Years ago I arrived one day at Salamanca, New York, where I was to change trains and take the sleeper. There were crowds of people on the platform, and they were all trying to get into the long sleeper train which was already packed. I asked the young man in the booking-office if I could […]
«She said that she would dance with me if I brought her red roses,» cried the young Student; «but in all my garden there is no red rose.» From her nest in the holm-oak tree the Nightingale heard him, and she looked out through the leaves, and wondered. «No red rose in all my garden!» […]
«Now,» Robert told his wife, «I am going on a long trip. You won’t see me for years, but I will come back and see you.» «Where are you going?» «I am going into the future. I am sure you will be angry when you see me, but it won’t be for long, because once […]
Once upon a time there lived a young farmer. He worked very hard but was very poor. One day when he was far from home in the forest, an old woman looking like a peasant came up to him and said, «I know you work very hard, and all for nothing. I will give you […]
One evening a man called James was on the road from Oxford to London. There weren’t many cars on the road because it was late. Suddenly in the lights of his car he saw a woman by the road – she was quite young and very pretty. ‘It’s dangerous to walk along the road when […]
‘Of course,’ the man in the brown hat said, ‘there are good policemen and there are bad policemen, you know.’ ‘You’re right,’ the young man said. ‘Yes. That’s very true. Isn’t it, Julie?’ He looked at the young woman next to him. Julie didn’t answer and looked bored. She closed her eyes. ‘Julie’s my wife,’ […]
Once upon a time there was a stone cutter. The stone cutter lived in a land where a life of privilege meant being powerful. Looking at his life he decided that he was unsatisfied with the way things were and so he set out to become the most powerful thing in the land. Looking around […]
I have a friend who is afraid of spiders. This isn’t very unusual; a lot of people are afraid of spiders. I don’t really like spiders much myself. I don’t mind them if you see them outside, in the garden, as long as they’re not too big. But if one comes in the house, especially […]
Once a rich Englishwoman called Mrs Johnson decided to have a birthday party. She invited a lot of guests and a singer. The singer was poor, but he had a very good voice. The singer got to Mrs Johnson’s house at exactly six o’clock as he had been asked to do, but when he went […]
I am sure that I am not the only one who is not good at doing things. If you look at other people, you will see that most of them cannot do anything very well. Because of this fact, I think people spend too much time talking about how good they are. It is much […]
