Minis
Mini Copy Book

Each post in this section is a short précis (summary) of a passage in The Copy Book. All of them are in modern English. They are intended for students of English as a Foreign Language at Elementary Level.

Liberty and Prosperity

A Policeman’s Lot

The Commissioners of the Metropolitan Police reiterated that what they liked best was a policeman who never arrested anyone.

Length: 110 words

Liberty and Prosperity

The Most Perfect State of Civil Liberty

Chinese merchant Lien Chi tells a colleague that English liberties have little to do with elections, taxes and regulations.

Length: 119 words

Liberty and Prosperity

The Letter of the Law

After witnessing a bus conductor’s battle of wills with the London public, journalist Alfred Gardiner felt obliged to give him a little advice.

Length: 60 words

Extracts from Literature

A Pinch of Snuff

Marguerite, Lady Blakeney, is powerless to intervene as her husband Sir Percy walks into a trap.

Length: 108 words

Indian Myths

The King of the Banyan Deer

The lord of Benares is so partial to venison that fields lie fallow and marketplaces stand empty while his people catch deer for him.

Length: 118 words

Aesop of Samos

Governor Wolf

Following the election of a new leader, the wolves listen with approval to his plans for a fairer pack but there is something they don’t know.

Length: 59 words