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The story begins with: On a glass mountain grew a tree with golden apples. An apple would let the picker into the golden castle where an enchanted princess lived. Many knights had tried and failed, so that many bodies lay about the mountain. A knight in golden armor tried. One day, he made it halfway up and calmly went down again. The second day, he tried for the top, and was climbing steadily when an eagle attacked him. He and his horse fell to their deaths. A schoolboy killed a lynx and climbed with its claws attached to his feet and hands. Weary, he rested on the slope. The eagle thought he was carrion and flew down to eat him. The boy grabbed it, and it, trying to shake him off, carried him the rest of the way. He cut off its feet and fell into the apple tree. The peels of the apples cured his wounds, and he picked more, to let him into the castle. He married the princess. The blood of the eagle restored to life everyone who had died trying to climb the mountain. -
Excerpt: ...I alighted there were tears of eagerness in my eyes. "Yes," I replied breathlessly, "oh, sir, yes." "Then pick up that," he cried dramatically, pointing to a cigar butt on the parade ground. I didn't wait for the laughter. I didn't have to. It was forthcoming immediately. Huge peals of it. Sailors are a very low tribe of vertebrate. They seem to hang around most of the time waiting for something to laugh at ** -
“Don’t drink our sherry, Charles?” Mr Preenham, the butler, stood by the table in the gloomy servants’ hall, as if he had received a shock. “No, sir; I took ’em up the beer at first, and they shook their heads and asked for wine, and when I took ’em the sherry they shook their heads again, and the one who speaks English said they want key-aunty.” ** -
This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic works that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price, in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them. ** -
Reproduction of the original: The Canterbury Tales and Other Poems by Geoffrey Chaucer ** -
Tom Sawyer lived with his Aunt Polly and his half-brother, Sid. Tom dirties his clothes in a fight and is made to whitewash the fence the next day, as a punishment. He cleverly persuades his friends to trade him small treasures for the privilege of doing his work. He trades the treasures for Sunday School tickets which one normally receives for memorizing scriptures, redeeming them for a bible, much to the surprise and bewilderment of the superintendent who thought "it was simply preposterous that this boy had warehoused two thousand sheaves of Scriptural wisdom on his premises—a dozen would strain his capacity, without a doubt." Tom falls in love with Becky Thatcher, a new girl in town, and persuades her to get "engaged" by kissing him. But their romance collapses when she learns Tom has been "engaged" previously, to a girl named Amy Lawrence. Shortly after being shunned by Becky, Tom accompanies Huckleberry Finn to the graveyard at night, where they witness the murder of Dr. Robinson. -
The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire, written by British author Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 Sherlock Holmes stories collected between 1921 and 1927 as The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in the January 1924 issues of The Strand Magazine in London and Hearst's International Magazine in New York. -
Love and wit conquer all in Shakespeare's sparkling comedy of self-delusion and disguise. Padua holds many suitors for the hand of fair Bianca, but Bianca may not be married until her spinster sister, Kate, is wed. Could any man be rash enough to take on Kate? The witty adventurer Petruchio undertakes the task. While he sets about transforming Kate from foul-tempered termagant to loving wife, young Lucentio and his clever servant -
Violet Hunter takes a job as a governess at the Copper Beeches. But she is puzzled when her employers ask her to cut her hair and wear a special dress. Things get stranger still when she finds a lock of hair that looks like her own and a mysterious hallway. Violet turns to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson for help, but is it already too late? -
Holmes is just days away from bringing down the biggest criminal ringleader in London. But his quick and wicked foe is as cautious and intelligent as he. When Moriarty learns of Holmes' plans against him he releases an evil on England the likes of which no civilised man had ever seen. ... -
The classic story of Crusoe and his adventures as a castaway. Illustrations from early engravings used by permission of Dutton. From Merrill and Baker's series of World's Famous Books. -
A maroon sedan bored steadily into the night, its headlights picking a deserted, narrow road out of the darkness . It was coming..... -
The story begins with Psmith accompanying his fellow student Mike to New York on a cricketing tour. Through high spirits and force of personality, Psmith takes charge of a minor periodical, and becomes embroiled in a scandal involving slum landlords, boxing and gangsters – the story displays a strong social conscience, rare in Wodehouse's generally light-hearted works. -
Pollyanna Whittier, is a young orphan who goes to live in Beldingsville, Vermont, with her wealthy but stern Aunt Polly. Pollyanna's philosophy of life centers on what she calls "The Glad Game", an optimistic attitude she learned from her father. The game consists of finding something to be glad about in every situation. It was one of the best theater plays with a four act comedy -
Othello (The Romance of Othello, the Moor of Venice) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is based on the story Un Capitano Moro ("A Moorish Captain") by Cinthio (a disciple of Boccaccio's). The story revolves around its two central characters: Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army, and his treacherous ensign, Iago. Given its varied and enduring themes of racism, love, jealousy, betrayal, revenge, and repentance. -
FAR, FAR AWAY, there is a beautiful Country which no human eye has ever seen in waking hours. Orange Skies it lies, where the distant horizon bounds the day, and where the clouds, splendid with light and colour, give a promise of the glory and beauty which encompass it.
