Группа авторов
Список книг автора Группа авторовThe Little Flowers of Saint Francis
First printed in 1476, this collection of stories, or «little flowers,» chronicles Saint Francis of Assisi's journeys, activities, and miracles. Told in brief anecdotes of charming simplicity, the stories include Saint Francis' sermon to the birds, his taming of the savage wolf of Gubbio, his conversion of the Sultan of Babylon, and his miraculous healing of a leper. Picturesque and poetic, The Little Flowers of Saint Francis transports readers to the Middle Ages for an inspiring portrait of the saint and his earliest disciples. One of the world's most popular and widely read religious classics, its universal appeal extends to people of all faiths and every intellectual level.
The Mabinogion
Composed in a golden age of Celtic storytelling in the thirteenth century or earlier, this collection of 12 Welsh prose tales is a masterpiece of European literature. Though written down in the Middle Ages, these stories are thought by scholars to be probably much older, perhaps going back to the dawn of Celtic civilization.They fall naturally into several groups: the Mabinogion (stories) proper, composed of the four tales of Pwyll, Branwen, Manawyddan, and Math; the two short pieces The Dream of Maxen Wledig and Lludd and Llevelys; the incomparable Kilhwch and Olwen, one of the earliest Arthurian tales in Welsh; The Dream of Rhonabwy, a romantic look back to the heroic age of Britain; and the three Arthurian romances proper: The Lady of the Fountain, Peredur the Son of Evrawc, and Geraint the Son of Erbin, with their abundant evidence of Norman-French influences. Also included is Lady Guest's translation of Taliesin, the story of the famous bard. Destiny, magic, chance, knightly feats of arms, love, and betrayal — all are here in these ancient, beautifully crafted stories, sure to delight scholars, students, general readers, and any lover of myth and legend.
The Koran
The Koran is the sacred scripture of Islam, a collection of revelations that Mohammed, the Prophet, said he had received from God (through the angel Gabriel) in seventh-century Arabia. Mohammed preached these revelations in rhymed verses that comprised suras, or chapters. Shortly after his death, his followers published the suras as the Koran (an adaptation of a word meaning «scripture lesson»), which today is considered one of the great sacred books of the world. Deeply moralistic, full of passion and fervor, the suras deal with such topics as the omniscience and majesty of God, death and judgment, the proper conduct of the faithful, stories of previous prophets, kindness to orphans, and much more.The complete Koran consists of 11 suras — arranged from longest to shortest — plus an opening prayer and two closing charms. The selections in the present volume were carefully chose to give a cross-section of the whole and to illustrate Mohammed's teaching as it developed from the rhapsodic style of his early Meccan period to the workaday legislative material of the Medinan period. This excellent English translation replaces the original verse form with accurate, highly readable prose, making a treasury of eternal wisdom from the Koran accessible to both the novice and the serious student.
Jewish Wit and Wisdom
"It's no disgrace to be poor," observed Sholom Aleichem, «but it's no great honor, either.» «Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city,» remarked George Burns, while Marc Chagall noted that «Art is the unceasing effort to compete with the beauty of flowers and never succeeding.» These and many more classic examples of Jewish wit and wisdom — sometimes hilarious, frequently profound, almost always incisive — enliven the pages of this entertaining and practical little volume.Some 500 aphorisms include observations and remarks from statesmen, writers, artist, philosophers, jurists, musicians, and celebrities — from the prophets of the Old Testament, the Talmud, and Maimonides to Joey Adams, Barbra Streisand, and Woody Allen. Here also are memorable quotes from Louis Brandeis, Martin Buber, Fanny Brice, Heinrich Heine, Sam Goldwyn, Golda Meir, Karl Marx, Groucho Marx, Herman Mankiewicz, Albert Einstein, and many others.Arranged alphabetically by author, these thought-provoking pronouncements will not only serve as a handy resource for speech writers and public speakers but will also amuse and inspire all readers.
The Koran
As the sacred book of Islam, the Koran, or Qur'an in transliteration, is believed by devout Muslims to be the direct word of God, inscribed in Heaven and revealed by the archangel Gabriel to the prophet Muhammad before his death in A.D. 632. Written in Arabic, in rhymed prose, the text is not only regarded by believers as a guide to daily life but is also considered to be the finest work of Arabic prose in existence and one of the most important and influential books known to mankind.J. M. Rodwell's accessible translation restores the traditional ordering of the suras, or chapters, with early text dealing with God as creator, his greatness and authority, the role of Muhammad as God's messenger and of Islam in history. Later chapters deal with legal, social, and ethical issues. The text is divided into 114 chapters, each of which, like the Bible, is subdivided into verses.This edition of the Koran, in a convenient size that is ideal for prayer or study, will be invaluable to students of religion, history, and politics and of interest to anyone concerned with cultures of the Middle East.
