bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Of what befell Don Quixote with certain goatherds.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

He was kindly received by the goatherds; and Sancho, having accommodated Rosinante and his ass the best he could, followed the scent of certain pieces of goat’s flesh, that were boiling in a kettle on the fire; and though he would willingly, at that...
Wberein is related the unfortunate adventure which befell Don Quixote in meeting with certain bloody-minded Yangüeses.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

The sage Cid Hamet Ben Engeli relates, that when Don Quixote had taken leave of his hosts, and of all those who were present at Chrysostom’s funeral, he and his squire entered the same wood into which they had seen the shepherdess Marcela enter...
Wherein are continued the numberless hardships which the brave Don Quixote and his good squire Sancho Panza underwent in the inn, which he unhappily took for a castle.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

By this time Don Quixote was come to himself, and with the very same tone of voice with which, the day before, he had called to his squire, when he lay stretched along ‘in the Valley of Pack-staves’,* he began to call...
In which is rehearsed the discourse which Sancho Panza held with his master Don Quixote, with other adventures worth relating.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

Sancho came up to his master, pale, and dispirited to that degree, that he was not able to spur on his ass. Don Quixote, perceiving him in that condition, said:

‘Now am I convinced, honest Sancho, that that castle, or inn, is doubtless enchanted, for...
A continuation of the adventure of the Sierra Morena.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

The history relates, that great was the attention wherewith Don Quixote listened to the Ragged Knight of the mountain, who began his discourse thus:

‘Assuredly, Señor, whoever you are (for I do not know you), I am obliged to you for your expressions of civility...
Which treats of the beautiful Dorothea’s discretion, with other very ingenious and entertaining particulars.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

‘This, gentlemen, is the true history of my tragedy; see now, and judge, whether you might not reasonably have expected more sighs than those you have listened to, more words than those you have heard, and more tears than have yet flowed from...
Which treats of the pleasant and ingenious method of drawing our enamoured knight from the very rigorous penance he had imposed on himself.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

Scarce had the priest done speaking, when Sancho said:

‘By my troth, señor licentiate, it was my master who did this feat; not but that I gave him fair warning and advised him to beware what he did, and that it was a sin to...
Wherein the captive continues the story of his adventures.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

‘In less than fifteen days our renegado had bought a very good bark, capable of holding above thirty persons, and to make sure work, and give the business a colour, he made a short voyage to a place called Sargel, thirty leagues from...
Which treats of what further happened in the inn, and of many other things worthy to be known.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

Here the captive ended his story; to whom Don Fernando said:

‘Truly, captain, the manner of your relating this strange adventure has been such, as equals the surprising novelty of the event itself. The whole is extraordinary, uncommon, and full of accidents, which astonish and...
A continuation of the unheard-of adventures of the inn.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

In short, Don Quixote roared out so terribly, that the host in a fright opened the inn door hastily, to see who it was that made those outcries; nor were the strangers less surprised. Maritornes, who was also waked by the same noise, imagining...
Of the strange and wonderful manner in which Don Quixote de la Mancha was enchanted, with other remarkable occurrences.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

Don Quixote, finding himself cooped up in this manner, and placed upon a cart, said:

‘Many and most grave histories have I read of knights-errant; but I never read, saw, or heard of enchanted knights being carried away after this manner,* and...
Which treats of what the goatherd related to all those who accompanied Don Quixote.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

‘Three leagues from this valley there is a town, which, though but small, is one of the richest in all these parts; and therein dwelt a farmer, of so good a character, that, though esteem is usually annexed to riches, yet he was...
Of the wise and pleasant discourse, which passed between Sancho Panza and his wife Teresa Panza.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

The translator of this history, coming to write this fifth chapter, says, he takes it to be apocryphal, because in it Sancho talks in another style than could be expected from his shallow understanding, and says such subtle things, that he reckons impossible that...
Of what passed between Don Quixote, his niece, and housekeeper; one of the most important chapters of the whole history.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

While Sancho Panza and his wife Teresa Cascajo were holding the foregoing impertinent dialogue, Don Quixote’s niece and housekeeper were not idle; who, guessing by a thousand signs that their uncle and master would break loose the third time, and return to the exercise...
Wherein is related the cunning used by Sancho in enchanting the lady Dulcinea, with other events as ridiculous as true.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

The author of this grand history, coming to relate what is contained in this chapter, says, he had a mind to have passed it over it silence, fearing not to be believed, because herein Don Quixote’s madness exceeds all bounds, and rises to the...
Wherein is continued the adventure of the Knight of the Wood, with the wise, new, and pleasant dialogue between the two squires.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

