It's startling enough to have a Phoenix hatch in your house, but even more startling when it reveals you have a magic carpet on the floor. Conceited it may be, but the Phoenix is also good-hearted, and obligingly accompanies the children on their adventures through time and space-which, magic being what it is, rarely turn out as they were meant...

When a young pair of newlyweds settle down into a small cottage in a quiet village, they look forward to a pleasant, pastoral life of domestic bliss. The husband, a practical man, dismisses the superstitious maid's tale of an ancient curse about the local church's marble statues who come to life each year on All Saint's Eve to wreak revenge. But then, on the fateful night, he discovers that the stone slabs on which the knights rest are empty. Is his young bride in peril?

"Don Quijote de la Mancha" es una novela escrita por el espa?ol Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Publicada su primera parte con el título de "El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha" a comienzos de 1605, es la obra más destacada de la literatura espa?ola y universal, además de ser la más publicada y traducida de la historia después de la Biblia. Su segunda parte apareció en 1615 con el título de "El ingenioso caballero don Quijote de la Mancha". Es la primera obra genuinamente desmitificadora de la tradición caballeresca y cortés por su tratamiento burlesco. Representa la primera novela moderna y la primera polifónica; como tal, ejerció un enorme influjo en toda la narrativa europea. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (Alcalá de Henares, 29 de septiembre de 1547 - Madrid, 22 de abril de 1616) fue un soldado, novelista, poeta y dramaturgo espa?ol. Es considerado la máxima figura de la literatura espa?ola y es universalmente conocido por haber escrito "Don Quijote de la Mancha".

Una novela que sigue siendo de actualidad. Gastón,un joven adinerado que despilfarra gran parte de la fortuna que le ha heredadosu madre, descubre que puede vivir de una manera distinta, recuperar lo que ha perdido y de paso, encontrarse con el amor y honestidad que no había experimentado antes. Escrita de forma sencilla y accesible, "El tesoro de Gastón" es una de las muchas fabulosas obras escritas por la condesa Emilia Pardo Bazán.

ONCE upon a time, a long while ago—in fact long before Egypt had risen to power and before Rome or Greece had ever been heard of—and that was some time before you were born, you know—there was a king who reigned over a very large and powerful kingdom. Now this king was rather old, he had founded his kingdom himself, and he had reigned over it nine hundred and ninety-nine and a half years already. As I have said before, it was a very large kingdom, for it contained, among other things, the whole of the western half of the world. The rest of the world was divided into smaller kingdoms, and each kingdom was ruled over by separate princes, who, however, were none of them so old as Intafernes, as he was called.

In preparing this brief account of the chief incidents in Our Lord's Life, the writer has endeavoured to keep as close as possible to the sacred text; its divine simplicity being far preferable to any other style of writing the story. The easiest words and those most familiar to children have generally been used and every effort has been made to adapt the volume to the intelligence of the young with the view of instilling into their minds the love of our Saviour for mankind as shown in the beautiful story of His life. ? KING DAVID. In ages past God made the world: the earth, the sea, the hills, the streams, the trees; the fish, birds and beasts; last of all He made Adam, the first man, and Eve his wife, and they lived in the Garden of Eden. They were quite good at first, but tempted by Satan they ate the fruit of a tree God told them not to eat, and that brought sin into the world; they could not live for ever now, they must die; but that their souls might go to heaven, God's own Son said He would come down on earth and die to save them. God said His Son should be born of Abraham's nation, and should be one of the sons of the line of King David, who sang the sweet psalms in praise of God. Abraham was a good man, so good that God called him His friend; and from him came the people called Jews. David was one of their kings. God always keeps His word, but He makes men wait till it is His time to do as He says; and it was a long, long time after Abraham and David that our Lord came to live among men. At last God sent His angel Gabriel to a young maiden, named Mary, who lived at a town called Nazareth, to tell her that God loved her, and that she should have God's Son for her own son. Our Lord would be her little babe. When Mary saw the angel she was at first afraid, but he said to her, "Fear not, Mary," and he told her that she must call the child's name Jesus—that means Saviour—for He would save the people from their sins. Then Mary must have been glad. She said, "I am God's servant; may His will be done." Mary was to be the wife of her cousin Joseph—they were both of David's family—so the angel went and told him too, that Mary should have God's Son for her own, and that he must call the child Jesus.

