The Lady, or the Tiger?by Frank R. StocktonIn the very olden time there lived a semi-barbaric king, whoseideas, though somewhat polished and sharpened by theprogressiveness of distant Latin neighbors, were still large,florid, and untrammeled, as became the half of him which wasbarbaric. He was a man of exuberant fancy, and, withal, of anauthority so irresistible that, at his will, he turned his variedfancies into facts. He was greatly given to self-communing, and,when he and himself agreed upon anything, the thing was done.When every member of his domestic and political systems moved...　

The Lifted Veilby George Eliot [Mary Anne Evans]CHAPTER IThe time of my end approaches. I have lately been subject toattacks of angina pectoris; and in the ordinary course of things,my physician tells me, I may fairly hope that my life will not beprotracted many months. Unless, then, I am cursed with anexceptional physical constitution, as I am cursed with anexceptional mental character, I shall not much longer groan underthe wearisome burthen of this earthly existence. If it were to beotherwiseif I were to live on to the age most men desire andprovide forI should for once have known wheth　

THE MYSTERIOUS PORTRAITPART INowhere did so many people pause as before the little picture-shop inthe Shtchukinui Dvor. This little shop contained, indeed, the mostvaried collection of curiosities. The pictures were chieflyoil-paintings covered with dark varnish, in frames of dingy yellow.Winter scenes with white trees; very red sunsets, like ragingconflagrations, a Flemish boor, more like a turkey-cock in cuffs thana human being, were the prevailing subjects. To these must be added afew engravings, such as a portrait of Khozreff-Mirza in a sheepskin...　

April Hopesby William Dean HowellsFrom his place on the floor of the Hemenway Gymnasium Mr. Elbridge G.Mavering looked on at the Class Day gaiety with the advantage which hisstature, gave him over most people there. Hundreds of these were prettygirls, in a great variety of charming costumes, such as the eclecticismof modern fashion permits, and all sorts of ingenious compromises betweenwalking dress and ball dress. It struck him that the young men on whosearms they hung, in promenading around the long oval within the crowd ofstationary spectators, were very much younger than students used t　

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 Divine Comedyby DANTE ALIGHIERI(1265-1321)TRANSLATED BYHENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW(1807-1882)Incipit Comoedia Dantis Alagherii,Florentini natione, non moribus.The Divine Comedytranslated by Henry Wadsworth LongfellowINFERNOInferno: Canto IMidway upon the journey of our lifeI found myself within a forest dark,For the straightforward pathway had been lost.Ah me! how hard a thing it is to sayWhat was this forest savage, rough, and stern,Which in the very thought renews the fear.So bitter is it, death is little more;...　

The Essays of Montaigne, V15by Michel de MontaigneTranslated by Charles CottonEdited by William Carew Hazilitt1877CONTENTS OF VOLUME 15.V. Upon Some verses of Virgil.CHAPTER VUPON SOME VERSES OF VIRGILCHAPTER V.By how much profitable thoughts are more full and solid, by so much arethey also more cumbersome and heavy: vice, death, poverty, diseases, aregrave and grievous subjects. A man should have his soul instructed inthe means to sustain and to contend with evils, and in the rules ofliving and believing well: and often rouse it up, and exercise it in this...　

SHERLOCK HOLMESTHE ADVENTURE OF THE PRIORY SCHOOLby Sir Arthur Conan DoyleTHE ADVENTURE OF THE PRIORY SCHOOLWe have had some dramatic entrances and exits upon our small stageat Baker Street, but I cannot recollect anything more sudden andstartling than the first appearance of Thorneycroft Huxtable, M.A.,Ph.D., etc. His card, which seemed too small to carry the weight ofhis academic distinctions, preceded him by a few seconds, and thenhe entered himself- so large, so pompous, and so dignified that he was...　

