The Book of Teaby Kakuzo OkakuraI. The Cup of HumanityTea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage. In China, in the eighth century, it entered the realm of poetry as one of the polite amusements. The fifteenth century saw Japan ennoble it into a religion of aestheticismTeaism. Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence. It inculcates purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual charity, the romanticism of the social order. It is essentially a worship of the Imperfect, as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possib
The Outletby Andy AdamsPREFACEAt the close of the civil war the need for a market for the surplus cattle of Texas was as urgent as it was general. There had been numerous experiments in seeking an outlet, and there is authority for the statement that in 1857 Texas cattle were driven to Illinois. Eleven years later forty thousand head were sent to the mouth of Red River in Louisiana, shipped by boat to Cairo, Illinois, and thence inland by rail. Fever resulted, and the experiment was never repeated. To the west of Texas stretched a forbidding desert, while on the other hand, nearly every drive
The VillageAfter hoeing, or perhaps reading and writing, in the forenoon, Iusually bathed again in the pond, swimming across one of its covesfor a stint, and washed the dust of labor from my person, orsmoothed out the last wrinkle which study had made, and for theafternoon was absolutely free. Every day or two I strolled to thevillage to hear some of the gossip which is incessantly going onthere, circulating either from mouth to mouth, or from newspaper tonewspaper, and which, taken in homoeopathic doses, was really as...
Camille (La Dame aux Camilias)by Alexandre Dumas, filsChapter IIn my opinion, it is impossible to create characters until one has spent a long time in studying men, as it is impossible to speak a language until it has been seriously acquired. Not being old enough to invent, I content myself with narrating, and I beg the reader to assure himself of the truth of a story in which all the characters, with the exception of the heroine, are still alive. Eye-witnesses of the greater part of the facts which I have collected are to be found in Paris, and I might call upon them to confirm me if my test
THE MAKE-BELIEVE MANTHE MAKE-BELIEVEMANBy Richard Harding Davis1- Page 2-THE MAKE-BELIEVE MANII had made up my mind that when my vacation came I would spend itseeking adventures. I have always wished for adventures, but, though Iam old enoughI was twenty-five last Octoberand have always gonehalf-way to meet them, adventures avoid me. Kinney says it is my fault....
Dr. Faustusby Christopher MarloweTHE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF DOCTOR FAUSTUSBY CHRISTOPHER MARLOWEFROM THE QUARTO OF 1616.EDITED BY THE REV. ALEXANDER DYCE.The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus.Written by Ch. Mar. London, Printed for John Wright, and areto be sold at his shop without Newgate, at the signe of theBible, 1616, 4to.The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus.With new Additions. Written by Ch. Mar. Printed at London forJohn Wright, and are to be sold at his shop without Newgate,...
The Lake Gunby James Fenimore CooperThe Seneca is remarkable for its "Wandering Jew," and the"Lake Gun." The first is a tree so balanced that when itsroots are clear of the bottom it floats with its broken andpointed trunk a few feet above the surface of the water,driving before the winds, or following in the course of thecurrents. At times, the "Wandering Jew" is seen offJefferson, near the head of this beautiful sheet; and next itwill appear anchored, as it might be, in the shallow waternear the outlet.{"Wandering Jew" = The medieval legend of Ahasueras,...
The Burning Spearby John GalsworthyBeing the Experiences of Mr. John Lavender in the Time of WarRecorded by: A. R. PM [John Galsworthy][NOTE: John Galsworthy said of this work: "The Burning Spear" was revengeof the nerves. Was it bad enough to have to bear the dreads and strainsand griefs of war." Several years after its first publication headmitted authorship and it was included in the collected edition of hisworks D.W.]"With a heart of furious fancies,Whereof I am commander,With a burning spear and a horse of air...
Letters on Literatureby Andrew LangContents:Introductory: Of Modern English PoetryOf Modern English PoetryFieldingLongfellowA Friend of KeatsOn VirgilAucassin and NicolettePlotinus (A.D. 200-262)LucretiusTo a Young American Book-HunterRochefoucauldOf Vers de SocieteOn Vers de SocieteGerard de NervalOn Books About Red MenAppendix IAppendix IIDEDICATIONDear Mr. Way,After so many letters to people who never existed, may I venture ashort one, to a person very real to me, though I have never seen...
Greville Faneby Henry JamesComing in to dress for dinner, I found a telegram: "Mrs. Stormerdying; can you give us half a column for to-morrow evening? Let heroff easy, but not too easy." I was late; I was in a hurry; I hadvery little time to think, but at a venture I dispatched a reply:"Will do what I can." It was not till I had dressed and was rollingaway to dinner that, in the hansom, I bethought myself of thedifficulty of the condition attached. The difficulty was not ofcourse in letting her off easy but in qualifying that indulgence. "I...
War of the Classesby Jack LondonContents:PrefaceThe Class StruggleThe TrampThe ScabThe Question of the MaximumA ReviewWanted: A New Land of DevelopmentHow I Became a SocialistPREFACEWhen I was a youngster I was looked upon as a weird sort ofcreature, because, forsooth, I was a socialist. Reporters fromlocal papers interviewed me, and the interviews, when published,were pathological studies of a strange and abnormal specimen of man.At that time (nine or ten years ago), because I made a stand in my...
The Queristby George Berkley1735The Querist containing several Queries proposed to theconsideration of the PublicI the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the lowtree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree toflourish. Ezek. xvii, 24.Advertisement by the AuthorThe Querist was first published in the year one thousand sevenhundred and thirty-five; since which time the face of things issomewhat changed. In this edition some alterations have beenmade. The three Parts are published in one; some few Queries areadded, and many omitted, particularly of those relating
400 BCPHILOCTETESby Sophoclestranslated by Thomas FrancklinCHARACTERS IN THE PLAYULYSSES, King of IthacaNEOPTOLEMUS, son of AchillesPHILOCTETES, son of Poeas and Companion of HERCULESA SPYHERCULESCHORUS, composed of the companions of ULYSSES and NEOPTOLEMUSPHILOCTETESPHILOCTETES(SCENE:- A lonely region on the shore of Lemnos,...
FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE BELLby Hans Christian AndersenIN the narrow streets of a large town people often heard in theevening, when the sun was setting, and his last rays gave a goldentint to the chimney-pots, a strange noise which resembled the sound ofa church bell; it only lasted an instant, for it was lost in thecontinual roar of traffic and hum of voices which rose from thetown. "The evening bell is ringing," people used to say; "the sun issetting!" Those who walked outside the town, where the houses were...
Palace of the Alhambra.TO THE traveller imbued with a feeling for the historical andpoetical, so inseparably intertwined in the annals of romanticSpain, the Alhambra is as much an object of devotion as is the Caabato all true Moslems. How many legends and traditions, true andfabulous; how many songs and ballads, Arabian and Spanish, of love andwar and chivalry, are associated with this oriental pile! It was theroyal abode of the Moorish kings, where, surrounded with the splendorsand refinements of Asiatic luxury, they held dominion over what they...
Under Western Eyesby Joseph Conrad"I would take liberty from any handas a hungry man would snatch a piece of bread."Miss HALDINPART FIRSTTo begin with I wish to disclaim the possession of those highgifts of imagination and expression which would have enabled mypen to create for the reader the personality of the man whocalled himself, after the Russian custom, Cyril son ofIsidorKirylo Sidorovitch-Razumov,If I have ever had these gifts in any sort of living form theyhave been smothered out of existence a long time ago under a...