The Wife and Other Storiesby Anton ChekhovTranslated by CONSTANCE GARNETTCONTENTSThe WifeDifficult PeopleThe GrasshopperA Dreary StoryThe Privy CouncillorThe Man in CaseGooseberriesAbout LoveThe Lottery TicketTHE WIFEII RECEIVED the following letter:"DEAR SIR, PAVEL ANDREITCH!"Not far from you that is to say, in the village of Pestrovo very distressing incidents are taking place, concerning which I feel it my duty to write to you. All the peasants of that village sold their cottages and all their belongings, and set off for the province of Tomsk, but did not succeed in getting there, and ha
At the Back of the North Windby George MacDonaldCHAPTER ITHE HAY-LOFTI HAVE been asked to tell you about the back of the north wind.An old Greek writer mentions a people who lived there,and were so comfortable that they could not bear it any longer,and drowned themselves. My story is not the same as his.I do not think Herodotus had got the right account of the place.I am going to tell you how it fared with a boy who went there.He lived in a low room over a coach-house; and that was not by anymeans at the back of the north wind, as his mother very well knew....
Balladsby Robert Louis StevensonTHE SONG OF RAHEROA LEGEND OF TAHITITO ORI A ORIORI, my brother in the island mode,In every tongue and meaning much my friend,This story of your country and your clan,In your loved house, your too much honoured guest,I made in English. Take it, being done;And let me sign it with the name you gave.TERIITERA.I. THE SLAYING OF TAMATEAIT fell in the days of old, as the men of Taiarapu tell,A youth went forth to the fishing, and fortune favoured him well....
MANIFESTO OF THE COMMUNIST PARTYFrom the English edition of 1888, edited by Friedrich EngelsTranscribed by allen lutinswith assistance from Jim TarziaA spectre is haunting Europe the spectre of Communism.All the Powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance toexorcise this spectre: Pope and Czar, Metternich and Guizot,French Radicals and German police-spies.Where is the party in opposition that has not been decried asCommunistic by its opponents in power? Where the Opposition...
Once there was a miller who was poor, but who had a beautifuldaughter. Now it happened that he had to go and speak to theking, and in order to make himself appear important he saidto him, I have a daughter who can spin straw into gold. Theking said to the miller, that is an art whichpleases me well, if your daughter is as clever as you say, bringher to-morrow to my palace, and I will put her to the test.And when the girl was brought to him he took her into a roomwhich was quite full of straw, gave her a spinning-wheel and areel, and said, now set to work, and if by to-morrow morning...
LYCURGUSLegendary, 9th Century B.C.by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenThere is so much uncertainty in the accounts which historians haveleft us of Lycurgus, the lawgiver of Sparta, that scarcely anything isasserted by one of them which is not called into question orcontradicted by the rest. Their sentiments are quite different as tothe family he came of, the voyages he undertook, the place andmanner of his death, but most of all when they speak of the laws he...
The Conditions of Existenceby Thomas H. HuxleyIN the last Lecture I endeavoured to prove to you that, while, as ageneral rule, organic beings tend to reproduce their kind, there is inthem, also, a constantly recurring tendency to varyto vary to agreater or to a less extent. Such a variety, I pointed out to you,might arise from causes which we do not understand; we therefore calledit spontaneous; and it might come into existence as a definite andmarked thing, without any gradations between itself and the form whichpreceded it. I further pointed out, that such a variety having once...
CORIOLANUSLegendary, 5th Century B.C.by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenTHE patrician house of the Marcii in Rome produced many men ofdistinction, and among the rest, Ancus Marcius, grandson to Numa byhis daughter, and king after Tullus Hostilius; of the same family werealso Publius and Quintus Marcius, which two conveyed into the city thebest and most abundant supply of water they have at Rome. Aslikewise Censorinus, who, having been twice chosen censor by the...
The Voice of the CityThe Voice of the CityO Henry1- Page 2-The Voice of the CityTHE VOICE OF THE CITYTwenty-five years ago the school children used to chant their lessons.The manner of their delivery was a singsong recitative between theutterance of an Episcopal minister and the drone of a tired sawmill. I meanno disrespect. We must have lumber and sawdust....
On Public Creditby David HumeIt appears to have been the common practice of antiquity,make provision, during peace, for the necessities of war, and tohoard up treasures before-hand, as the instruments either ofconquest or defence; without trusting to extraordinaryimpositions, much less to borrowing, in times of disorder andconfusion. Besides the immense sums above mentioned, which wereamassed by ATHENS, and by the PTOLEMIES, and other successors ofALEXANDER; we learn from PLATO, that the frugal LACEDEMONIANS hadalso collected a great treasure; and ARRIAN and PLUTARCH take...
BOOK II: OF THE TRAVELLING OF THE UTOPIANSIF any man has a mind to visit his friends that live in some othertown, or desires to travel and see the rest of the country, heobtains leave very easily from the syphogrant and tranibors whenthere is no particular occasion for him at home: such as travel,carry with them a passport from the Prince, which both certifiesthe license that is granted for travelling, and limits the time oftheir return. They are furnished with a wagon, and a slave who...
Cambridge Piecesby Samuel ButlerContents:On English Composition and Other MattersOur TourTranslation from an Unpublished Work of HerodotusThe shield of Achilles, with variationsProspectus of the Great Split SocietyPowersA skit on examinationsAn Eminent PersonNapoleon at St. HelenaTHE TWO DEANSThe Battle of Alma MaterOn the Italian PriesthoodSamuel Butler and the SimeonitesON ENGLISH COMPOSITION AND OTHER MATTERSThis essay is believed to be the first composition by Samuel Butler...
Flatland: A Romance of Many DimensionsEdwin A. Abbott (1838-1926. English scholar, theologian, and writer.)ToThe Inhabitants of SPACE IN GENERALAnd H. C. IN PARTICULARThis Work is DedicatedBy a Humble Native of FlatlandIn the Hope thatEven as he was Initiated into the MysteriesOf THREE DimensionsHaving been previously conversantWith ONLY TWO...
1593VENUS AND ADONISby William ShakespeareVilia miretur vulgus; mihi flavus ApolloPocula Castalia plena ministret aquaTO THERIGHT HONOURABLEHENRY WRIOTHESLEY,EARL OF SOUTHAMPTON, AND BARONOF TITCHFIELDRight Honourable,I know not how I shall offend in dedicating my unpolished lines toyour lordship, nor how the world will censure me for choosing so...
THE SEVENTH LETTERby Platotranslated by J. HarwardPLATO TO THE RELATIVES AND FRIENDS OF DION. WELFARE.You write to me that I must consider your views the same as those ofDion, and you urge me to aid your cause so far as I can in word anddeed. My answer is that, if you have the same opinion and desire as hehad, I consent to aid your cause; but if not, I shall think morethan once about it. Now what his purpose and desire was, I caninform you from no mere conjecture but from positive knowledge. For...
ITALIAN WITHOUT A MASTERIt is almost a fortnight now that I am domiciled in a medievalvilla in the country, a mile or two from Florence. I cannot speakthe language; I am too old not to learn how, also too busy when Iam busy, and too indolent when I am not; wherefore some willimagine that I am having a dull time of it. But it is not so.The "help" are all natives; they talk Italian to me, I answerin English; I do not understand them, they do not understand me,consequently no harm is done, and everybody is satisfied. In orderto be just and fair, I throw in an Italian word when I have one,...