Downloads and Free Reading Options

1Eirik the Red's Saga

By Anonymous

In this saga, the events that led to Eirik the Red's banishment to Greenland are chronicled, as well as Leif Eirikson's discovery of Vinland the Good (a place where wheat and grapes grew naturally), after his longboat was blown off-course. By geographical details, this place is surmised to be present-day Newfoundland, and is likely the first European discovery of the American mainland, some five centuries before Christopher Columbus's journey. (Summary from Wikipedia.)

2Arabian Nights Entertainments, Volume 01

By Anonymous

The main frame story concerns a king and his new bride. The king, Shahryar, upon discovering his ex-wife's infidelity executes her and then declares all women to be unfaithful. He begins to marry a succession of virgins only to execute each one the next morning. Scheherazade agrees to marry him and each night, beginning on the night of their marriage, she tells the king a tale but does not end it so that the king keeps her alive in order to hear the next tale. The stories proceed from this original tale; some are framed within other tales, while others begin and end of their own accord. Some editions contain only a few hundred tales, while others include 1001 or more stories and "nights."<br /><br /> Well known stories from the Nights include Aladdin, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor. (Summary from Wikipedia)

3Mille et une nuits, tome 1

By Anonymous

Afin de ne plus être déçu par les femmes, le sultan Schahriar décide d'épouser une jeune fille chaque jour et de la faire mourir dès le lendemain.<br /> Scheherazade ne peut le souffrir davantage. Elle se fait donner à lui en mariage par le grand vizir, son père, afin de mettre un terme à cette barbarie, si cela est possible.<br />Par ses contes surprenants, Scheherazade tiendra le sultan en haleine, renouvellant son sursis dès les premières lueurs du jour. Jusques à quand ?<br />Joignons-nous à Dinarzade et Schahriar. Écoutons ses récits passionants, nuit après nuit, après nuit, ... <br /><br /> Deceived once by a woman, Shahryar, the sultan, marries a maid every evening and has her killed on the very next day. Scheherazade convinces the grand vizier, her father, to give him her hand to attempt to put an end to this nightmare. Every night, she will tell him a different tale. Day by day, her life will be saved by Shahryar's curiosity, as he is intrigued by what he hears. Night after night, let's listen to Scheherazade's wonderful stories, in French.<br />(Summary by Ezwa)

4Book of A Thousand Nights and a Night (Arabian Nights), Volume 01

By Anonymous

This is a collection of stories collected over thousands of years by various authors, translators and scholars. The are an amalgam of mythology and folk tales from the Indian sub-continent, Persia, and Arabia. No original manuscript has ever been found for the collection, but several versions date the collection's genesis to somewhere between AD 800-900. The stories are wound together under the device of a long series of cliff-hangers told by Shahrazad to her husband Shahryar, to prevent him from executing her. Many tales that have become independently famous come from the Book, among them Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and the voyages of Sinbad the Sailor. This collection comes from the first of sixteen volumes translated by Burton. <br>(Based on Wikipedia article)

5Catechism of Familiar Things; Their History, and the Events Which Led to Their Discovery

By Anonymous

This book, a reprint of a successful English publication, has been so enlarged as to be to all intents and purposes new. It has been carefully revised by a Reverend gentleman, who for some time filled the chair of Physics and Chemistry in one of our colleges. Recent inventions and improvements are described in a simple, popular style, so as to be easily understood by all, and short notices are given of prominent inventors and scientists. The paragraphs relating to doctrinal matters conform in every respect to the teachings of the Church. A feature which will commend the book to every teacher is the definitions of difficult words and terms, following the paragraphs in which such words occur. (from the Preface)

Dinarzade et Schahriar étant toujours pendus à ses lèvres, Scheherazade poursuit ici ses récits captivants, prolongeant ainsi ses jours, nuit après nuit. <br /><br />Dinarzade and Shahryar still captivated by her fascinating stories, Scheherazade goes on telling them, thus prolonging her life, night after night.<br />(Summary by Ezwa)

7Real Mother Goose

By Anonymous

A heartwarming collection of nursery rhymes that will take you back to your childhood! (Summary by Allyson Hester)

LibriVox volunteers bring you 5 different recordings of <em>Incontrovertible Facts</em> by Anonymous. This was the weekly poetry project for the week of March 23rd, 2008.<br /><br /> This poem is a lipogram - so constructed as to exclude all vowels except 'o'.