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This carefully crafted ebook: "OLIVER TWIST (Illustrated Edition)” is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. Oliver Twist is an orphan boy who starts his life in a workhouse and then gets sold into apprenticeship with an undertaker. He escapes from there and travels to London, where he meets the Artful Dodger, a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the elderly criminal, Fagin. Oliver Twist is notable for its unromantic portrayal by Dickens of criminals and their sordid lives, as well as for exposing the cruel treatment of the many orphans in London in the mid-19th century. -
Two pairs of young lovers fall asleep in an ancient Athenian forest and wake to find themselves in the middle of a good deed gone wrong. A Midsummer Night's Dream conjures up a fairyland inhabited by well-intentioned sprites whose magic leads to farcical confusion. The mirthful tangle of mistaken identities and misplaced affections develops and resolves in the glorious poetry of England's greatest playwright.Shakespeare's fantastical comedy has enchanted audiences -
Little Red Riding Hood. Cinderella. Sleeping Beauty. Bluebeard. The Fairies. Many classic fairy tale characters might not have survived into the present were it not for Charles Perrault, a seventeenth-century French civil servant who rescued them from the oral tradition and committed them to paper. Three centuries later, Angela Carter, widely regarded as one of England’s most imaginative writers, adapted them for contemporary readers. The result is a cornucopia of fantastic characters and timeless adventures, stylishly retold by a modern literary visionary. -
Lady Windermere's Fan, A Play About a Good Woman is a four-act comedy by Oscar Wilde, at the St James's Theatre in London. The story concerns Lady Windermere, who suspects that her husband is having an affair with another woman. She confronts him with it but although he denies it, he invites the other woman, Mrs Erlynne, to his wife's birthday ball. Angered by her husband's supposed unfaithfulness, Lady Windermere decides to leave her husband for another lover. After discovering what has transpired, Mrs Erlynne follows Lady Windermere and attempts to persuade her to return to her husband and in the course of this, Mrs Erlynne is discovered in a compromising position. It is then revealed Mrs Erlynne is Lady Windermere's mother, who abandoned her family twenty years before the time the play is set. Mrs Erlynne sacrifices herself and her reputation to save her daughter's marriage. Act I The play opens in the morning room of the Windermeres' residence in London. It is tea time and Lady Windermere--who is preparing for her coming of age birthday ball that evening--has a visit from a friend, Lord Darlington. She shows off her new fan: a present from her husband. She explains to Lord Darlington that she is upset over the compliments he continues to pay to her, revealing that she is a Puritan and has very particular views about what is acceptable in society. The Duchess of Berwick calls and Lord Darlington leaves shortly thereafter. The Duchess informs Lady Windermere that her husband may be betraying her marriage by making repeated visits to another woman, a Mrs Erlynne, and possibly giving her large sums of money. These rumours have been gossip among London society for quite a while, though seemingly this is the first Lady Windermere has heard about it. Following the departure of the Duchess, Lady Windermere decides to check her husband's bank book. She finds the book in a desk and sees that nothing appears amiss, though on returning she discovers a second bank book: one with a lock. After prying the lock open, she finds it lists large sums of money given to Mrs Erlynne. At this point, Lord Windermere enters and she confronts him. Though he cannot deny that he has had dealings with Mrs Erlynne, he states that he is not betraying Lady Windermere. He requests that she send Mrs Erlynne an invitation to her birthday ball that evening to help her back into society. When Lady Windermere refuses, he writes out an invitation himself. Lady Windermere makes clear her intention to cause a scene if Mrs Erlynne appears, to which Lord Windermere responds that it would be in her best interest not to do so. Lady Windermere leaves in disgust to prepare for the party, and Lord Windermere reveals in soliloquy that he is protecting Mrs Erlynne's true identity to save his wife extreme humiliation. What shall I do? I dare not tell her who this woman really is. The shame would kill her. -- Lord Windermere