"TOM!"?No answer.?"TOM!"?No answer.??"What's gone with that boy, I wonder? You TOM!"?No answer.??The old lady pulled her spectacles down and looked over them about the room; then she put them up and looked out under them. She seldom or never looked through them for so small a thing as a boy; they were her state pair, the pride of her heart, and were built for "style," not service—she could have seen through a pair of stove-lids just as well. She looked perplexed for a moment, and then said, not fiercely, but still loud enough for the furniture to hear:??"Well, I lay if I get hold of you I'll—"??She did not finish, for by this time she was bending down and punching under the bed with the broom, and so she needed breath to punctuate the punches with. She resurrected nothing but the cat.??"I never did see the beat of that boy!"?She went to the open door and stood in it and looked out among the tomato vines and "jimpson" weeds that constituted the garden. No Tom. So she lifted up her voice at an angle calculated for dis-tance and shouted:??"Y-o-u-u TOM!"

„Romanele ?i povestirile lui Golding nu sunt numai parabole morale sobre ?i mituri întunecate despre for?ele distrug?toare ?i perfide ale r?ului, ci ?i istorii aventuroase, pline de farmec, ce pot fi citite ca atare, debordând de pl?cerea de a povesti, de inventivitate ?i suspans.“ – Comitetul Nobel „Compact ?i plin de vigoare… O poveste captivant?.“ – The New York Times Book Review „Golding a fost un scriitor […] cu o minunat? voca?ie epopeic?. [S-a priceput s? spun?] pove?ti originare, despre cum a înv??at omul s? vorbeasc?, despre izvoarele r?ului, despre straniile surse ale artei.“ – Malcom Bradbury Clasici moderni Litera pune laolalt? scriitori moderni ale c?ror opere au devenit deja repere clasice. Cele mai importante, mai provocatoare, mai emo?ionante, mai revolu?ionare opere din ultimii 125 de ani – c?r?i care vor continua s? fie citite de la o genera?ie la alta.

Kafka se pricepe s dezvluie pretutindeni lumina tinuit. Ai impresia c descoperi o mare nsorit, cu valuri ce sunt niri de lumin i n faa creia trebuie s nchizi, orbit, ochii, pentru a te adposti la umbr.“ (Max Brod) Kafka este cel mai mare scriitor de limb german al timpului nostru. Poei precum Rilke, romancieri precum Mann par fies pleasc n comparaie cu el, fie s radieze o lumin puternic, dar artificial.“ (Vladimir Nabokov) Poate cel mai interesant scriitor al generaiei sale... Un geniu straniu i deconcertant.“ (Edwin Muir) Cu ct opera e mai desvrit, cu att mai puin ne trimite ea spre autorul ei. [...] Franz Kafka este scriitorul care i-a consumat experiena de via n asemenea msur, nct referirea la biografie devine superflu.“ (Martin Walser)

Gerek aklara gerek insanlara yazmtm iirlerimi... Bana pis bir ucubeymiim gibi davranan ucubeye... nsan hi ucubeye iir yazar m demeyin! Benimki gerek bir ak hikayesiydi... yle sandm...Küüktüm.... Aldandm... Hani bize hep anlatlan kurbaa prens hikayesi var ya; Ben hep kurbaann prens olacan düünmütüm, ama nereden bilebilirdim prensimin kurbaa kacan... Kurbaamn da yok olacan... Bu kitabm benim gibi kurbaay prens zanneden gen kzlara, incinmi aldatlm tüm kadnlara, terk edilmi aklara ve ak ararken insann nasl ac ektiini, her eyini kaybetmiliini anlamak isteyen ak hrszlarna gelsin... ve tüm iir dostlarna.... Ben küük bir kzdm, ok incindim... Lütfen siz incinmeyin ve sizi kimsenin incitmesine izin vermeyin... UCUBEYE... Bugün tam on iki sene oldu gidiinin ardndan.. Uzun uzun yolunu gzleyiimle, hala bana bunu nasl yapt deyiimle geen on iki sene... On iki senedir hi grmedim seni... Belki yüzünü bile unuttum; zaten sesini hi hatrlamyorum. Karma ksan tanmam bile. Sadece benden aldn ak, güven, huzur, mutluluk duygularn bulmaya alyorum. Yalnzlm iimde gibi büyürken braktn korkularla adm atmaya ekindim her ak araymda... Ve yllarca yazdm sen bilmesen de sana...

"The Crawling Chaos" is a short story by American writers H. P. Lovecraft and Winifred V. Jackson (first published April 1921 in the United Cooperative. As in their other collaboration, "The Green Meadow", the tale was credited to "Elizabeth Berkeley" (Jackson) and "Lewis Theobald, Jun" (Lovecraft). The story begins with the narrator describing the effects of opium and the fantastical vistas it can inspire. The narrator then tells of his sole experience with opium in which he was accidentally administered an overdose by a doctor during the "year of the plague".