9Keepsake

By Anonymous

"The Keepsake, or, Poems and Pictures For Childhood and Youth", is a collection of twenty pastoral poems published as one collection in London, 1818. The topics are moral encouragement for children, young and old alike. (Summary by Sam Stinson)

A 6-page digest of Defoe's famous work for young readers (Summary by Dennis Sayers)

11Book of A Thousand Nights and a Night (Arabian Nights), Volume 02

By Anonymous

This is a collection of stories collected over thousands of years by various authors, translators and scholars. The are an amalgam of mythology and folk tales from the Indian sub-continent, Persia, and Arabia. No original manuscript has ever been found for the collection, but several versions date the collection's genesis to somewhere between AD 800-900. The stories are wound together under the device of a long series of cliff-hangers told by Shahrazad to her husband Shahryar, to prevent him from executing her. Many tales that have become independently famous come from the Book, among them Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and the voyages of Sinbad the Sailor. This collection comes from the second of sixteen volumes translated by Burton. (based on Wikipedia article)

12Vice in its Proper Shape

By Anonymous

Or, The Wonderful and Melancholy Transformation of Several Naughty Masters and Misses Into Those Contemptible Animals Which They Most Resemble In Disposition,<br /><br />Cautionary tales of the transmigration of the souls of naughty boys and girls, as elucidated by the mysterious Bramin, Mr Wiseman: "Having been gifted with the faculty of distinguishing those animals which are now animated by the souls of such human beings as formerly degraded themselves to a level with the unthinking brutes, I have taken the pains to provide a collection of beasts, birds, &c. most of which are inhabited by the souls of some naughty masters or misses, who died in the neighbourhood." (David Barnes, quoting the Introduction)

13Historia de la célebre Reina de España Doña Juana, llamada vulgarmente La Loca

By Anonymous

Como implica el título, esta es una biografía de Doña Juana, conocida como Juana la Loca, hija de Fernando II de Aragón e Isabel I de Castilla, los Reyes Católicos.<BR><BR>As the title implies, this is a biography of Doña Juana, known as Juana the Mad, daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabel I of Castile, the Catholic Monarchs.

14Child’s New Story Book

By Anonymous

Short and sweet stories for children. (Summary by Dr. Heather A. D. Mbaye)

15Tiny Story Book

By Anonymous

Short and sweet stories for children. (Summary by Dr. Heather A. D. Mbaye)

16Song of Roland

By Anonymous

The Song of Roland is an epic poem, originally sung in Old French. It tells the story of the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778. This is an English translation. (Introduction by Joy Chan)

Apollonius of Tyre is the subject of an ancient short novella, popular during medieval times. Existing in numerous forms in many languages, the text is thought to be translated from an ancient Greek manuscript, now lost. The earliest manuscripts of the tale, in a Latin version, date from the 9th or 10th century; the most widespread Latin versions are those of Gottfried von Viterbo, who incorporated it into his Pantheon of 1185 as if it were actual history, and a version in the Gesta Romanorum. Shakespeare's play Pericles, Prince of Tyre was based in part on Gower's version, with the change of name probably inspired by Philip Sidney's Arcadia. Apollonius of Tyre was also a source for his plays Twelfth Night and The Comedy of Errors. (Summary by Wikipedia)

The 13th century Icelandic Völsungasaga is usually read by people studying the Poetic Edda or Wagner's Ring - which obscures the fact it is a much better story than practically everything derived from it. A riddle-telling dragon, a broken sword, a hooded mysterious wanderer - cannibalism, incest, mutilation, and sensitive hearts. This is R-rated Tolkien - and the unashamedly archaic Magnússon-Morris translation is up for the adventure. <br></br>Passages spoken in Old Norse are taken from the edition of Sophus Bugge, Berlin, 1891. <br> (Summary by Corpang)

19American Housewife

By Anonymous

This cookbook and reference guide leads the American Housewife through how to make everything from Meat to Common Drinks, as well as helpful tips and tricks for any housewife! Also included in this fine text are sections on Cooking for The Sick, and how to make your own: Essences, Perfumes, Dyes and Soaps. This work also features an extensive section on The Art of Carving-Which covers anything you might need to carve! (Summary by Jennifer Stearns)

