Quick Excerpts, from a Library of 492 Titles

Generated 2022-07-28 13:26:27

Excerpt #1, from Esperanto Self

…Have you your | Ĉu vi havas vian | choo vee ha’vahss passport? | pasporton? | veeahn pahsport’ohn? Will you examine | Ĉu vi vizitos tiun ĉi | choo vee veezee’tohs this trunk? | kofron? | tee’oon chee | | ko’frohn? Here are the keys | Jen la ŝlosiloj | yehn la shlo-see’loy Open it | Malfermu ĝin | mahl-fehr’moo jeen Unlock this box | Malfermu tiun ĉi | mahl-fehr’moo tee’oo | skatolon | chee skahtoh’lohn Can I remove it? | Ĉu mi povas nun | choo mee po’vahss noon | forporti ĝin? | forport’ee jeen? Have you anything | Ĉu vi havas ion | choo vee hah’vahss to declare? | deklarindan? | ee’ohn | | dehklarin’dahn? I have nothing | Mi havas nenion | mee hah’vahss liable to duty | deklarindan | nehnee’ohn | | dehklarin’dahn Have you any | Ĉu vi havas tabakon aŭ | choo vee ha’vahss tobacco or | cigarojn? | tahbah’kohn ahw cigars? | | tsee-gah’royn? I have a few | _Mi havas kelkajn | mee ha’vahss kehl’kahyn…

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Excerpt #2, from Vikram and the Vampire: Classic Hindu Tales of Adventure, Magic, and Romance

…Of all the learned Brahmans in the learnedest university of Gaur (Bengal) none was so celebrated as Vishnu Swami. He could write verse as well as prose in dead languages, not very correctly, but still, better than all his fellows–which constituted him a distinguished writer. He had history, theosophy, and the four Vedas of Scriptures at his fingers’ ends, he was skilled in the argute science of Nyasa or Disputation, his mind was a mine of Pauranic or cosmogonico-traditional lore, handed down from the ancient fathers to the modern fathers: and he had written bulky commentaries, exhausting all that tongue of man has to say, upon the obscure text of some old philosopher whose works upon ethics, poetry, and rhetoric were supposed by the sages of Gaur to contain the germs of everything knowable. His fame went over all the country; yea, from country to country. He was a sea of excellent qualities, the father and mother of Brahmans, cows, and women, and the horror of loose persons, cut-throats, courtiers, and courtesans. As a benefactor he was equal to Karna, most liberal of heroes. In regard to truth he was equal to the veracious king Yudhishtira. True, he was sometimes at a loss to spell a common word in his mother tongue, and whilst he knew to a fingerbreadth how many palms and paces the sun, the moon, and all the stars are distant from the earth, he would have been puzzled to tell you where the region called Yavana[119]…

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Excerpt #3, from The School for Scandal, by Richard Brinsley Sheridan

…me–but the Tenderness you express’d for me, when I am sure you could not think I was a witness to it, has penetrated so to my Heart that had I left the Place without the Shame of this discovery–my future life should have spoken the sincerity of my Gratitude–as for that smooth-tongued Hypocrite–who would have seduced the wife of his too credulous Friend while he pretended honourable addresses to his ward–I behold him now in a light so truly despicable that I shall never again Respect myself for having Listened to him. [Exit.] SURFACE. Notwithstanding all this Sir Peter–Heaven knows—- SIR PETER. That you are a Villain!–and so I leave you to your conscience– SURFACE. You are too Rash Sir Peter–you SHALL hear me–The man who shuts out conviction by refusing to—- [Exeunt, SURFACE following and speaking.] END OF THE FOURTH ACT V SCENE I.–The Library Enter SURFACE and SERVANT SURFACE. Mr. Stanley! and why should you think I would see him?–you must know he came to ask something!…

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Excerpt #4, from A Tall Ship, by Bartimeus

…of his hearth considering his nephew through his eyeglass. “I hope you made–er–Fritz comfortable? You look as if you had been doing a forced march. Nerves better?” James set down his empty glass with a sigh and wiped his mouth. “As comfortable as he deserves to be. He’s a spy, Uncle Bill. I caught him supplying petrol to a German submarine.” “Really?” said Uncle Bill, without enthusiasm. “That brandy cost me 180s. a dozen. Wouldn’t he be better in a police station? Have you informed the Admiralty?” “I venerate the police,” replied James flippantly, “and the Admiralty are as a father and mother to me; but I want to keep this absolutely quiet for a few days–anyhow, till after Friday. I couldn’t turn Fritz over to a policeman without attracting a certain amount of attention. Anyhow, it would leak out if I did. I’ve walked eighteen miles already since midnight, and it’s another fifty-nine to the Admiralty from here. Besides, unless I disguise Fritz as a performing bear, people would want to know why I was leading him about on a rope’s end—-” “Start at the beginning,” interrupted Uncle Bill wearily, “and explain, avoiding all unnecessary detail.” So James, between mouthfuls, gave a brief résumé of the night’s adventure, while Sir William Thorogood, Professor of Chemistry and…