The knights and squires were separated, the latter relating the story of their lives, and the former that of their loves: but the history begins with the conversation between the servants, and afterwards proceeds to that of the masters: and it says, that, being...
In which is continued the history of Camacho’s wedding, with other delightful accidents.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

While Don Quixote and Sancho were engaged in the discourses mentioned in the preceding chapter, they heard a great outcry and noise, raised and occasioned by those that rode on the mares, who, in full career, and with a great shout, went to meet...
Which treats of many and great things.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

Excessive was the joy which Sancho conceived to see himself, in his thinking, a favourite of the duchess’s; expecting to find in her castle the same as at Don Diego’s or Basilius’s; for he was always a lover of good cheer, and consequently took...
In which is continued the famous adventure of the Afflicted Matron.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

The duke and duchess were extremely delighted to see how well Don Quixote answered their expectation; and here Sancho said:

‘I should be loath that this madam duenna should lay any stumbling-block in the way of my promised government; for I have heard an apothecary...
In which an account is given of the Afflicted Matron’s misfortunes.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

After the doleful music, there began to enter the garden twelve duennas, divided into two files, all clad in large mourning habits, seemingly of milled serge, with white veils of thin muslin, so long that only the border of the robe appeared. After these...
Of matters relating and appertaining to this adventure, and to this memorable history.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

In reality and truth, all who delight in such histories as this, ought to be thankful to its original author, Cid Hamet, for his curious exactness in recording the minutest circumstances thereof, without omitting anything how trifling soever, but bringing everything distinctly to light....
Of the arrival of Clavileño, with the conclusion of this prolix adventure.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

In the meanwhile night came on, and with it the point of time prefixed for the arrival of the famous horse Clavileño: whose stay perplexed Don Quixote very much, thinking that, since Malambruno delayed sending him, either he was not the knight for whom...
Of what befell Sancho Panza as he was going the round of his island.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

We left the grand governor moody and out of humour at the knavish picture-drawing peasant, who, instructed by the steward, and he by the duke, played off Sancho; who, maugre his ignorance, rudeness, and insufficiency, held them all back, and said to those about...
Of the progress of Sancho Panza’s government, with other entertaining events.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

Now appeared the day succeeding the night of the governor’s round; which the sewer passed without sleeping, his thoughts being taken up with the countenance, air, and beauty of the disguised damsel; and the steward spent the remainder of it in writing to his...
In which is related the adventure of the second afflicted or distressed matron, otherwise called Doña Rodriguez.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

Cid Hamet relates, that Don Quixote, being now healed of his scratches, began to think the life he led in that castle was against all the rules of knight-errantry which he professed; and therefore he resolved to ask leave of the duke and duchess...
Of the unlucky accident which befell Sancho Panza, in visiting the galleys, and the strange adventure of the beautiful Morisco.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

Many were the reflections Don Quixote made upon the answer of the enchanted head, none of them hitting upon the trick of it, and all centring in the promise, which he looked upon as certain, of the disenchantment of Dulcinea. He rejoiced within himself,...
Treating of matters, which he, who reads, will see; and he, who hears them read, will hear.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

At going out of Barcelona, Don Quixote turned about to see the spot where he was overthrown, and said:

‘Here stood Troy; here my misfortunes, not my cowardice, despoiled me of my acquired glory: here I experienced the fickleness of fortune; here the...
Of the resolution Don Quixote took to turn shepherd, and lead a rural life, till the year of his promise should be expired; with other accidents truly pleasant and good.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

If various cogitations perplexed Don Quixote before his defeat, many more tormented him after his overthrow. He stayed, as has been said, under the shade of a tree, where reflections, like flies about honey, assaulted and stung him; some dwelling upon the disenchantment of...
Of the omens Don Quixote met with at the entrance into his village, with other accidents, which adorn and illustrate this great history.
Authors: Saavedra Miguel De Cervantes
Published: December 2024

At the entrance into the village, as Cid Hamet reports, Don Quixote saw a couple of boys quarrelling in a threshing-floor, and one said to the other:

‘Trouble not yourself, Periquillo; for you shall never see it more while you live.’

Don Quixote, hearing him,...
Oroonoko and Other Writings
Authors: Behn Aphra
Published: December 2024

Aphra Behn (1640-89) achieved both fame and notoriety in her own time, enjoying considerable success for her plays and for her short novel Oroonoko, the story of a noble slave who loves a princess. Acclaimed by Virginia Woolf as the first English woman to earn her living by the pen, Behn's achievements as a writer are now acknowledged less equivocally than in the seventeenth century.