Landmark Decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court
Legal drama at its finest, these are the majority decisions from the most influential Supreme Court cases in United States history. Starting with the 1803 case of Marbury v. Madison, which laid the foundation for the Supreme Court's current power, these thirteen far-reaching cases include: Dred Scott v. John F. A. Sandford, 1856; Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896; Brown v. Board of Education, 1954; Miranda v. Arizona, 1966; Roe v. Wade, 1973; Bush v. Gore, 2000; and many other important decisions. In most cases, the majority and dissenting opinions are included while concurring opinions are omitted. Brief introductions precede each case.
Irish Fairy Tales
The age-old charm of Irish folklore gives special sparkle to this collection of eight tongue-in-cheek tales. Wicked old hags, clever leprechauns, courageous tailors, evil giants, and other characters come to life in such fanciful yarns as «Hudden and Dudden and Donald O'Neary,» «Conal and Donal and Taig,» «The Old Hag's Long Leather Bag,» «The Field of Boliauns,» «The Sprightly Tailor,» “The Giant’s Stairs,” “The Bee, the Harp, the Mouse, and the Bum-Clock,” and “The Black Horse.” Reset in large, easy-to-read type, with six illustrations, these beloved stories from the Emerald Isle will delight readers of any age with their warmth, whimsy, and sly humor.
Irish Verse: An Anthology
Celebrated for their unique poetic sensibility and wondrous way with words, the Irish have produced a rich heritage of great poetry. This volume attests to the Irish love of language, spanning fourteen centuries of literary history and featuring works by more than 60 of the Emerald Isle's most distinguished poets.This comprehensive selection of well-known poems by distinguished writers includes «Verses for Women Who Cry Apples, etc.» by Jonathan Swift; J. Sheridan LeFanu's «A Drunkard's Address to a Bottle of Whiskey»; William Allingham's «Four Ducks on a Pond»; «Requiescat» by Oscar Wilde; W. B. Yeats' «The Song of Wandering Aengus» and «Easter 1916»; «Forgiveness» by A. E.; «The Hills of Cualann» by Joseph Campbell; «An Old Woman of the Roads» by Padraic Colum; «In the Poppy Field» by James Stephens; and many others.Also included is a generous sampling of memorable works by lesser known poets: «Lament for Thomas Davis» by Samuel Ferguson; Dion Boucicault's «The Wearing of the Green»; «The Wee Lassie's First Luve» by G. F. Savage-Armstrong; Francis A. Fahy's «Little Mary Cassidy»; Sidney Royse Lysaght's «The Penalty of Love»; and many more, including the anonymous «A Confession of Forgiveness,» «Pearl of the White Breast,» and «Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye.»Students, teachers, and all poetry lovers will cherish this fine collection and its diverse cross-section of Irish poetry, from the seventh century to modern times.
Great German Short Stories
The unique boundaries of the short story have attracted a majority of the prominent writers in the German language since the genre attained its modern form and became widely read around the turn of the 19th century.This collection, featuring stories by eight of the form's most successful practitioners, includes Arthur Schnitzler's «Lieutenant Gustl,» considered to be the first purely interior monologue in European literature; Heinrich von Kleist's «Earthquake in Chile,» a highly charged narrative in which nature and public opinion precipitate acts of incredible violence; as well as important works by Franz Kafka, Thomas Mann, Gerhart Hauptmann, Rainer Maria Rilke, E. T. A. Hoffmann, and Clemens Brentano.Required reading for students of world literature, this volume will be a welcome addition to the collection of any literary connoisseur.
Introduction to French Poetry
An unusually useful survey of the development of French poetry, this book anthologizes works by France's finest and most influential poets — 30 in all — from the mid-fifteenth century to our own time. Included are such luminaries as Charles d'Orléans, François Villon, Joachim du Bellay, Ronsard, La Fontaine, Voltaire, Chénier, Hugo, Musset, Gautier, Vigny, Baudelaire, Mallarmé, Verlaine, Rimbaud, Claudel, Valéry, Apollinaire, Perse, and Bonnefoy. In addition the work of poets less familiar to the English-speaking world, yet instrumental in the formulation of the French tradition — Scéve, Saint Armant, Malherbe — is here as well.The French texts come from the best critical editions, or in the case of the moderns, those authorized by the poets themselves. Teachers of French will appreciate the clear prose translations on facing pages; the translator does not attempt to be a poet himself, rather to lead the reader to a full appreciation of the poem as it was written. An introductory essay gives as understandable a short summary of the formal aspects of versification as can be found anywhere — the early orthodoxy of rhyme and meter, the gradual introduction of enjambment and metrical variation, through the word games and innovations of Apollinaire and his circle. A biographical and critical essay on each poet and his work not only depicts the poet as an individual but also gives a fine sense of the progressing and changing tradition of French poetry itself. An illustration, usually a portrait of the poet, accompanies each selection.The clarity and comprehensiveness of this attractive anthology (as well as its low cost) make it an ideal volume for an introductory survey of French poetry. For the student just beginning the study of French, this book is good supplementary material; the format of this book makes it easy to experience French poetry and learn vocabulary and grammar at the same time.