The Copybook

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

1441

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

Elisha and Naaman the Syrian Clay Lane

Naaman had very fixed ideas about what it takes to get a miracle.

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1442

© Cocowiki28, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.

St Wilfrid’s Debt Clay Lane

The Blessed Virgin Mary adds four years to the life of Bishop Wilfrid, and an angel suggests a suitable thank-you.

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1443

© Jastrow, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Siege of Troy Clay Lane

Paris, prince of Troy, takes the not unwilling Queen of Sparta back home with him, and sparks ten years of diplomatic tension and ten of war.

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1444

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

Silver Swan Mark Twain

Mark Twain’s attention was drawn off people-watching for a moment by an extraordinarily lifelike machine.

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1445

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

Mathieu Martinel and the Drowning Soldier Clay Lane

A young French cavalry soldier took a tremendous risk to rescue a drowning man.

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1446

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

Mathieu Martinel and the Blazing Barracks Clay Lane

The soldier went quite deliberately into a burning room full of gunpowder and ammunition.

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