The Copybook

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

1639

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

The Goose with the Golden Egg Clay Lane

Don’t get greedy when things are going well.

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1640

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

The Dog and the Bell Clay Lane

Notoriety is often mistaken for fame.

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1641

© Bibi St-Pol, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

The Debtor and his Pig Clay Lane

There are no lengths to which some people won’t go.

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1642

Rajesh ramesh gaikwad. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.

The Crow and the Pitcher Clay Lane

Brute force is no substitute for quick thinking.

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1643

© Pauline E, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

‘I Remember’ Thomas Hood

A poem of nostalgia tinged with regret.

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1644

US National Archives and Records Administration, via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain image.

The Music of Silence Samuel Taylor Coleridge

In Coleridge’s epic poem, the Ancient Mariner, amid the horrors of a ship of dead men, sees a sight both beautiful and surreal.

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