As well as Oroonoko, this volume contains five other works of fiction ranging from comedy and high melodrama to tragedy. The Fair Jilt,
Memoirs of the Court of the King of Bantam, The History of the Nun, The Adventure of the Black Lady, and The Unfortunate Bride are complemented by a generous selection of her poetyr, ranging from public political verse to lyrics and witty conversation poems.

This selection demonstrates Behn's range, as well as her wit, compassion, and interest in the question of identity and self-representation.
The History of the Royal Slave
Authors: Behn Aphra
Published: December 2024

I do not pretend, in giving you the history of this royal slave, to entertain my reader with the adventures of a feigned hero, whose life and fortunes fancy may manage at the poet’s pleasure; nor in relating the truth, design to adorn it with...
The Fair Jilt;
Authors: Behn Aphra
Published: December 2024

The History of Prince Tarquin and Miranda.

To Henry Pain, Esq.,*

Sir, dedications are like love, and no man of wit or eminence escapes them; early or late, the affliction of the poet’s compliment falls upon him, and men are obliged to receive ’em...
The Adventure of the Black Lady
Authors: Behn Aphra
Published: December 2024

About the beginning of last June (as near as I can remember) Bellamora came to town from Hampshire and was obliged to lodge the first night at the same inn where the stagecoach set up. The next day she took coach for Covent Garden, where...
Song. On Her Loving Two Equally
Authors: Behn Aphra
Published: December 2024

Set by Captain Pack*
The Counsel. A Song
Authors: Behn Aphra
Published: December 2024

Set by Captain Pack
The Princesse de Montpensier
Authors: de Lafayette Madame
Published: December 2024

Publisher’s Note to the Reader

The respect due to the illustrious name* which appears in the title of this book, and the consideration one owes to the eminent descendants of those who have borne that name, requires me to say, if I am...
Orlando Furioso
Authors: Ludovico Ariosto
Published: December 2024

‘I sing of knights and ladies, of love and arms, of courtly chivalry, of courageous deeds.’ So begins Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso (1532), the culmination of the chivalric legends of Charlemagne and the Saracen invasion of France. It is a brilliantly witty parody of the medieval romances, and a fitting monument to the court society of the Italian Renaissance which gave them birth. This unabridged prose translation faithfully captures the narrative entire and is a kaleidoscope of scenes and emotions of fact and fantasy.
Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit (1578)
Authors: Lyly John
Published: December 2024

Euphues:* The Anatomy of Wit. Very pleasant for all gentlemen to read, and most necessary to remember. Wherein are contained the delights that wit followeth in his youth, by the pleasantness of love, and the happiness he reapeth in age, by...
Pandosto. The Triumph of Time (1588)
Authors: Greene Robert
Published: December 2024

Pandosto. The Triumph of Time. Wherein is discovered by a pleasant history that although by the means of sinister fortune truth may be concealed, yet by time in spite of fortune it is most manifestly revealed. Pleasant for age to avoid drowsy thoughts,...
Jack of Newbury ( c. 1597)
Authors: Deloney Thomas
Published: December 2024

The Pleasant History of John Winchcomb, * in his younger years called Jack of Newbury, the famous and worthy clothier of England; declaring his life and love together with his charitable deeds and great hospitality. And how he set continually five hundred poor...
Francis Bacon
Authors: Vickers Brian
Published: December 2024

Although he had a distinguished career as a lawyer and statesman, Francis Bacon’s lifelong goal was to improve and extend human knowledge. In The Advancement of Learning (1605) he made a brilliant critique of the deficiencies of previous systems of thought and proposed improvements to knowledge in every area of human life. He conceived the Essays (1597, much enlarged in 1625) as a study of the formative influences on human behaviour, psychological and social. In The New Atlantis (1626) he outlined his plan for a scientific research institute in the form of a Utopian fable. In addition to these major English works this edition includes ‘Of Tribute’, an important early work here printed complete for the first time, and a revealing selection of his legal and political writings, together with his poetry.

A special feature of the edition is its extensive annotation which identifies Bacon’s sources and allusions, and glosses his vocabulary.
Of Tribute; or, giving that which is due
Authors: Vickers Brian
Published: December 2024

[Four speakers:] A, B, C, D.

‘Since we are met let me govern our leisure.’

