Classics Retold

The corn market of Casterbridge. The extensive hall of Corn Exchange was supported by Tuscan pillars. [1] The hall was thronged with farmers and merchants, all of them men. They talked among each other in twos and threes. Most of them had in their hands a young ash tree pulled directly from the earth as their walking stick, with which they poked pigs, sheep, neighbours with their backs turned, and restful things in general in the course of their roamings. During conversations each put his sapling to different usage -- bending it round his back, forming an arch of it between his two hands, pushing the end of it on the ground till it reached a semi-circle, or tucked it under his arm causing the sample bag to open and handful of corn poured into his palm, and flung upon the floor for market fowls to peck it. Among these male farmers, and merchants came a lone female member. She was well-dressed, and  attracted the attention of the whole corn exchange. Like a chaise between carts she m...

Outskirts of the city of Melchester. A snowy evening. Darkness and gloom. A public path, on its left hand was a river, and behind it a high wall. On the right was a tract of land partly meadow and partly moor. And the moor reaches to a heathen with ups and downs. In winter, the place is marked by snakes, ferns, pools and puddles and the rising of fogs, and  the wood eaten by fungi, all hidden by by snow. The cloud above was low, as if it were the roof of a large dark cavern gradually sinking in upon its floor. The earth, and everything on it and snow and sky appeared a single mass. The wall was darker than the sky; the river was darker than the wall. The facade of this convergence was occasionally notched and pronged by chimneys here and there. The neighbouring clock struck ten. The bell had lost its voice because of the muffling snow. Not long after, when the snow abated, a form moved by the brink of the river. It moved slowly, but without much exertion. It seemed to count "one, ...

Might is the past tense of May. But it doesn't stop there. Some situations require the use of might irrespective of tense.  May suggest a higher probability or is used for formal permission. Might indicates a lower, weaker or hypothetical situation.  Example  It may rain. -- A likely event. The team may win the championship this year; they have been playing exceptionally well. It might rain if the wind shifts. -- less likely or hypothetical  I must go to the party; but I am feeling tired. Here I might go to the party is more suitable. May is also used for permission. May I go? May I borrow your pen? You may now leave the classroom. For past possibilities   Might is used for past situation. He might have left. If I had studied harder, I might have passed the test. She might have been at the library when you called. Polite request   or suggestion  Might I suggest we try a different route?

Half an hour later.  Bathsheba, well dressed, entered the upper end of the old hall followed by Liddy to find that all her men had presented themselves. She sat down at a table and opened the time-book, pen in her hand, and a canvas money-bag beside her. From this she poured a small heap of coins. Liddy took up a position at her elbow, and began to sew, sometimes pausing and looking around, with an air of privileged person, taking up one of the half sovereigns lying before her, and admiringly surveying it as a work of art.  "Now, before I begin, men," said Bathsheba, "I have two matters to speak of. The first is that the bailiff is dismissed, for stealing, and I have formed a resolution to have no bailiff at all, but to manage everything with my own head and hands."  The men breathed in surprise.  "The next thing is about Fanny Robbins. Have you heard anything of Fanny."  "None, ma'am."  "Have you done anything?" "I met farmer ...

Bhojpuri is an Indo-Aryan language, spoken in eastern UP, Western Bihar, and northwestern Jharkand. When we draw a map we see that all these areas are close to one another. Bhojpuri belt is a closely knit  and stretches upto Nepal. How did the Bhojpuri speaking people missed a state? The core Bhojpuri speaking areas cover around 73000 square kilometres, and nearly more than twenty districts. Bhojpuri speaking people missed a state because of the combination of political classification, census practices, and the complex history of Hindi identity. Bhojpuri and other north Indian languages like Awadhi, Maithili, and Magahi were grouped under Hindi umbrella for administrative and political reasons. Because of this Bhojpuri speakers were recorded as Hindi speakers, and significantly inflated the number of Hindi speakers. It was officially labelled as a dialect of Hindi, and with this it lost the status of independent language. Magahi is not Magadhi of the ancient Magadha kingdom and was...

