Quick Excerpts, from a Library of 492 Titles

Generated 2022-07-28 13:26:01

Excerpt #1, from The Great Boer War, by Arthur Conan Doyle

…two-thirds of the distance. The fugitive Boers made northwards in the Middelburg direction, while Buller advanced to Standerton, which town he continued to occupy until Lord Roberts could send a force down through Heidelberg to join hands with him. Such was the position of the Natal Field Force at the end of June. From the west and the south-west British forces were also converging upon the capital. The indomitable Baden-Powell sought for rest and change of scene after his prolonged trial by harrying the Boers out of Zeerust and Rustenburg. The forces of Hunter and of Mahon converged upon Potchefstroom, from which, after settling that district, they could be conveyed by rail to Krugersdorp and Johannesburg. Before briefly recounting the series of events which took place upon the line of communications, the narrative must return to Lord Roberts at Pretoria, and describe the operations which followed his occupation of that city. In leaving the undefeated forces of the Free State behind him, the British General had unquestionably run a grave risk, and was well aware that his railway communication was in danger of being cut. By the rapidity of his movements he succeeded in gaining the enemy’s capital before that which he had foreseen came to pass; but if Botha had held him at Pretoria while De Wet struck at him behind, the situation would have been a serious one. Having once attained his main object,…

More: Read or Listen on IA →

Excerpt #2, from The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran

…arches that span the summits of the mind? Have you beauty, that leads the heart from things fashioned of wood and stone to the holy mountain? Tell me, have you these in your houses? Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host, and then a master? ***** Ay, and it becomes a tamer, and with hook and scourge makes puppets of your larger desires. Though its hands are silken, its heart is of iron. It lulls you to sleep only to stand by your bed and jeer at the dignity of the flesh. It makes mock of your sound senses, and lays them in thistledown like fragile…

More: Read or Listen on IA →

Excerpt #3, from The Early History of the Airplane, by Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright

…gasoline motors had been in the construction of an air-cooled motor, 5-inch bore and 7-inch stroke, which was used to run the machinery of our small workshop. To be certain that four cylinders of the size we had adopted (4" x 4") would develop the necessary 8 horse-power, we first fitted them in a temporary frame of simple and cheap construction. In just six weeks from the time the design was started, we had the motor on the block testing its power. The ability to do this so quickly was largely due to the enthusiastic and efficient services of Mr. C. E. Taylor, who did all the machine work in our shop for the first as well as the succeeding experimental machines. There was no provision for lubricating either cylinders or bearings while this motor was running. For that reason it was not possible to run it more than a minute or two at a time. In these short tests the motor developed about nine horse-power. We were then satisfied that, with proper lubrication and better adjustments, a little more power could be expected. The completion of the motor according to drawing was, therefore, proceeded with at once. [Illustration] While Mr. Taylor was engaged with this work, Wilbur and I were busy in completing the design of the machine itself. The preliminary tests of the motor having convinced us that more than 8 horse-power would be…

More: Read or Listen on IA →

Excerpt #4, from The Genetic Effects of Radiation, by Isaac Asimov and Theodosius Dobzhansky

…would not be able to afford a second mortgage. What humanity must do, if additional radiation damage is absolutely necessary, is to take on as little of that added damage as possible, and not pretend that any direct benefits will be involved. Any pretense of that sort may well lure us into assuming still greater damage—damage we may not be able to afford under any circumstances and for any reason. Actually, as the situation appears right now, it is not likely that the use of radiation in modern medicine, research, and industry will overstep the maximum bounds set by scientists who have weighed the problem carefully. Only nuclear warfare is likely to do so, and apparently those governments with large capacities in this direction are thoroughly aware of the danger and (so far, at least) have guided their foreign policies accordingly. SUGGESTED REFERENCES Books Radiation, Genes, and Man, Bruce Wallace and Theodosius Dobzhansky, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., New York 10017, 1963, 205 pp., $5.00 (hardback); $1.28 (paperback). Genetics in the Atomic Age (second edition), Charlotte Auerbach, Oxford University Press, Inc., Fair Lawn, New Jersey 07410, 1965, 111 pp., $2.50….

