The Legacy of Cainby Wilkie CollinsToMRS. HENRY POWELL BARTLEY:Permit me to add your name to my name, in publishing this novel.The pen which has written my books cannot be more agreeablyemployed than in acknowledging what I owe to the pen which hasskillfully and patiently helped me, by copying my manuscripts forthe printer.WILKIE COLLINS.Wimpole Street, 6th December, 1888.THE LEGACY OF CAIN.First Period: 1858-1859.EVENTS IN THE PRISON, RELATED BY THE GOVERNOR.CHAPTER I.THE GOVERNOR EXPLAINS.AT the request of a person who has claims on me that I must notdisown, I consent to look back through a long interval of years...
Troilus and Criseydeby Geoffrey ChaucerBOOK IThe double sorwe of Troilus to tellen, 1That was the king Priamus sone of Troye,In lovinge, how his aventures fellenFro wo to wele, and after out of Ioye,My purpos is, er that I parte fro ye. 5Thesiphone, thou help me for tendyteThise woful vers, that wepen as I wryte!To thee clepe I, thou goddesse of torment,Thou cruel Furie, sorwing ever in peyne;Help me, that am the sorwful instrument 10That helpeth lovers, as I can, to pleyne!For wel sit it, the sothe for to seyne,A woful wight to han a drery fere,And, to a sorwful tale, a sory chere.For I, that god of Loves servaunts serve, 15...
METEOROLOGYby Aristotletranslated by E. W. WebsterBook I1WE have already discussed the first causes of nature, and allnatural motion, also the stars ordered in the motion of the heavens,and the physical element-enumerating and specifying them and showinghow they change into one another-and becoming and perishing ingeneral. There remains for consideration a part of this inquirywhich all our predecessors called meteorology. It is concerned with...
The Hand of Ethelbertaby Thomas HardyPREFACEThis somewhat frivolous narrative was produced as an interludebetween stories of a more sober design, and it was given the sub-title of a comedy to indicatethough not quite accuratelythe aimof the performance. A high degree of probability was not attemptedin the arrangement of the incidents, and there was expected of thereader a certain lightness of mood, which should inform him with agood-natured willingness to accept the production in the spirit inwhich it was offered. The characters themselves, however, weremeant to be consistent and human.On its first appearance the novel suffered, perhaps deservedly, for...
1872FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENWHAT THE MOON SAWby Hans Christian AndersenINTRODUCTIONIT is a strange thing, when I feel most fervently and most deeply,my hands and my tongue seem alike tied, so that I cannot rightlydescribe or accurately portray the thoughts that are rising within me;and yet I am a painter; my eye tells me as much as that, and all myfriends who have seen my sketches and fancies say the same.I am a poor lad, and live in one of the narrowest of lanes; butI do not want for light, as my room is high up in the house, with anextensive prospect over the neighbouring roofs. During the first fewdays I went to live in the town, I felt low-spirited and solitary...
CINDERELLA,OR THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPERONCE there was a gentleman who married, for hissecond wife, the proudest and most haughty woman thatwas ever seen. She had, by a former husband, twodaughters of her own humor, who were, indeed, exactlylike her in all things. He had likewise, by another wife,a young daughter, but of unparalleled goodness andsweetness of temper, which she took from her mother, who wasthe best creature in the world.No sooner were the ceremonies of the wedding over butthe mother-in-law began to show herself in her true colors.She could not bear the good qualities of this pretty girl,and the less because they made her own daughters appear...
A LETTER FROM CAPTAIN GULLIVER TO HIS COUSIN SYMPSON.WRITTEN IN THE YEAR 1727.I hope you will be ready to own publicly, whenever you shall becalled to it, that by your great and frequent urgency youprevailed on me to publish a very loose and uncorrect account ofmy travels, with directions to hire some young gentleman ofeither university to put them in order, and correct the style, asmy cousin Dampier did, by my advice, in his book called "A Voyageround the world." But I do not remember I gave you power toconsent that any thing should be omitted, and much less that anything should be inserted; therefore, as to the latter, I do here...
The Vicar of Wakefieldby Oliver GoldsmithA TALESupposed to be written by HimselfSperate miseri, cavete faelicesADVERTISEMENTThere are an hundred faults in this Thing, and an hundred things might be said to prove them beauties. But it is needless. A book may be amusing with numerous errors, or it may be very dull without a single absurdity. The hero of this piece unites in himself the three greatest characters upon earth; he is a priest, an husbandman, and the father of a family. He is drawn as ready to teach, and ready to obey, as simple in affluence, and majestic in adversity. In this age of opulence and refinement whom can such a character please? Such as are fond of high life, will turn
Madame BovaryBy Gustave FlaubertTranslated from the French by Eleanor Marx-AvelingTo Marie-Antoine-Jules SenardMember of the Paris Bar, Ex-President of the National Assembly,and Former Minister of the InteriorDear and Illustrious Friend,Permit me to inscribe your name at the head of this book, andabove its dedication; for it is to you, before all, that I oweits publication. Reading over your magnificent defence, my workhas acquired for myself, as it were, an unexpected authority.Accept, then, here, the homage of my gratitude, which, how greatsoever it is, will never attain the height of your eloquence andyour devotion.Gustave FlaubertParis, 12 April 1857...
POETICSby AristotleTranslated by S. H. ButcherPOETICS|1II PROPOSE to treat of Poetry in itself and of its various kinds,noting the essential quality of each, to inquire into the structure ofthe plot as requisite to a good poem; into the number and nature ofthe parts of which a poem is composed; and similarly into whateverelse falls within the same inquiry. Following, then, the order ofnature, let us begin with the principles which come first.Epic poetry and Tragedy, Comedy also and Dithyrambic poetry, and themusic of the flute and of the lyre in most of their forms, are all...
FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE SNOW MANby Hans Christian Andersen"IT is so delightfully cold," said the Snow Man, "that it makes mywhole body crackle. This is just the kind of wind to blow life intoone. How that great red thing up there is staring at me!" He meant thesun, who was just setting. "It shall not make me wink. I shallmanage to keep the pieces."He had two triangular pieces of tile in his head, instead of eyes;his mouth was made of an old broken rake, and was, of course,furnished with teeth. He had been brought into existence amidst thejoyous shouts of boys, the jingling of sleigh-bells, and the...
TO TRACEY We praise the Golden One, the Lady of Heaven, Lady of Fragrance,Eye of the Sun, the Great Goddess,Mistress of All the Gods,Lady of Turquoise, Mistress of Joy, Mistress of Music . . .that she may give us fine children,happiness, and a good husband. - Epithets of Hathor,piled from various sources ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To err is human, and I am and I do, despite the fact that I go to considerable effort to get even small details right. I do not scruple to make use of my friends in this endeavor; several of them have read all or part of the manuscript and made suggestions. I am particularly indebted to Tim Hardman and Ann Crispin, for setting me straight on the (to me) esoteric subject