‘Command.’
A Device for the Gray’s Inn Revels
Authors: Vickers Brian
Published: December 2024

When the King at Arms had read all these Articles of the Order of the Knighthood, and finished the ceremonies belonging to the same, and that every one had taken their places as before, there was variety of consort-music;° and in the mean while,...
Advice to Fulke Greville on his studies
Authors: Vickers Brian
Published: December 2024

Cousin Fulke, you tell me you are going to Cambridge, and that the ends of your going are, to get° a scholar to your liking to live with you, and some two or three others to remain in the University, and gather°...
Two Prayers
Authors: Vickers Brian
Published: December 2024

The first Prayer, called by his Lordship

The Student’s Prayer

To God the Father, God the Word, God the Spirit, we pour forth most humble and hearty supplications; that He, remembering the calamities of mankind and the pilgrimage° of this our life, in...
The Charge touching duels
Authors: Vickers Brian
Published: December 2024

My Lords,

I thought it fit for my place, and for these times, to bring to hearing before your Lordships some cause° touching° private duels, to see if this Court can do any good to tame and reclaim° that...
The First Book or act of the Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia
Authors: Sidney Sir Philip
Published: December 2024

Arcadia* among all the provinces of Greece was ever had in singular reputation, partly for the sweetness of the air and other natural benefits, but principally for the moderate and well tempered minds of the people who (finding how true a contentation is...
Here Begins the First Eclogues
Authors: Sidney Sir Philip
Published: December 2024

The manner of the Arcadian shepherds was, when they met together, to pass their time, either in such music as their rural education could afford them, or in exercise of their body and trying of masteries. But, of all other things, they did especially...
The Second Book or Act
Authors: Sidney Sir Philip
Published: December 2024

In these pastoral pastimes a great number of days were sent to follow their flying predecessors, while the cup of poison, which was deeply tasted of all this noble company, had left no sinew of theirs without mortally searching into it; yet never manifesting...
The Third Book or Act
Authors: Sidney Sir Philip
Published: December 2024

The next day, which followed a night full of passions, and yet brought in himself new matter to increase them (time upon time still adding growth to a well-rooted inclination), while the duke in the afternoon time was busy about Apollo’s rites, Cleophila (to...
The Fourth Eclogues
Authors: Sidney Sir Philip
Published: December 2024

The shepherds, finding no place for them in these garboils, to which their quiet hearts (whose highest ambition was in keeping themselves up in goodness) had at all no aptness, retired themselves from among the clamorous multitude, and (as sorrow refuseth not sorrowful company)...
The Masnavi
Authors: Rumi Jalal Al-Din
Published: December 2024

Book Two of Rumi’s Masnavi is concerned with the challenges facing the seeker of Sufi enlightenment. In particular it focuses on the struggle against the self, and how to choose the right companions in order to progress along the mystical path. By interweaving amusing stories and profound homilies, Rumi instructs his followers in a style that still speaks directly to us. In this volume, stories such as ‘Moses and the Shepherd’, ‘The Foolhardy Man who Trusted a Bear’s Good Intentions’ and ‘Mo’awiya and Satan’ are among the most popular in the entire Masnavi.

The most influential Sufi poem ever written, the six books of the Masnavi are often called ‘the Qur’an in Persian’. Self-contained, as well as continuing the journey along the spiritual path, Book Two is here translated into rhyming couplets in the style of Jawid Mojaddedi’s prize-winning translation of Book One.
Prose Introduction
Authors: Rumi Jalal Al-Din
Published: December 2024

This is the Masnavi, the roots of the main tenets of theology regarding the unveiling of the secrets of certain knowledge and union. It is the greatest creed and the most luminous of holy laws, as well as the most manifest of proofs...
Preface to Autograph Manuscript
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Although the envious nature of men has always made it no less perilous to discover new methods and institutions* than to search for unknown lands and seas,* since men are more ready to blame than to praise the actions of others,...
Preface to 1531 Roman Edition
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Considering how much honour is attributed to antiquity, and how many times (leaving aside many other examples) someone has purchased a fragment of an ancient statue at a great price to have it near him, to decorate his home, and to have it imitated by...
What the Beginnings of Cities Have Always Been, and What the Beginnings of Rome Were Like
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Those who read about the beginnings of the city of Rome, about its lawgivers, and how it was organized will not be surprised that so much ability was preserved there over so many centuries, nor that afterwards it gave rise to the imperial power which...
The Circumstances that Caused the Creation of the Tribunes of the Plebeians, Making the Republic More Perfect
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

As is demonstrated by all those who discuss civic life—and every history is filled with such examples—it is necessary for anyone who organizes a republic and establishes laws in it to take for granted that all men are evil and that they will always act...
Whether the Guardianship of Liberty May Be More Securely Lodged in the People or in the Upper Classes; and Who Has More Reason to Create an Uprising, He Who Wishes to Acquire or He Who Wishes to Maintain
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Among the most necessary things established by those who have founded a republic in a prudent fashion is a safeguard for liberty, and according to whether it is well established or not, that free way of life is more or less enduring. Because in every...
Whether in Rome It Was Possible to Organize a Government that Could Do Away with the Enmities Between the People and the Senate
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

