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Excerpt: The tower among the Apennines It was in June that the sculptor, Kenyon, arrived on horse back at the gate of an ancient country house (which, from some of its features, might almost be called a castle) situated in a part of Tuscany somewhat remote from the ordinary track of tourists. Thither we must now accompany him, and endeavor to make our story flow onward, like a streamlet, past a gray tower that rises on the hillside, overlooking a spacious valley, which is set in the grand framework of the Apennines....

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Excerpt: ACT I. SCENE I. KING JOHN?S palace. [Enter KING JOHN, QUEEN ELINOR, PEMBROKE, ESSEX, SALISBURY, and others, with CHATILLON.] KING JOHN: Now, say, Chatillon, what would France with us? CHATILLON: Thus, after greeting, speaks the King of France In my behavior to the majesty, The borrow?d majesty, of England here. QUEEN ELINOR: A strange beginning: ?borrow?d majesty!? KING JOHN: Silence, good mother; hear the embassy. CHATILLON: Philip of France, in right and true behalf Of thy deceased brother Geffrey?s son, Arthur Plantagenet, lays most lawful claim To this fair island and the territories, To Ireland, Poictiers, Anjou, Touraine, Maine, Desiring thee to lay aside the sword Which sways usurpingly these several titles, And put these same into young Arthur?s hand, Thy nephew and right royal sovereign....

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Excerpt: Subject Of Contention. One midnight of a winter month the sleepers in Riversley Grange were awakened by a ringing of the outer bell and blows upon the great hall-doors. Squire Beltham was master there: the other members of the household were, his daughter Dorothy Beltham; a married daughter Mrs. Richmond; Benjamin Sewis, an old half-caste butler; various domestic servants; and a little boy, christened Harry Lepel Richmond....

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Excerpt: Preface To The American Edition. On the death of Fleeming Jenkin, his family and friends determined to publish a selection of his various papers; by way of introduction, the following pages were drawn up; and the whole, forming two considerable volumes, has been issued in England. In the States, it has not been thought advisable to reproduce the whole; and the memoir appearing alone, shorn of that other matter which was at once its occasion and its justification, so large an account of a man so little known may seem to a stranger out of all proportion....

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Excerpt: Lucien had gone to Paris; and David Sechard, with the courage and intelligence of the ox which painters give the Evangelist for accompanying symbol, set himself to make the large fortune for which he had wished that evening down by the Charente, when he sat with Eve by the weir, and she gave him her hand and her heart. He wanted to make the money quickly, and less for himself than for Eve?s sake and Lucien?s....

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Excerpt: Story of the Door. Mr. Utterson the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary and yet somehow lovable. At friendly meetings, and when the wine was to his taste, something eminently human beaconed from his eye; something indeed which never found its way into his talk, but which spoke not only in these silent symbols of the after-dinner face, but more often and loudly in the acts of his life. He was austere with himself; drank gin when he was alone, to mortify a taste for vintages; and though he enjoyed the theater, had not crossed the doors of one for twenty years. But he had an approved tolerance for others; sometimes wondering, almost with envy, at the high pressure of spirits involved in their misdeeds; and in any extremity inclined to help rather than to reprove. ?I incline to Cain?s heresy,? he used to say quaintly: ?I let my brother go to the devil in his own way.? In this character, it was frequently his fortune to be the last reputable acquaintance and the last good influence in the lives of d...

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Excerpt: Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert.

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Excerpt: Many tales, either rich in situations or made dramatic by some of the innumerable tricks of chance, carry with them their own particular setting, which can be rendered artistically or simply by those who narrate them, without their subjects losing any, even the least of their charms. But there are some incidents in human experience to which the heart alone is able to give life; there are certain details --shall we call them anatomical?--the delicate touches of which cannot be made to reappear unless by an equally delicate rendering of thought; there are portraits which require the infusion of a soul, and mean nothing unless the subtlest expression of the speaking countenance is given; furthermore, there are things which we know not how to say or do without the aid of secret harmonies which a day, an hour, a fortunate conjunction of celestial signs, or an inward moral tendency may produce....

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Excerpt: One confidential evening, not three months ago, Lionel Wallace told me this story of the Door in the Wall. And at the time I thought that so far as he was concerned it was a true story. He told it me with such a direct simplicity of conviction that I could not do otherwise than believe in him. But in the morning, in my own flat, I woke to a different atmosphere, and as I lay in bed and recalled the things he had told me, stripped of the glamour of his earnest slow voice, denuded of the focussed shaded table light, the shadowy atmosphere that wrapped about him and the pleasant bright things, the dessert and glasses and napery of the dinner we had shared, making them for the time a bright little world quite cut off from every-day realities, I saw it all as frankly incredible. ?He was mystifying!? I said, and then: ?How well he did it!? It isn?t quite the thing I should have expected him, of all people, to do well.?...

