Friday, 28 February 2014

After The Race

The cars came scudding in towards Dublin, running evenly like pellets in the groove of the Naas Road. At the crest of the hill at Inchicore sightseers had gathered in clumps

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The Boarding House

Mrs. Mooney was a butcher's daughter. She was a woman who was quite able to keep things to herself: a determined woman. She had married her father's foreman and opened a butcher's shop near Spring Gardens.

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Clay

The matron had given her leave to go out as soon as the women's tea was over and Maria looked forward to her evening out. The kitchen was spick and span:

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Araby

North Richmond Street being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers' School set the boys free. An uninhabited house of two storeys stood at the blind end,

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An Encounter

It was Joe Dillon who introduced the Wild West to us. He had a little library made up of old numbers of The Union Jack , Pluck and The Halfpenny Marvel.

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Thursday, 27 February 2014

The Whale Tooth

It was in the early days in Fiji, when John Starhurst arose in the mission house at Rewa Village and announced his intention of carrying the gospel throughout all Viti Levu.

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The Unexpected

It is a simple matter to see the obvious, to do the expected. The tendency of the individual life is to be static rather than dynamic, and this tendency is made into a propulsion by civilization,

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The White Man's Way

"To cook by your fire and to sleep under your roof for the night," I had announced on entering old Ebbits's cabin; and he had looked at me blear-eyed and vacuous,

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The White Silence

'Carmen won't last more than a couple of days.' Mason spat out a chunk of ice and surveyed the poor animal ruefully, then put her foot in his mouth and proceeded to bite out the ice

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Wednesday, 26 February 2014

Eveline

She sat at the window watching the evening invade the avenue. Her head was leaned against the window curtains and in her nostrils was the odour of dusty cretonne. She was tired.

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Counterparts

The bell rang furiously and, when Miss Parker went to the tube, a furious voice called out in a piercing North of Ireland accent:

"Send Farrington here!"

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The Dead

Lily, the caretaker's daughter, was literally run off her feet. Hardly had she brought one gentleman into the little pantry behind the office on the ground floor and helped him off

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Grace

Two Gentlemen who were in the lavatory at the time tried to lift him up: but he was quite helpless. He lay curled up at the foot of the stairs down which he had fallen.

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Home



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Thursday, 20 February 2014

Trust

Little girl and her father were crossing a bridge.

The father was kind of scared so he asked his little daughter, "sweetheart, please hold my hand so that you don't fall into the river."

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A Mouse Trap

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.

What food might this contain?

The mouse wondered, he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

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The Art of War

The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise attributed to Sun Tzu, a high-ranking military general, strategist and tactician. The text is composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare.

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The Art of War Chapter 1 - Laying Plans

Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State.
It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry
which can on no account be neglected.

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The Art of War Chapter 2 - Waging War

Sun Tzu said: In the operations of war, where there are in the field a thousand swift chariots,
as many heavy chariots, and a hundred thousand mail-clad soldiers, with provisions enough to
carry them a thousand li, the expenditure at home and at the front, including entertainment of...

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The Art of War Chapter 3 - Attack by Stratagem

Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy’s country whole
and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire
than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to d...

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The Art of War Chapter 4 - Tactical Dispositions

Sun Tzu said: The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and
then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.

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The Art of War Chapter 5 - Energy

Sun Tzu said: The control of a large force is the same principle as the control of a few men: it is
merely a question of dividing up their numbers.

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The Art of War Chapter 6 - Wek Points and Strong

Sun Tzu said: Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the
fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.

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The Art of War Chapter 7 - Maneuvering

Sun Tzu said: In war, the general receives his commands from the sovereign.
Having collected an army and concentrated his forces, he must blend and harmonize the different
elements thereof before pitching his camp.

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The Art of War Chapter 8 - Variation In Tactics

Sun Tzu said: In war, the general receives his commands from the sovereign, collects his army
and concentrates his forces.
When in difficult country, do not encamp. In country where high roads intersect, join hands with
your allies. Do not linger in dangerously isolated positions. In hemmed-in...

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The Art of War Chapter 9 - The Army on the March

Sun Tzu said: We come now to the question of encamping the army, and observing signs of the
enemy. Pass quickly over mountains, and keep in the neighborhood of valleys.

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The Art of War Chapter 10 - Terrain

Sun Tzu said: We may distinguish six kinds of terrain, to wit: (1) Accessible ground; (2) entangling
ground; (3) temporizing ground; (4) narrow passes; (5) precipitous heights; (6) positions at a great
distance from the enemy.

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The Art of War Chapter 11 - The Nine Situations

Sun Tzu said: The art of war recognizes nine varieties of ground: (1) Dispersive ground; (2) facile
ground; (3) contentious ground; (4) open ground; (5) ground of intersecting highways; (6) serious
ground; (7) difficult ground; (8) hemmed-in ground; (9) desperate ground.

