A Flounder Fish Story
A fisherman, so the story goes, once caught a flounder that spoke, begging to be released. This was granted, whereupon the fisherman's wife demanded that it grant her one miracle after another, until even the flounder was disgusted.
(Jacob Grimm, elder of the famous Grimm brothers, born Jan. 4, 1785.)
Read from GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES Vol. 17, pp. 83-90
Monday, January 4, 2016
Sunday, January 3, 2016
January 3
Cicero on Friendship
"Fire and water are not of more universal use than friendship" - such is the high value put upon this great human relationship by the most famous orator of Rome.
(Cicero born Jan. 3, 106 B. C.)
Read from Cicero ON FRIENDSHIP Vol. 9, pp. 16-26
"Fire and water are not of more universal use than friendship" - such is the high value put upon this great human relationship by the most famous orator of Rome.
(Cicero born Jan. 3, 106 B. C.)
Read from Cicero ON FRIENDSHIP Vol. 9, pp. 16-26
Saturday, January 2, 2016
January 2
School-Day Poems of John Milton
At the age of sixteen, Milton first appeared before the public eye as a promising young poet. These early verses, written while he was a boy in school, indicate his brilliant future.
(First edition of Milton's collected poems published Jan. 2, 1645.)
Read: MILTON'S POEMS Vol. 4, pp. 7-18
At the age of sixteen, Milton first appeared before the public eye as a promising young poet. These early verses, written while he was a boy in school, indicate his brilliant future.
(First edition of Milton's collected poems published Jan. 2, 1645.)
Read: MILTON'S POEMS Vol. 4, pp. 7-18
Friday, January 1, 2016
January 1
JANUARY
ST. AGNES' Eve! - Ah, bitter chill it was!
The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold;
The hare limp'd trembling through the frozen grass,
And silent was the flock in woolly fold. . .
KEATS (Vol. 41, p. 883)
The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold;
The hare limp'd trembling through the frozen grass,
And silent was the flock in woolly fold. . .
KEATS (Vol. 41, p. 883)
Franklin's Advice for the New Year
Read: From FRANKLIN'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY (The Harvard Classics: Vol. 1, pp. 79-85)
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
July 8
Italy's Fair Assassin
When the monstrous Cenci forced his daughter Beatrice into a horrible situation, she revolted and boldly struck for freedom. Shelley tells her pitiful story in one of his best works.
(Percy Bysshe Shelley drowned, July 8, 1822.)
Read from Shelley's CENCI Vol. 18, pp. 288-300
When the monstrous Cenci forced his daughter Beatrice into a horrible situation, she revolted and boldly struck for freedom. Shelley tells her pitiful story in one of his best works.
(Percy Bysshe Shelley drowned, July 8, 1822.)
Read from Shelley's CENCI Vol. 18, pp. 288-300
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
April 9
A Perfect Land in a Wilderness of Waters
West of Peru there was reported to be a land where Truth and Science were used to promote the happiness and freedom of man. Here is Bacon's description of this ideal commonwealth.
(Francis Bacon died April 9, 1629.)
Read from Bacon's NEW ATLANTIS (The Harvard Classics: Vol. 3, pp. 145-155)
West of Peru there was reported to be a land where Truth and Science were used to promote the happiness and freedom of man. Here is Bacon's description of this ideal commonwealth.
(Francis Bacon died April 9, 1629.)
Read from Bacon's NEW ATLANTIS (The Harvard Classics: Vol. 3, pp. 145-155)
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
April 8
Beware the Vengeful Hounds!
Orestes, holding an avenging sword over his mother, is told: "Beware thy mother's vengeful hounds." How he pays for disregarding his mother's warning is told in this drama where a mother is slain to avenge a father's ghost.
Read from Æschylus' THE LIBATION BEARERS Vol. 8, pp. 111-121
Orestes, holding an avenging sword over his mother, is told: "Beware thy mother's vengeful hounds." How he pays for disregarding his mother's warning is told in this drama where a mother is slain to avenge a father's ghost.
Read from Æschylus' THE LIBATION BEARERS Vol. 8, pp. 111-121
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