20Diary of a Nursing Sister on the Western Front 1914-1915

By Anonymous

The title is, I think, self explanatory. The nurse in question went out to France at the beginning of the war and remained there until May 1915 after the second battle of Ypres when she went back to a Base Hospital and the diary ceases. Although written in diary form, it is clearly taken from letters home and gives a vivid if sometimes distressing picture of the state of the casualties suffered during that period. After a time at the General Hospital in Le Havre she became one of the three or four sisters working on the ambulance trains which fetched the wounded from the Clearing Hospitals close to the front line and took them back to the General Hospitals in Boulogne and Le Havre. Towards the end of the account she was posted to a Field Ambulance (station) close to Ypres. (Summary by Andy Minter)

21Lazarillo de Tormes

By Anonymous

La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus fortunas y adversidades (más conocida como Lazarillo de Tormes) es una novela española anónima, escrita en primera persona y en estilo epistolar (como una sola y larga carta), cuya edición conocida más antigua data de 1554. En ella se cuenta de forma autobiográfica la vida de un niño, Lázaro de Tormes, en el siglo XVI, desde su nacimiento y mísera infancia hasta su matrimonio, ya en la edad adulta. Es considerada precursora de la novela picaresca por elementos como el realismo, la narración en primera persona, la estructura itinerante entre varios amos y la ideología moralizante y pesimista. (Resumen de Wikipedia)

22Book of A Thousand Nights and a Night (Arabian Nights), Volume 03

By Anonymous

This is a collection of stories collected over thousands of years by various authors, translators and scholars. The are an amalgam of mythology and folk tales from the Indian sub-continent, Persia, and Arabia. No original manuscript has ever been found for the collection, but several versions date the collection's genesis to somewhere between AD 800-900. The stories are wound together under the device of a long series of cliff-hangers told by Shahrazad to her husband Shahryar, to prevent him from executing her. Many tales that have become independently famous come from the Book, among them Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and the voyages of Sinbad the Sailor. This collection comes from the third of sixteen volumes translated by Burton. (based on Wikipedia article)

23Sketches Of The Fair Sex

By Anonymous

Sketches of the fair sex, in all parts of the world. To which are added rules for determining the precise figure, the degree of beauty, the habits, and the age of women, notwithstanding the aids and disguise of dress. <br /><br /> It is our design to present a pleasing and interesting miscellany, which will serve to beguile the leisure hour, and will at the same time couple instruction with amusement. We have used but little method in the arrangement: Choosing rather to furnish the reader with a rich profusion of narratives and anecdotes, all tending to illustrate the FEMALE CHARACTER, to display its delicacy, its sweetness, its gentle or sometimes heroic virtues, its amiable weaknesses, and strange defects—than to attempt an accurate analysis of the hardest subject man ever attempted to master, viz—WOMAN. (Summary from the book)

24Mabinogion, Volume 1

By Anonymous

Sample a moment of magic realism from the Red Book of Hergest:<br /><br />On one side of the river he saw a flock of white sheep, and on the other a flock of black sheep. And whenever one of the white sheep bleated, one of the black sheep would cross over, and become white; and when one of the black sheep bleated, one of the white sheep would cross over, and become black.<br /><br />Before passing on to the Mabinogion proper, Lady Charlotte Guest devotes Volume I of her compilation of medieval Welsh tales to three brief romances of Arthur’s Court. The centrepiece is the story of Peredur, the Dumb Youth – known elsewhere as Perceval, Parzifal, the Holy Fool, et al.<br /><br />This is the violent world of satin-clad knights and their clashing encounters, peremptory slayings of giants and cave-dwelling monsters – a world where love is as sudden and final as death. (Introduction by Martin Geeson)

25English as She is Wrote

By Anonymous

"...Showing Curious ways in which the English Language may be made to convey Ideas or obscure them." A collection of unintentionally humorous uses of the English language. Sections of the work: How she is wrote by the Inaccurate, By Advertisers and on Sign-boards, For Epitaphs, By Correspondents, By the Effusive, How she can be oddly wrote, and By the Untutored. (Summary by TriciaG)

