Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
© Cocowiki28, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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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© Jastrow, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
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.
© Alden Chadwick, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Mark Twain’s attention was drawn off people-watching for a moment by an extraordinarily lifelike machine.
© João-Martinho, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.
A young French cavalry soldier took a tremendous risk to rescue a drowning man.
© Ji-Elle, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.
The soldier went quite deliberately into a burning room full of gunpowder and ammunition.
A firework display in Paris turned to tragedy in the narrow streets of the capital.