By daylight, the house of Bathsheba Everdene seemed a hoary building with a small estate around it. Fluted columns of solid stone decorated its front. Above the gabled roof, pairs of chimneys were linked by an arch. Soft brown mosses formed cushions upon stone tiles, and tufts of house-leek sprouted from the eaves manifested long neglect or absence of care and maintenance.  The gravel walk leading from the door to the road in front was encrusted with moss at the sides. The manor of a petty lord was altered for farming purpose and this alteration was visible. This has added to the deformity of the building. Inside, the staircase has heavy old fashioned balusters, stout handrails, twisting stairs. Going up, the floor is of very irregular surface, with ridges and valleys. Where uncarpeted the face of board is found eaten by worms. The windows, when opened clanged a loud noise. Every bustling movement is followed by a tremble. A creak accompanys the walker where ever he goes. Bathsheba...

The Philistines were ancient people who lived in the south coast of Canaan during the Iron Age in a confederation of city-states generally referred to as Philistia. They originated from the Greek immigrant group from the  Aegean . The immigrant group settled in Canaan around 1175 BCE during the late Bronze Age Collapse. Over time, they intermixed with the indigenous Canaanites and assimilated elements of their culture. Around 600BCE they were vanquished by King Nebuchadnezzar II of Neo-Babylonian Empire. Like the kingdom of Israel and Judah Philistines lost their autonomy by the end of Iron Age.  The use of the word by Liddy  Smallbury, the maid of Bathsheba Everdene in the novel Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy in Chapter 9 reflects the urban rustic divide in the society. It is also rooted in the biblical grasp of parish girl and the stratified society. 

Aegean Civilization is a general term for the Bronze Age Civilization of Greece around the Aegean sea. The early Aegean farming population of Neolithic Greece brought agriculture westward into Europe before 5000BCE. It was not a monolithic civilization but a mix of different cultures existed in Crete, Cyclades and mainland Greece.

അതി : പഴമ  ആടകം : ഹാടകം, സ്വർണ്ണം  ആശ്റിക്കുക : ആശ്രയിക്കുക ഉള: ഉണ്ട്  ഉഴയ്ക്കുക : ബുദ്ധിമുട്ടുക കളനി : വയൽ കാണുക : ബോധൃപ്പെടുക കിരി : കൃഷി  കുർള : കുമിള  :   :  കൊള്ളം: വാങ്ങൽ  ചൂഴറുക : ആണയിടുക ചെമ്മു : നല്ലത്  താനേ : താനേ  തേറ്റം : സത്യം  നവരം : നിശ്ചയം  പൊലിയുക : ശോഭിക്കുക മറുവൽ : പുഞ്ചിരി  മിഴി : വയൽ മുന നേടുക : ശക്തിപ്പെടുക വലസ്സ് : ബലം, സാമർത്ഥ്യം  വല്ലുക : പഠിക്കുക വശിക്കുക : വശത്താക്കുക വിച്ച : വിദൃ വിതയ്ക്കം : വിതയ്ക്കൽ  വെറ്റി : ജയം  To be updated 

Akalapuzha is a lake though its name carry river. It is often called the Kuttanad of Kozhikode. It is a rising tourist spot for its serene beauty and boating.  Lakes are formed when water accumulates in large inland depressions called basins. It may also form when sea recedes from the land. It is known as marine regression . It can leave water trapped in low-lying depressions leading to the formation of lakes. Such lakes are called relict lakes or marine residuals. These are remnants of ancient seas cut off from the ocean as seafloors are uplifted or sea-levels dropped. Caspian sea and Aral sea occupy basins that were once part of a larger ocean, but became separated by tectonic uplift or retreating seas. As the sea-level falls, sandbars, spits or beach ridges can be left behind acting as natural dams that trap sea water in coastal depressions. These basins are fed by fresh water from rivers, canals, springs and rivulets. Philip Lake was a prominent geologist with Geological Surve...

Warren's Malthouse was enclosed by an old wall wrapped by ivy, and not much of the exterior was visible. An overhanging thatched roof went up from the walls, and slopped upto a point in the centre, upon which a wooden lantern fitted with the louvre-boards [1] on all the four sides, and from these openings a mist was dimly perceived to be escaping into the night air. There was no window in front; but a square hole in the door was glazed with a single pane, through which red comfortable rays now stretched out upon the ivied wall in front. Voices were to be heard inside. Oak's hand skimmed the surface of the door with fingers extended to find out the latch as it was dark. He found a leather strap, which he pulled. This lifted a wooden latch, and the door swung open. The room inside was lighted only by the red glow from the kiln mouth, which shown over the floor with streaming rays of the setting sun, and threw upwards the shadows of the men assembled. The stone flake floor was wor...

