The Unknown Guestby Maurice MaeterlinckTranslated by Alexander Teixeira de MattosINTRODUCTION1My Essay on Death[1] led me to make a conscientious enquiry into the present position of the great mystery, an enquiry which I have endeavoured to render as complete as possible. I had hoped that a single volume would be able to contain the result of these investigations, which, I may say at once, will teach nothing to those who have been over the same ground and which have nothing to recommend them except their sincerity, their impartiality and a certain scrupulous accuracy. But, as I proceeded, I saw the field widening under my feet, so much so that I have been obliged to divide my work into two
Robert Louis Stevenson, A Record, An Estimate, A Memorialby A. H. JappPREFACEA FEW words may here be allowed me to explain one or two points. First, about the facsimile of last page of Preface to FAMILIAR STUDIES OF MEN AND BOOKS. Stevenson was in Davos when the greater portion of that work went through the press. He felt so much the disadvantage of being there in the circumstances (both himself and his wife ill) that he begged me to read the proofs of the Preface for him. This illness has record in the letter from him (pp. 28- 29). The printers, of course, had directions to send the copy and proofs of the Preface to me. Hence I am able now to give this facsimile....
Memoirs of General William T. Shermanby William Tecumseh ShermanVolume 2CHAPTER XVI.ATLANTA CAMPAIGN-NASHVILLE AND CHATTANOOGA TO BENEBAW.MARCH, APRIL, AND MAY, 1864.On the 18th day of March, 1864, at Nashville, Tennessee, I relieved Lieutenant-General Grant in command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, embracing the Departments of the Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee, and Arkansas, commanded respectively by Major-Generals Schofield, Thomas, McPherson, and Steele. General Grant was in the act of starting East to assume command of all the armies of the United States, but more particularly to give direction in person to the Armies of the Potomac and James, operating against Richmond; an
Wild Walesby George BorrowIts People, Language and SceneryINTRODUCTORYWALES is a country interesting in many respects, and deserving ofmore attention than it has hitherto met with. Though not veryextensive, it is one of the most picturesque countries in theworld, a country in which Nature displays herself in her wildest,boldest, and occasionally loveliest forms. The inhabitants, whospeak an ancient and peculiar language, do not call this regionWales, nor themselves Welsh. They call themselves Cymry or Cumry,and their country Cymru, or the land of the Cumry. Wales orWallia, however, is the true, proper, and without doubt original...
SHERLOCK HOLMESTHE ADVENTURE OF THE SUSSEX VAMPIREby Sir Arthur Conan DoyleHolmes had read carefully a note which the last post had broughthim. Then, with the dry chuckle which was his nearest approach to alaugh, he tossed it over to me."For a mixture of the modern and the mediaeval, if the practical andof the wildly fanciful, I think this is surely the limit," said he."What do you make of it, Watson?"I read as follows:46, OLD JEWRY,Nov. 19th.Re Vampires...
The Patricianby John GalsworthyCHAPTER ILight, entering the vast rooma room so high that its carved ceilingrefused itself to exact scrutinytravelled, with the wistful, coldcuriosity of the dawn, over a fantastic storehouse of Time. Light,unaccompanied by the prejudice of human eyes, made strange revelationof incongruities, as though illuminating the dispassionate march ofhistory.For in this dining hallone of the finest in Englandthe Caradocfamily had for centuries assembled the trophies and records of theirexistence. Round about this dining hall they had built and pulleddown and restored, until the rest of Monkland Court presented some...
440 BCANTIGONEby Sophoclestranslated by R. C. JebbCHARACTERS IN THE PLAYdaughters of Oedipus:ANTIGONEISMENECREON, King of ThebesEURYDICE, his wifeHAEMON, his sonTEIRESIAS, the blind prophetGUARD, set to watch the corpse of PolyneicesFIRST MESSENGERSECOND MESSENGER, from the houseCHORUS OF THEBAN ELDERSANTIGONEANTIGONEANTIGONE(SCENE:-The same as in the Oedipus the King, an open space beforethe royal palace, once that of Oedipus, at Thebes. The backscene...
The Uncommercial Travellerby Charles DickensCHAPTER I - HIS GENERAL LINE OF BUSINESSAllow me to introduce myself - first negatively.No landlord is my friend and brother, no chambermaid loves me, nowaiter worships me, no boots admires and envies me. No round ofbeef or tongue or ham is expressly cooked for me, no pigeon-pie isespecially made for me, no hotel-advertisement is personallyaddressed to me, no hotel-room tapestried with great-coats andrailway wrappers is set apart for me, no house of publicentertainment in the United Kingdom greatly cares for my opinion ofits brandy or sherry. When I go upon my journeys, I am not usually...
THE SCARECROW of OZDedicated to"The uplifters" of Los Angeles, California, ingrateful appreciation of the pleasure I have derivedfrom association with them, and in recognition oftheir sincere endeavor to uplift humanity throughkindness, consideration and good-fellowship. They arebig menall of themand all with the generoushearts of little children.L. Frank BaumTHE SCARECROW of OZby L. Frank Baum"TWIXT YOU AND METhe Army of Children which besieged the Postoffice,conquered the Postmen and delivered to me its imperious...
Children of the Whirlwindby Leroy ScottCHAPTER IIt was an uninspiring bit of street: narrow, paved with cobble; hot and noisy in summer, reeking with unwholesome mud during the drizzling and snow-slimed months of winter. It looked anything this May after noon except a starting-place for drama. But, then, the great dramas of life often avoid the splendid estates and trappings with which conventional romance would equip them, and have their beginnings in unlikeliest environment; and thence sweep on to a noble, consuming tragedy, or to a glorious unfolding of souls. Life is a composite of contradictionsa puzzle to the wisest of us: the lily lifting its graceful purity aloft may have its roots
I and My Chimneyby Herman MelvilleI and my chimney, two grey-headed old smokers, reside in thecountry. We are, I may say, old settlers here; particularly myold chimney, which settles more and more every day.Though I always say, I AND MY CHIMNEY, as Cardinal Wolsey used tosay, "I AND MY KING," yet this egotistic way of speaking, whereinI take precedence of my chimney, is hereby borne out by thefacts; in everything, except the above phrase, my chimney takingprecedence of me.Within thirty feet of the turf-sided road, my chimneya huge,corpulent old Harry VIII of a chimneyrises full in front of meand all my possessions. Standing well up a hillside, my chimney,...