Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-08

that she becomes person of consequence.
Therefore her conversation assumes a more
dictatorial tone. She is breathless, dis
cursve, evasive and yet occasionally direct.
She loves the effect of a doleful forecast.
When Mrs. Lathrop's son Jathrop-who was
thus named because of a tragic slip of the
tongue at the baptism-takeS a kicking CIV
for good debt and the COW breaks some
of his mothers bones, Miss Clegg rises to
her zenith. In dialect which is trying 10
the eyes but not to the ears, Susan COM
ments on the village life and keeps Mrs
Lathrop away from her periods through five
chapters of genuinely humorous writing.
She is certain to become fayorite with
the book readers this autumn and to at
ford new topic for conversation in family
circles.
sABRINA WARHAM; the Story of Her Youth; By
Laurence Housman, author of Bethlehem" &c.
New oFk; The Macmillan Company. Washing
ton: Brentano's.
There are several familiar factors in this
strong novel from the convincing pen of
Laurence Housman, the bitter family feud
between Englishmen, the foolish girl fall
ing victim to the wiles of a light-hearted
handsome deceiver, the incoming young fell
low in love with an older woman, the stern
faced young farmer who waits until the
very end before uttering the words of love
that might have, if spoken earlier. saved
much trouble, and the young wife with I'M
SISldiHS SCIuplSS against cOnuONlnE the
posed faults of her husbands past All
these, and others, have appeared in English
hcuon again and again. But Mr.. Housman
has taken them all together, has given them
an environment of rare beauty has breathed
vital atmosphere into them and has SET
them in action upon each other to the end
OF creating tale that moves quickly to a
climax of keen interest. Sabrina Varhan
Is young woman well worth meeting AL
most Isolated ii the world, she forms her
own character strongly out of the IA thor
unfaVorable materials that have been given
TO her. She has the good sense to pass by
uhheeded the outpourings of the first heart
opened 10 her, that of a silly youngster
who stands beneath her window nightly
ana does all manner of ridiculous things
She taxes the next one, however, plaus-
iDle' pleasing chap, too pleasing, too plausi-
Die TO satisfy the aStute reader who seas
trouble ahead for the high-minded grI
Then at last when her husband is revealed
as the betrayer of the trusting village
malden-before the advent Of Sabrna, be il
said to his credit, he undertook to ex-
plain-she rises to the occasion casts him
off and adopts the child of the Illicit love as
her own. truly heroine-like thing to do.
however different from life. "Sabrina War
ham IS a book TO begin Warily, for il is
tyrannical in its demand upon the SYM
pathy and attention when once 1t is begun
WHERE DOES THE SKY BEGIN. Rv WASHING
ton GLADDEN.. Boston: Houghton Miniin 4 Co
Washington: William Ballantyne * Sons
Rev. Washington GLADDEN. has been
preaching for many years, and the present
compilation of less than score of his SER
mons is therefore only an insignificant
fraction of his pulpit utterances Thus ar
ranged these sermons or addresses form a
discussion of the paramount themes of the
spirit with the purpose of bringing them
close to the daily life of men and applying
them TO the urgent spiritual needs of prac-
teal existence.
THE CANTERBURY TALES OF GODFREY
CHANGER; Modern Rendering into Prose of
the PROLOGUE and Ten Tales. By Percy Mae
With pictures in color by Walter Appleton
Clark New York: Fox Dutteld * Co.
Chaucer's tales of the Canterbury pill
grims are universally regarded as the real
beginnings of English literature 1t is
therefore in no wise remarkable that some
of the most famous poets have undertaken
the rendering of the quaint. virtually OBJ
sclete form into the English of current
speech. Dryden. Pope Leigh Hunt. Eliza
beth Barrett and Wordsworth have pro-
duoed versions of the Tales in the literary
forms Of their own day. These versions.
however. were in the main little else than
free translations from one tongue into
another. with all the poetic license per-
missible and even necessary to permit a
metrical rendering. The present undertake
ing is of quite a different character 1t
is version of the Tales in a prose which
approXirnates to the modern tongue and
yet preserves the flavor of the old avoid
ing the OF obsolete words and ex-
pressions and still preserving enough OF
Chaucer's syntax to give the reader a con-
ception of the original construction. The
metrical versions mentioned have been crit
fcised as tending to divert readers from the
study of the original. Mr.. Mackaye's rem
dering should rather stimulate reading oil
the quaint form used by Chaucer and per-
Outgrown English phraseology that OBJ
tained when the language was struggling
into the semblance OF written speech. AS
an example of Mr. Mackayes graceful YER
sion the following initial sentence OF the
prologue may well be repeated:
when April with his sweet showers hath
pierced to the root the drought of March
and bathed every vine In liquid. the virtue