In Roman mythology, Minerva is the Goddess of Wisdom. She is credited with inventing the flute by piercing hole into box-wood  While she enjoyed the music coming out of her creation, she was not happy with the physical changes that came to her by blowing the instrument. As she thought that her beauty and dignity were greater than her creation she threw it away.  Gabriel understood from the villagers the physical changes that brought to him while blowing it. By choosing to his pride and reputation in the eyes of the woman he loves, he wanted to hide his musical from her.  **************************************

A traditional English folksong and children's rhyme dating to the early nineteenth century. The song describes the cheerful household of Dame Durden, who keeps five serving maids and five labouring men, all of whom pair off playfully on Valentine's Day morning. The song circulated for over a century without accompaniment of instruments. It appears in Victorian literature. It is the nickname of Esther Summerson, a character in Charles Dickens 1953 Novel Bleak House. 

It is a fundamental principle of their Socialist doctrine, which dictates that the members should be compensated not based on equal portions, but "according to their capacity, and to each capacity according to its works." Each individual share is proportional to their productive contribution to society.  There is a key departure from the traditional view of share and share alike, which advocates a strictly equal division among beneficiaries. Saint Simonian aimed to replace the exploitation of man by man with an organised system based on social utility and a hierarchy of merit, where "idlers" (such as aristocracy living on inherited wealth) Key aspects of Saint-Simonian notion include: • Abolition of inheritance: To ensure that an individual's social position was based on their own merit and work, Saint Simonians advocated for the abolition of the right of inheritance. Upon death a person's property would fall to the state.  • Merit based hierarchy: Society w...

Bathsheba withdrew into the shade. The meeting was unexpected, and strange. She felt pity towards the farmer. She remembered his declaration of love to her. Amusing, She thought.  "Yes," she murmured, putting on an air of dignity and turning again to him warmly, "I do want a shepherd. But--"  "He's the very man ma'am,"  said one of the villagers quietly.  Conviction breeds conviction. "Yes that is," said a second man.  "He is the man, truly," said a third one. "He is all there." Came from the fourth. "Then, will you tell him to speak to the bailiff," said  Bathsheba. The bailiff was pointed out to Gabriel, who retired with him to talk over the necessary preliminaries of hiring. The fire before them was wasted away. "Men," said Bathsheba, "you shall take a little refreshment after this extra work. Will you come to the house?"  "We could knock in a bit and a drop a good deal freer, miss...

Two months passed away. February. The month of Hiring Fair in the county town of Casterbridge. At one end of the street stood a crowd of carefree and hearty labourers seeking chance. Among these, carters and waggoners were distinguished by their hats having a piece of whip-cord twisted round it; thatchers wore a fragment of woven straw; shepherds held their sheep-crooks in their hands; and thus the situation required was known to the hirers at a glance. Among this crowd stood Gabriel Oak.  "I am looking for a place myself - a bailiff's. Do you know anybody who wants one?" was his answer to any peasants who choose to make an inquiry. Gabriel was pale now. His eyes were more meditative, and his expression was more sad. He had passed through an ordeal of wretchedness which had given him more than it had taken away. He had sunk from his modest elevation of pastoral king into very slime pits of Siddim ; but there was left to him a dignified calm he had never before known.  In ...

The news that Bathsheba Everdene had left the neighborhood had an influence upon Gabriel Oak. It is heard that she had gone to a place called Weatherbury. Gabriel had two dogs. George the elder with ebony tipped nose surrounded by a margin of pink flesh, and a coat marked in random splotches approximating in white and slaty colour. The dog had originally belonged to a shepherd of inferior morals and dreadful temper, and the result was that George knew the exact degrees of condemnation signified by curses and swears. Long experience has taught the animal the difference between "come in!" and "D-- -- ye come in!" that he knew to a hairs breadth the rate of trotting back from the ewes' tails that each call involved. Though old he was clever and trustworthy. The young dog, George's son might have been the image of his mother. He was learning the sheep keeping business, but had not got beyond the rudimentary. He was earnest but strong headed. If sent behind the s...