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Contents THE DOOR IN THE WALL ............................................................................................................ 4 THE STAR ...................................................................................................................................... 20 A DREAM OF ARMAGEDDON ................................................................................................... 31 THE CONE ..................................................................................................................................... 56 A MOONLIGHT FABLE................................................................................................................ 67 THE DIAMOND MAKER.............................................................................................................. 71 THE LORD OF THE DYNAMOS ................................................................................................. 78 THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND................................................................................................. 86...

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Excerpt: The school at which young Charley Hexam had first learned from a book--the streets being, for pupils of his degree, the great Preparatory Establishment in which very much that is never unlearned is learned without and before book--was a miserable loft in an unsavoury yard. Its atmosphere was oppressive and disagreeable; it was crowded, noisy, and confusing; half the pupils dropped asleep, or fell into a state of waking stupefaction; the other half kept them in either condition by maintaining a monotonous droning noise, as if they were performing, out of time and tune, on a ruder sort of bagpipe. The teachers, animated solely by good intentions, had no idea of execution, and a lamentable jumble was the upshot of their kind endeavours....

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A mystery that's really only a mystery to the main protagonist. It's a perverted kind of fun to watch him flounder. Contact me at R1234J@hotmail.com...

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Any mystery writer knows that in every clever design there must be at least one unforeseen element that when discovered will bring down the perpetrator’s entire house of cards in such an ironic fashion that it can neatly epitomize the ludicrousness of any mere human being trying to arrange God’s universe. This item is to be discovered by God’s designated instrument, the good guy detective, of course. In this way, the solution is predetermined, as if time is made to run backwards so that all the bifurcations in the road of life, and the bifurcations of those bifurcations, and so on can only lead back to that one monadic instance in which the infinite confusion of our existence is explained. But, what if God’s universe were to be built on the indeterminate model, as if Gödel or Heisenberg himself were adding up the evidence until the solution, through the mere trying to find it, created a dénouement in which the reader, tossing the book in disgust, knew less about the rights and the wrongs than when he first began turning the pages?...

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Chapters 1 - 13

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Have you ever been caught up in a warped space-time situation ? If you have, this will wake up forgotten memories. If you have not, you will be better armed to handle the experience. But if you try to deal with irrational situations using your rational thinking, you may go through a hard time....

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When he reached the building, there was no one yet waiting. The afternoon sun was blazing the street, but fortunately the entrance was on the shady side. He heaved a sigh of relief and sat on the cool stone steps. He knew he was meeting someone here but the heat and his walk through the busy dusty streets had muddled up his mind and memory. He hoped that some rest in the shade would bring him back to his full senses. He was still daydreaming about his condition when he heard her voice close to him. - Hi, my name is Deborah Highbridge, glad you could make it. - Hi, no problem. Pleased to meet you, Miss Highbridge. - You can call me Deborah. - OK, then you can call me Anthony. He got up to shake her hand. He was startled but pleased to see a young energetic woman, when he had expected to meet some typically dull fat elderly real estate dealer. Yet he disliked the touch of her hand on his. It was cold and rough, such a contrast with her appearance, as if it belonged to another person. Especially in the midst of summer. She was elegant but not flashy, with hazelnut eyes and auburn hair. A very m...

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Excerpt: BEDFORD. Hung be the heavens with black, yield day to night! Comets, importing change of times and states, Brandish your crystal tresses in the sky, And with them scourge the bad revolting stars That have consented unto Henry?s death! King Henry the Fifth, too famous to live long! England ne?er lost a king of so much worth....

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Excerpt: LIBER I. (ll. 1-28) Right is it that we praise the King of heaven, the Lord of hosts, and love Him with all our hearts. For He is great in power, the Source of all created things, the Lord Almighty. Never hath He known beginning, neither cometh an end of His eternal glory. Ever in majesty He reigneth over celestial thrones; in righteousness and strength He keepeth the courts of heaven which were established, broad and ample, by the might of God, for angel dwellers, wardens of the soul....

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Contents Codex Junius 11.........3 BIBLIOGRAPHY:................................3 Other Translations ...............................3 Critical Editions ...................................3 GENESIS ..............................................4 (Beginning of ?Genesis B?)..................9 EXODUS..............................................62 DANIEL..............................................74 CHRIST AND SATAN.......................90...

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Excerpt: It was sitting by the fire, in a mysterious and magnificent retreat,--now a thing of the past but surviving in our memory,--whence our eyes commanded a view of Paris from the heights of Belleville to those of Belleville, from Montmartre to the triumphal Arc de l?Etoile, that one morning, refreshed by tea, amid the myriad suggestions that shoot up and die like rockets from your sparkling flow of talk, lavish of ideas, you tossed to my pen a figure worthy of Hoffmann,--that casket of unrecognized gems, that pilgrim seated at the gate of Paradise with ears to hear the songs of the angels but no longer a tongue to repeat them, playing on the ivory keys with fingers crippled by the stress of divine inspiration, believing that he is expressing celestial music to his bewildered listeners....

