Quick Excerpts, from a Library of 492 Titles

Generated 2022-07-28 13:26:00

Excerpt #1, from Phrases and Names, Their Origins and Meanings, by Trench H. Johnson

…blue hen, the expression Blue Hen’s Chickens was substituted for game-cocks.” =Blue Law State.= An old name for Connecticut, whose original settlers shared with the Puritans in the mother country a disgust of the licentiousness of the Court of the Restoration, and on this account were said to advocate “Blue” Laws. =Blue Noses.= A nickname bestowed upon the Nova Scotians, from the species of potato which they produce and claim to be the best in the world. =Blue Peter.= The flag hoisted at the mast head to give notice that a vessel is about to sail. Its name is a corruption of the French “Bleu Partir,” or blue departure signal. =Blue Pig.= An inn sign, corrupted from the “Blue Boar.” =Blue Stocking.= From the famous club of literary ladies formed by Mrs Montague in 1840, at which Benjamin Stillingfleet, who habitually wore blue stockings, was a regular visitor. Blue stockings, therefore, became the recognised badge of membership. There was, however, such a club of ladies and gentlemen at Venice as far back as 1400, called Della Calza, from the colour of stockings worn. =Blunderbuss.= A corruption of the Dutch donderbus, “thunder tube.” =Board of Green Cloth.= The steward of the Royal Household presides over…

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Excerpt #2, from 13 Days: The Chronicle of an Escape from a German Prison, by John Alan Lyde Caunter

…the next twenty-four hours, dwindled in strength until we were able to imagine it a trifling obstacle. We intended to make a raft and swim it over, should no boat be forthcoming during a short search. While we were discussing these and sundry other matters, Fox suddenly saw two men in dark clothes running across the heath some thousand yards away from us. Who could they be? On they ran, one about thirty yards behind the other, until they both disappeared into a clump of stunted pine trees. After a minute or two’s discussion we agreed that probably they were also escaped prisoners. If so, from what were they running? This question was answered shortly afterwards. A cart driven by two men suddenly came into sight not very far from the place where we had first seen the two running men. This cart was coming towards our hut, and soon began to fill us with something stronger than mere interest in its movements. It came to within 150 yards of us and then stopped. The men got out and began filling the cart with peat from the piles of this commodity lying about. We by this time were lying on the bottom of the hut, or squashed up against the back of the door, not daring to move. We prayed that it would not come on to rain heavily, as the men would be certain then to…

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Excerpt #3, from Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas, by H. A. Guerber

…decided to build an impregnable fortress; and while they were planning how this could be done, an unknown architect came with an offer to undertake the construction, provided the gods would give him sun, moon, and Freya, goddess of youth and beauty, as reward. The gods were wroth at so presumptuous an offer, but when they would have indignantly driven the stranger from their presence, Loki urged them to make a bargain which it would be impossible for the stranger to keep, and so they finally told the architect that the guerdon should be his, provided the fortress were finished in the course of a single winter, and that he accomplished the work with no other assistance than that of his horse Svadilfare. “To Asgard came an architect, And castle offered to erect,– A castle high Which should defy Deep Jotun guile and giant raid; And this most wily compact made: Fair Freya, with the Moon and Sun, As price the fortress being done.” Valhalla (J.C. Jones). The unknown architect agreed to these seemingly impossible conditions,…

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Excerpt #4, from The History of the Peloponnesian War, by Thucydides

…with which communicated an iron tube projecting from the beam, which was itself in great part plated with iron. This they brought up from a distance upon carts to the part of the wall principally composed of vines and timber, and when it was near, inserted huge bellows into their end of the beam and blew with them. The blast passing closely confined into the cauldron, which was filled with lighted coals, sulphur and pitch, made a great blaze, and set fire to the wall, which soon became untenable for its defenders, who left it and fled; and in this way the fort was taken. Of the garrison some were killed and two hundred made prisoners; most of the rest got on board their ships and returned home. Soon after the fall of Delium, which took place seventeen days after the battle, the Athenian herald, without knowing what had happened, came again for the dead, which were now restored by the Boeotians, who no longer answered as at first. Not quite five hundred Boeotians fell in the battle, and nearly one thousand Athenians, including Hippocrates the general, besides a great number of light troops and camp followers. Soon after this battle Demosthenes, after the failure of his voyage to Siphae and of the plot on the town, availed himself of the Acarnanian and Agraean troops and of the four hundred Athenian heavy infantry which he had on board, to make a descent on the Sicyonian coast. Before…

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Excerpt #5, from The Aztec Treasure

