON OF THE WOLF.MAN RARELY PLACES A PROPER valuation upon his womankind, at leastnot until deprived of them. He has no conception of the subtleatmosphere exhaled by the sex feminine, so long as he bathes in it;but let it be withdrawn, and an ever-growing void begins to manifestitself in his existence, and he becomes hungry, in a vague sort ofway, for a something so indefinite that he cannot characterize it.If his comrades have no more experience than himself, they willshake their heads dubiously and dose him with strong physic. But the...
Planet Earth rolled on in ever decreasing circles around the sun. As it had been carrying on in this fashion for more years than anyone cared to remember, there seemed no cause for immediate alarm. Not that things were exactly a bundle of laughs down on old terra firma at the present time, oh dear me, no. Things had never been quite the same since, in a moment of gay abandonment, outgoing US president Wayne L. Wormwood had chosen to press the nuclear button just as the New Year bells were gaily chiming in the arrival of the twenty-first century.This generally unwele turn in events had caught
Idylls of the KingIN TWELVE BOOKSby Alfred, Lord TennysonFlos Regum Arthurus (Joseph of Exeter)ContentsDedicationThe Coming of ArthurTHE ROUND TABLEGareth and LynetteThe Marriage of GeraintGeraint and EnidBalin and BalanMerlin and VivienLancelot and ElaineThe Holy GrailPelleas and EttarreThe Last TournamentGuinevereThe Passing of ArthurTo the QueenDedicationThese to His Memorysince he held them dear,Perchance as finding there unconsciouslySome image of himselfI dedicate,I dedicate, I consecrate with tears...
410 BCLYSISTRATAby Aristophanesanonymous translatorCHARACTERS IN THE PLAYLYSISTRATACLEONICEMYRRHINELAMPITOMAGISTRATESCINESIASCHILD OF CINESIASHERALD OF THE LACEDAEMONIANSENVOYS OF THE LACEDAEMONIANSAN ATHENIAN CITIZENCHORUS OF OLD MENCHORUS OF WOMENLYSISTRATALYSISTRATA...
Mary Stuartby Alexandre Dumas, PereCHAPTER ISome royal names are predestined to misfortune: in France, there isthe name "Henry". Henry I was poisoned, Henry II was killed in atournament, Henry III and Henry IV were assassinated. As to Henry V,for whom the past is so fatal already, God alone knows what thefuture has in store for him.In Scotland, the unlucky name is "Stuart". Robert I, founder of therace, died at twenty-eight of a lingering illness. Robert II, themost fortunate of the family, was obliged to pass a part of his life,...