TANGLEWOOD TALESTANGLEWOOD TALESby NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE1- Page 2-TANGLEWOOD TALESTHE WAYSIDE.INTRODUCTORY.A short time ago, I was favored with a flying visit from my youngfriend Eustace Bright, whom I had not before met with since quitting thebreezy mountains of Berkshire. It being the winter vacation at his college,Eustace was allowing himself a little relaxation, in the hope, he told me, of...　

THE VOICE OF DEATHONCE upon a time there lived a man whose one wish and prayerwas to get rich. Day and night he thought of nothing else,and at last his prayers were granted, and he became very wealthy.Now being so rich, and having so much to lose, he felt that it wouldbe a terrible thing to die and leave all his possessions behind; so hemade up his mind to set out in search of a land where there was nodeath. He got ready for his journey, took leave of his wife, andstarted. Whenever he came to a new country the first questionthat he asked was whether people died in that land, and when he...　

Riders of the Purple Sageby Zane GreyCHAPTER I. LASSITERA sharp clip-crop of iron-shod hoofs deadened and died away, and clouds of yellow dust drifted from under the cottonwoods out over the sage.Jane Withersteen gazed down the wide purple slope with dreamy and troubled eyes. A rider had just left her and it was his message that held her thoughtful and almost sad, awaiting the churchmen who were coming to resent and attack her right to befriend a Gentile.She wondered if the unrest and strife that had lately come to the little village of Cottonwoods was to involve her. And then she sighed, rem　

The Dark Flowerby John Galsworthy"Take the flower from my breast, I pray thee,Take the flower too from out my tresses;And then go hence, for see, the night is fair,The stars rejoice to watch thee on thy way."From "The Bard of the Dimbovitza."THE DARK FLOWERPart ISpringIHe walked along Holywell that afternoon of early June with hisshort gown drooping down his arms, and no cap on his thick darkhair. A youth of middle height, and built as if he had come of twovery different strains, one sturdy, the other wiry and light. Hisface, too, was a curious blend, for, though it was strongly formed,...　

The Patagoniaby Henry JamesCHAPTER IThe houses were dark in the August night and the perspective ofBeacon Street, with its double chain of lamps, was a foreshorteneddesert. The club on the hill alone, from its semi-cylindrical front,projected a glow upon the dusky vagueness of the Common, and as Ipassed it I heard in the hot stillness the click of a pair ofbilliard-balls. As "every one" was out of town perhaps the servants,in the extravagance of their leisure, were profaning the tables. Theheat was insufferable and I thought with joy of the morrow, of the...　

PERICLES490?-429 B.C.by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenCAESAR once, seeing some wealthy strangers at Rome, carrying upand down with them in their arms and bosoms young puppy-dogs andmonkeys, embracing and making much of them, took occasion notunnaturally to ask whether the women in their country were not used tobear children; by that prince-like reprimand gravely reflecting uponpersons who spend and lavish upon brute beasts that affection and...　

Four Short Playsby John GalsworthyCONTENTS:HALL-MARKEDDEFEATTHE SUNPUNCH AND GOHALL-MARKEDA SATIRIC TRIFLECHARACTERSHERSELF.LADY ELLA.THE SQUIRE.THE MAID.MAUD.THE RECTOR.THE DOCTOR.THE CABMAN.HANNIBAL and EDWARDHALL-MARKEDThe scene is the sitting-room and verandah of HER bungalow.The room is pleasant, and along the back, where the verandahruns, it seems all window, both French and casement. There is adoor right and a door left. The day is bright; the time...　

Mementos of Boabdil.WHILE my mind was still warm with the subject of the unfortunateBoabdil, I set forth to trace the mementos of him still existing inthis scene of his sovereignty and misfortunes. In the Tower ofComares, immediately under the Hall of Ambassadors, are two vaultedrooms, separated by a narrow passage; these are said to have beenthe prisons of himself and his mother, the virtuous Ayxa la Horra;indeed, no other part of the tower would have served for thepurpose. The external walls of these chambers are of prodigious...