Rasselas, Prince of Abyssiniaby Samuel JohnsonCHAPTER I - DESCRIPTION OF A PALACE IN A VALLEY.YE who listen with credulity to the whispers of fancy, and pursue with eagerness the phantoms of hope; who expect that age will perform the promises of youth, and that the deficiencies of the present day will be supplied by the morrow, attend to the history of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia.Rasselas was the fourth son of the mighty Emperor in whose dominions the father of waters begins his course - whose bounty pours down the streams of plenty, and scatters over the world the harvests of Egypt.　

　FOR NATALIE　　ACKNOWLEDGMENTS　　Special thanks to Natalie Freer-the most genuine and giving person I know. To Stephen Reilly, my brother and my good friend and my loyal supporter, even from thousands of miles away. To Mum for her ments on the text and to Dad for his woeful title suggestions and to both of them for their love and support. And, last, thanks to everyone at Pan and Thomas Dunne Books (in particular, my editors, Cate Paterson, Pete Wolverton, and Madonna Duffy, first, for "discovering" me and, second, for enduring all of my crazy ideas). To all of you, never underestimate the power　

　Acknowledgments　　A casebook edition of any work of literature is necessarily the result of work and good will by numerous people. We are deeply indebted to the writers who contributed the original materials contained in this volume.　We also wish to thank the authors, editors, and publishers who so kindly granted permissions for use of the previously published materials collected in this volume. Full acknowledgment for their valuable aid is printed in the headnote for each of the articles as well as original sources of publication.　The editors gratefully acknowledge the special courtesies of 　

　"The Captive"　Chapter One　She sat by the creek, half-hidden in lush grasses. Carefully she twined purple summer flowers into her single dark brown braid, and dabbled bare feet in the rushing water. Stems and crushed blooms littered the coarse yellow gown she wore and damp earth stained the garment, but she paid it no mind. She was purpose-fully intent on her work, for if she allowed her thoughts to range freely she would be overtaken by the knowledge and the hope that he still might e.　A songbird called from the forest behind and she glanced up, smiling at the delicate melody. Then her atten　

　　　　　　1.　　　　Fingers of lightning tore holes in the black skies as an angry cloudburst drenched the surrealistic landscape. It was 3 A.M. on a cold, wet morning in late November 1967. and the little houses scattered along the dirt road winding through the hills of West Virginia were all dark. Some seemed unoccupied and in the final stages of decay. Others were unpainted, neglected, forlorn. The whole setting was like the opening scene of a Grade B horror film from the 1930s.　　　　Along the road there came a stranger in a land where strangers were rare and suspect. He walked up to the door of a c　

A Selection From The Lyrical Poems Of Robert HerrickArranged with introduction by Francis Turner PalgravePREFACEROBERT HERRICK - Born 1591 : Died 1674Those who most admire the Poet from whose many pieces a selection only is here offered, will, it is probable, feel most strongly (with the Editor) that excuse is needed for an attempt of an obviously presumptuous nature. The choice made by any selector invites challenge: the admission, perhaps, of some poems, the absence of more, will be censured:Whilst others may wholly condemn the process, in virtue of an argument not unfrequently advanced o　

Ernest Miller Hemingway was born in 1899 at Oak Park, a highly respectable suburb of Chicago, where his father, a keen sportsman, was a doctor. He was the second of six children. The family spent holidays in a lakeside hunting lodge in Michigan, near Indian settlements. Although energetic and successful in all school activities, Ernest twice ran away from home before joining the Kansas City Star as a cub reporter in 1917. Next year he volunteered as an ambulance driver on the Italian front and was badly wounded. Returning to America he began to write features for the Toronto Star Weekly in 19　

TEA-TABLE TALKTEA-TABLE TALKby Jerome K. Jerome1- Page 2-TEA-TABLE TALKCHAPTER I"They are very pretty, some of them," said the Woman of the World;"not the sort of letters I should have written myself.""I should like to see a love-letter of yours," interrupted the Minor Poet."It is very kind of you to say so," replied the Woman of the World. "Itnever occurred to me that you would care for one."...　

