A Prince of Bohemiaby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Clara Bell and othersDEDICATIONTo Henri Heine.I inscribe this to you, my dear Heine, to you that represent inParis the ideas and poetry of Germany, in Germany the lively andwitty criticism of France; for you better than any other will knowwhatsoever this Study may contain of criticism and of jest, oflove and truth.DE BALZAC.A PRINCE OF BOHEMIA"My dear friend," said Mme. de la Baudraye, drawing a pile ofmanuscript from beneath her sofa cushion, "will you pardon me in ourpresent straits for making a short story of something which you toldme a few weeks ago?"...
The Outletby Andy AdamsPREFACEAt the close of the civil war the need for a market for the surplus cattle of Texas was as urgent as it was general. There had been numerous experiments in seeking an outlet, and there is authority for the statement that in 1857 Texas cattle were driven to Illinois. Eleven years later forty thousand head were sent to the mouth of Red River in Louisiana, shipped by boat to Cairo, Illinois, and thence inland by rail. Fever resulted, and the experiment was never repeated. To the west of Texas stretched a forbidding desert, while on the other hand, nearly every drive to Louisiana resulted in financial disaster to the drover. The republic of Mexico, on the south, af
The Pension Beaurepasby Henry JamesCHAPTER I.I was not richon the contrary; and I had been told the PensionBeaurepas was cheap. I had, moreover, been told that a boarding-house is a capital place for the study of human nature. I had afancy for a literary career, and a friend of mine had said to me, "Ifyou mean to write you ought to go and live in a boarding-house; thereis no other such place to pick up material." I had read something ofthis kind in a letter addressed by Stendhal to his sister: "I have apassionate desire to know human nature, and have a great mind to livein a boarding-house, where people cannot conceal their realcharacters." I was an admirer of La Chartreuse de Parme, a
The Second Funeral of Napoleonby William Makepeace Thackeray"by Michael Angelo Titmarch."I. On the Disinterment of Napoleon at St. HelenaII. On the Voyage from St. Helena to ParisIII. On the Funeral CeremonyI.ON THE DISINTERMENT OF NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA.MY DEAR ,It is no easy task in this world to distinguishbetween what is great in it, and what is mean; and many and many isthe puzzle that I have had in reading History (or the works offiction which go by that name), to know whether I should laud up tothe skies, and endeavor, to the best of my small capabilities, toimitate the remarkable character about whom I was reading, or...
FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE LAST PEARLby Hans Christian AndersenWE are in a rich, happy house, where the master, the servants, thefriends of the family are full of joy and felicity. For on this daya son and heir has been born, and mother and child are doing well. Thelamp in the bed-chamber had been partly shaded, and the windows werecovered with heavy curtains of some costly silken material. The carpetwas thick and soft, like a covering of moss. Everything invited toslumber, everything had a charming look of repose; and so the nursehad discovered, for she slept; and well she might sleep, while...
ANTHEMANTHEMby Ayn Rand1- Page 2-ANTHEMPART ONEIt is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think andto put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil. Itis as if we were speaking alone to no ears but our own. And we know wellthat there is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone. We havebroken the laws. The laws say that men may not write unless the Councilof Vocations bid them so. May we be forgiven!...
THE FORTY THIEVESIN a town in Persia there dwelt two brothers, one namedCassim, the other Ali Baba. Cassim was married to arich wife and lived in plenty, while Ali Baba had to maintainhis wife and children by cutting wood in a neighboringforest and selling it in the town. One day, when AliBaba was in the forest, he saw a troop of men on horseback,coming toward him in a cloud of dust. He wasafraid they were robbers, and climbed into a tree forsafety. When they came up to him and dismounted, hecounted forty of them. They unbridled their horses andtied them to trees. The finest man among them, whomAli Baba took to be their captain, went a little way among...
RECOLLECTIONS OF THE PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON, V2BY CONSTANTPREMIER VALET DE CHAMBRETRANSLATED BY WALTER CLARKCONTENTS:CHAPTER VII. to CHAPTER XII.CHAPTER VII.In the month of May, 1801, there came to Paris, on his way to takepossession of his new kingdom, the Prince of Tuscany, Don Louis theFirst, whom the First Consul had just made King of Etruria. He traveledunder the name of the Count of Leghorn, with his wife, who was theinfanta of Spain, Maria Louisa, third daughter of Charles the Fourth; butin spite of the incognito, which, from the modest title he had assumed,he seemed really anxious to preserve, especially, perhaps, on account of...
Memoirs of Carwin the BiloquistCharles Brockden BrownChapter I.I was the second son of a farmer, whose place of residence was a western district of Pennsylvania. My eldest brother seemed fitted by nature for the employment to which he was destined. His wishes never led him astray from the hay-stack and the furrow. His ideas never ranged beyond the sphere of his vision, or suggested the possibility that to-morrow could differ from to-day. He could read and write, because he had no alternative between learning the lesson prescribed to him, and punishment. He was diligent, as long as fear urged him forward, but his exertions ceased with the cessation of this motive. The limits of his acq
THE CROW[13][13] From the Polish. Kletke.Once upon a time there were three Princesses who were all threeyoung and beautiful; but the youngest, although she was notfairer than the other two, was the most loveable of them all.About half a mile from the palace in which they lived there stooda castle, which was uninhabited and almost a ruin, but the gardenwhich surrounded it was a mass of blooming flowers, and in thisgarden the youngest Princess used often to walk.One day when she was pacing to and fro under the lime trees, ablack crow hopped out of a rose-bush in front of her. The poorbeast was all torn and bleeding, and the kind little Princess was...
A JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEARby DANIEL DEFOEPart 1being observations or memorialsof the most remarkable occurrences,as well public as private, which happened inLondon during the last great visitation in 1665.Written by a Citizen who continuedall the while in London.Never made public beforeIt was about the beginning of September, 1664, that I, among the restof my neighbours, heard in ordinary discourse that the plague wasreturned again in Holland; for it had been very violent there, andparticularly at Amsterdam and Rotterdam, in the year 1663, whither,they say, it was brought, some said from Italy, others from the Levant,...
Ragged Lady, v1by William Dean HowellsPart 1.I.It was their first summer at Middlemount and the Landers did not know theroads. When they came to a place where they had a choice of two, shesaid that now he must get out of the carry-all and ask at the housestanding a little back in the edge of the pine woods, which road theyought to take for South Middlemount. She alleged many cases in whichthey had met trouble through his perverse reluctance to find out wherethey were before he pushed rashly forward in their drives. Whilst sheurged the facts she reached forward from the back seat where she sat, andheld her hand upon the reins to prevent his starting the horse, which was...