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Excerpt #5, from The Myths and Fables of To Day, by Samuel Adams Drake

…the vessel. I find that some people are strongly impressed with the idea that the month or day on which they were born will prove to them a most critical one throughout their whole lives. Indeed, many strange coincidences of this sort have come to my notice. If a man has happened to have a run of bad luck, he will often tell you that it is because he was born under an unlucky star; if, on the other hand, he has been unusually prosperous, it is commonly said of him that he was born to good luck. So wags the world! As a fitting pendant to Jernegan’s gold-from-sea-water scheme, Mrs. Howe’s bank, and Miller’s syndicate, all fresh in the memory of everyone, comes the “lucky-box” humbug and its humiliating exposure, as I write. Upon the simple assurance that the possessor of this marvellous box (which could be carried in the pocket) would become instantly lucky, thousands were quickly sold, and the sale of more thousands was only stopped by the prompt intervention of the law! [Illustration] VI CHARMS AGAINST DISEASE “I’ll do, I’ll do, and I’ll do.”–Shakespeare. Under this heading we shall first call attention to those plants having…

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Excerpt #6, from Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War, by Frederick Arthur Ambrose Talbot

…complete satisfaction, and has proved strikingly successful. The French Government has completed arrangements for the acquisition of larger and more powerful vessels of this design, being now in the position to contest every step that is made by Germany in this field. The type has also been embraced by the Russian military authorities. The Astra-Torres airship has a rakish appearance, and although the lines of the gas-bag are admitted to increase frictional resistance, this is regarded as a minor defect, especially when the many advantages of the invention are taken into consideration. CHAPTER V. GERMANY’S AERIAL DREADNOUGHT FLEET Although Germany, as compared with France, was relatively slow to recognise the immense possibilities of aircraft, particularly dirigibles, in the military sense, once the Zeppelin had received the well-wishes of the Emperor William, Teuton activities were so pronounced as to enable the leeway to be made up within a very short while. While the Zeppelin commanded the greatest attention owing to the interesting co-operation of the German Emperor, the other types met with official and royal recognition and encouragement as already mentioned. France, which had held premier position in regard to the aerial fleet of dirigibles for so long, was completely out-classed, not only in dimensions but also in speed, as well as radius of action and…

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Excerpt #7, from The History of the Peloponnesian War, by Thucydides

…garrison. After speaking to the captains of companies on the subject, and failing to persuade either the generals or the soldiers, he remained inactive with the rest from stress of weather; until the soldiers themselves wanting occupation were seized with a sudden impulse to go round and fortify the place. Accordingly they set to work in earnest, and having no iron tools, picked up stones, and put them together as they happened to fit, and where mortar was needed, carried it on their backs for want of hods, stooping down to make it stay on, and clasping their hands together behind to prevent it falling off; sparing no effort to be able to complete the most vulnerable points before the arrival of the Lacedaemonians, most of the place being sufficiently strong by nature without further fortifications. Meanwhile the Lacedaemonians were celebrating a festival, and also at first made light of the news, in the idea that whenever they chose to take the field the place would be immediately evacuated by the enemy or easily taken by force; the absence of their army before Athens having also something to do with their delay. The Athenians fortified the place on the land side, and where it most required it, in six days, and leaving Demosthenes with five ships to garrison it, with the main body of the fleet hastened on their voyage to Corcyra and Sicily….

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Excerpt #8, from King’s Cutters and Smugglers 1700

…Dungeness, and after five and a half miles saw the Dungeness light and the South Foreland light, took cross-bearings of these, and having marked them off on the chart, fixed their position as about three miles from the coast. Thus when the lugger was first encountered the latter was about nine miles from the land. The date of that incident, then, was the 12th of November, and Hugnet was not then captured. We may now pass over the next four weeks till we come to the 10th of December in that same year. At eight o’clock in the morning the Revenue cutter Eagle was cruising off the coast of Kent when she observed a lugger bearing about N.W. by N. from them. The lugger was under all sail and heading S.E. for Boulogne, having come out from East Dungeness Bay. The weather was thick, it was snowing, and no land was in sight, Dungeness being the nearest portion of the English coast. It did not take long for the Eagle’s commander to guess what was happening, especially when that bay was so notorious, and the cutter began to give chase, the wind being roughly N.W. But as the Eagle pursued, the lugger, as was the approved custom, hauled up and came on a wind, hoping to get away and outpace the cutter. But in this the smugglers were not successful, and eventually the Eagle overhauled her. The cutter’s galley was now launched, and after having been for…

