The Copybook

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

1603

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

Angel Cat by Jerome K. Jerome

Cats do have a conscience: it tells them when to look innocent.

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1604

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

Typical Cat! by P. G. Wodehouse

When a cat comes into your life, resistance is futile.

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1605

© Ikiwaner, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 1.2.

Cain and Abel by Clay Lane

Smarting for his outraged ‘rights’, Cain lost his reason — but not God’s pity and love.

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1606

From Wikimedia Commons. Public domain image.

Daniel in the Lions’ Den by Clay Lane

The King who condemned him to the den of lions felt far worse about it than Daniel did.

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1607
Belshazzar’s Feast by Clay Lane

Prince Belshazzar’s disrespectful behaviour left him facing the original ‘writing on the wall’.

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1608

© David Wright, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

Mrs Bold’s Thunderclap by Anthony Trollope

There comes a point in some relationships when words just aren’t enough.

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Clay Lane The Copybook
About Clay Lane nicholas@claylane.uk

© Nicholas Armitage / Clay Lane, 2025

May 6 NS

April 23 OS

St George, Patron Saint of England : George served in the Roman army and lies buried in Israel, yet he makes an ideal patron for England.
The First Traffic Lights : The busy crossroads outside the Houses of Parliament was the testing ground for a new technology.
Good Companions : Explain what these wise classical authors are telling us.
The Rule of the Road : Being a free citizen doesn’t mean that everyone else has to get out of your way.
Blind Courage : George Santayana reprimanded politicians and military men who thought war was good for the country’s soul.
Patience : Make a single sentence out of these three ideas.
The Angel Cried : A hymn sung in the weeks after Easter, imagining how Gabriel brought the news of Christ’s resurrection to Mary.
She was a Phantom of Delight : Mary Wordsworth wasn’t pretty or bookish, but she was kind and vital, and William loved her.
Hardly : Tone down these bold assertions with ‘hardly’.
The Death of Julius Caesar : When Julius Caesar entered the Senate that day, a note warning him of treachery was clutched in his hand — unread.
Two Letters Home : A German soldier stopped the Great War so he could ask Captain Hulse to post a letter for him.
Smile : Choose adjectives of praise for these nouns, at about the 7/10 level.
The Making of Mark : St Mark wrote his Gospel as a summary of the preaching of St Peter.
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