26Curtezan Unmasked

By Anonymous

"The Curtezan unmasked or, the Whoredomes of Jezebel Painted to the Life: With Antidotes against them, or Heavenly Julips to cool Men in the Fever of Lust" is a fire-and-brimstone polemic by "A Spiritual Physician" to persuade young men not to succumb to harlotry and its accompanying perils. (Introduction by Denny Sayers)

27That Mother-in-Law of Mine

By Anonymous

Here we were, only a month married, and spending our honeymoon at a most charming summer resort, where there was no excuse for getting out of patience. Everything was beautiful and attractive: Little hotel, strange to say, quite delightful; no fault to find with surroundings and accommodations; my darling Bessie, as sweet as an angel and determined to be happy and to make me happy; everything, in short, calculated to give us a long summer of delight. <br/><br />That is, if Bessie had only been an orphan. But there was her mother, who had joined us on our summer trip, after the first two weeks of unalloyed happiness, and threatened to accompany us through life. (excerpt from chapter 1)

28Book of A Thousand Nights and a Night (Arabian Nights), Volume 04

By Anonymous

This is a collection of stories collected over thousands of years by various authors, translators and scholars. They are an amalgam of mythology and folk tales from the Indian sub-continent, Persia, and Arabia. No original manuscript has ever been found for the collection, but several versions date the collection's genesis to somewhere between AD 800-900. The stories are wound together under the device of a long series of cliff-hangers told by Shahrazad to her husband Shahryar, to prevent him from executing her. Many tales that have become independently famous come from the Book, among them Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and the voyages of Sinbad the Sailor. This collection comes from the third of sixteen volumes translated by Burton. (based on Wikipedia article)<br><br> <a href="http://librivox.org/the-book-of-a-thousand-nights-and-a-night-volume-01-by-anonymous/">Volume 1</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-book-of-a-thousand-nights-and-a-night-volume-02/">Volume 2</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-book-of-a-thousand-nights-and-a-night-volume-03/">Volume 3</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-book-of-a-thousand-nights-and-a-nightvolume-05-by-anonymous/"> Volume 5</a> and <a href="https://librivox.org/the-book-of-a-thousand-nights-and-a-night-arabian-nights-volume-06-by-richard-francis-burton/">Volume 6</a>

An adorable picture book with 29 little lessons in German. Learn many simple phrases, such as "How big the sea is!" and "Have you ever been to the farm?" The English parts of the book are read by Kara, and the German parts by Elli. You can read long and look at the pictures at: <a href="http://www.read.gov/books/german.html">http://www.read.gov/books/german.html</a> (Description by Kara)

30Christmas Tree

By Anonymous and Alice Maude Kellogg

LibriVox volunteers bring you 10 recordings of The Christmas Tree by Anonymous. This was the Weekly Poetry project for December 19, 2010<br><br>This poem taken from Christmas Entertainments by Alice Maude Kellogg, containing fancy drills, acrostics, motion songs, tableaux, short plays, recitations in costume for children of five to fifteen years. (from book introduction)

Geschiedenis van een neger is een anoniem, rond 1771 verschenen boekwerk. Het is het verhaal van een hugenoot, aangeduid met de letter N., die met zijn vrouw en dochter en vergezeld van de begaafde neger Thomas van Suriname naar Amsterdam reist. N. ontpopt zich als een meester met verlichte ideeën die gelooft in de natuurlijke edelheid van de mens. Hij verklaart deze ideeën wanneer een eiland wordt aangedaan waar een andere Hugenoot een heilstaat heeft gesticht. `Goede woorden’ sorteren volgens N. meer effect dan slagen. In zijn goede-meesterschap is hij consequent wanneer zijn dochter Agnes verklaart de trouwe en tot het christendom bekeerde Thomas te verkiezen boven een andere huwelijkskandidaat: N. stemt toe in het huwelijk met de neger. (Wikipedia)

