THE CONDUCT OF LIFEby Ralph Waldo EmersonIFATEDelicate omens traced in airTo the lone bard true witness bare;Birds with auguries on their wingsChanted undeceiving thingsHim to beckon, him to warn;Well might then the poet scornTo learn of scribe or courierHints writ in vaster character;And on his mind, at dawn of day,Soft shadows of the evening lay.For the prevision is alliedUnto the thing so signified;Or say, the foresight that awaitsIs the same Genius that creates....　

THE BRONZE RINGOnce upon a time in a certain country there lived aking whose palace was surrounded by a spacious garden.But, though the gardeners were many and the soil wasgood, this garden yielded neither flowers nor fruits, noteven grass or shady trees.The King was in despair about it, when a wise old mansaid to him:"Your gardeners do not understand their business: butwhat can you expect of men whose fathers were cobblersand carpenters? How should they have learned to cultivateyour garden?""You are quite right," cried the King."Therefore," continued the old man, "you should sendfor a gardener whose father and grandfather have been...　

Uncle Remus, His Songs and His SayingsBy Joel Chandler HarrisPREFACE AND DEDICATION TO THE NEW EDITIONTo Arthur Barbette Frost:DEAR FROST:I am expected to supply a preface for this new edition of my first book-to advance from behind the curtain, as it were, and make a fresh bow to the public that has dealt with Uncle Remus in so gentle and generous a fashion. For this event the lights are to be rekindled, and I am expected to respond in some formal way to an encore that marks the fifteenth anniversary of the book. There have been other editions-how many I do not remember-but this is to be an entirely new one, except as to the matter: new type, new pictures, and new binding....　

SHERLOCK HOLMESTHE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHESby Sir Arthur Conan DoyleThe Adventure of the Copper Beeches"To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked SherlockHolmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the DailyTelegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliestmanifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It ispleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped thistruth that in these little records of our cases which you have beengood enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, occasionally toembellish, you have given prominence not so much to the many causes...　

HOW TO TELL STORIES TO CHILDREN AND SOME STORIES TO TELLHOW TO TELLSTORIES TO CHILDRENAND SOME STORIES TOTELLBY SARA CONE BRYANT1- Page 2-HOW TO TELL STORIES TO CHILDREN AND SOME STORIES TO TELLTo My Mother THE FIRST, BEST STORY-TELLER THIS LITTLEBOOK IS DEDICATED2- Page 3-HOW TO TELL STORIES TO CHILDREN AND SOME STORIES TO TELLPREFACEThe stories which are given in the following pages are for the most...　

A NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY_To Sir John Sinclair__Washington, June 30, 1803_DEAR SIR, It is so long since I have had the pleasure ofwriting to you, that it would be vain to look back to dates toconnect the old and the new. Yet I ought not to pass over myacknowledgments to you for various publications received from time totime, and with great satisfaction and thankfulness. I send you asmall one in return, the work of a very unlettered farmer, yetvaluable, as it relates plain facts of importance to farmers. Youwill discover that Mr. Binns is an enthusiast for the use of gypsum.But there are two facts which prove he has a right to be so: 1. He...　

The Story of My Heartby Richard JefferiesAN AUTOBIOGRAPHYCHAPTER ITHE story of my heart commences seventeen years ago. In the glowof youth there were times every now and then when I felt thenecessity of a strong inspiration of soulthought. My heart wasdusty, parched for want of the rain of deep feeling; my mind arid and dry,for there is a dust which settles on the heart as well as that which fallson a ledge. It is injurious to the mind as well as to the body to be alwaysin one place and always surrounded by the same circumstances. A species ofthick clothing slowly grows about the mind, the pores are choked, littlehabits become a part of existence, and by degrees the mind is inclosed in a.　

The Man Who Knew Too Muchby Gilbert K. ChestertonCONTENTSTHE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH:I. THE FACE IN THE TARGETII. THE VANISHING PRINCEIII. THE SOUL OF THE SCHOOLBOYIV. THE BOTTOMLESS WELLV. THE FAD OF THE FISHERMANVI. THE HOLE IN THE WALLVII. THE TEMPLE OF SILENCEVIII. THE VENGEANCE OF THE STATUETHE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCHI. THE FACE IN THE TARGETHarold March, the rising reviewer and social critic, was walking vigorously across a great tableland of moors and commons, the horizon of which was fringed with the far-off woods of the famous estate of Torwood Park. He was a good-looking young man in tweeds, with very pale curly hair and pale clear eyes. Walking in wind and sun in the very landscape 　

Essays on Life, Art and Scienceby Samuel ButlerContents:IntroductionQuis Desiderio?Ramblings in CheapsideThe Aunt, The Nieces, and the DogHow to make the best of lifeThe Sanctuary of MontrigoneA Medieval Girl SchoolArt in the Valley of SaasThought and LanguageThe Deadlock in DarwinismINTRODUCTIONIt is hardly necessary to apologise for the miscellaneous characterof the following collection of essays. Samuel Butler was a man ofsuch unusual versatility, and his interests were so many and sovarious that his literary remains were bound to cover a wide field.Nevertheless it will be found that several of the subjects to which...　

The Playboy of the Western Worldby J. M. SyngeA COMEDY IN THREE ACTSPREFACEIn writing THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD, as in my other plays, I have usedone or two words only that I have not heard among the country people ofIreland, or spoken in my own nursery before I could read the newspapers. Acertain number of the phrases I employ I have heard also from herds andfishermen along the coast from Kerry to Mayo, or from beggar-women andballadsingers nearer Dublin; and I am glad to acknowledge how much I owe tothe folk imagination of these fine people. Anyone who has lived in realintimacy with the Irish peasantry will know that the wildest sayings and ideas...　

The Voice of the Cityby O HenryTHE VOICE OF THE CITYTwenty-five years ago the school children usedto chant their lessons. The manner of their deliverywas a singsong recitative between the utterance of anEpiscopal minister and the drone of a tired sawmill.I mean no disrespect. We must have lumber andsawdust.I remember one beautiful and instructive littlelyric that emanated from the physiology class. Themost striking line of it was this:"The shin-bone is the long-est bone in the hu-manbod-y."What an inestimable boon it would have been ifall the corporeal and spiritual facts pertaining to...　

THE CRISIS IN RUSSIATHE CRISIS IN RUSSIAby ARTHUR RANSOMETO WILLIAM PETERS OF ABERDEEN1- Page 2-THE CRISIS IN RUSSIAINTRODUCTIONTHE characteristic of a revolutionary country is that change is aquicker process there than elsewhere. As the revolution recedes into thepast the process of change slackens speed. Russia is no longer the dizzyingkaleidoscope that it was in 1917. No longer does it change visibly from...