Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
By Georg Balthasar Probst (1732-1801) 1750
Byron felt compelled to set the record straight after it was alleged that he had swum the Hellespont the easy way.
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Wandernder Weltreisender 3.0.
Magnus, Earl of Orkney, disappointed King Magnus of Norway by refusing to get involved in somebody else’s war.
© Samyan Bahga, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.
A herd of goats is threatened by a pride of lions, and it falls to one brave billy to face the danger alone.
© Forza, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.
In this fable from India, a sly little insect teaches a jackdaw that all that glisters is not necessarily edible.
© Israeli Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.5
Back in the 6th century, Mary was consumed by an addiction so compulsive that she would use and discard anyone to satisfy it.
Photo by NASA, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Pliny was only about nine when his uncle left to go and help rescue the terrified townspeople of Pompeii and Herculaneum.