The Copybook

Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.

559

© Wolfgang Rieger, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son The Authorized Version

A young man abandons the family farm and goes looking for happiness in the pleasures of the city.

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560

© Lostinafrica, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

David and Goliath Charlotte Yonge

Goliath, a giant of a man from Philistia, has challenged Israel’s warrior-heroes to meet him in single combat, but only a shepherd boy is brave enough to step up.

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561

© Birmingham Museums Trust, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Sword in the Stone Sir Thomas Malory

Sir Kay has left his sword at home, and his young brother Arthur is determined to find him a worthy blade for the New Year’s Day joust.

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562

From the National Museum of the US Navy, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Gift of Life A. G. Gardiner

When columnist ‘Alpha of the Plough’ was asked to select his most memorable moment of the Great War, he told the story of HMS Formidable.

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563

© Dietmar Rabich, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

Measured Government Napoleon Bonaparte

To Napoleon, the way that politicians in Paris had forced metric measurements on the public was a lesson in bad government.

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564

© lvm15, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

A Match Made in Stockton Clay Lane

The modern match is ignited by friction, a simple idea but one which had not occurred to anyone until 1826, when a Stockton pharmacist dropped a stick.

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