32Book of A Thousand Nights and a Night (Arabian Nights), Volume 05

By Anonymous

This is a collection of stories collected over thousands of years by various authors, translators and scholars. They are an amalgam of mythology and folk tales from the Indian sub-continent, Persia, and Arabia. No original manuscript has ever been found, but several versions date the collection’s genesis to somewhere between AD 800-900. The stories are wound together under the device of a long series of cliff-hangers told by Shahrazad to her husband Shahryar, to prevent him from executing her. Many tales that have become independently famous come from the Book, among them Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and the voyages of Sinbad the Sailor. This collection comes from the first of sixteen volumes translated by Richard Francis Burton. (Summary based on Wikipedia article and LibriVox's <a>The Book of A Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 01</a>))<br><br> <a href="http://librivox.org/the-book-of-a-thousand-nights-and-a-night-volume-01-by-anonymous/">Volume 1</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-book-of-a-thousand-nights-and-a-night-volume-02/">Volume 2</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-book-of-a-thousand-nights-and-a-night-volume-03/">Volume 3</a>, <a href="http://librivox.org/the-book-of-a-thousand-nights-and-a-nightvolume-04-by-anonymous/"> Volume 4</a> and <a href="https://librivox.org/the-book-of-a-thousand-nights-and-a-night-arabian-nights-volume-06-by-richard-francis-burton/">Volume 6</a>

33Aljaska (Alaska) en de Canada-spoorweg

By Anonymous

Toeristisch verslag van een reis naar Canada en Alaska, in 1892 gepubliceerd in het tijdschrift "De Aarde en haar volken". We gaan samen met de anonieme, Europese schrijver in Frankrijk aan boord van een schip met bestemming New-York. Daar aangekomen, reizen we direct door naar Montreal. In deze Oost-Canadese stad begint een lange tocht per trein - helemaal naar de Canadese west-kust - via de nog maar enkele jaren daarvoor aangelegde Canada-Pacific-lijn. Deze voert langs een overvloed aan meren en rivieren, in opkomst zijnde steden en adembenemende bergtoppen en gletschers. Aangekomen in de west-Canadese stad Victoria, neemt de schrijver ons mee aan boord van stoomboot 'The Queen' voor een toeristische tocht naar Alaska. Hij verhaalt van de prachtige ijsbergen, fjorden, gletschers en bossen welke we onderweg tegenkomen, van de geschiedenis van Alaska en van de kleurrijke plaatselijke bevolking. De Pyramide-haven, op 59° N.B., is de meest noordelijke plaats die wordt aangedaan. Daarna ondernemen we de terugtocht. (inleiding door kattekliek)

34Book of A Thousand Nights and a Night (Arabian Nights), Volume 06

By Anonymous

This is a collection of stories collected over thousands of years by various authors, translators and scholars. They are an amalgam of mythology and folk tales from the Indian sub-continent, Persia, and Arabia. No original manuscript has ever been found, but several versions date the collection’s genesis to somewhere between AD 800-900. The stories are wound together under the device of a long series of cliff-hangers told by Shahrazad to her husband Shahryar, to prevent him from executing her. Many tales that have become independently famous come from the Book, among them Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and the voyages of Sinbad the Sailor. This collection comes from the sixth of sixteen volumes translated by Richard Francis Burton. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia)

35Baltimore Catechism, No. 2

By Anonymous

A catechism is a summary of the principles of Christian religion and articles of the faith. The Baltimore Catechism specifically was the de facto standard Catholic school text in the United States from 1885 to the late 1960s. It was the first such catechism written for Catholics in North America, replacing a translation of Bellarmine's Small Catechism. The Baltimore Catechism remained in use in nearly all Catholic schools until many moved away from catechism-based education, though it is still used up to this day in some. (Summary by Wikipedia [annotated by mknightretke])

36Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation (Selection)

By Anonymous

LibriVox volunteers bring you 7 recordings of A Selection from Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation by Anonymous. This was the Weekly Poetry project for November 20, 2011.<br><br>'Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation' contains the famous 'Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper's' tongue twister, although this twister was tripping tongues for many years before it first appeared in print. The book also contains a tongue twister of a similar style for every letter of the alphabet. This selection contains the verses for C, F and K. (Summary by Lucy Perry)

37True Stories of Wonderful Deeds

By Anonymous

37 short pieces perfect for newer recorders. These one page Stories of (mostly) Wonderful Deeds were written for Little Folk to teach them about famous incidents in their history. Bonnie Prince Charlie, Nelson and Hardy, Bruce and the Spider, David Livingston, Canute, Sir Philip Sydney, and Elizabeth and Raleigh are just some of the well known people and incidents covered in short stories. (Summary by phil chenevert)