AndersonvilleBy John McElroyANDERSONVILLEA STORY OF REBEL MILITARY PRISONSFIFTEEN MONTHS A GUEST OF THE SO-CALLEDSOUTHERN CONFEDERACYA PRIVATE SOLDIERS EXPERIENCEINRICHMOND, ANDERSONVILLE, SAVANNAH, MILLENBLACKSHEAR AND FLORENCEBY JOHN McELROYLate of Co. L. 16th Ill Cav.1879...　

AN EPISODE OF FIDDLETOWNIn 1858 Fiddletown considered her a very pretty woman. She had aquantity of light chestnut hair, a good figure, a dazzlingcomplexion, and a certain languid grace which passed easily forgentle-womanliness. She always dressed becomingly, and in whatFiddletown accepted as the latest fashion. She had only twoblemishes: one of her velvety eyes, when examined closely, had aslight cast; and her left cheek bore a small scar left by a singledrop of vitriol happily the only drop of an entire phialthrownupon her by one of her own jealous sex, that reached the pretty...　

The Dragon and The Raven: Or The Days of King AlfredBy G. A. HentyC O N T E N T SPREFACEI. THE FUGITIVESII. THE BATTLE OF KESTEVENIII. THE MASSACRE AT CROYLANDIV. THE INVASION OF WESSEXV. A DISCIPLINED BANDVI. THE SAXON FORTVII. THE DRAGONVIII. THE CRUISE OF THE DRAGONIX. A PRIS0NERX. THE COMBATXI. THE ISLE OF ATHELNEYXII. FOUR YEARS OF PEACEXIII. THE SIEGE OF PARISXlV. THE REPULSE OF THE NORSEMENXV. FRIENDS IN TROUBLEXVI. FREDAXVII. A LONG CHASEXVIII. FREDA DISCOVEREDXIX. UNITED...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENBEAUTY OF FORM AND BEAUTY OF MINDby Hans Christian AndersenTHERE was once a sculptor, named Alfred, who having won thelarge gold medal and obtained a travelling scholarship, went to Italy,and then came back to his native land. He was young at that time-indeed, he is young still, although he is ten years older than hewas then. On his return, he went to visit one of the little towns inthe island of Zealand. The whole town knew who the stranger was; andone of the richest men in the place gave a party in his honor, and all...　

Blood SportNews item from the Westover (Me.) weekly Enterprise, August 19, 1966:RAIN OF STONES REPORTEDIt was reliably reported by several persons that a rain of stones fell from a clear blue sky on Carlin Street in the town of Chamberlain on August 17th. The stones fell principally on the home of Mrs Margaret White, damaging the roof extensively and ruining two gutters and a downspout valued at approximately $25. Mrs White, a widow, lives with her three-year-old daughter, Carietta.Mrs White could not be reached for ment.Nobody was really surprised when it happened, not really, not at the sub　

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 t　

The Brotherhood of Consolationby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Katharine Prescott WormeleyFIRST EPISODEMADAME DE LA CHANTERIEITHE MALADY OF THE AGEOn a fine evening in the month of September, 1836, a man about thirtyyears of age was leaning on the parapet of that quay from which aspectator can look up the Seine from the Jardin des Plantes to Notre-Dame, and down, along the vast perspective of the river, to theLouvre. There is not another point of view to compare with it in thecapital of ideas. We feel ourselves on the quarter-deck, as it were,...　

THE GREAT CONTROVERSYby ELLEN G. WHITE(iii)PREFACETHIS BOOK, READER, IS NOT PUBLISHED TO TELL US THAT THERE IS SIN AND WOE ANDMISERY IN THIS WORLD. WE KNOW IT ALL TOO WELL. THIS BOOK IS NOT PUBLISHED TOTELL US THAT THERE IS AN IRRECONCILABLE CONTROVERSY BETWEEN DARKNESS ANDLIGHT, SIN AND RIGHTEOUSNESS, WRONG AND RIGHT, DEATH AND LIFE. IN OUR HEARTOF HEARTS WE KNOW IT, AND KNOW THAT WE ARE PARTICIPATORS, ACTORS, IN THECONFLICT.BUT TO EVERY ONE OF US COMES AT TIMES A LONGING TO KNOW MORE OF THE GREAT...