Passages that give a glimpse of every day life during another era.
“Sir Walter Raleigh ordered him to carry up the first dish at dinner, where the queen beheld him with admiration, as if a beautiful young giant had stalked in with the service.” […]
“You are never in greater peril or nearer to death than when you set off skating while the ice is covered with even the thinnest layer of snow.” […]
“They are surprised that, from all the great and striking subjects which the world can offer, I choose to extol in my writings and to adorn with all the flowers of my rhetoric those rugged countries.” […]
“The fools, of course, believing it to be Paradise, while they themselves were the chosen and happy possessors of the land, gave not another thought to the future. The consequence was that, one night, finding them asleep, the magician cut them off; and thus, through the instrumentality of a factitious Eden, perpetrated the foulest enormities.” […]
THE SCENE: Being the most powerful person in the land doesn’t insulate you from criticism, as is demonstrated by this passage about an emperor who vastly overestimated his singing skill. THE TEXT: He was very […]
“Vigdis raised the purse and struck him on the nose with it, drawing blood; she accompanied this with a stream of derisive words, adding that he would never get the money back, and told him to clear off.” […]
“Such lords do not want to see virtuous men in their houses. On the contrary, they hate and despise them, calling them useless and unacquainted with business. I do not wish to trust my fortunes with such people.” […]
“Here are two things worth remembering: the Irish are the most jealous people on earth, but the Welsh do not seem to know what jealousy is; and in every Welsh court or family the menfolk consider playing on the harp to be the greatest of accomplishments.” […]
“You are remarkably unlike your noble kinsmen if you don’t want to avenge such a brother as Kjartan was. Your grandfather, Egil Skalla-Grimsson, would never have behaved like this. It is cruel to have such craven sons; and I for one believe it would have suited you better to have been your father’s daughters and been married off.” […]
“ere was no remedy, for if on the days of the funerals I lived, on the days when no one died I was starving, and I felt it all the more. So that there seemed to be no rest for me but in death, and I often desired it for myself, as well as for others.” […]
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