We have discussed above the effects of the controversies between the people and the senate. Now, since these controversies continued down to the time of the Gracchi, when they were the cause of the ruin of a free way of life, someone might...
To What Degree Public Indictments Are Necessary in a Republic to Maintain Its Liberty
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Those who are set up in a city as the guardians of its liberty cannot receive a more useful and necessary authority than the power to indict citizens before the people or some magistrate or council when they commit any kind of offence against free...
False Accusations Are As Harmful to Republics As Public Indictments Are Useful
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Notwithstanding the fact that the ability of Furius Camillus, after he had freed Rome from the oppression of the Gauls, made all of the Roman citizens defer to him without causing them to feel that they had lost reputation or rank, Manlius Capitolinus could not,...
That a Man Must Be Alone If He Wishes to Organize a New Republic or Completely to Reform Its Ancient Institutions
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Perhaps someone will think that I have gone through too much Roman history without yet having mentioned the founders of that republic or those institutions that concern religion and the profession of arms. Not wishing, therefore, to keep the minds of those who would like...
The Samnites Turned to Religion As a Last Resort in Times of Misfortune
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

After the Samnites had suffered numerous defeats by the Romans and had finally been destroyed in Etruria, with their armies and leaders killed and their allies, such as the Etruscans, the Gauls, and the Umbrians conquered, ‘they could carry on no longer, either with their...
A Corrupt People Which Becomes Free Can Remain So Only With the Greatest Difficulty
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

I believe it was necessary either for the kings in Rome to die off or for Rome to have become weak and of little worth in a very short time, because considering the degree of corruption into which these kings fell, if two or three...
After an Excellent Prince, a Weak Prince Can Maintain Himself; but After a Weak Prince, No Kingdom Can Be Maintained With Another Weak One
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Considering the exceptional ability and the modes of conduct characteristic of Romulus, Numa, and Tullus, the first three kings of Rome, one may see that Rome enjoyed extremely good fortune, having a first king who was extremely fierce and warlike, a second peaceful and religious,...
Two Continuous Successions of Able Princes Produce Great Results; and Since Well-Organized Republics Necessarily Have a Succession of Able Rulers, Their Acquisitions and Growth Are Also Great
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

After Rome had driven out its kings, the dangers threatening the city, which we have described above as resulting in the succession of a king who was either weak or evil, disappeared, because the supreme authority resided in the consuls, who came to hold that...
What Is Notable in the Case of the Three Roman Horatii and the Three Alban Curiatii
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Tullus, king of Rome, and Mettius, king of Alba, agreed that the people whose above-mentioned three warriors were victorious would rule the other. All three of the Curiatii were killed and one of the Roman Horatii remained alive, and for this reason Mettius, the Alban...
Whoever Wishes to Reform a Long-Established State in a Free City Should Retain At Least the Appearance of Its Ancient Ways
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Anyone who desires or tries to reform the government of a city in a way that is acceptable and capable of maintaining it to everyone’s satisfaction will find it necessary to retain at least the semblance of its ancient customs, so that it will not...
Why the Romans Were Less Ungrateful to Their Citizens Than the Athenians
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Anyone who reads about the deeds of republics will find in all of them a bit of ingratitude against their own citizens, but he will find less in Rome than in Athens and perhaps than in any other republic. In seeking the reason for this,...
Who Is More Ungrateful, a People or a Prince?
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

In reference to the subject treated above, it seems appropriate to me to discuss whether more striking examples of this ingratitude are displayed by a people or a prince, and in order better to debate this matter, let me say that this vice of ingratitude...
What Means a Prince or a Republic May Employ to Avoid the Vice of Ingratitude; and What Means a Commander or a Citizen May Employ in Order to Avoid Being Overcome by It
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

To avoid the necessity of having to live with suspicion or to be ungrateful, a prince should personally accompany his military expeditions, as the Roman emperors did in the beginning, as the Turk does in our own times, and as all able leaders...
When a Problem Has Arisen Either Within a State or Outside It, It Is Safer To Delay Dealing With It Than to Attack It
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

While the Roman republic was growing in reputation, strength, and dominion, its neighbours, who at first had not thought about how much damage this new republic might inflict upon them, began too late to recognize their error; and since they wished to remedy what they...
The Reason Why the Creation of the Decemvirate in Rome Was Harmful to the Liberty of That Republic, Notwithstanding the Fact that It Was Created by Free and Public Elections
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

