The Copybook

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

835

By Kate Greenaway (1846-1901), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin Clay Lane

The mayor and corporation of Hamelin outsource a rodent problem to a professional rat-catcher.

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836

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

The Investor of Nisibis Clay Lane

A woman advises her husband to entrust their modest savings to the bank of God.

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837

© Arya C S, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

The King, the Monkey and the Pea Clay Lane

A warlike king sets out to bag another small kingdom for his realms, but a monkey gets him thinking.

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838

© James Denham, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Cuthbert and Hildemer’s Wife Clay Lane

Cuthbert’s friend comes asking for a priest to attend his dying wife — so long as it isn’t Cuthbert.

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839

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

Athelstan and the Prince of Norway Clay Lane

Soon after Athelstan became England’s first king, he played a trick on the King of Norway which demanded a reply.

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840

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

Dare to Be Yourself Samuel Smiles

Samuel Smiles warns us against pursuing popularity for its own sake, saying that it is a kind of cowardice.

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