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.

Character and Conduct

No Offence

The people who oil the wheels of society are not the people who never give offence, they are the people who never take any.

Length: 110 words

Character and Conduct

A Work of Art

The man who seems frustratingly dull and awkward may shine in other company, and we owe it to him and to ourselves to read the signs.

Length: 56 words

Education

The Dogmatist

Schools inspector Edmond Holmes expressed frustration with those who think that society at large owes them unthinking obedience.

Length: 56 words

Rudyard Kipling

Kipling’s Proof

If officials in the Raj ever forgot who their boss was, they would bring the whole government down about their ears.

Length: 60 words

Aesopica

Heracles and the Flea

A man begs the mighty Heracles to save him the effort of despatching a flea.

Length: 60 words

Aesopica

Heracles and the Waggoner

Heracles refuses to come to the aid of man who is perfectly able to help himself.

Length: 58 words