STAGE-LANDby Jerome K. JeromeTOTHAT HIGHLY RESPECTABLE BUT UNNECESSARILYRETIRING INDIVIDUAL,OF WHOMWE HEAR SO MUCHBUTSEE SO LITTLE,"THE EARNEST STUDENT OF THE DRAMA,"THIS(COMPARATIVELY) TRUTHFUL LITTLE BOOKIS LOVINGLY DEDICATED.CONTENTS.THE HEROTHE VILLAINTHE HEROINETHE COMIC MANTHE LAWYERTHE ADVENTURESSTHE SERVANT GIRLTHE CHILDTHE COMIC LOVERSTHE PEASANTSTHE GOOD OLD MANTHE IRISHMANTHE DETECTIVETHE SAILORSTAGE-LAND.THE HERO.His name is George, generally speaking. "Call me George!" he says tothe heroine. She calls him George (in a very low voice, because sheis so young and timid). Then he is happy....　

On HorsemanshipOn HorsemanshipBy XenophonTranslation by H. G. Dakyns1- Page 2-On HorsemanshipIClaiming to have attained some proficiency in horsemanship[1]ourselves, as the result of long experience in the field, our wish is toexplain, for the benefit of our younger friends, what we conceive to be themost correct method of dealing with horses.[1] Lit. "Since, through the accident of having for a long time...　

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 1857MADAME BOVARY...　

THE SKETCH BOOKWESTMINSTER ABBEYby Washington IrvingWhen I behold, with deep astonishment,To famous Westminster how there resorteLiving in brasse or stoney monument,The princes and the worthies of all sorte;Doe not I see reformde nobilitie,Without contempt, or pride, or ostentation,And looke upon offenselesse majesty,Naked of pomp or earthly domination?And how a play-game of a painted stoneContents the quiet now and silent sprites,Whome all the world which late they stood upon...　

THE SKETCH BOOKA SUNDAY IN LONDON*by Washington Irving* Part of a sketch omitted in the previous editions.IN A preceding paper I have spoken of an English Sunday in thecountry, and its tranquillizing effect upon the landscape; but whereis its sacred influence more strikingly apparent than in the veryheart of that great Babel, London? On this sacred day, the giganticmonster is charmed into repose. The intolerable din and struggle ofthe week are at an end. The shops are shut. The fires of forges andmanufactories are extinguished; and the sun, no longer obscured by...　

The Titanby Theodore DreiserChapter IThe New CityWhen Frank Algernon Cowperwood emerged from the Eastern District Penitentiary in Philadelphia he realized that the old life he had lived in that city since boyhood was ended. His youth was gone, and with it had been lost the great business prospects of his earlier manhood. He must begin again.It would be useless to repeat how a second panic following upon a tremendous failurethat of Jay Cooke & Co.had placed a second fortune in his hands. This restored wealth softened him in some degree. Fate seemed to have his personal welfare in charge. He was sick of the stock-exchange, anyhow, as a means of livelihood, and now decided that he would l　

A Psychological Counter-Current in Recent Fictionby William Dean HowellsIt is consoling as often as dismaying to find in what seems acataclysmal tide of a certain direction a strong drift to theopposite quarter. It is so divinable, if not so perceptible,that its presence may usually be recognized as a beginning of theturn in every tide which is sure, sooner or later, to come. Inreform, it is the menace of reaction; in reaction, it is thepromise of reform; we may take heart as we must lose heart fromit. A few years ago, when a movement which carried fiction tothe highest place in literature was apparently of such onward...　

Confessio AmantisorTales of the Seven Deadly SinsBy John Gower, 1330-1408 A.D.PrologusTorpor, ebes sensus, scola parua labor minimusqueCausant quo minimus ipse minora canam:Qua tamen Engisti lingua canit Insula BrutiAnglica Carmente metra iuuante loquar.Ossibus ergo carens que conterit ossa loquelisAbsit, et interpres stet procul oro malus.Of hem that writen ous toforeThe bokes duelle, and we therforeBen tawht of that was write tho:Forthi good is that we alsoIn oure tyme among ous hiereDo wryte of newe som matiere,Essampled of these olde wyseSo that it myhte in such a wyse,Whan we ben dede and elleswhere,Beleve to the worldes eere 10...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE SAUCY BOYby Hans Christian AndersenONCE upon a time there was an old poet, one of those right goodold poets.One evening, as he was sitting at home, there was a terrible stormgoing on outside; the rain was pouring down, but the old poet satcomfortably in his chimney-corner, where the fire was burning andthe apples were roasting."There will not be a dry thread left on the poor people who areout in this weather," he said."Oh, open the door! I am so cold and wet through," called a littlechild outside. It was crying and knocking at the door, whilst the rain...　

American Literary Centersby William Dean HowellsOne of the facts which we Americans have a difficulty in making clear toa rather inattentive world outside is that, while we have apparently aliterature of our own, we have no literary centre. We have so muchliterature that from time to time it seems even to us we must have aliterary centre. We say to ourselves, with a good deal of logic, Wherethere is so much smoke there must be some fire, or at least a fireplace.But it is just here that, misled by tradition, and even by history, wedeceive ourselves. Really, we have no fireplace for such fire as we havekindled; or, if any one is disposed to deny this, then I say, we have a...　

Sir Nigelby Sir Arthur Conan DoyleCONTENTI. THE HOUSE OF LORINGII. HOW THE DEVIL CAME TO WAVERLEYIII. THE YELLOW HORSE OF CROOKSBURYIV. HOW THE SUMMONER CAME TO THE MANOR HOUSE OF TILFORDV. HOW NIGEL WAS TRIED BY THE ABBOT OF WAVERLEYVI. IN WHICH LADY ERMYNTRUDE OPENS THE IRON COFFERVII. HOW NIGEL WENT MARKETING TO GUILFORDVIII. HOW THE KING HAWKED ON CROOKSBURY HEATHIX. HOW NIGEL HELD THE BRIDGE AT TILFORDX. HOW THE KING GREETED HIS SENESCHAL OF CALAISXI. IN THE HALL OF THE KNIGHT OF DUPLINXII. HOW NIGEL FOUGHT THE TWISTED MAN OF SHALFORDXIII. HOW THE COMRADES JOURNEYED DOWN THE OLD, OLD ROADXIV. HOW NIGEL CHASED THE RED FERRET...　

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropistsby Robert TressellPrefaceIn writing this book my intention was to present, in the form of an interesting story, a faithful picture of working-class life - more especially of those engaged in the Building trades - in a small town in the south of England.I wished to describe the relations existing between the workmen and their employers, the attitude and feelings of these two classes towards each other; their circumstances when at work and when out of employment; their pleasures, their intellectual outlook, their religious and political opinions and ideals.The action of the story covers a period of only a little over twelve months, but in order that the pic