JESPER WHO HERDED THE HARESThere was once a king who ruled over a kingdom somewhere betweensunrise and sunset. It was as small as kingdoms usually were inold times, and when the king went up to the roof of his palaceand took a look round he could see to the ends of it in everydirection. But as it was all his own, he was very proud of it,and often wondered how it would get along without him. He hadonly one child, and that was a daughter, so he foresaw that shemust be provided with a husband who would be fit to be king afterhim. Where to find one rich enough and clever enough to be asuitable match for the princess was what troubled him, and oftenkept him awake at night....　

TWICE-TOLD TALESTHE AMBITIOUS GUESTby Nathaniel HawthorneONE SEPTEMBER NIGHT a family had gathered round their hearth, andpiled it high with the driftwood of mountain streams, the dry cones ofthe pine, and the splintered ruins of great trees that had comecrashing down the precipice. Up the chimney roared the fire, andbrightened the room with its broad blaze. The faces of the fatherand mother had a sober gladness; the children laughed; the eldestdaughter was the image of Happiness at seventeen; and the agedgrandmother, who sat knitting in the warmest place, was the image of...　

THE RIGHT EYE OF THE COMMANDERThe year of grace 1797 passed away on the coast of California in asouthwesterly gale. The little bay of San Carlos, albeit shelteredby the headlands of the blessed Trinity, was rough and turbulent;its foam clung quivering to the seaward wall of the Mission garden;the air was filled with flying sand and spume, and as the SenorCommandante, Hermenegildo Salvatierra, looked from the deepembrasured window of the Presidio guardroom, he felt the saltbreath of the distant sea buffet a color into his smoke-driedcheeks.The Commander, I have said, was gazing thoughtfully from the windowof the guardroom. He may have been reviewing the events of the...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE FIR TREEby Hans Christian AndersenFAR down in the forest, where the warm sun and the fresh airmade a sweet resting-place, grew a pretty little fir-tree; and yetit was not happy, it wished so much to be tall like its companions-the pines and firs which grew around it. The sun shone, and the softair fluttered its leaves, and the little peasant children passed by,prattling merrily, but the fir-tree heeded them not. Sometimes thechildren would bring a large basket of raspberries or strawberries,wreathed on a straw, and seat themselves near the fir-tree, and say,...　

The Boy CaptivesAn Incident of the Indian War of 1695by John Greenleaf WhittierTHE township of Haverhill, even as late as the close of theseventeenth century, was a frontier settlement, occupying anadvanced position in the great wilderness, which, unbroken by theclearing of a white man, extended from the Merrimac River to theFrench villages on the St. Francois. A tract of twelve miles on theriver and three or four northwardly was occupied by scatteredsettlers, while in the centre of the town a compact village hadgrown up. In the immediate vicinity there were but few Indians,and these generally peaceful and inoffensive. On the breaking out...　

OF TRAGEDYDavid Hume1757It seems an unaccountable pleasure, which the spectators ofa well-written tragedy receive from sorrow, terror, anxiety, andother passions, that are in themselves disagreeable and uneasy.The more they are touched and affected, the more are theydelighted with the spectacle; and as soon as the uneasy passionscease to operate, the piece is at an end. One scene of full joy...　

Chamber Musicby James JoyceContents:IStrings in the earth and airMake music sweet;IIThe twilight turns from amethystTo deep and deeper blue,IIIAt that hour when all things have repose,O lonely watcher of the skies,IVWhen the shy star goes forth in heavenAll maidenly, disconsolate,VLean out of the window,Goldenhair,VII would in that sweet bosom be(O sweet it is and fair it is!)VIIMy love is in a light attireAmong the apple-trees,VIIIWho goes amid the green woodWith springtide all adorning her?...　

FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKSONCE upon a time there was a poor laborer who, feelingthat he had not much longer to live, wished to divide hispossessions between his son and daughter, whom he loveddearly.So he called them to him, and said: "Your motherbrought me as her dowry two stools and a straw bed; Ihave, besides, a hen, a pot of pinks, and a silver ring,which were given me by a noble lady who once lodged inmy poor cottage. When she went away she said to me:"`Be careful of my gifts, good man; see that you do notlose the ring or forget to water the pinks. As for yourdaughter, I promise you that she shall be more beautiful...　

THE CHILD WHO CAME FROM AN EGGOnce upon a time there lived a queen whose heart was sore becauseshe had no children. She was sad enough when her husband was athome with her, but when he was away she would see nobody, but satand wept all day long.Now it happened that a war broke out with the king of aneighbouring country, and the queen was left in the palace alone.She was so unhappy that she felt as if the walls would stifleher, so she wandered out into the garden, and threw herself downon a grassy bank, under the shade of a lime tree. She had beenthere for some time, when a rustle among the leaves caused her tolook up, and she saw an old woman limping on her crutches towards...　

Chapter X of Volume II (Chap. 33)MORE than once did Elizabeth in her ramble within the Park, unexpectedly meet Mr. Darcy. She felt all the perverseness of the mischance that should bring him where no one else was brought; and to prevent its ever happening again, took care to inform him at first that it was a favourite haunt of hers. How it could occur a second time, therefore, was very odd! Yet it did, and even a third. It seemed like wilful ill-nature, or a voluntary penance, for on these occasions it was not merely a few formal enquiries and an awkward pause and then away, but he actually thought it necessary to turn back and walk with her. He never said a great deal, nor did she give 　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE OLD HOUSEby Hans Christian AndersenA VERY old house stood once in a street with several that werequite new and clean. The date of its erection had been carved on oneof the beams, and surrounded by scrolls formed of tulips andhop-tendrils; by this date it could be seen that the old house wasnearly three hundred years old. Verses too were written over thewindows in old-fashioned letters, and grotesque faces, curiouslycarved, grinned at you from under the cornices. One story projecteda long way over the other, and under the roof ran a leaden gutter,...　

TRUSTY JOHNONCE upon a time there was an old king who was soill that he thought to himself, "I am most likely on mydeath-bed." Then he said, "Send Trusty John to me."Now Trusty John was his favorite servant, and was socalled because all his life he had served him so faithfully.When he approached the bed the King spake to him:"Most trusty John, I feel my end is drawing near, and Icould face it without a care were it not for my son. Heis still too young to decide everything for himself, andunless you promise me to instruct him in all he shouldknow, and to be to him as a father, I shall not close myeyes in peace." Then Trusty John answered: "I will...