…group of Indians. In the midst of the group was a very old man, who with out-stretched arm was pointing towards Pablo and El Sabio, and who at the same time was talking to his companions in grave and earnest tones. There was a look of awe upon his age-worn face, and as we fairly came abreast of him he dropped upon his knees and raised his arms above his head, as though in supplication to some higher power. The action, truly, was a most impressive one; and even more strongly than we were affected by it did it affect those who were clustered around him. In a moment all in the group had fallen upon their knees and had raised their arms upward; and then a low moaning, that presently grew louder and more thrilling, broke forth among them as they gave vent to the feeling of awful dread that was in their hearts. “That’s business, that is,” Young said, in tones of great satisfaction. "Those fellows do believe in th’ prophecy, for a fact; and if th’ folks once get it fairly into their heads that th’ time has come for their rascally Priest Captain t’ have an upset, that’s a good long start for our side towards upsettin’ him. It was just everlastin’ly level-headed in th’ Colonel t’ make Pablo ride El Sabio, and so regularly cram th’ thing down these critters’ throats. I don’t know how much of th’ prophecy he believes himself, but he’s workin’ it for all it’s worth, any way. There don’t seem t’ be any flies worth speakin’ of on th’…

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Excerpt #6, from English Fairy Tales, by Joseph Jacobs

…was within a mile of the castle, the country people flying before him like chaff. But Jack was not a bit daunted, and said: “Let him come! I have a tool to pick his teeth; and you, ladies and gentlemen, walk out into the garden, and you shall witness this giant Thunderdell’s death and destruction.” The castle was situated in the midst of a small island surrounded by a moat thirty feet deep and twenty feet wide, over which lay a drawbridge. So Jack employed men to cut through this bridge on both sides, nearly to the middle; and then, dressing himself in his invisible coat, he marched against the giant with his sword of sharpness. Although the giant could not see Jack, he smelt his approach, and cried out in these words: “Fee, fi, fo, fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman! Be he alive or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make me bread!” “Say’st thou so,” said Jack; “then thou art a monstrous miller indeed.” The giant cried out again: “Art thou that villain who killed my kinsmen? Then I will tear thee with my teeth, suck thy blood, and grind thy bones to powder.” “You’ll have to catch me first,” quoth Jack, and throwing off his invisible coat, so that the giant might see him, and putting on his…

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Excerpt #7, from Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience, by Henry David Thoreau

…according to the spirit of our institutions; and I am confident that, as our circumstances are more flourishing, our means are greater than the nobleman’s. New England can hire all the wise men in the world to come and teach her, and board them round the while, and not be provincial at all. That is the uncommon school we want. Instead of noblemen, let us have noble villages of men. If it is necessary, omit one bridge over the river, go round a little there, and throw one arch at least over the darker gulf of ignorance which surrounds us. Sounds But while we are confined to books, though the most select and classic, and read only particular written languages, which are themselves but dialects and provincial, we are in danger of forgetting the language which all things and events speak without metaphor, which alone is copious and standard. Much is published, but little printed. The rays which stream through the shutter will be no longer remembered when the shutter is wholly removed. No method nor discipline can supersede the necessity of being forever on the alert. What is a course of history, or philosophy, or poetry, no matter how well selected, or the best society, or the most admirable routine of life, compared with the discipline of looking always at what is to be seen? Will you be a reader, a student merely, or a seer? Read your fate, see what is before…

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Excerpt #8, from Clairvoyance and Occult Powers, by William Walker Atkinson

…above the other in rate of vibration. But the scale of mental and emotional states is far more complex, and far more extended than is the musical scale; there are thousands of different notes, and half-notes, on the mental scale. There are harmonies and discords on that scale, also. To those to whom vibrations seem to be something merely connected with sound-waves, etc., I would say that a general and hasty glance at some elementary work on physical science will show that even the different shades, hues and tints of the colors perceived by us arise from different rates of vibrations. Color is nothing more than the result of certain rates of vibrations of light recorded by our senses and interpreted by our minds. From the low vibrations of red to the high vibrations of violet, all the various colors of the spectrum have their own particular rate of vibration. And, more than this, science knows that below the lowest red vibrations, and above the highest violet vibrations, there are other vibrations which our senses are unable to record, but which scientific instruments register. The rays of light by which photographs are taken are not perceived by the eye. There are a number of so-called chemical rays of light which the eye does not perceive, but which may be caught by delicate instruments. There is what science has called “dark light,” which will photograph in a room which appears pitch dark to the human sight. Above the ordinary scale of light vibrations are the vibrations of the…