El Romancero español es un grupo de cortos poemas de origen medieval desgajados de los cantares de gesta castellanos a partir del siglo XIV y transmitidos de forma oral hasta el XIX, en que, merced al interés que el Romanticismo sintió por la literatura medieval, Agustín Durán (1789-1862) empezó a recogerlos en sus famosas Colecciones de romances antiguos o Romanceros, Valladolid, 1821, ampliado luego con el título más célebre de Romancero General. Ya en el siglo XX, Ramón Menéndez Pidal y su escuela emprendieron su compilación exhaustiva y empezaron a ordenarlos y estudiarlos. Muchos romances provienen especialmente del XV y se conservan gracias a coleccionistas contemporáneos de estas composiciones, que compraban en las ferias en forma de pliegos sueltos y que elaboraban con ellos los llamados cancioneros de romances. Este es el llamado Romancero viejo. (Introducción de Wikipedia)

The Cloud of Unknowing (Middle English: The Cloude of Unknowyng) is an anonymous work of Christian mysticism written in Middle English in the latter half of the 14th century. The text is a spiritual guide on contemplative prayer in the late Middle Ages. The book counsels a young student to seek God, not through knowledge and intellection (faculty of the human mind), but through intense contemplation, motivated by love, and stripped of all thought. This is brought about by putting all thoughts and desires under a "cloud of forgetting", and thereby piercing God's cloud of unknowing with a "dart of longing love" from the heart. This form of contemplation is not directed by the intellect, but involves spiritual union with God through the heart. (Summary by Wikipedia)

40At the End of the Feast

By Anonymous

LibriVox volunteers bring you 9 recordings of At the End of the Feast by Anonymous.<br>A traditional English Christmas Carol, first published in New Christmas Carols in 1642.<br>This poem was the Weekly Poetry Project for the week beginning December 25th 2011. (Summary by Lucy Perry)

41Broken Vase and Other Stories

By Anonymous

The Broken Vase and Other Stories; for Children and Youth,<br>Compiled by a Teacher<br>FITCHBURG: PUBLISHED BY S. & C. SHEPLEY. 1847.<br>WM. J. MERRIAM, PRINTER, FITCHBURG.<br>(Summary from the Frontspiece)

The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz was edited in 1616 in Strasbourg (annexed by France in 1681). It is the third of the original manifestos of the mysterious "Fraternity of the Rose Cross" (Rosicrucians).<br /><br /> <strong>NOTE: It was translated into English for the first time in 1690 by E. Foxcroft. This translation became the source for many of the modern attempts to improve the original. The translation presented here is that of E. Foxcroft.</strong><br /><br /> Although the book first appeared in 1616, the story takes place over 150 years earlier. It is an allegoric romance (story) divided into Seven Days, or Seven Journeys, like Genesis, and tells us about the way Christian Rosenkreuz was invited to go to a wonderful castle full of miracles, in order to assist the Chymical Wedding of the king and the queen, that is, the husband and the bride. The story begins on an evening near Easter. In the final chapter—the seventh day—CRC is knighted; the year is 1459. It was on Easter-day 1459 that the Constitutions of the Freemasons of Strasburg was first signed in Regensburg, with a second signed shortly afterwards in Strasburg. The Gutenberg Bible began printing in Mainz, Germany in 1455, and the first Bible in German, the Mentel Bible, was printed in Strasburg in 1466. The invitation to the royal wedding includes the Monas Hieroglyphica associated with John Dee. (Summary by Wikipedia.org)

LibriVox volunteers bring you 23 recordings of Cupid's Darts by Anonymous. This was the Weekly Poetry project for February 12, 2012.<br><br>To celebrate the somewhat silly holiday of Valentine's Day, I've selected this somewhat silly poem, which first appeared in Such Nonsense! an anthology by Carolyn Wells. Published in 1918.(Summary by Liberty Stump)