More: Read or Listen on IA →

Excerpt #5, from Jane Eyre: An Autobiography, by Charlotte Brontë

…make out a connection between the first words and the verse of Scripture, when the sound of a cough close behind me made me turn my head. I saw a girl sitting on a stone bench near; she was bent over a book, on the perusal of which she seemed intent: from where I stood I could see the title—it was “Rasselas;” a name that struck me as strange, and consequently attractive. In turning a leaf she happened to look up, and I said to her directly— “Is your book interesting?” I had already formed the intention of asking her to lend it to me some day. “I like it,” she answered, after a pause of a second or two, during which she examined me. “What is it about?” I continued. I hardly know where I found the hardihood thus to open a conversation with a stranger; the step was contrary to my nature and habits: but I think her occupation touched a chord of sympathy somewhere; for I too liked reading, though of a frivolous and childish kind; I could not digest or comprehend the serious or substantial. “You may look at it,” replied the girl, offering me the book. I did so; a brief examination convinced me that the contents were less taking than the title: “Rasselas” looked dull to my trifling taste; I saw nothing about fairies, nothing about genii; no bright variety…

More: Read or Listen on IA →

Excerpt #6, from Latin Phrase Book, by Carl Meissner

…ut fit, ita ut fit, ut fere fit—as usually happens. ut solet, ut fieri solet—as usually happens. ita fert consuetudo—so custom, fashion prescribes. ex consuetudine mea (opp. praeter consuetudinem)—according to my custom. more institutoque maiorum (Mur. 1. 1)—according to the custom and tradition of my fathers. ex instituto (Liv. 6. 10. 6)—according to traditional usage. [1] Note assuescere, to accustom oneself to …. and assuefacere aliquem, to accustom some one else to… [TR1] Transcriber’s Note: The original text has retineri. But that is wrong as can be seen from the French edition using retinere. XIII. Commerce and Agriculture 1. Commerce in General—Purchase—Price negotiatores[1] (Verr. 2. 69. 168)—business-men. homines negotii (always in sing.) gerentes—business-men. negotii bene gerentes (Quint. 19. 62)—good men of business. negotium obire or exsequi—to be engaged upon a transaction, carry it out. negotium (rem) conficere, absolvere—to settle, finish a transaction. mercaturam facere—to be engaged in commerce, wholesale business….

More: Read or Listen on IA →

Excerpt #7, from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare

…PUCK. Ho, ho, ho! Coward, why com’st thou not? DEMETRIUS. Abide me, if thou dar’st; for well I wot Thou runn’st before me, shifting every place, And dar’st not stand, nor look me in the face. Where art thou? …PUCK. Come hither; I am here. DEMETRIUS. Nay, then, thou mock’st me. Thou shalt buy this dear If ever I thy face by daylight see: Now go thy way. Faintness constraineth me To measure out my length on this cold bed. By day’s approach look to be visited. [Lies down and sleeps.] Enter Helena. HELENA. O weary night, O long and tedious night, Abate thy hours! Shine, comforts, from the east, That I may back to Athens by daylight,…

More: Read or Listen on IA →

Excerpt #8, from The Idiot, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

…way for him all the winter.” “I don’t believe it!” said the prince abruptly, after a short pause. “Had it been so I should have known long ago.” “Oh, of course, yes; he would have come and wept out his secret on your bosom. Oh, you simpleton—you simpleton! Anyone can deceive you and take you in like a—like a,—aren’t you ashamed to trust him? Can’t you see that he humbugs you just as much as ever he pleases?” “I know very well that he does deceive me occasionally, and he knows that I know it, but—” The prince did not finish his sentence. “And that’s why you trust him, eh? So I should have supposed. Good Lord, was there ever such a man as you? Tfu! and are you aware, sir, that this Gania, or his sister Varia, have brought her into correspondence with Nastasia Philipovna?” “Brought whom?” cried Muishkin. “Aglaya.” “I don’t believe it! It’s impossible! What object could they have?” He jumped up from his chair in his excitement. “Nor do I believe it, in spite of the proofs. The girl is self-willed and fantastic, and insane! She’s wicked, wicked! I’ll repeat it for a thousand years that she’s wicked; they all are, just now, all my daughters, even that ‘wet hen’ Alexandra. And yet I don’t believe it….