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The Art of War Chapter 12 - The Attack By Fire

Sun Tzu said: There are five ways of attacking with fire. The first is to burn soldiers in their camp;
the second is to burn stores; the third is to burn baggage trains; the fourth is to burn arsenals and
magazines; the fifth is to hurl dropping fire amongst the enemy.

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The Art of War Chapter 13 - The Use of Spies

Sun Tzu said: Raising a host of a hundred thousand men and marching them great distances
entails heavy loss on the people and a drain on the resources of the State. The daily expenditure will
amount to a thousand ounces of silver. There will be commotion at home and abroad, and men will
drop...

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Sunday, 16 February 2014

Two Travelling Angels

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family.

The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion's guest room.

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The Wife of a King

Once when the northland was very young, the social and civic virtues were remarkably alike for their paucity and their simplicity. When the burden of domestic duties grew grievous, and the fireside mood expanded to a constant protest against its bleak loneliness,

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The Wisdom of the Trail

Sitka Charley had achieved the impossible. Other Indians might have known as much of the wisdom of the trail as he did; but he alone knew the white man's wisdom, the honor of the trail, and the law. But these things had not come to him in a day.

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Saturday, 15 February 2014

Caravanserai

A sufi of forbidding appearance arrived at the doors of the palace.

No one dared to stop him as he made his way right up to the throne on which the saintly Ibrahim ben Adam sat.

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King is Tired of Running Kingdom

There was a King who was wise, just and loved by his people. After few years he got bored of being a King and would get tired very fast.

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Ivy Day In The Committee Room

Old Jack raked the cinders together with a piece of cardboard and spread them judiciously over the whitening dome of coals. When the dome was thinly covered his face lapsed into darkness but,

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A Mother

Mr Holohan, assistant secretary of the Eire Abu Society, had been walking up and down Dublin for nearly a month, with his hands and pockets full of dirty pieces of paper, arranging about the series of concerts.

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Friday, 14 February 2014

The Wit of Porportuk

El-Soo had been a Mission girl. Her mother had died when she was very small, and Sister Alberta had plucked El-Soo as a brand from the burning, one summer day, and carried her away to Holy Cross Mission and dedicated her to God.

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To Build a Fire

Day had broken cold and grey, exceedingly cold and grey, when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth- bank, where a dim and little-travelled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland.

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To the Man on the Trail

'Dump it in!.' 'But I say, Kid, isn't that going it a little too strong' Whisky and alcohol's bad enough; but when it comes to brandy and pepper sauce and-' 'Dump it in. Who's making this punch, anyway?'

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Wednesday, 12 February 2014

James Joyce



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A Painful Case

Mr. James Duffy lived in Chapelizod because he wished to live as far as possible from the city of which he was a citizen and because he found all the other suburbs of Dublin mean, modern and pretentious.

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The Sisters

There was no hope for him this time: it was the third stroke. Night after night I had passed the house (it was vacation time) and studied the lighted square of window: and night after night I had found it lighted in the same way, faintly and evenly.

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Two Gallants

The grey warm evening of August had descended upon the city and a mild warm air, a memory of summer, circulated in the streets. The streets, shuttered for the repose of Sunday, swarmed with a gaily colored crowd.

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Monday, 10 February 2014

Jack London



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Too Much Gold

This being a story--and a truer one than it may appear--of a mining country, it is quite to be expected that it will be a hard-luck story. But that depends on the point of view.

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Trust

All lines had been cast off, and the Seattle No. 4 was pulling slowly out from the shore. Her decks were piled high with freight and baggage, and swarmed with a heterogeneous company of Indians, dogs, and dog-mushers, prospectors,

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Where the Trail Forks

"Must I, then, must I, then, now leave this town -
And you, my love, stay here?"--Schwabian Folk-song.

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Which Make Men Remember

Fortune La Pearle crushed his way through the snow, sobbing, straining, cursing his luck, Alaska, Nome, the cards, and the man who had felt his knife.

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Saturday, 8 February 2014

Tetsugen's Sutras

Tetsugen, a devotee of Zen in Japan, decided to publish the sutras, which at that time were available only in Chinese.

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A Study In Scarlet

A Study in Scarlet is a detective mystery novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, introducing his new characters, "consulting detective" Sherlock Holmes and his friend and chronicler, Dr. John Watson, who later became two of the most famous characters in literature.

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A Study In Scarlet Chapter 13

Our prisoner's furious resistance did not apparently indicate any ferocity in his disposition towards ourselves, for on finding himself powerless, he smiled in an affable manner, and expressed his hopes that he had not hurt any of us in the scuffle.