The election of ten citizens invented by the Roman people to make laws in Rome may seem to contradict what was said above (that authority seized by violent means, not authority given by means of free elections, is harmful to republics): these men in time...
What Discord Arose in Rome From the Agrarian Laws; and How Absolutely Outrageous It Is for a Republic to Pass a Retroactive Law Which Is Contrary to an Ancient Custom of the City
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

It is a saying of ancient writers* that men usually inflict evil upon themselves and become bored with the good, and that both of these attitudes give rise to the same effects, because whenever the necessity for fighting is taken away from them,...
To Jump from Humility to Arrogance and from Mercy to Cruelty Without the Appropriate Measures Is an Imprudent and Unprofitable Affair
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Among the other ill-advised methods Appius used to maintain his tyranny, that of jumping too soon from one state of mind to another was of no little importance. His shrewdness in deceiving the plebeians by pretending to be a man of the people was well...
A Crowd Is Ineffective Without a Leader; and How One Should Not Make Threats First and Then Request Authority
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

The Roman plebeians equipped with arms withdrew to the Mons Sacer because of the incident involving Virginia. The senate sent its ambassadors to ask on what authority they had abandoned their commanders and withdrawn to the Mons, and so greatly respected was the authority of...
If Those Cities Which Had Free Beginnings Like Rome Experience Difficulty in Finding Laws Which Maintain Them, Those Which Were Servile at the Outset Will Find It Almost Impossible to Do So
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

How difficult it is to foresee all those laws required to keep a republic free at the moment of its establishment is very well demonstrated by the development of the Roman republic, where, notwithstanding the fact that it was organized by many laws, first by...
The People, Deceived by a False Kind of Good, Often Desire Their Own Ruin, and How Great Hopes and Bold Promises Easily Move Them
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Once the city of Veii had been defeated, the Roman people came to be of the opinion that it would be a useful thing for the city of Rome if half the Romans went to live in Veii, concluding that since the city was rich...
Which Confederation or Other Kind of League Is Most Reliable, That Created With a Republic or That Created With a Prince
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Because it happens every day that one prince and another, or one republic and another forge a league and a friendship with each other, and, likewise confederations and agreements are also formed between a republic and a prince, it seems proper to me to examine...
preface
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Men always praise ancient times and condemn the present, but not always with good reason, and they are such partisans of the past that they celebrate not only those eras they have come to know through the records that historians have left behind but also...
What Was the Main Reason for the Empire the Romans Acquired, Ability or Fortune?
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Many have held the opinion, among them Plutarch, a most authoritative writer,* that the Roman people, in acquiring their empire, were favoured more by fortune than by exceptional ability. Among the other reasons he sets forth, Plutarch declares that the Roman people by...
What Kinds of Peoples the Romans Had to Fight, and How Stubbornly These Peoples Defended Their Liberty
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Nothing made it more difficult for the Romans to overcome the surrounding peoples and parts of the more distant provinces than the love many peoples in those times had for liberty, which they defended so stubbornly that they would never have been subjugated except by...
How the Romans Proceeded in Waging War
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Having discussed how the Romans proceeded in increasing their territory, we shall now discuss how they proceeded in waging war; and in each one of their actions, it will be seen with what prudence they deviated from the universal methods of others in order to...
The Reason Why Peoples Leave Their Homelands and Overrun the Lands of Others
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Since we have discussed above the method of proceeding in war used by the Romans and how the Etruscans were attacked by the Gauls, I feel it is not unrelated to the subject to explain that there are two causes for war. One type is...
Men Often Deceive Themselves, in the Belief that They Will Conquer Pride With Humility
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

It is evident on many occasions that humility not only does no good but may cause harm, especially when it is used with arrogant men who, either out of envy or for some other reason, have conceived a hatred for you. Our historian bears witness...
Conquests Made by Republics Which Are Not Well Organized, and Which Do Not Proceed According to Roman Standards of Excellence, Bring About Their Ruin Rather Than Their Glorification
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

These opinions contrary to the truth and founded upon the bad examples that our corrupted times have introduced prevent men from thinking about deviating from their usual methods. Could one have persuaded an Italian of thirty years ago that 10,000 infantrymen could attack 10,000 cavalry...
What Kind of Danger a Prince or a Republic Employing Auxiliary or Mercenary Soldiers Incurs
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

If I had not discussed in detail in another work of mine* the question of how useless mercenary or auxiliary troops are and how useful one’s own soldiers are, I would extend my discussion in this chapter farther than I have already done,...
How Often the Opinions of Men Are Mistaken in Their Judgements About Important Matters
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

How false the opinions of men are on many occasions, those who have been witnesses of their decisions have seen and still see; often when such decisions are not made by excellent men, they are contrary to every truth. Because excellent men in corrupt republics...
Insults and Abuse Generate Hatred Against Those Who Employ Them, Without Profit
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

