Human Affairs
A World Without Baby Pictures
“They sewed a doll of silk, that was the same height as this lion who had not yet tasted milk, and stuffed it with sable fur. Its face shone like the sun and the evening star.” […]
Family
Human Affairs
Brats are Eternal
“I want it very much; do not withhold it from me. In this I will see whether you love me as a real father does.” […]
Human Affairs
Respect Thy Elders
“It is always a great comfort to me that I shall leave much wealth for my own true son to enjoy after my days but should scarcely regard him as a son, though I had begotten him, if he were a fool.” […]
Human Affairs
Marriage in the Afterlife
“They give the dead girl to the dead boy as a wife and draw up a deed of matrimony. Then they burn this deed, and declare that the smoke that rises into the air goes to their children in the other world and that they get wind of it and regard themselves as husband and wife.” […]
Britons and Celts
A King Weighs His Options
‘But Harold refused, and said that Ourth should not go against the duke and fight without him; and that he would not burn houses and villages, neither would he plunder his people. “How,” said he, “can I injure the people I should govern? I cannot destroy or harass those who ought to prosper under me.”‘ […]
Supernatural
A Mermaid and Her Son
“He came back to his ship, got a wind, and sailed out to sea. When he was far from land, the same mermaid came up. She took hold of the bow of his ship, and she held onto the ship so that it went nowhere.” […]
Britons and Celts
Priorities Clarified
“While Bevis was carrying out his responsibilities one day, the king’s son, like the fool that he was, went to the stables and attempted to untie Arundel. The horse kicked him so hard with a back hoof that the young man’s brains were splattered against the stable wall.” […]
Human Affairs
The Decency of Crooks
After the battle, Thrandur proposed that they should kill the boys, Sigmundur and Thorir.
“I’m not going to kill them,” replied Bjarni evenly.
Thrandur frowned, “If they go free, someday these boys will be the death of nearly every man here.”
Bjarni answered, “I wouldn’t kill them any more than I would kill myself.” […]
Greek and Roman
The Clothes Make the Man
“The King ordained that his dress, for the time to come, should he of a different texture and colour; one side to be composed of the most ordinary materials, and the other of the most valuable : so that when he looked upon the baser portion, his pride might be abated, and the vicious propensities, in which he had indulged, relinquished; on the other hand, when he surveyed the more gorgeous part, his hopes might be raised, and his spirit animated to goodness.” […]
Human Affairs
Confessions of a Nun
“Then Gudrun said, “I was worst to the one I loved the most.”“I think,” said Bolli, “that the truth has now been told.”” […]