THE HISTORY OF WHITTINGTONDICK WHITTINGTON was a very little boy when hisfather and mother died; so little, indeed, that he neverknew them, nor the place where he was born. Hestrolled about the country as ragged as a colt, till he metwith a wagoner who was going to London, and who gavehim leave to walk all the way by the side of his wagonwithout paying anything for his passage. This pleasedlittle Whittington very much, as he wanted to see Londonsadly, for he had heard that the streets were paved withgold, and he was willing to get a bushel of it; but how...　

AS CONCERNS INTERPRETING THE DEITYIThis line of hieroglyphics was for fourteen years thedespair of all the scholars who labored over the mysteries of theRosetta stone: [Figure 1]After five years of study Champollion translated it thus:Therefore let the worship of Epiphanes be maintained in allthe temples, this upon pain of death.That was the twenty-forth translation that had beenfurnished by scholars. For a time it stood. But only for atime. Then doubts began to assail it and undermine it, and thescholars resumed their labors. Three years of patient work...　

THE SKETCH BOOKRURAL LIFE IN ENGLANDby Washington IrvingOh! friendly to the best pursuits of man,Friendly to thought, to virtue, and to peace,Domestic life in rural pleasures past!COWPER.THE stranger who would form a correct opinion of the Englishcharacter must not confine his observations to the metropolis. He mustgo forth into the country; he must sojourn in villages and hamlets; he...　

CHAPTER VIIThe Lion and the UnicornThe next moment soldiers came running through the wood, at firstin twos and threes, then ten or twenty together, and at last insuch crowds that they seemed to fill the whole forest. Alice gotbehind a tree, for fear of being run over, and watched them go by.She thought that in all her life she had never seen soldiers souncertain on their feet: they were always tripping oversomething or other, and whenever one went down, several morealways fell over him, so that the ground was soon covered with...　

The Lady, or the Tiger?by Frank R. StocktonIn the very olden time there lived a semi-barbaric king, whoseideas, though somewhat polished and sharpened by theprogressiveness of distant Latin neighbors, were still large,florid, and untrammeled, as became the half of him which wasbarbaric. He was a man of exuberant fancy, and, withal, of anauthority so irresistible that, at his will, he turned his variedfancies into facts. He was greatly given to self-communing, and,when he and himself agreed upon anything, the thing was done.When every member of his domestic and political systems moved...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE TOADby Hans Christian AndersenTHE well was deep, and therefore the rope had to be a long one; itwas heavy work turning the handle when any one had to raise abucketful of water over the edge of the well. Though the water wasclear, the sun never looked down far enough into the well to mirroritself in the waters; but as far as its beams could reach, greenthings grew forth between the stones in the sides of the well.Down below dwelt a family of the Toad race. They had, in fact,...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE OLD STREET LAMPby Hans Christian AndersenDID you ever hear the story of the old street lamp? It is notremarkably interesting, but for once in a way you may as well listento it. It was a most respectable old lamp, which had seen many, manyyears of service, and now was to retire with a pension. It was thisevening at its post for the last time, giving light to the street. Hisfeelings were something like those of an old dancer at the theatre,who is dancing for the last time, and knows that on the morrow she...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE TINDER-BOXby Hans Christian AndersenA SOLDIER came marching along the high road: "Left, right- left,right." He had his knapsack on his back, and a sword at his side; hehad been to the wars, and was now returning home.As he walked on, he met a very frightful-looking old witch inthe road. Her under-lip hung quite down on her breast, and she stoppedand said, "Good evening, soldier; you have a very fine sword, and alarge knapsack, and you are a real soldier; so you shall have as...　

Chapter XV of Volume III (Chap. 57)THE discomposure of spirits which this extraordinary visit threw Elizabeth into, could not be easily overcome; nor could she, for many hours, learn to think of it less than incessantly. Lady Catherine, it appeared, had actually taken the trouble of this journey from Rosings, for the sole purpose of breaking off her supposed engagement with Mr. Darcy. It was a rational scheme, to be sure! but from what the report of their engagement could originate, Elizabeth was at a loss to imagine; till she recollected that his being the intimate friend of Bingley, and her　

1872FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE TINDER-BOXby Hans Christian AndersenA SOLDIER came marching along the high road: "Left, right- left,right." He had his knapsack on his back, and a sword at his side; hehad been to the wars, and was now returning home.As he walked on, he met a very frightful-looking old witch inthe road. Her under-lip hung quite down on her breast, and she stopped and said, "Good evening, soldier; you have a very fine sword, and a large knapsack, and you are a real soldier; so you shall have as much money as ever you like.""Thank you, old witch," said the soldier..　

THE BOYS WITH THE GOLDEN STARSOnce upon a time what happened did happen: and if it had nothappened, you would never have heard this story.Well, once upon a time there lived an emperor who had half aworld all to himself to rule over, and in this world dwelt an oldherd and his wife and their three daughters, Anna, Stana, andLaptitza.Anna, the eldest, was so beautiful that when she took the sheepto pasture they forgot to eat as long as she was walking withthem. Stana, the second, was so beautiful that when she wasdriving the flock the wolves protected the sheep. But Laptitza,...　

1872FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE TOADby Hans Christian AndersenTHE well was deep, and therefore the rope had to be a long one; itwas heavy work turning the handle when any one had to raise abucketful of water over the edge of the well. Though the water wasclear, the sun never looked down far enough into the well to mirroritself in the waters; but as far as its beams could reach, greenthings grew forth between the stones in the sides of the well.Down below dwelt a family of the Toad race. They had, in fact,come head-over-heels down the well, in the person of the old...　

THE FLYING SHIP[24][24] From the Russian.Once upon a time there lived an old couple who had three sons;the two elder were clever, but the third was a regular dunce.The clever sons were very fond of their mother, gave her goodclothes, and always spoke pleasantly to her; but the youngest wasalways getting in her way, and she had no patience with him.Now, one day it was announced in the village that the King hadissued a decree, offering his daughter, the Princess, in marriageto whoever should build a ship that could fly. Immediately thetwo elder brothers determined to try their luck, and asked 　

CHAPTER VIPig and PepperFor a minute or two she stood looking at the house, andwondering what to do next, when suddenly a footman in livery camerunning out of the wood(she considered him to be a footmanbecause he was in livery: otherwise, judging by his face only,she would have called him a fish)and rapped loudly at the doorwith his knuckles. It was opened by another footman in livery,with a round face, and large eyes like a frog; and both footmen,Alice noticed, had powdered hair that curled all over their...　

THE HEADLESS DWARFSThere was once a minister who spent his whole time in trying tofind a servant who would undertake to ring the church bells atmidnight, in addition to all his other duties.Of course it was not everyone who cared to get up in the middleof the night, when he had been working hard all day; still, agood many had agreed to do it. But the strange thing was that nosooner had the servant set forth to perform his task than hedisappeared, as if the earth had swallowed him up. No bells wererung, and no ringer ever came back. The minister did his best to...　

HERMOD AND HADVOR [32][32] From the Icelandic.Once upon a time there were a King and a Queen who had an onlydaughter, called Hadvor, who was fair and beautiful, and being anonly child, was heir to the kingdom. The King and Queen had alsoa foster son, named Hermod, who was just about the same age asHadvor, and was good-looking, as well as clever at most things.Hermod and Hadvor often played together while they were children,and liked each other so much that while they were still youngthey secretly plighted their troth to each other.As time went on the Queen fell sick, and suspecting that it w