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Excerpt #9, from Emma, by Jane Austen

…“No, no,” said she, “you are quite unreasonable. It would be dreadful to be standing so close! Nothing can be farther from pleasure than to be dancing in a crowd—and a crowd in a little room!” “There is no denying it,” he replied. “I agree with you exactly. A crowd in a little room—Miss Woodhouse, you have the art of giving pictures in a few words. Exquisite, quite exquisite!—Still, however, having proceeded so far, one is unwilling to give the matter up. It would be a disappointment to my father—and altogether—I do not know that—I am rather of opinion that ten couple might stand here very well.” Emma perceived that the nature of his gallantry was a little self-willed, and that he would rather oppose than lose the pleasure of dancing with her; but she took the compliment, and forgave the rest. Had she intended ever to marry him, it might have been worth while to pause and consider, and try to understand the value of his preference, and the character of his temper; but for all the purposes of their acquaintance, he was quite amiable enough. Before the middle of the next day, he was at Hartfield; and he entered the room with such an agreeable smile as certified the continuance of the scheme. It soon appeared that he came to announce an improvement. “Well, Miss Woodhouse,” he almost immediately began, “your inclination…

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Excerpt #10, from A Border Ruffian, by Thomas A. Janvier

…looks enough like Dicky Smith to be his tenth cousin. But if ever the goodness of heaven was shown in the affairs of men it is shown here to me to-night!" VI. Even as the sun triumphs over the darkness of night and the gloom of the tempest, so did Mrs. Rittenhouse Smith’s dinner-party emerge radiantly from the sombre perils which had beset it. It was a brilliant, unqualified success. Miss Winthrop was good enough to say, when the evening was ended–saying it in that assured, unconscious way that gives to the utterances of Boston people so peculiar a charm–“Really, Mrs. Smith, you have given me not only a delightful dinner, but a delightful surprise; I would not have believed, had I not seen it myself, that outside of Boston so many clever people could be brought together!” And Mr. Hutchinson Port, upsetting all his traditions, had kept up a running fire of laudatory comment upon the dinner that had filled Mrs. Smith’s soul with joy. She had expected him, being cut off by her presence from engaging in his accustomed grumbling, to maintain a moody silence. She had not expected praise: and she valued his praise the more because she knew that he spoke out of the fulness of his wisdom; and because in a matter of such vital moment as eating she knew that she…

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Excerpt #11, from You no longer count, by René Boylesve

…“It’s frightful, frightful,” exclaimed Odette. She had seen and nursed most grievously wounded soldiers; but unconsciously a sort of convention had been established in her mind by which nothing that she saw, or that happened in the hospital at Surville, should move her. This first result of the war which had faced her elsewhere than at Surville, and under another aspect, impressed her almost intolerably. On the other hand, Simone had become accustomed to the dramatic scenes which at times occur in Paris, where everything is perhaps all the more sad because the war drama is close at hand, aping normal life. This juxtaposition of the manners of a time of peace and these shadows of the pit which mingle with the life of every day, more like a prolonged dream than like reality, produce surprising effects upon reflective minds. Simone de Prans, who for a time had taken up work in a model hospital, an American hospital, was no longer a nurse. That was no longer done. “What about our good Rose?” asked Odette. "Rose Misson has arranged her life. She has resolved not to yield to things; she has been too much teased about her old husband, always going about in his automobile. Neither Rose nor her husband is disturbed by that; he remains on his seat; she dresses, visits the shops as in former times and receives the few friends who are not indignant because her…

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Excerpt #12, from The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People, by Oscar Wilde

…I am engaged to Mr. Worthing, mamma. [They rise together.] LADY BRACKNELL. Pardon me, you are not engaged to any one. When you do become engaged to some one, I, or your father, should his health permit him, will inform you of the fact. An engagement should come on a young girl as a surprise, pleasant or unpleasant, as the case may be. It is hardly a matter that she could be allowed to arrange for herself . . . And now I have a few questions to put to you, Mr. Worthing. While I am making these inquiries, you, Gwendolen, will wait for me below in the carriage. GWENDOLEN. [Reproachfully.] Mamma! LADY BRACKNELL. In the carriage, Gwendolen! [Gwendolen goes to the door. She and Jack blow kisses to each other behind Lady Bracknell’s back. Lady Bracknell looks vaguely about as if she could not understand what the noise was. Finally turns round.] Gwendolen, the carriage! GWENDOLEN. Yes, mamma. [Goes out, looking back at Jack.] LADY BRACKNELL. [Sitting down.] You can take a seat, Mr. Worthing….

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