ITALIAN WITHOUT A MASTERIt is almost a fortnight now that I am domiciled in a medievalvilla in the country, a mile or two from Florence. I cannot speakthe language; I am too old not to learn how, also too busy when Iam busy, and too indolent when I am not; wherefore some willimagine that I am having a dull time of it. But it is not so.The "help" are all natives; they talk Italian to me, I answerin English; I do not understand them, they do not understand me,consequently no harm is done, and everybody is satisfied. In orderto be just and fair, I throw in an Italian word when I have one,...　

The Princess de Montpensierby Mme. de LafayetteIntroductionby Oliver C. ColtThis story was written by Madame de Lafayette and publishedanonymously in 1662. It is set in a period almost 100 yearspreviously during the sanguinary wars of the counter-reformation,when the Catholic rulers of Europe, with the encouragement of thePapacy, were bent on extirpating the followers of the creeds ofLuther and Calvin. I am not qualified to embark on a historicalanalysis, and shall do no more than say that many of the personswho are involved in the tale actually existed, and the eventsreferred to actually took place. The weak and vicious King and...　

ON SOPHISTICAL REFUTATIONSby Aristotletranslated by W. A. Pickard-CambridgeBook I1LET us now discuss sophistic refutations, i.e. what appear to berefutations but are really fallacies instead. We will begin in thenatural order with the first.That some reasonings are genuine, while others seem to be so but arenot, is evident. This happens with arguments, as also elsewhere,through a certain likeness between the genuine and the sham. For...　

A Modest ProposalA Modest Proposal(for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from beinga burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficialto the publick.)by Dr. Jonathan Swift. 17291- Page 2-A Modest ProposalIt is a melancholy object to those, who walk through this great town,or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads and cabbin-doors crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or...　

The White Mollby Frank L. PackardCONTENTSCHAPTERI. NIGHT IN THE UNDERWORLDII. SEVEN-THREE-NINEIII. ALIAS GYPSY NANIV. THE ADVENTURERV. A SECOND VISITORVI. THE RENDEZVOUSVII. FELLOW THIEVESVIII. THE CODE MESSAGEIX. ROOM NUMBER ELEVENX. ON THE BRINKXI. SOME OF THE LESSER BREEDXII. CROOKS vs. CROOKSXIII. THE DOOR ACROSS THE HALLXIV. THE LAME MANXV. IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERXVI. THE SECRET PANELXVII. THE SILVER SPHINX...　

MALBONE: AN OLDPORT ROMANCE.MALBONE: ANOLDPORT ROMANCE.by THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON."What is Nature unless there is an eventful human life passingwithin her?Many joys and many sorrows are the lights and shadows in whichshe shows most beautiful."THOREAU, MS. Diary.1- Page 2-MALBONE: AN OLDPORT ROMANCE.CHAPTER I.AN ARRIVAL....　

Weir of Hermistonby Robert Louis StevensonTO MY WIFEI saw rain falling and the rainbow drawnOn Lammermuir. Hearkening I heard againIn my precipitous city beaten bellsWinnow the keen sea wind. And here afar,Intent on my own race and place, I wrote.Take thou the writing: thine it is. For whoBurnished the sword, blew on the drowsy coal,Held still the target higher, chary of praiseAnd prodigal of counsel - who but thou?So now, in the end, if this the least be good,If any deed be done, if any fireBurn in the imperfect page, the praise be thine....　

Wildfireby Zane GreyCHAPTER IFor some reason the desert scene before Lucy Bostil awoke varying emotionsasweet gratitude for the fullness of her life there at the Ford, yet a hauntingremorse that she could not be wholly contenta vague loneliness of soulathrill and a fear for the strangely calling future, glorious, unknown.She longed for something to happen. It might be terrible, so long as it waswonderful. This day, when Lucy had stolen away on a forbidden horse, she waseighteen years old. The thought of her mother, who had died long ago on theirway into this wilderness, was the one drop of sadness in her joy. Lucy loved...　

ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELLALLS WELL THATENDS WELLWilliam Shakespeare16031- Page 2-ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELLDramatis PersonaeKING OF FRANCE THE DUKE OF FLORENCE BERTRAM, Countof Rousillon LAFEU, an old lord PAROLLES, a follower of BertramTWO FRENCH LORDS, serving with BertramSTEWARD, Servant to the Countess of Rousillon LAVACHE, aclown and Servant to the Countess of Rousillon A PAGE, Servant to the...　

1594THE RAPE OF LUCRECEby William ShakespeareDEDICATIONTO THERIGHT HONOURABLEHENRY WRIOTHESLEY,EARL OF SOUTHAMPTON, AND BARONOF TITCHFIELDThe love I dedicate to your lordship is without end: whereof thispamphlet, without beginning is but a superfluous moiety. The warrant Ihave of your honourable disposition, not the worth of my untutoredlines, make it assured of acceptance. What I have done is yours;...　

First Visit to New Englandby William Dean HowellsCONTENTS:BibliographicalMy First Visit to New EnglandFirst Impressions of Literary New YorkBIBLIOGRAPHICALLong before I began the papers which make up this volume, I had meant towrite of literary history in New England as I had known it in the livesof its great exemplars during the twenty-five years I lived near them.In fact, I had meant to do this from the time I came among them; but Ilet the days in which I almost constantly saw them go by without recordsave such as I carried in a memory retentive, indeed, beyond the common,...　

The Red House Mysteryby A.A. Milne1The Red House MysteryTO JOHN VINE MILNE MY DEAR FATHER,Like all really nice people, you have a weakness for detective stories,and feel that there are not enough of them. So, after all that you havedone for me, the least that I can do for you is to write you one. Here itis: with more gratitude and affection than I can well put down here.A.A.M.2The Red House MysteryCHAPTER IMrs. Stevens is FrightenedIn the drowsy heat of the summer afternoon the Red House wastaking its siesta. There was a lazy murmur of bees in the flower-borders,a gentle cooing of pigeons in the tops of the elms. From distant lawns...　

Letters of Two Bridesby Honore de BalzacTranslated by R. S. ScottDEDICATIONTo George SandYour name, dear George, while casting a reflected radiance on mybook, can gain no new glory from this page. And yet it is neitherself-interest nor diffidence which has led me to place it there,but only the wish that it should bear witness to the solidfriendship between us, which has survived our wanderings andseparations, and triumphed over the busy malice of the world. Thisfeeling is hardly likely now to change. The goodly company offriendly names, which will remain attached to my works, forms an...　

A Sappho of Green Springsby Bret HarteCONTENTSA SAPPHO OF GREEN SPRINGSTHE CHATELAINE OF BURNT RIDGETHROUGH THE SANTA CLARA WHEATA MAECENAS OF THE PACIFIC SLOPEA SAPPHO OF GREEN SPRINGSCHAPTER I"Come in," said the editor.The door of the editorial room of the "Excelsior Magazine" began tocreak painfully under the hesitating pressure of an uncertain andunfamiliar hand. This continued until with a start of irritationthe editor faced directly about, throwing his leg over the arm ofhis chair with a certain youthful dexterity. With one hand...　

ALEXANDER356-323 B.C.by Plutarchtranslated by John DrydenIT being my purpose to write the lives of Alexander the king, and of Caesar, by whom Pompey was destroyed, the multitude of their great actions affords so large a field that I were to blame if I should not by way of apology forewarn my reader that I have chosen rather to epitomize the most celebrated parts of their story, than to insist at large on every particular circumstance of it. It must be borne in mind that my design is not to write histories, but lives. And the most glorious exploits do not always furnish us with the clearest discoveries of vi　

THE HAUNTED HOTEL A Mystery of Modern VeniceTHE HAUNTEDHOTEL A Mystery ofModern Veniceby Wilkie Collins (1824-1889)(after the edition of Chatto & Windus, London, 1879)1- Page 2-THE HAUNTED HOTEL A Mystery of Modern VeniceCHAPTER IIn the year 1860, the reputation of Doctor Wybrow as a Londonphysician reached its highest point. It was reported on good authoritythat he was in receipt of one of the largest incomes derived from the...