Fiction Books

TOMMY ENJOYS HIMSELF Tommy Fox was having a delightful time. If you could have come upon him in the woods you would have been astonished at his antics. He leaped high off the ground, and struck out with his paws. He opened his mouth and thrust his nose out and then clapped his jaws shut again, with a snap. Tommy burrowed his sharp face into the dead leaves at his feet and tossed his head into the air.... more...

INTRODUCTION What virtues do these stories possess that have kept them alive for so long a time? They have to some degree stimulated and nourished qualities of supreme worth in individual and social life. With the young the struggle against greed and falsehood and pride and cowardice is a very real one, and situations in which these homely, fundamental traits are involved are full of interest and... more...

I. Louise of Savoy; her marriage with the Count of Angouleme—Birth of her children Margaret and Francis—Their father'searly death—Louise and her children at Amboise—Margaret'sstudies and her brother's pastimes—Marriage of Margaretwith the Duke of Alençon—Her estrangement from her husband—Accession of Francis I.—The Duke of Alençon at Marignano—Margaret's Court at... more...

TALE VIII. A certain Bornet, less loyal to his wife than she to him,desired to lie with his maidservant, and made his enterpriseknown to a friend, who, hoping to share in the spoil, soaided and abetted him, that whilst the husband thought tolie with his servant he in truth lay with his wife. Unknownto the latter, he then caused his friend to participate inthe pleasure which rightly belonged to himself... more...

TALE XIX. Pauline, being in love with a gentleman no less than he was with her, and finding that he, because forbidden ever again to speak with her, had entered the monastery of the Observance, gained admittance for her own part into the convent of St. Clara, where she took the veil; thus fulfilling the desire she had conceived to bring the gentleman's love and her own to a like ending in respect... more...

TALE XXXI. A monastery of Grey Friars was burned down, with the monksthat were in it, as a perpetual memorial of the crueltypractised by one among them that was in love with a lady. In the lands subject to the Emperor Maximilian of Austria (1) there was a monastery of Grey Friars that was held in high repute, and nigh to it stood the house of a gentleman who was so kindly disposed to these monks that... more...

TALE LI. Because he would not have his son make a poor marriage, theDuke of Urbino, contrary to the promise given to his wife,hanged a young maiden by whom his son was wont to inform hissweetheart of the love he bore her. The Duke of Urbino, called the Prefect, (1) the same that married the sister of the first Duke of Mantua, had a son of between eighteen and twenty years of age, who was in love with a... more...

THE TALISMAN From the Russian of Pushkin. Where fierce the surge with awful bellowDoth ever lash the rocky wall;And where the moon most brightly mellowDost beam when mists of evening fall;Where midst his harem’s countless blissesThe Moslem spends his vital span,A Sorceress there with gentle kissesPresented me a Talisman. And said: until thy latest minutePreserve, preserve my Talisman;A secret power... more...

INTRODUCTION TO THE TALISMAN. The "Betrothed" did not greatly please one or two friends, who thought that it did not well correspond to the general title of "The Crusaders." They urged, therefore, that, without direct allusion to the manners of the Eastern tribes, and to the romantic conflicts of the period, the title of a "Tale of the Crusaders" would resemble the playbill,... more...

All things considered—the obscure star, the undetermined damage to the stellar drive and the way the small planet's murky atmosphere defied precision scanners—the pilot made a reasonably good landing. Despite sour feelings for the space service of Haurtoz, steward Peter Kolin had to admit that casualties might have been far worse. Chief Steward Slichow led his little command, less two... more...