The Golden Fleeceby Julian HawthorneA RomanceCHAPTER I.The professor crossed one long, lean leg over the other, and punched down the ashes in his pipe-bowl with the square tip of his middle finger. The thermometer on the shady veranda marked eighty-seven degrees of heat, and nature wooed the soul to languor and revery; but nothing could abate the energy of this bony sage."They talk about their Atlantises,their submerged continents!" he exclaimed, with a sniff through his wide, hairy nostrils. "Why, Trednoke, do you realize that we are living literally at the bottom of a Mesozoicat any rate,
The Collection of Antiquitiesby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Ellen MarriageDEDICATIONTo Baron Von Hammer-Purgstall, Member of the Aulic Council, Author of the History of the Ottoman Empire.Dear Baron,You have taken so warm an interest in my long, vast "History of French Manners in the Nineteenth Century," you have given me so much encouragement to persevere with my work, that you have given me a right to associate your name with some portion of it. Are you not one of the most important representatives of conscientious, studious Germany? Will not your approval win for me the app
Louis Lambertby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Clara Bell and James WaringDEDICATION"Et nunc et semper dilectoe dicatum."LOUIS LAMBERTLouis Lambert was born at Montoire, a little town in the Vendomois,where his father owned a tannery of no great magnitude, and intendedthat his son should succeed him; but his precocious bent for studymodified the paternal decision. For, indeed, the tanner and his wifeadored Louis, their only child, and never contradicted him inanything.At the age of five Louis had begun by reading the Old and NewTestaments; and these two Books, including so many books, had seal
The Past Condition of Organic Natureby Thomas H. HuxleyIN the lecture which I delivered last Monday evening, I endeavoured tosketch in a very brief manner, but as well as the time at my disposalwould permit, the present condition of organic nature, meaning by thatlarge title simply an indication of the great, broad, and generalprinciples which are to be discovered by those who look attentively atthe phenomena of organic nature as at present displayed. The generalresult of our investigations might be summed up thus: we found that themultiplicity of the forms of animal life, great as that may
The Confessions of a Summer Colonistby William Dean HowellsThe season is ending in the little summer settlement on the Down Eastcoast where I have been passing the last three months, and with eachloath day the sense of its peculiar charm grows more poignant.A prescience of the homesickness I shall feel for it when I go alreadybegins to torment me, and I find myself wishing to imagine some form ofwords which shall keep a likeness of it at least through the winter; someshadowy semblance which I may turn to hereafter if any chance or changeshould destroy or transform it, or, what is more likely,
American Literary Centersby William Dean HowellsOne of the facts which we Americans have a difficulty in making clear toa rather inattentive world outside is that, while we have apparently aliterature of our own, we have no literary centre. We have so muchliterature that from time to time it seems even to us we must have aliterary centre. We say to ourselves, with a good deal of logic, Wherethere is so much smoke there must be some fire, or at least a fireplace.But it is just here that, misled by tradition, and even by history, wedeceive ourselves. Really, we have no fireplace for such fir
The Dominion of the Airby J. M. BaconCHAPTER I. THE DAWN OF AERONAUTICS."He that would learn to fly must be brought up to the constant practice of it from his youth, trying first only to use his wings as a tame goose will do, so by degrees learning to rise higher till he attain unto skill and confidence."So wrote Wilkins, Bishop of Chester, who was reckoned a man of genius and learning in the days of the Commonwealth. But so soon as we come to inquire into the matter we find that this good Bishop was borrowing from the ideas of others who had gone before him; and, look back as far as we wil
THREE MEN ON THE BUMMELTHREE MEN ON THEBUMMELby Jerome K. Jerome1- Page 2-THREE MEN ON THE BUMMELCHAPTER IThree men need changeAnecdote showing evil result of deceptionMoral cowardice of GeorgeHarris has ideasYarn of the AncientMariner and the Inexperienced YachtsmanA hearty crewDanger ofsailing when the wind is off the landImpossibility of sailing when the...