I believe that one of the great means of exercising prudence that men can employ is to abstain either from threatening anyone or from injuring them with words, for neither of these actions takes any strength away from the enemy, but the first makes him...
How Dangerous It Is for a Republic or a Prince Not to Avenge an Injury Committed Against the Public or Against a Private Individual
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

What indignation causes men to do can easily be ascertained by what happened to the Romans when they sent the three Fabii as emissaries to the Gauls, who had come to attack Etruria and Chiusi in particular. For, after the people of Chiusi had sent...
Fortune Blinds Men’s Minds When She Does Not Wish Them to Oppose Her Plans
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

If we consider carefully how human affairs proceed, we shall see that things frequently arise and incidents occur against which the heavens have not wished any provision to be made. And if what I am discussing happened in Rome (where there existed so much ability,...
How Dangerous It Is to Believe Exiles
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

It does not seem beside the point to discuss somewhere in these discourses how dangerous a thing it is to believe those who have been driven from their native land, since those who rule states must deal with such matters everyday, and since this idea...
In How Many Ways the Romans Took Towns
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Since all Romans were dedicated to war, they always waged it with every advantage, both with respect to expenses and with respect to every other thing. This gave rise to the fact that they avoided taking towns by siege, because they thought that this method...
How Very Wise It Is to Pretend to Be Mad at the Proper Moment
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

No one was ever as prudent as Junius Brutus, nor was anyone ever held in such high regard for any of his remarkable actions as he was for feigning stupidity. Although Livy expresses no more than one reason that led him to such pretence, which...
How Necessary It Is to Kill the Sons of Brutus in Order to Maintain a Newly Acquired Liberty
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

No less necessary than useful was Brutus’ severity in maintaining in Rome the liberty that he had acquired there, which is an example quite rare in all of recorded history: to see a father sit as judge and not only condemn his sons to death...
A Prince Cannot Live in Safety in a Principality While Those Whom He Deprived of It Are Still Alive
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

The death of Tarquinius Priscus, caused by the sons of Ancus, and the death of Servius Tullius, caused by Tarquinius Superbus, show how difficult and dangerous it is to deprive a man of a kingdom and to allow him to live, even though the new...
That It Is Necessary for Those Who Wish Always to Enjoy Good Fortune to Change With the Times
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

I have considered on many occasions* that the cause of the bad and good fortune of men lies in how well their mode of conduct fits the times. Because it is evident that in their works some men proceed with impetuosity, others with...
That Anyone Who Has to Fight Many Enemies, Although He Is Inferior in Numbers, May Yet Win the Victory If He Can Withstand the First Onslaught
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

In the city of Rome, the power of the tribunes of the plebeians was great, and it was necessary (as we have said many times), because otherwise it would not have been possible to place a check on the ambition of the nobility, which would...
Where Should One Place More Trust, in a Good Commander With a Weak Army, or in a Good Army With a Weak Commander?
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

After Coriolanus had gone into exile away from Rome, he went to the Volscians, from where, after having raised an army to take revenge against his fellow citizens, he marched on Rome, from which he then departed, owing more to his mother’s piety than to...
What Effects Are Produced by the Strange Contrivances that Appear and the Strange Sounds that Are Heard in the Midst of a Battle
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

The importance in conflicts and battles of a strange event that arises by means of something unexpectedly seen or heard is demonstrated in many passages, and especially in an example that occurred in the battle the Romans waged against the Volscians: Quinctius, seeing...
True Ability Is Sought in Difficult Times, and in Easy Ones, Men With Wealth or From Good Families, Rather Than Men of Ability, Find More Favour
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

It always was and always will be the case that great and uncommon men are neglected in times of peace, because the envy brought upon them by the reputation their exceptional ability has earned them causes numerous citizens to desire not only to be their...
Whether Deference or Punishment Is More Necessary to Restrain a Multitude
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

The Roman republic was stirred up by the enmities between the nobles and the plebeians; none the less, when war was upon them they sent out Quinctius and Appius Claudius with their armies.* Appius, who was cruel and harsh as a commander, was...
How It Came About that Hannibal, With a Different Mode of Conduct from that of Scipio, Achieved the Same Results in Italy that Scipio Achieved in Spain
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

I think some will be amazed to see that certain commanders, notwithstanding the fact that they have led completely different lives, have nevertheless achieved results similar to those of men who have lived in the way described above; thus, it seems that the...
On the Poverty of Cincinnatus and Many Roman Citizens
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