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Excerpt #9, from An Universal Dictionary of the Marine, by William Falconer

…sailing. GROMMET, daillot, a sort of small wreath, formed of a strand of rope, and used to fasten the upper edge of a stay-sail to its respective stay, in different places. By means of the grommets, the sail is accordingly hoisted or lowered, i. e. drawn up or down upon its stay, in the same manner as a curtain is extended or drawn along upon its rod, by the assistance of rings. See also the article HANK. GROUNDING, the act of laying a ship ashore, in order to bream or repair her. It is also applied to running aground accidentally when under sail, or driving in a tempest. GROUND-TACKLE, amarrages, a general name given to all sorts of ropes and furniture which belong to the anchors, or which are employed in mooring, or otherwise securing a ship in a road or harbour; as cables, hausers, tow-lines, warps, and buoy-ropes. GROWING, implies the direction of the cable from the ship towards the anchors; as, the cable grows on the starboard-bow, i. e. stretches out forwards on the starboard, or right side. GUARD-BOAT, a boat appointed to row the rounds amongst the ships of war which are laid up in any harbour, &c. to observe that their officers keep a good look-out, calling to the guard-boat as she passes, and not suffering her crew to come aboard, without having previously…

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Excerpt #10, from The Principles of the Art of Conversation, by J. P. Mahaffy

…course be allied with, or even due to, some such moral quality as sympathy, of which we shall speak presently. But quite apart from it, a selfish man, who has no sympathy for his company, may, by the quickness of his intellect, show brilliantly in conversation, while his more solid and worthy fellow is considered a bore. As I have just said, this is generally a gift of nature. Some men and some nations are born with quick wits. But even so it is a great mistake to think that it may not be vastly improved by intercourse with people who have the faculty already well developed. Moreover it is a very dangerous advantage, and if not deepened by solid acquirements, or chastened by moral restraints, may make a man rather the scourge than the delight of his company. For this is the mental quality which is the foundation of wit, and a joker who merely consults his own amusement, or the amusement of some of his hearers at the expense of others, is not a good converser. The tendency of a very quick intellect is also to impatience, and so it will interfere with and cow more modest minds, which might have contributed well to the feast of talk had they been allowed to work without hurry or pressure. So strong do we often find this contrast that it is unadvisable, in choosing a set of people for conversation, to bring together very slow and very quick intellects. While the former are more dazzled and confused than pleased, the latter feel the delay of…

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Excerpt #11, from A Few Practical Suggestions, by Logan Pearsall Smith and Society for Pure English

…popular speech which are in their opinion worthy of a larger currency; they can use them themselves and call the attention of their friends to them, and if they are writers, they may be able, like the writers of the past, to give them a literary standing. If their suggestions are not accepted, no harm is done; while, if they make a happy hit and bring to public notice a popular term or idiom which the language needs and accepts, they have performed a service to our speech of no small importance. L.P.S. NOTES TO THE ABOVE Rôle. The italics and accent may be due to consciousness of roll. The French word will never make itself comfortable in English if it is homophonous with roll. Timbre. This word is in a peculiar condition. In the French it has very various significations, but has come to be adopted in music and acoustics to connote the quality of a musical sound independent of its pitch and loudness, a quality derived from the harmonics which the fundamental note intensifies, and that depends on the special form of the instrument. The article Clang in the Oxford Dictionary quotes Professor Tyndall regretting that we have no word for this meaning, and suggesting that we should imitate the awkward German klang-farbe. We have no word unless we…

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Excerpt #12, from Adventures of Bindle, by Herbert George Jenkins

…Bindle sniffed the air like a hound. “That’s Royal Richard wot you can smell, mum,” he explained. Cissie Boye laughed. Ignoring the interruption, Mrs. Stiffson returned to the attack. “I demand an explanation!” Her voice shook with suppressed fury. “Listen!” cried Cissie Boye, “if your boy will come and sleep in my flat—-” “Sleep in your flat!” cried Mrs. Stiffson in something between a roar and a scream. “Sleep in your flat!” She turned upon her husband. “Jabez, did you hear that? Oh! you villain, you liar, you monster!” “But–but, my dear,” protested Mr. Stiffson, becoming articulate, “Oscar was here all the time.” Cissie Boye giggled. “So that is why you have put on your best clothes, you deceiver, you viper, you scum!” “Steady on, mum!” broke out Bindle. “‘E ain’t big enough to be all them things; besides, if you starts a-megaphonin’ like that, you’ll ‘ave all the other bunnies a-runnin’ in to see wot’s ‘appened, an’ if you was to ‘ear Number Seven’s language, an’ see wot Queenie calls ’er face, Mr. S. might be a widower before ’e knew it.” “Where did you meet this person?” demanded Mrs. Stiffson of her…

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