The Libraryby Andrew LangContents:PREFATORY NOTEAN APOLOGY FOR THE BOOK-HUNTERTHE LIBRARYTHE BOOKS OF THE COLLECTORILLUSTRATED BOOKSBooks, books again, and books once more!These are our theme, which some miscallMere madness, setting little storeBy copies either short or tall.But you, O slaves of shelf and stall!We rather write for you that holdPatched folios dear, and prize "the small,Rare volume, black with tarnished gold."A. D.PREFATORY NOTEThe pages in this volume on illuminated and other MSS. (with the exception of some anecdotes about Bussy Rabutin and Julie de Rambouillet) have been con
FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE MONEY-BOXby Hans Christian AndersenIN a nursery where a number of toys lay scattered about, amoney-box stood on the top of a very high wardrobe. It was made ofclay in the shape of a pig, and had been bought of the potter. Inthe back of the pig was a slit, and this slit had been enlarged with aknife, so that dollars, or crown pieces, might slip through; and,indeed there were two in the box, besides a number of pence. Themoney-pig was stuffed so full that it could no longer rattle, which is...
FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE BRAVE TIN SOLDIERby Hans Christian AndersenTHERE were once five-and-twenty tin soldiers, who were allbrothers, for they had been made out of the same old tin spoon. Theyshouldered arms and looked straight before them, and wore a splendiduniform, red and blue. The first thing in the world they ever heardwere the words, "Tin soldiers!" uttered by a little boy, who clappedhis hands with delight when the lid of the box, in which they lay, wastaken off. They were given him for a birthday present, and he stood at...
A YELLOW DOGI never knew why in the Western States of America a yellow dogshould be proverbially considered the acme of canine degradationand incompetency, nor why the possession of one should seriouslyaffect the social standing of its possessor. But the fact beingestablished, I think we accepted it at Rattlers Ridge withoutquestion. The matter of ownership was more difficult to settle;and although the dog I have in my mind at the present writingattached himself impartially and equally to everyone in camp, noone ventured to exclusively claim him; while, after the...
MARCELLUS268?-208 B.C.by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenTHEY say that Marcus Claudius, who was five times consul of theRomans, was the son of Marcus; and that he was the first of his familycalled Marcellus; that is, martial, as Posidonius affirms. He was,indeed, by long experience, skilful in the art of war, of a strongbody, valiant of hand, and by natural inclinations addicted to war.This high temper and heat he showed conspicuously in battle; in...
The Drums Of Jeopardyby Harold MacGrathCHAPTER IA fast train drew into Albany, on the New York Central, from theWest. It was three-thirty of a chill March morning in the firstyear of peace. A pall of fog lay over the world so heavy thatit beaded the face and hands and deposited a fairy diamond dustupon wool. The station lights had the visibility of stars, andlike the stars were without refulgence - a pale golden aureola,perhaps three feet in diameter, and beyond, nothing. The fewpassengers who alighted and the train itself had the same nebulosityof drab fish in a dim aquarium....
The Large Catechismby Dr. Martin LutherTranslated by F. Bente and W. H. T. DauPrefaceA Christian, Profitable, and Necessary Preface and Faithful, EarnestExhortation of Dr. Martin Luther to All Christians, but Especially toAll Pastors and Preachers, that They Should Daily Exercise Themselvesin the Catechism, which is a Short Summary and Epitome of the EntireHoly Scriptures, and that they May Always Teach the Same.We have no slight reasons for treating the Catechism so constantly [inSermons] and for both desiring and beseeching others to teach it, since...
INDIAN HEROES AND GREAT CHIEFTAINSINDIAN HEROES ANDGREAT CHIEFTAINSBYCHARLES A. EASTMAN (OHIYESA)1- Page 2-INDIAN HEROES AND GREAT CHIEFTAINSRED CLOUDEVERY age, every race, has its leaders and heroes. There were oversixty distinct tribes of Indians on this continent, each of which boasted itsnotable men. The names and deeds of some of these men will live in...