More: Read or Listen on IA →

Excerpt #9, from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon

…foreign conquest, was the object of his policy; and that his principal care was to employ the forces of Alaric at a distance from Italy. This design could not long escape the penetration of the Gothic king, who continued to hold a doubtful, and perhaps a treacherous, correspondence with the rival courts; who protracted, like a dissatisfied mercenary, his languid operations in Thessaly and Epirus, and who soon returned to claim the extravagant reward of his ineffectual services. From his camp near Aemona, 102 on the confines of Italy, he transmitted to the emperor of the West a long account of promises, of expenses, and of demands; called for immediate satisfaction, and clearly intimated the consequences of a refusal. Yet if his conduct was hostile, his language was decent and dutiful. He humbly professed himself the friend of Stilicho, and the soldier of Honorius; offered his person and his troops to march, without delay, against the usurper of Gaul; and solicited, as a permanent retreat for the Gothic nation, the possession of some vacant province of the Western empire. 100 (return) [ Comitatur euntem Pallor, et atra fames; et saucia lividus ora Luctus; et inferno stridentes agmine morbi. —-Claudian in vi….

More: Read or Listen on IA →

Excerpt #10, from English Fairy Tales, by Joseph Jacobs

…remembered about the little golden box that his father gave him. And he said to himself: “Well, well, I never was so near my death as I am now;” and then he felt in his pocket, and drew the little box out. And when he opened it, out there hopped three little red men, and asked Jack: “What is your will with us?” “Well,” said Jack, “I want a great lake and some of the largest man-of-war vessels in the world before this mansion, and one of the largest vessels to fire a royal salute, and the last round to break one of the legs of the bed where this young lady is sleeping.” “All right,” said the little men; “go to sleep.” Jack had hardly time to bring the words out of his mouth, to tell the little men what to do, but what it struck eight o’clock, when Bang, bang went one of the largest man-of-war vessels; and it made Jack jump out of bed to look through the window; and I can assure you it was a wonderful sight for him to see, after being so long with his father and mother living in a wood. By this time Jack dressed himself, and said his prayers, and came down laughing; for he was proud, he was, because the thing was done so well. The gentleman comes to him, and says to him: “Well, my young man, I must say that you are very clever indeed. Come and have some breakfast.” And the gentleman tells him, “Now there are two more things you have to do, and then you shall have my daughter in marriage.” Jack gets his…

More: Read or Listen on IA →

Excerpt #11, from Second Treatise of Government, by John Locke

…were those in whose hands we find, de facto, the exercise of government: I say, if this argument be good, it will as strongly prove, that all princes, nay princes only, ought to be priests, since it is as certain, that in the beginning, the father of the family was priest, as that he was ruler in his own houshold. CHAPTER. VII. OF POLITICAL OR CIVIL SOCIETY. Sect. 77. GOD having made man such a creature, that in his own judgment, it was not good for him to be alone, put him under strong obligations of necessity, convenience, and inclination to drive him into society, as well as fitted him with understanding and language to continue and enjoy it. The first society was between man and wife, which gave beginning to that between parents and children; to which, in time, that between master and servant came to be added: and though all these might, and commonly did meet together, and make up but one family, wherein the master or mistress of it had some sort of rule proper to a family; each of these, or all together, came short of political society, as we shall see, if we consider the different ends, ties, and bounds of each of these. Sect. 78. Conjugal society is made by a voluntary compact between man and woman; and tho’ it consist chiefly in such a communion and right in…

More: Read or Listen on IA →

Excerpt #12, from The Submarine Hunters: A Story of the Naval Patrol Work in the Great War

…the day?" The victim of von Hauptwald’s attack had to be assisted into the boat, which, on making the ship, was quickly hoisted and secured. Meanwhile the Tehuantepec Girl was on the point of sinking. From stem to stern she was a roaring furnace. Mingled with the roar of the flames could be heard the hiss of water coming in contact with the red-hot plates, while ever and anon came the crash of metal as the deck beams gave way and fell into the hold. Suddenly she parted amidships. The flames died out, overpowered by the inrush of water. A thick column of smoke and steam arose as the bow and stem [Transcriber’s note: stern?] portions floated apart. Then with the roar of escaping air the remains of the Yankee cargo-boat disappeared, to find a resting-place 7000 fathoms deep on the bed of the Atlantic. CHAPTER XXIII Mined “So that accounts for the fellow’s behaviour,” remarked the Captain of the Oxford, after Ross and Vernon had communicated their discovery to the Commander, who in turn reported the news to the skipper. "The doctor says he is out of danger, eh? From a medical point of view, no doubt. Put him in the cells, Master-at-arms. We’ll take good care not…

More: Read or Listen on IA →

A production of Friendlyskies.net