文學與人生 Dream sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible.

因為看了水晶寫的張愛玲的小說藝術,不禁想多看些這位才女的作品

我去拿了我訂張愛玲套書
我應該訂在家裡
這麼大一箱
有14冊精裝本

1899

A Message to Garcia 致加西亞的信

By Elbert Hubbard 阿爾伯特·哈伯德

In all this Cuban business there is one man stands out on the horizon of my memory like Mars at perihelion. When war broke out between Spain & the United States, it was very necessary to communicate quickly with the leader of the Insurgents. Garcia was somewhere in the mountain vastness of Cuba- no one knew where. No mail nor telegraph message could reach him. The President must secure his cooperation, and quickly.

在所有古巴事務,有一個人在我整個的記憶中明顯突出,像近日點的火星.當西班牙和美國之間的戰役爆發後,必須要快速與起義軍的領袖聯繫.加西亞置身在古巴廣大山區的某個地方-沒人知道.郵件或電報訊息都無法傳送給他.總統必須--很快地確保他的合作。

Source:wikipedia

（Beowulf），或译贝奥武夫、貝武夫，完成於西元八世紀，約750年左右的英雄敘事長詩，長達3000行。故事的舞臺位於北歐的斯堪的納維亞半島。是以古英語記載的傳說中最古老的一篇，在語言學方面也是相當珍貴的文獻。語言學家兼奇幻文學作家J·R·R·托爾金坦言，撰寫《魔戒》小說系列時，從《貝奧武夫》獲得許多靈感，例如，與貝奧武夫交戰的龍，跟《哈比人歷險記》裡出現的惡龍十分相似。

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf

Beowulf is an Old English heroic epic poem of unknown authorship, dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript from between the 8th^[1][2] and the early 11th century,^[3] set in Denmark and Sweden. Commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature, Beowulf has been the subject of much scholarly study, theory, speculation, discourse, and, at 3182 lines, has been noted for its length.

In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, battles three antagonists: Grendel, who has been attacking the resident warriors of a mead hall called Heorot in Denmark; Grendel's mother; and an unnamed dragon. The last battle takes place later in life, after returning to Geatland (modern southern Sweden), where Beowulf has become king. In the final battle, Beowulf is fatally wounded. After his death his retainers bury him in a tumulus in Geatland.

資料來源：維基百科；泰戈爾於諾貝爾官方網站介紹

【代表作】 泰戈爾的許多作品你一定耳熟能詳，但卻不一定知道作者是他。

 泰戈爾名句

人不能在他的歷史中表現出他自己，他在歷史中奮鬥著露出頭角。

The Story of an Hour

.

By Kate Chopin

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,,,,,,,Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death. 

"The Appointment in Samarra"
(as retold by W. Somerset Maugham [1933])

The speaker is Death

There was a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, Master, just now when I was in the marketplace I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me.  She looked at me and made a threatening gesture,  now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate.  I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me.  The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went.  Then the merchant went down to the marketplace and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, Why did you make a threating getsture to my servant when you saw him this morning?  That was not a threatening gesture, I said, it was only a start of surprise.  I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.

一個巴格達的商人派自己的僕人去市集買一些日用品。不一會，僕人臉色蒼白、渾身發抖地回來了，他說，主人，我剛剛在市集的時候被一個女人撞到，我轉過身卻發現撞到我的是死神。

Girl by Jamaica Kincaid

Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry; don't walk barehead in the hot sun; cook pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil; soak your little cloths right after you take them off; when buying cotton to make yourself a nice blouse, be sure that it doesn't have gum on it, because that way it won't hold up well after a wash; soak salt fish overnight before you cook it; is it true that you sing benna in Sunday school?; always eat your food in such a way that it won't turn someone else's stomach; on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming; don't sing benna in Sunday school; you mustn't speak to wharb-rat boys,not even to give directions;don't eat fruits on the street,flies will follow you; but I don't sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school; this is how to sew on a button; this is how to make a button-hole for the button you have just sewed on; this is how to hem a dress when you see the hem coming down and so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming; this is how you iron your father's khaki shirt so that it doesn't have a crease; this is how you iron your father's khaki pants so that they don't have a crease; this is how you grow okrbafar from the house, because okra tree harbors red ants; when you are growing dasheen, make sure it gets plenty of water or else it makes your throat itch when you are eating it; this is how you sweep a corner; this is how you sweep a whole house; this is how you sweep a yard; this is how you smile to someone you don't like too much; this is how you smile to someone you don't like at all; this is how you smile to someone you like completely; this is how you set a table for tea; this is how you set a table for dinner; this is how you set a table for dinner with an important guest; this is how you set a table for lunch; this is how you set a table for breakfast; this is how to behave in the presence of men who don't know you very well, and this way they won't recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming; be sure to wash every day, even if it is with your own spit; don't squat down to play marbles-you are not a boy, you know; don't pick people's flowers you might catch something; don't throw stones at blackbirds, because it might not be a blackbird at all; this is how to make a bread pudding; this is how to make doukona; this is how to make pepper pot; this is how to make a good medicine for a cold; this is how to make a good medicine to throw away a child before it even becomes a child; this is how to catch a fish; this is how to throw back a fish you don't like, and that way something bad won't fall on you; this is how to bully a man; this is how a man bullies you; this is how to love a man; and if this doesn't work there are other ways, and if they don't work don't feel too bad about giving up; this is how to spit up in the air if you feel like it, and this is how to move quick so that it doesn't fall on you; this is how to make ends meet; always squeeze bread to make sure it's fresh; but what if the baker won't let me feel the bread?; you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won't let near the bread?

Worksheet 

Jamaica Kincaid-Girl

Try to discuss the following questions: