Classics Retold

Elizabeth, as they drove along, watched for the first appearance of Pemberly Woods with some perturbation; and when at length they turned in at the lodge, her spirits were in a high flutter. The park was large with variety of ground.  They entered it in one of the lowest points, and drove for some time through a beautiful wood stretched over a wide area. Elizabeth's mind was too full of conversation, but she saw every remarkable spot and point of view.  They gradually ascended for half a mile and then found themselves at the top of a considerable eminence, where the wood ceased, and the sight of Pemberly House, at the opposite side of the valley, into which the winding road goes.  A large handsome stone building standing on a raised ground, backed by a ridge of wooded hills, and in front, a  stream with natural banks.  Elizabeth was delighted.  She had never seen a place so blessed by nature. They descended the hill, crossed the bridge, and drove to the doo...

Eighty eighth night Shahrazad said: I heard, O king, Ja'far said to the Caliph: Days and months went by, and when her time came, the daughter of the vizier of Cairo, gave birth to a boy, who had a face as round as the full moon, or the rising sun, a radiant brow and rosy cheeks. They cut his navel cord, applied kohl to eyelids, and his grandfather named him Ajib and committed him to the care of the nurses, stewardesses, and servants. When Ajib was seven he was sent to a teacher to teach him good manners. Ajib remained with the teacher for four years. He began to bully, beat and abuse other children. At last they got together and complained to the monitor. The monitor said, "I will tell you what you should do tomorrow so that he will stop coming here and you will never see him again. When he comes tomorrow, gather around him to play a game and say to each other, "No one can join us in this game, unless he tells us the name of his mother and father, for he who does not know...

Had Elizabeth's opinion been all drawn from her family, she could not have formed a very pleasing opinion of happy married life.  Her father, captivated by youth and beauty and good humour had married a woman whose weak understanding and illiberal mind had very early in their marriage put an end to all real affection for her. He was fond of reading books and it had become his principal enjoyment. Elizabeth, however, had never been blind to the impropriety of her father's behaviour as a husband. She had always seen it with pain.  But she overlooked it, respecting his abilities, and grateful for his affectionate treatment of herself.  She had never felt so strongly as now the disadvantages to the children of so unsuitable a marriage; nor ever been fully aware of evils arising from ill-judged direction of talents; talents, which rightly used might have preserved the respectability of her daughters, even if incapable of enlarging the mind of his wife. When Elizabeth rejoiced ...

The first week of their return was gone.  The second began.  The regiment's stay at Meryton was coming to an end.  All young ladies in the neighborhood were drooping apace.  The dejection was almost universal. The elder Miss Bennets alone were still able to eat, drink, and sleep; and follow the usual course of their employments.  Very frequently were they reproached for this insensibility of Kitty and Lydia, whose own misery was extreme, and who could not comprehend such hard-heartedness in any of the family. "Good Heaven! What is to become of us? What are we to do?" would they often exclaim in the bitterness of the woe.  How can you be smiling so, Lizzy?" Their affectionate mother shared all their grief, and she remembered what she herself endured on a similar occasion five and twenty years ago. "I am sure," said she, "I cried for two days together when Colonel Miller's regiment went away.  I thought I should have broken my heart."   "I ...

Eighty Seventh Night. Shahrazad said: It is related, O king, Ja'far said to the Caliph:  O commander of the Faithful! When the vizier Shams al Din Muhammad came to himself and recalled what he had discovered, he was amazed, and when he opened the sealed cover, and saw that it was his brother's handwriting, he was even more amazed and said, "Daughter, do you know who the man who entered you really was? By God, he is none other than your cousin, and these thousand dinars are your dowry. Glory be to the omnipotent God who controls everything, for He has turned the cause of my quarrel with my brother Nur al Din Ali into a just resolution. I wonder how all this came about?" He looked at the letter again, and when he saw the date in his brother's handwriting, he kissed it many times, and as he kept looking at the handwriting, he wept. He read the letter again, and found the date of his brother's arrival in Basra, the marriage contract, consummation of the marriage, ...

Next morning. Elizabeth related the chief of the scene between Mr Darcy and herself.  Jane was sorry that Mr Darcy should have delivered his sentiments in a manner so little suited to recommend them.  But she was more sorry of the refusal by her sister. "His being so sure of succeeding was wrong," said she, "and certainly ought not to have appeared; but consider how much it must increase his disappointment." "Indeed," said Elizabeth, "I am heartily sorry for him; but he has other feelings, which will probably soon drive away his regard for me.  You do not blame me, however, for refusing him?" "Blame you! Oh no." "But you blame me for having spoken so warmly of Wickham?" "No - I do not know that you were wrong in what you said." "But you will know it, when I tell you what happened the very next day." She then spoke of the letter, repeating the whole of its contents as far as they concerned George Wickham.  W...

The following night Shahrazad said:  It is said, O King Ja'far said to the Caliph. When the hunchbacked said to the father of the bride, "Couldn't you people have found anyone for me to marry except a girl who consorts with buffaloes and demons for lovers? May God curse the devil and my wretched lot," the vizier said, "get up and go!" The hunchbacked did not leave, but said, "I am not crazy. The sun has not risen yet. I will not go until the sun rises. Yesterday I came to relieve here when a black tomcat suddenly emerged and screamed at me in a way that made me obey him. Leave me and go your way. May God reward you and curse the bride!" But the vizier took him out of the toilet, and the hunchbacked straightway went to the king and told him what had happened. Meanwhile, the father of the bride went back inside the house, amazed and bewildered, not knowing what to make of his daughter. He went to her and said, "Damn it, tell me your secret!...