Go through the year in the footsteps of the saints. This book emphasizes one virtue for each month with quotes and stories from the lives of the saints to help teach and inspire that particular virtue in us.<br><br>For January, Perfection; February, Humility; March, Mortification; April, Patience; May, Meekness; June, Obedience; July, Simplicity; August, Diligence; September, Prayer; October, Confidence; November, Charity; and December, Union. (Summary by Maria Therese)

Afin de ne plus être déçu par les femmes, le sultan Schahriar décide d'épouser une jeune fille chaque jour et de la faire mourir dès le lendemain. <br /><br /> Scheherazade se fait donner à lui en mariage par le grand vizir, son père, afin de mettre un terme à cette barbarie, si cela est possible.<br /><br /> Par ses contes surprenants, Scheherazade tiendra le sultan en haleine, renouvellant son sursis dès les premières lueurs du jour. Jusques à quand ?<br /><br /> Joignons-nous à Dinarzade et Schahriar. Écoutons ses récits passionants, nuit après nuit, après nuit, ...<br /><br /> Deceived once by a woman, Shahryar, the sultan, marries a maid every evening and has her killed on the very next day.<br /> Scheherazade convinces the grand vizier, her father, to give him her hand to attempt to put an end to this nightmare.<br /> Every night, she will tell him a different tale.<br /> Day by day, her life will be saved by Shahryar's curiosity, as he is intrigued by what he hears. <br /> Night after night, let's listen to Scheherazade's wonderful stories, in French.<br /> (Summary by Ezwa)

46Twenty Two Goblins

By Anonymous

These 22 stories are told by the Goblin to the King Vikram. King Vikram faces many difficulties in bringing the vetala to the tantric. Each time Vikram tries to capture the vetala, it tells a story that ends with a riddle. If Vikram cannot answer the question correctly, the vampire consents to remain in captivity. If the king answers the question correctly, the vampire would escape and return to his tree. In some variations, the king is required to speak if he knows the answer, else his head will burst. <br /><br /> This work is taken from baital pachisi and one of its oldest recensions is found incorporated in the Kathā-Sarit-Sāgara ("Ocean of the Streams of Story"), a work in Sanskrit compiled in the 11th century by Somadeva. (Wikipedia)

47Book of A Thousand Nights and a Night (Arabian Nights), Volume 07

By Anonymous

This is a collection of stories collected over thousands of years by various authors, translators and scholars. They are an amalgam of mythology and folk tales from the Indian sub-continent, Persia, and Arabia. No original manuscript has ever been found, but several versions date the collection’s genesis to somewhere between AD 800-900. The stories are wound together under the device of a long series of cliff-hangers told by Shahrazad to her husband Shahryar, to prevent him from executing her. Many tales that have become independently famous come from the Book, among them Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and the voyages of Sinbad the Sailor. This collection comes from the seventh of sixteen volumes translated by Richard Francis Burton. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia)

48Ordeal of Elizabeth

By Anonymous

An unforgettable family saga which revolves around the beautiful young Elizabeth. Elizabeth is orphaned and raised by her spinster aunts. As an adult, she finds herself trapped in a loveless marriage and ultimately falls in love with another man. After telling her lover the truth about her marriage - her husband is found murdered the very next day! This is a story of destiny, temptation, and courage of the heart. (Summary by Lani Small)<br /><br /> This book is sometimes attributed to Elizabeth von Arnim, but her authorship cannot be confirmed. <br /> There is no chapter four in this book, it seems to have been intentionally left out by the author.

49My Comforter

By Anonymous

LibriVox volunteers bring you 17 recordings of My Comforter by anonymous. This was the Weekly Poetry project for November 25, 2012.

50My Actor-Husband

By Anonymous

In presenting this autobiography to the public, the author feels it incumbent upon herself to impress upon her readers the fidelity and strict adherence to the truth, relative to the conditions which surround the player. In no instance has there been either exaggeration or a resort to imaginative creation. It is a true story with all the ugliness of truth unsoftened and unembellished. Nor is the situation presented an exceptional one. One has but to follow the career of the average actor to be convinced that the dramatic profession is not only inconsistent with but wholly hostile to the institution of marriage. Managers and actors alike know and admit this to be the truth—amongst themselves. What they say in print is, of course, merely so much self-exploitation. The success of any branch of "the show-business" is dependent on the bureau of publicity. (From the Foreword)