IN ancient times, when the city of Rome was at the height of its power and splendor, it was the custom, as it is in fact now with the inhabitants of wealthy capitals, for the principal families to possess, in addition to their city residences, rural villas for summer retreats, which they built in picturesque situations, at a little distance from the city, sometimes in the interior of the country, and sometimes upon the seashore. There were many attractive places of resort of this nature in the neighborhood of Rome. Among them was Antium.??The beauty and the salubrity of Antium made it a very attractive place of summer resort for the people of Rome; and in process of time, when the city attained to an advanced stage of opulence and luxury, the Roman noblemen built villas there, choosing situations, in some instances, upon the natural terraces and esplanades of the promontory, which looked off over the sea, and in others cool and secluded retreats in the valleys, on the land. It was in one of these villas that NERO was born.??NERO's father belonged to a family which had enjoyed for several generations a considerable degree of distinction among the Roman nobility, though known by a somewhat whimsical name. The family name was Brazenbeard, or, to speak more exactly, it was Aheno-barbus, which is the Latin equivalent for that word. ?

"The Colour Out of Space" is a first-person narrative written from the perspective of an unnamed surveyor from Boston. In order to prepare for the construction of a new reservoir in Massachusetts, he surveys a rural area that is to be flooded near Lovecraft's fictional town of Arkham. He comes across a mysterious patch of land, an abandoned five-acre farmstead, which is completely devoid of all life.

YOU have heard of Homer, and of the two wonderful poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, which bear his name. No one knows whether these poems were composed by Homer, or whether they are the work of many different poets. And, in fact, it matters very little about their authorship. Everybody agrees that they are the grandest poems ever sung or written or read in this world; and yet, how few persons, comparatively, have read them, or know any thing about them except at second-hand! ? Homer commences his story, not at the beginning, but "in the midst of things;" hence, when one starts out to read the Iliad without having made some special preparation beforehand, he finds it hard to understand, and is tempted, in despair, to stop at the end of the first book. Many people are, therefore, content to admire the great masterpiece of poetry and story-telling simply because others admire it, and not because they have any personal acquaintance with it.? Now, it is not my purpose to give you a "simplified version" of the Iliad or the Odyssey. There are already many such versions; but the best way for you, or any one else, to read Homer, is to read Homer. If you do not understand Greek, you can read him in one of the many English translations. You will find much of the spirit of the original in the translations by Bryant, by Lord Derby, and by old George Chapman, as well as in the admirable prose rendering by Butcher and Lang; but you can get none of it in any so-called simplified version.??My object in writing this "Story of the Golden Age" has been to pave the way, if I dare say it, to an enjoyable reading of Homer, either in translations or in the original. I have ta-ken the various legends relating to the causes of the Trojan war, and, by assuming certain privileges never yet denied to story-tellers, have woven all into one continuous narrative, ending where Homer's story begins. The hero of the Odyssey—a character not always to be admired or commended—is my hero. And, in telling the story of his boyhood and youth, I have taken the opportunity to repeat, for your enjoyment, some of the most beautiful of the old Greek myths. If I have, now and then, given them a coloring slightly different from the original, you will remember that such is the right of the story-teller, the poet, and the artist. The essential features of the stories remain unchanged. I have, all along, drawn freely from the old tragedians, and now and then from Homer himself; nor have I thought it necessary in every instance to mention authorities, or to apologize for an occasional close imitation of some of the best translations. The pictures of old Greek life have, in the main, been derived from the Iliad and the Odyssey, and will, I hope, help you to a better understanding of those poems when you come to make acquaintance directly with them.??Should you become interested in the "Story of the Golden Age," as it is here related, do not be disappointed by its somewhat abrupt ending; for you will find it continued by the master-poet of all ages, in a manner both inimitable and unapproachable. If you are pleased with the discourse of the porter at the gate, how much greater shall be your delight when you stand in the palace of the king, and hearken to the song of the royal minstrel! ?

"The Book" is an unfinished short story by American horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft, believed to have been written in late 1933. It was first published in the journal Leaves in 1938, after Lovecraft's death. In the story fragment, the narrator is given an ancient book by a strange bookseller, and when he takes it home and examines it, weird and sinister events ensue.

The longer stories in this book are called Fairy Stories, because that is the name by which such tales are always known to children; and yet only a very few contain any direct reference to fairies. The most of them have to do with talking animals and with strange incidents and transformations such as have always delighted the childish fancy. They have been drawn from a variety of sources; and liberty has been taken to make such changes in the narratives as seemed most necessary to adapt them to the understanding and needs of the children of our own time and country. ??Free renderings, they may be called, of some of the most popular folktales of foreign lands. The Three Bears, Tom Thumb, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Tom Tit Tot are old English favorites dressed in modern garb; Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, Princet and the Golden Blackbird, and Drakesbill and his Friends are variants of the well-known French versions by Perrault, Marelles, and Sebillot; Little Tuppen and The Three Goats named Bruse are from Norwegian sources; and the rest are founded upon German originals. In the retelling of these tales care has been taken to avoid whatever might distress the most sensitive child as well as everything that could give a wrong bias to his moral nature or distort his perception of the beautiful and the true.