We have explained elsewhere* that the most useful thing instituted in a free society is a way to keep the citizens poor. Although it is not apparent which institution had this effect in Rome, especially since the agrarian law encountered so much opposition,...
How a State Is Ruined Because of Women
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Riots arose in the city of Ardea between the patricians and plebeians over a marriage; a rich woman of this city, who was to be married, was asked for by both a plebeian and a nobleman, and since she had no father, her guardians wished...
That the Faults of Peoples Begin With Their Princes
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Princes should not complain of any sin committed by the people they have under their control, because such sins of necessity arise either from his negligence or from his being tainted by similar errors. Anyone who will examine the peoples who in our times have...
What Methods Some Have Used to Disturb a Peace
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Circei and Velitre, two of their colonies, had rebelled against the Roman people in the hope of being defended by the Latins, but when the Latins were later conquered and their hopes were no longer alive, many of their citizens advised that they should send...
To Win a Battle, It Is Necessary to Make an Army Confident, Both in Itself and in Its Commander
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

In order for an army to win a battle, it is necessary to make it confident, so that it will believe that it must win in any event. The things that make an army confident are that it be well armed and organized, and that...
What Kind of Fame, Rumour, or Opinion Makes the People Begin to Favour One Citizen; and Whether the People Assign Magistracies With Greater Prudence Than a Prince
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

We have spoken on another occasion* about how Titus Manlius, who was later called Torquatus, saved Lucius Manlius, his father, from an accusation that was made against him by Marcus Pomponius, tribune of the plebeians. Although the method of saving him was rather...
Whether Small Skirmishes Before the Battle Are Necessary; and What Must Be Done to Understand a New Enemy in Order To Avoid Them
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

It appears that in human actions, as we previously discussed,* one finds, among other difficulties, that in the desire to bring something to a perfect conclusion, there is always some evil very near this good which arises so easily along with it that...
What a Commander Should Be Like to Gain the Trust of the Army
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

As we said above, Valerius Corvinus was with his army fighting the Samnites, new enemies of the Roman people, and in order to reassure his soldiers and to make them acquainted with their enemies, he had his troops engage in certain light skirmishes, but since...
A Commander Must Be Knowledgeable About Localities
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Among the other things necessary to a commander of armies is the knowledge of localities and countries, because without such general and particular knowledge, a commander of armies cannot undertake any action. In fact, all the sciences require experience in order to master them completely,...
Why Employing Deceit in Waging a War Is a Glorious Thing
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Although employing deceit in every action is detestable, in waging a war it is, nevertheless, a laudable and glorious thing, and the man who employs deceit to overcome the enemy is to be praised, just like the man who overcomes him by force. This is...
That One’s Native Land Must Be Defended Either With Shame or With Glory, and Is Well Defended in Either Way
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

As was said above, the consul and the Roman army were surrounded by the Samnites, who imposed upon the Romans the most shameful conditions (that is, to put them under the yoke and to send them, disarmed, back to Rome), and for this reason, the...
That One Often Obtains Through Impetuosity and Audacity What Would Never Be Obtained Through Ordinary Methods
Authors: Machiavelli Niccolò
Published: December 2024

Attacked by Rome’s army and unable to remain in the field with their own army facing up to the Romans, the Samnites decided to leave the towns in Samnium guarded and to pass with their entire army into Etruria, which was in a state of...
Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems
Authors: Galilei Galileo
Published: December 2024

Most Serene Grand Duke,*

Great though the difference is between men and other animals, it may not be entirely misguided to say that differences among men themselves are hardly less. What comparison is there between one and a thousand? And yet there is a...
The History of Griselda
Authors: Perrault Charles
Published: December 2024

To Mademoiselle …*
Three Silly Wishes
Authors: Perrault Charles
Published: December 2024

To Mademoiselle De La C.*
Donkey-Skin
Authors: Perrault Charles
Published: December 2024

To the Marquise De Lambert*
To Mademoiselle
Authors: Perrault Charles
Published: December 2024

Mademoiselle:

It will not seem strange that a child should have entertained himself by composing the tales in this collection, but it will be astonishing that he should have had the audacity to present them to you.

However, Mademoiselle, notwithstanding the huge discrepancy between the...
Little Red Riding-Hood
Authors: Perrault Charles
Published: December 2024

O
nce upon a time, in a village, there lived a little girl, the prettiest you could wish to see. Her mother adored her, and her grandmother adored her even more. This kind lady had a riding-hood* made for her granddaughter; it...
Ricky the Tuft
Authors: Perrault Charles
Published: December 2024

O
nce upon a time there was a Queen and she gave birth to a son, who was so ugly and so misshapen that it seemed doubtful for a long time that he was of human form. A fairy, who was present at the...