THE HOLLY-TREETHREE BRANCHESTHE HOLLY-TREETHREE BRANCHES1- Page 2-THE HOLLY-TREETHREE BRANCHESFIRST BRANCHMYSELFI have kept one secret in the course of my life. I am a bashful man.Nobody would suppose it, nobody ever does suppose it, nobody ever didsuppose it, but I am naturally a bashful man. This is the secret which Ihave never breathed until now.I might greatly move the reader by some account of the innumerable...
The Coming Raceby Edward Bulwer LyttonChapter I.I am a native of _____, in the United States of America. My ancestors migrated from England in the reign of Charles II.; and my grandfather was not undistinguished in the War of Independence. My family, therefore, enjoyed a somewhat high social position in right of birth; and being also opulent, they were considered disqualified for the public service. My father once ran for Congress, but was signally defeated by his tailor. After that event he interfered little in politics, and lived much in his library. I was the eldest of three sons, and
Eminent Victoriansby Lytton StracheyPrefaceTHE history of the Victorian Age will never be written; we knowtoo much about it. For ignorance is the first requisite of thehistorianignorance, which simplifies and clarifies, whichselects and omits, with a placid perfection unattainable by thehighest art. Concerning the Age which has just passed, ourfathers and our grandfathers have poured forth and accumulated sovast a quantity of information that the industry of a Ranke wouldbe submerged by it, and the perspicacity of a Gibbon would quail...
Barlaam and Ioasaphby St. John of DamascusIt is not known where or when this story was written, but it is believed to have been translated into Greek (possibly from a Georgian original) sometime in the 11th Century A.D. Although the ultimate author is usually referred to as "John the Monk", it has been traditionally ascribed to St. John of Damascus.BARLAAM AND IOASAPHAN EDIFYING STORY FROM THE INNER LAND OF THE ETHIOPIANS, CALLED THE LAND OF THE INDIANS, THENCE BROUGHT TO THE HOLY CITY, BY JOHN THE MONK (AN HONOURABLE MAN AND A VIRTUOUS, OF THE MONASTERY OF SAINT SABAS); WHEREIN ARE THE LIVE
The Man Who Could Not Loseby Richard Harding DavisThe Carters had married in haste and refused to repent at leisure.So blindly were they in love, that they considered their marriagetheir greatest asset. The rest of the world, as represented bymutual friends, considered it the only thing that could be urgedagainst either of them. While single, each had been popular. As abachelor, young "Champ" Carter had filled his modest placeacceptably. Hostesses sought him for dinners and week-end parties,men of his own years, for golf and tennis, and young girls likedhim because when he talked to one of th
FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE LITTLE MERMAIDby Hans Christian AndersenFAR out in the ocean, where the water is as blue as theprettiest cornflower, and as clear as crystal, it is very, verydeep; so deep, indeed, that no cable could fathom it: many churchsteeples, piled one upon another, would not reach from the groundbeneath to the surface of the water above. There dwell the Sea Kingand his subjects. We must not imagine that there is nothing at thebottom of the sea but bare yellow sand. No, indeed; the most...
The Plays of W. E. Henley and R. L. StevensonWilliam Ernest Henley and Robert Louis StevensonHenley is best known for this quote from Invictus:"I am the master of my fate,I am the captain of my soul."INVICTUSOut of the night that covers me,Black as the pit from pole to pole,I think whatever gods may befor my unconquerable soul.In the fell clutch of circumstanceI have not winced nor cried aloud.Under the bludgeonings of chanceMy head is bloody, but unbowed.Beyond this place of wrath and tearsLooms but the Horror of the shade,And yet the menace of the years...
The Pond in WinterAfter a still winter night I awoke with the impression that somequestion had been put to me, which I had been endeavoring in vain toanswer in my sleep, as what how when where? But there wasdawning Nature, in whom all creatures live, looking in at my broadwindows with serene and satisfied face, and no question on her lips.I awoke to an answered question, to Nature and daylight. The snowlying deep on the earth dotted with young pines, and the very slopeof the hill on which my house is placed, seemed to say, Forward!...
Half a Life-Time Agoby Elizabeth GaskellCHAPTER I.Half a life-time ago, there lived in one of the Westmoreland dales asingle woman, of the name of Susan Dixon. She was owner of the smallfarm-house where she resided, and of some thirty or forty acres ofland by which it was surrounded. She had also an hereditary right toa sheep-walk, extending to the wild fells that overhang Blea Tarn.In the language of the country she was a Stateswoman. Her house isyet to be seen on the Oxenfell road, between Skelwith and Coniston....
Adventure VThe Musgrave RitualAn anomaly which often struck me in the character ofmy friend Sherlock Holmes was that, although in hismethods of thought he was the neatest and mostmethodical of mankind, and although also he affected acertain quiet primness of dress, he was none the lessin his personal habits one of the most untidy men thatever drove a fellow-lodger to distraction. Not that Iam in the least conventional in that respect myself.The rough-and-tumble work in Afghanistan, coming onthe top of a natural Bohemianism of disposition, has...
ON THE GAIT OF ANIMALSby Aristotletranslated by A. S. L. Farquharson1WE have now to consider the parts which are useful to animals formovement in place (locomotion); first, why each part is such as itis and to what end they possess them; and second, the differencesbetween these parts both in one and the same creature, and again bycomparison of the parts of creatures of different species with oneanother. First then let us lay down how many questions we have to...
A History of Science, Volume 1by Henry Smith Williams, M.D., LL.D.ASSISTED BYEDWARD H. WILLIAMS, M.D.IN FIVE VOLUMESVOLUME I.THE BEGINNINGS OF SCIENCEBOOK I.CONTENTSCHAPTER I. PREHISTORIC SCIENCECHAPTER II. EGYPTIAN SCIENCECHAPTER III. SCIENCE OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIACHAPTER IV. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ALPHABETCHAPTER V. THE BEGINNINGS OF GREEK SCIENCECHAPTER VI. THE EARLY GREEK PHILOSOPHERS IN ITALYCHAPTER VII. GREEK SCIENCE IN THE EARLY ATTIC PERIODCHAPTER VIII. POST-SOCRATIC SCIENCE AT ATHENSCHAPTER IX. GREEK SCIENCE OF THE ALEXANDRIAN OR HELLENISTIC...
Polyuecteby Pierre CorneilleTranslated by Thomas ConstableINTRODUCTORY NOTEPierre Corneille was born in Rouen in 1606, the son of an official;was educated by the Jesuits, and practised unsuccessfully as a lawyer.His dramatic career began with the comedy of "Melite," but it was byhis "Medee" that he first proved his tragic genius. "The Cid" appearedin 1636, and a series of masterpieces followed"Horace," "Cinna,""Polyeucte," "Le Menteur." After a failure in "Pertharite" he retiredfrom the stage, deeply hurt by the disapproval of his audience. Six...
The Golden Thresholdby Sarojini NaiduWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ARTHUR SYMONSDEDICATED TO EDMUND GOSSE WHO FIRST SHOWED ME THE WAY TO THEGOLDEN THRESHOLDLondon, 1896 Hyderabad, 1905CONTENTSFOLK SONGSPalanquin-BearersWandering SingersIndian WeaversCoromandel FishersThe Snake-CharmerCorn-GrindersVillage-SongIn Praise of HennaHarvest HymnIndian Love-SongCradle-SongSutteeSONGS FOR MUSICSong of a DreamHumayun to ZobeidaAutumn Song Alabaster...
Second AprilEdna St. Vincent MillayTOMY BELOVED FRIENDCAROLINE B. DOWCONTENTSSPRING INLANDCITY TREES TO A POET THAT DIED YOUNGTHE BLUE-FLAG IN THE BOG WRAITHJOURNEY EBBEEL-GRASS ELAINEELEGY BEFORE DEATH BURIALTHE BEAN-STALK MARIPOSAWEEDS THE LITTLE HILLPASSER MORTUUS EST DOUBT NO MORE THAT OBERONPASTORAL LAMENT...
Vailima Lettersby Robert Louis StevensonCHAPTER IIN THE MOUNTAIN, APIA, SAMOA,MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2ND, 1890MY DEAR COLVIN, - This is a hard and interesting andbeautiful life that we lead now. Our place is in a deepcleft of Vaea Mountain, some six hundred feet above the sea,embowered in forest, which is our strangling enemy, and whichwe combat with axes and dollars. I went crazy over outdoorwork, and had at last to confine myself to the house, orliterature must have gone by the board. NOTHING is sointeresting as weeding, clearing, and path-making; the...