When George Washington was a boy there was no United States. The land was here, just as it is now, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific; but nearly all of it was wild and unknown.??Between the Atlantic Ocean and the Allegheny Mo-untains there were thirteen colonies, or great settlements. The most of the people who lived in these colonies were English people, or the children of English people; and so the King of England made their laws and appointed their governors.??The newest of the colonies was Georgia, which was settled the year after George Washington was born.?The oldest colony was Virginia, which had been settled one hundred and twenty-five years. It was also the richest colony, and more people were living in it than in any other.??There were only two or three towns in Virginia at that time, and they were quite small.?Most of the people lived on farms or on big plantations, where they raised whatever they needed to eat. They also raised tobacco, which they sent to England to be sold.??The farms, or plantations, were often far apart, with stretches of thick woods between them. Nearly every one was close to a river, or some other large body of water; for there are many rivers in Virginia..

Jean Bodel a minstrel of the thirteenth century, wrote, "There are but three subjects which interest men,—the tales of France, of Britain, and of Rome the great; and to these subjects there is nothing like. The tales of Britain are so light and pleasant, those of Rome are wise and of teachful sense; those of France, truly every day of greater appearance."??In this story of Roland as I propose telling it, I shall intro-duce you to some of the most pleasing of those "tales of France" The poems and legends which embody them were written in various languages, and at widely different times; but in them two names, Charlemagne and Roland are of very frequent occurrence. Charlemagne, as you know, was a real historical personage, the greatest monarch of medieval times. His empire included France, the greater part of Germany and Italy; and his power and influence were felt all over the Christian world. The fame of his achievements in war was heralded and sung in every country of Europe; his name was in the mouth of every story-teller and wandering bard; and it finally became customary to ascribe all the heroic deeds and wonderful events of three centuries to the time of Charlemagne. ??The songs and stories in which these events were related were dressed up with every kind of embellishment to suit the circumstances of their recital. Wild myths of the Pagan ages, legends and traditions of the Christian Church, superstitious notions of magic and witchcraft, fantastic stories derived from the Arabs of Spain and the East,—all these were blended in one strange mass, and grafted upon a slender core of historical truth. The result was a curious mixture of fact and fiction, of the real and the marvellous, of the beautiful and the impure, of Christian devotion and heathen superstition. And it was thus that "the tales of France", which we may term the legendary history of Charlemagne, came into being ..

IN the far-off days when Dante lived, those who wrote books wrote them in the Latin tongue. Dante himself wrote the first seven cantos of his great poem in Latin. But like many another poet, he was not satisfied with his first attempt. He flung the seven Latin cantos aside and seemingly forgot all about them, for when he was banished from Florence the poem he had begun was not among his treasures. His wife, however, found the seven cantos and tossed them into a bag among her jewels. Then she also seemed to forget all about them. Five years later a nephew of Dante chanced to find the long-forgotten verses. He at once sent them to his uncle, who was still living in exile. When Dante received the cantos he had written so long ago, he believed that their recovery was a sign from Heaven that he should complete the great poem he had begun. He therefore set to work afresh, but this time he wrote, not in Latin, but in his own beautiful mother-tongue, which was, as you know, Italian. When at length the great poem was finished, Dante named it simply, "The Comedy," and it was not until many years after his de-ath that the title was changed into "The Divine Comedy." A comedy was a tale which might be as sad as tale could be, so only that it ended in gladness.In "The Divine Comedy," then, about which this little book tells, you may expect to find much that is sad, much that is terrible. Yet you may be certain that before the end of the tale you will find in it gladness and joy..

The story's title character is a man who somehow always seems to get what he wants. John makes up his mind to marry May Forster, the prettiest young woman in the village. After John asks her to marry him several times, May finally agrees. John says that his love for May is so great that he would come back from the dead if that was what she wanted him to do. Two days before his wedding, John leaves to visit his seriously ill godfather. May begs him not to go because she has a feeling that something bad will happen. John reassures her that nothing will prevent him from arriving at his wedding on time

Après un bonheur incomplet, mensonger, qu'il vécut avec sa femme, et la séparation douloureuse qui s'en suivit, Lavretzky apprend la mort de celle-ci. Il rencontre Lise. Trouvera t-il enfin le bonheur auprès d'elle? Ce roman figure parmi les plus achevés de l'auteur sur le plan esthétique. Les personnages y sont traités avec justesse et poésie.