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Two 21st century men travel through time and alternate universes recovering UFO debris from the 1947 Roswell crash.

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The air pulled out of his lungs, a moment of breathlessness and it is over. The lyrics to a Pink Floyd song fill his head. “home, home again” "Home.." AM Lincoln said as he steps through the wormhole, older but not aged, his gray-green eyes betray his youth. A sense of weightlessness fills his body every time he rips. The cube glows a florescent green. The journey although less than 5 seconds is 13 years across 1 universe. He looks at the familiar beige wall that stands before him. Water dripping into one of the many drains that kept the labyrinth from flooding and the hum of traffic above ground were the last things he heard when left and were still here to welcome him back. Quake, his cousin, would be waiting in the safe-room. The entry back to his present time left him feeling airy, almost light on his feet as it always did. The sensation you might feel after a long flight on a airplane, AM didn't feel queasy, not a bit, just a little off. Although not the first rip back in time, this rip had given him the years that would never show on him. He put the Q pad back in his backpack. Quake and AM purchased a half dozen 2...

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Table of Contents Chapter 1:2002 Chapter 2:2010 Chapter 3:2011 Chapter 4:1829 Chapter 5:1993 Chapter 6:1992 Chapter 7:1993 Chapter 8:1992 Chapter 9:1993-2011 ...

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Excerpt: Landfall and departure mark the rhythmical swing of a seaman?s life and of a ship?s career. From land to land is the most concise definition of a ship?s earthly fate. A ?Departure? is not what a vain people of landsmen may think. The term ?Landfall? is more easily understood; you fall in with the land, and it is a matter of a quick eye and of a clear atmosphere....

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Contents: I. Landfalls and Departures IV. Emblems of Hope VII. The Fine Art X. Cobwebs and Gossamer XIII. The Weight of the Burden XVI. Overdue and Missing XX. The Grip of the Land XXII. The Character of the Foe XXV. Rules of East and West...

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Galatians is a letter from Paul of Tarsus to a number of Early Christian communities in the Roman province of Galatia in central Anatolia. Paul is principally concerned with the controversy surrounding Gentile Christians and the Mosaic Law within Early Christianity. The main theme of Ephesians is “the Church, the Body of Christ.” The Church is to maintain the unity in practice which Christ has brought about positionally. Another major theme in Ephesians is the keeping of Christ's body (that is, the Church) pure and holy. Philippians was written by the Apostle Paul circa 62 while Paul was in prison. The letter was written to the church at Philippi, one of the earliest churches to be founded in Europe. They were very attached to Paul, just as he was very fond of them. The Philippians had sent Epaphroditus, their messenger, with contributions to meet the needs of Paul; and on his return Paul sent this letter with him. Written in the 50s while Paul was in prison, Colossians is similar to Ephesians, also written at this time. Colossians declares Christ's supremacy over the entire created universe and exhorts Christians to lead godly live...

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Religion

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Our intention is, that Timaeus, who is the most of an astronomer amongst us, and has made the nature of the universe his special study, should speak first, beginning with the generation of the world and going down to the creation of man... 'Timaeus' is usually regarded as one of Plato's later dialogues, and provides an account of the creation of the universe, with physical, metaphysical and ethical dimensions, which had great influence over philosophers for centuries following. It attributes the order and beauty of the universe to a benevolent demiurge - a 'craftsman' or god - fashioning the physical world after the pattern of an ideal, eternal one. The dramatic setting of the dialogue is the day after a discussion in which Socrates has described his ideal state - as in the 'Republic'. A conversation between Socrates, Critias, Hermocrates and Timaeus, including Critias' account of Solon's journey to Egypt (where he hears the story of Atlantis), soon gives way to the monologue by Timaeus that forms the bulk of the work. 'Timaeus' is translated by Benjamin Jowett and his comprehensive introduction to and analysis of the work precedes ...

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Philosophy, Classics (antiquity), Ancient Texts

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THE author of the following narrative has peculiar qualifications for her task. She is a daughter of Lord Yu Keng, a member of the Manchu White Banner Corps, and one of the most advanced and progressive Chinese officials of his generation. she became First Lady-in-Waiting to the Empress Dowager, and while serving at the Court in that capacity she received the impressions which provide the subject-matter of this book. Her opportunity to observe and estimate the characteristics of the remarkable woman who ruled China for so long was unique, and her narrative throws a new light on one of the most extraordinary personalities of modern times. Yielding to the urgent solicitation of friends, she consented to put some of her experiences into literary form, and the following chronicle, in which the most famous of Chinese women, the customs and atmosphere of her Court are portrayed by an intimate of the same race, is a result. (Summary adapted from the Foreword, by Thomas F. Millard)...

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Biography, History, Memoirs