MOLIERE The philistine in the nobility It would seem, what else does the respectable bourgeois, Mr. Jourdain, need? Money, family, health – everything you can wish for, he has. So in fact, no, thought the Jourdain to become an aristocrat, become like the noble masters. His mania caused a lot of inconvenience and excitement to … Read more
Herbert Wells Invisible Man In the tavern “The coachman and horses”, owned by Mrs. Hall and her henpecked husband, in early February, there appears a mysterious stranger wrapped from head to foot. To get a guest on a winter day is not easy, but a visitor generously pays. His behavior seems more strange, more and … Read more
Early 80’s. In Leningrad there live three inseparable friends: Sashka Kunitsyn, Roman Krylov and Ashot Nikogosyan. All three – up to thirty. All three are “litsedey.” Sashka – “balerun” in the Kirov theater, Roman – actor on “Lenfilm”, Ashot – sings, plays, deftly imitates Marcel Marceau. They are different, and at the same time very … Read more
Aldous Huxley Counterpoint A few months from the life of the so-called intellectual elite of London. Receptions, meetings, visits, travel… Friendly conversations, fundamental disputes, secular gossip, family and love troubles… In music, a kind of polyphony is called a counterpoint, in which all the voices are equal. And this principle is observed in the novel … Read more
A. J. Cronin Citadel The action takes place in the 1920-1930-ies. In Great Britain. In a small mining town Blanelli comes a young doctor Andrew Manson – a new assistant doctor, Dr. Page. When he arrives, he learns that his cartridge is paralyzed and will have to carry a double load. The wife of Page … Read more
Night. Nurse Varka, a girl of about thirteen, shakes the cradle and sings a lullaby a little audibly. The child cries and does not fall asleep, Varka wants to sleep, but if she falls asleep, the owners will kill her. She dreams, as people walk along the road, and then fall and fall asleep. Then … Read more
I. The Talisman At the end of October, a young man entered the Palais Royal building – Rafael de Valantin, in whose eyes the players noticed some terrible secret, his features expressed the impassiveness of a suicide and a thousand deceived hopes. Los Valentine lost the last Napoleon, and in a daze began to wander … Read more
Prosper Merimee The Etruscan vase of Auguste Saint-Claire was not liked in the so-called “big world”; the main reason was that he tried to please only those who were to his heart. He walked one by himself and carefully avoided the others. In addition, he was careless and absent-minded. He was proud and proud. He … Read more
This story – the “true” chronicle of the city of Glupov, “Glupovsky Chronicler”, embracing a period of time from 1731 to 1825, which “consistently composed” four Glubovsky archivist. In the chapter “From the publisher” the author especially insists on the authenticity of the “Chronicler” and offers the reader “to catch the physiognomy of the city … Read more
After spending some time on the bench with thoughts of a mysterious stranger, he suddenly felt someone come and stand behind him. Klara Milich was embarrassed, apologizing for her courage, but she wanted so much to tell him. Aratoff suddenly felt vexed: on himself, at her, on an absurd appointment and on this explanation among … Read more