The Ants and the Grasshopper The Ants and the Grasshopper Available in the public domain on Guttenberg.org THE ANTS were spending a fine winter’s day drying grain collected in the summertime. A Grasshopper, perishing with famine, passed by and earnestly begged for a little food. The Ants inquired of him, “Why did you not treasure…
The Story of an Hour The Story of an Hour “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin was originally published in Vogue in December 6, 1894. It is in the public domain and was accessed through Wikisource. Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as…
Araby by James Joyce Araby by James Joyce North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers’ School set the boys free. An uninhabited house of two storeys stood at the blind end, detached from its neighbours in a square ground. The other houses of the street,…
The Bet by Anton Chekhov The Bet by Anton Chekhov IT WAS a dark autumn night. The old banker was walking up and down his study and remembering how, fifteen years before, he had given a party one autumn evening. There had been many clever men there, and there had been interesting conversations. Among other…
The Beggar by Anton Chekhov The Beggar by Anton Chekhov “KIND sir, be so good as to notice a poor, hungry man. I have not tasted food for three days. I have not a five-kopeck piece for a night’s lodging. I swear by God! For five years I was a village schoolmaster and lost my…
The Hare & the Tortoise The Hare & the Tortoise A Hare was making fun of the Tortoise one day for being so slow. Watch this video on YouTube. “Do you ever get anywhere?” he asked with a mocking laugh. “Yes,” replied the Tortoise, “and I get there sooner than you think. I’ll run you…
The Ass The Fox And The Lion The Ass The Fox And The Lion An Ass and a Fox had become close comrades, and were constantly in each other’s company. While the Ass cropped a fresh bit of greens, the Fox would devour a chicken from the neighboring farmyard or a bit of cheese filched…
God Sees the Truth but Waits God Sees the Truth but Waits In the town of Vladimir lived a young merchant named Ivan Dmitrich Aksionov. He had two shops and a house of his own. Watch this video on YouTube. Aksionov was a handsome, fair-haired, curly-headed fellow, full of fun, and very fond of singing.…
The Rocking-horse Winner The Rocking-horse Winner There was a woman who was beautiful, who started with all the advantages, yet she had no luck. She married for love, and the love turned to dust. She had boney children, yet she felt they had been thrust upon her, and she could not love them. They looked…
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one’s cheeks burned…