The Copybook

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

43

By William McGregor Paxton (1869–1941), Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

One Delicious Grinding Snip George Eliot

If little Maggie Tulliver is going to get her hair cut, it’s going to be done on her own terms.

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44

By Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830), © Sailko, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0.

Artful Lizzy Bennet Jane Austen

Elizabeth Bennet stonewalls her way through a disagreeable encounter with Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

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45

© MiNe, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat Eugene Field

In most contests the choices are win, lose or draw, but what happened here remains a mystery.

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46

© Serge Novikoff, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0.

How I Met Nastenka Fyodor Dostoevsky

The story-teller recalls his first meeting with Nastenka, and the man who brought them together.

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47

By Jose Maria Obregon (1832–1902), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Columbus Arthur Hugh Clough

Arthur Clough marvels at the vision of a man who could cross the Atlantic without knowing there was a farther shore.

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48

By Just L'Hernault (1832-1922), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Who’ll Turn the Grindstone? Charles Miner

Whenever Charles Miner suspected an ulterior motive, he would say quietly ‘That man has an axe to grind!’

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