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Friday, 7 February 2014

A Study In Scarlet Chapter 12

All night their course lay through intricate defiles and over irregular and rock-strewn paths. More than once they lost their way, but Hope's intimate knowledge of the mountains enabled them to regain the track once more.

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A Study In Scarlet Chapter 11

On the morning which followed his interview with the Mormon Prophet, John Ferrier went in to Salt Lake City, and having found his acquaintance, who was bound for the Nevada Mountains, he entrusted him with his message to Jefferson Hope.

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A Study In Scarlet Chapter 10

Three weeks had passed since Jefferson Hope and his comrades had departed from Salt Lake City. John Ferrier's heart was sore within him when he thought of the young man's return, and of the impending loss of his adopted child.

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A Study In Scarlet Chapter 9

This is not the place to commemorate the trials and privations endured by the immigrant Mormons before they came to their final haven. From the shores of the Mississippi to the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains they had struggled on with a constancy almost unparalleled in history.

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A Study In Scarlet Chapter 8

In the central portion of the great North American Continent there lies an arid and repulsive desert, which for many a long year served as a barrier against the advance of civilization. From the Sierra Nevada to Nebraska,

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A Study In Scarlet Chapter 7

The intelligence with which Lestrade greeted us was so momentous and so unexpected, that we were all three fairly dumfoundered. Gregson sprang out of his chair and upset the remainder of his whiskey and water.

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A Study In Scarlet Chapter 6

The papers next day were full of the "Brixton Mystery," as they termed it. Each had a long account of the affair, and some had leaders upon it in addition. There was some information in them which was new to me. I still retain in my scrap-book numerous clippings and extracts bearing upon the case.

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A Study In Scarlet Chapter 5

Our morning's exertions had been too much for my weak health, and I was tired out in the afternoon. After Holmes' departure for the concert, I lay down upon the sofa and endeavoured to get a couple of hours' sleep. It was a useless attempt.

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A Study In Scarlet Chapter 4

It was one o'clock when we left No. 3, Lauriston Gardens. Sherlock Holmes led me to the nearest telegraph office, whence he dispatched a long telegram. He then hailed a cab, and ordered the driver to take us to the address given us by Lestrade.

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A Study In Scarlet Chapter 3

I confess that I was considerably startled by this fresh proof of the practical nature of my companion's theories. My respect for his powers of analysis increased wondrously.

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A Study In Scarlet Chapter 2

We met next day as he had arranged, and inspected the rooms at No. 221B, 5 Baker Street, of which he had spoken at our meeting. They consisted of a couple of comfortable bed-rooms and a single large airy sitting-room, cheerfully furnished, and illuminated by two broad windows.

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A Study in Scarlet Chapter 1

In the year 1878 I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of London, and proceeded to Netley to go through the course prescribed for surgeons in the army.

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Sleep While the Wind Blew

A farmer owned some land along the sea-coast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the coast.

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The Other Side

Father was reading a magazine and his little daughter every now and then distracted him. To keep her busy, he tore one page on which was printed the map of the world.

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Tuesday, 4 February 2014

Self Confidence

There was a business executive who was deep in debt and could see no way out.

Creditors were closing in on him. Suppliers were demanding payment. He sat on the park bench, head in hands, wondering if anything could save his company from bankruptcy.

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No Charge for Love

A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the 4 pups, and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard.

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Monday, 3 February 2014

The Best Birthday Gift

It was his birthday today. She wanted to give him something best gift. She made all the arrangements and was waiting for him to return home.

She had thought they will celebrate his birthday in the evening.

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The King's Highway

Once upon a time, a king had a great highway built for the people
who lived in his kingdom. After it was completed, but before it was
opened to the public, the king decided to have a contest.

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Sunday, 2 February 2014

The House Of 1000 Mirrors

Long ago in a small, far away village, there was place known as the
House of 1000 Mirrors. A small, happy little dog learned of this place
and decided to visit.

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The Grocery List

Louise Redden, a poorly dressed lady with a look of defeat on her
face, walked into a grocery store. She approached the owner of the
store in a most humble manner and asked if he would let her charge
a few groceries.

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The Disabled Bus Driver

It was a stormy winter's day in New York City when Mrs Spodek left
the downtown Manhattan hospital with her wheelchair bound son in
tow. The blistery wind swept across the face of the buildings sending
drifts of snow into people's path.

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Saturday, 1 February 2014

The Devoted Son

Years ago, there was a very wealthy man who, with his devoted
young son, shared a passion for art collecting. Together they
travelled around the world,

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The Cookies

A woman was waiting at an airport one night, with several long hours
before her flight. She hunted for a book in an airport shop, bought a
bag of cookies and found a place to drop.

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The Circus

Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to
buy tickets for the circus. Finally, there was only one family between
the ticket counter and us.

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