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....　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENLITTLE TUKby Hans Christian AndersenYES, they called him Little Tuk, but it was not his real name;he had called himself so before he could speak plainly, and he meantit for Charles. It was all very well for those who knew him, but notfor strangers.Little Tuk was left at home to take care of his little sister,Gustava, who was much younger than himself, and he had to learn hislessons at the same time, and the two things could not very well be...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE UGLY DUCKLINGby Hans Christian AndersenIT was lovely summer weather in the country, and the goldencorn, the green oats, and the haystacks piled up in the meadows lookedbeautiful. The stork walking about on his long red legs chattered inthe Egyptian language, which he had learnt from his mother. Thecorn-fields and meadows were surrounded by large forests, in the midstof which were deep pools. It was, indeed, delightful to walk aboutin the country. In a sunny spot stood a pleasant old farm-house...　

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...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE STORY OF A MOTHERby Hans Christian AndersenA MOTHER sat by her little child; she was very sad, for she fearedit would die. It was quite pale, and its little eyes were closed,and sometimes it drew a heavy deep breath, almost like a sigh; andthen the mother gazed more sadly than ever on the poor littlecreature. Some one knocked at the door, and a poor old man walkedin. He was wrapped in something that looked like a greathorse-cloth; and he required it truly to keep him warm, for it was...　

The Song Book of Quong Lee of Limehouseby Thomas BurkeBuying and SellingThroughout the day I sit behind the counter of my shopAnd the odours of my country are all about meAreca nut, and betel leaf, and manioc,Lychee and suey sen,Li-un and dried seaweed,Tchah and sam-shu;And these carry my mind to half-forgotten daysWhen tales were plentiful and care was hard to hold.All day I sell for trifling sums the wares of my own land,And buy for many cash such things as people wish to sell,That I may sell them again to others,With some profit to myself....　

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 　

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...　

A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotlandby Samuel JohnsonINCH KEITHI had desired to visit the Hebrides, or Western Islands ofScotland, so long, that I scarcely remember how the wish wasoriginally excited; and was in the Autumn of the year 1773 inducedto undertake the journey, by finding in Mr. Boswell a companion,whose acuteness would help my inquiry, and whose gaiety ofconversation and civility of manners are sufficient to counteractthe inconveniences of travel, in countries less hospitable than wehave passed.On the eighteenth of August we left Edinburgh, a city too well...　

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,　

A Sappho of Green Springsby Bret HarteCONTENTSA SAPPHO OF GREEN SPRINGSTHE CHATELAINE OF BURNT RIDGETHROUGH THE SANTA CLARA WHEATA MAECENAS OF THE PACIFIC SLOPEA SAPPHO OF GREEN SPRINGSCHAPTER I"Come in," said the editor.The door of the editorial room of the "Excelsior Magazine" began tocreak painfully under the hesitating pressure of an uncertain andunfamiliar hand. This continued until with a start of irritationthe editor faced directly about, throwing his leg over the arm of...　

Winesburg, Ohioby SHERWOOD ANDERSONCONTENTSTHE TALES AND THE PERSONSTHE BOOK OF THE GROTESQUEHANDS, concerning Wing BiddlebaumPAPER PILLS, concerning Doctor ReefyMOTHER, concerning Elizabeth WillardTHE PHILOSOPHER, concerning Doctor ParcivalNOBODY KNOWS, concerning Louise TrunnionGODLINESS, a Tale in Four PartsI, concerning Jesse BentleyII, also concerning Jesse BentleyIII Surrender, concerning Louise BentleyIV Terror, concerning David HardyTo the memory of my mother,EMMA SMITH ANDERSON,...　

THE COMPARISON OF DEMOSTHENES AND CICEROby Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenTHESE are the most memorable circumstances recorded in history ofDemosthenes and Cicero which have come to our knowledge. Butomitting an exact comparison of their respective faculties inspeaking, yet thus much seems fit to be said; that Demosthenes, tomake himself a master in rhetoric, applied all the faculties he had,natural or acquired, wholly that way that he far surpassed in forceand strength of eloquence all his contemporaries in political and...　

THE WITCH [28][28] From the Russian.Once upon a time there was a peasant whose wife died, leaving himwith two childrentwinsa boy and a girl. For some years thepoor man lived on alone with the children, caring for them asbest he could; but everything in the house seemed to go wrongwithout a woman to look after it, and at last he made up his mindto marry again, feeling that a wife would bring peace and orderto his household and take care of his motherless children. So hemarried, and in the following years several children were born tohim; but peace and order did not come to the household. Fo　

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...　

Queen Victoriaby Lytton StracheyCONTENTSCHAPTERI. ANTECEDENTSII. CHILDHOODIII. LORD MELBOURNEIV. MARRIAGEV. LORD PALMERSTONVI. LAST YEARS OF THE PRINCE CONSORTVII. WIDOWHOODVIII. MR. GLADSTONE AND LORD BEACONSFIELDIX. OLD AGEX. THE ENDBIBLIOGRAPHYQUEEN VICTORIACHAPTER I. ANTECEDENTSIOn November 6, 1817, died the Princess Charlotte, only child of the Prince Regent, and heir to the crown of England. Her short life had hardly been a happy one. By nature impulsive, capricious, and vehement, she had always longed for liberty; and she had never possessed it. She had been brought