WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.720 --> 00:00:05.759 An alphabet of history. This is a LibriVox recording. All 2 00:00:05.799 --> 00:00:09.720 LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information 3 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:15.800 or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Read by Bruskachuk. 4 00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:22.320 An Alphabet of History by Wilbur D. Nesbit. Alexander the Great. 5 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:26.920 Alexander the Great was a victim of fate, and he 6 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:30.440 sighed there was naught to delight him when he brandished 7 00:00:30.440 --> 00:00:34.039 his sword and defiantly roared, and could not get a 8 00:00:34.119 --> 00:00:38.119 country to fight him. All the armies he'd chased, all 9 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:42.679 the lands laid to waste, and he clamored for further diversions. 10 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:46.359 And our history speaks of his grip on the Greeks 11 00:00:46.600 --> 00:00:50.719 and his hammerlock hold on the Persians, though the Gordian 12 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:53.799 knot cut in two in a spot in his palace 13 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:58.600 was labeled a relic. Though beausephilous stuffed gave him fame, 14 00:00:58.840 --> 00:01:02.359 he was huffed. He was grouchy, and grumpy was Alik. 15 00:01:02.840 --> 00:01:05.480 And the cause of his woe, he would have you 16 00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:08.920 to know, was the fact that he never was able 17 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:13.000 to conduct a big scrap that a versatile chap of 18 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:18.200 a war correspondent would cablestead of being quite glad. He 19 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:21.760 would grow very sad when he told of the fellows 20 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:24.879 who'd fought him, as he thought of the lack of 21 00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:28.120 the clicking Kodak in the hands of a man to 22 00:01:28.280 --> 00:01:31.799 snap shot him. We are told that he wept, and 23 00:01:31.959 --> 00:01:36.599 in dolefulness, crept through his palace. The reason is hinted 24 00:01:37.319 --> 00:01:41.040 there were not at that time magazines for a dime, 25 00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:45.239 and his articles could not be printed. Though it may 26 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:49.760 seem unkind ere his life we've outlined, we must say 27 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:53.799 in some ways he was hateful, and in truth we 28 00:01:53.959 --> 00:01:57.200 have heard he went back on his word and was 29 00:01:57.359 --> 00:02:10.360 not Alexander the grateful end of poem Brutus by wilbrid 30 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:16.599 de nesbut read for LibriVox dot Org. Back in the 31 00:02:16.680 --> 00:02:21.439 time of Rome Sublime, there lived great Julius Caesar, who 32 00:02:21.479 --> 00:02:26.000 wore the crown with haughty frown and was a frosty geezer. 33 00:02:26.599 --> 00:02:30.879 Three times, they say, upon the way called lupercal they 34 00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:34.599 fetched it for him to wear. But then and there 35 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:38.159 he said they should have stretched it. And we are 36 00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:44.560 told that Jewel was called and frigid as Alaska ambitious too. 37 00:02:44.759 --> 00:02:49.360 That would not do for Cassius and Caska. They told 38 00:02:49.400 --> 00:02:53.639 their friends it all depends on having things to suit us. 39 00:02:54.039 --> 00:02:57.520 We think that jewel is much too cool. Let us 40 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:03.319 conspire with Brutus. They furthermore let out this roar. Shall 41 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:07.879 Caesar further scoff Us? Next week, they say he'll have 42 00:03:08.039 --> 00:03:12.400 his way about the Rome post office with Dirk and 43 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:16.800 sword in Toga's stored. You know those times they wore em. 44 00:03:17.240 --> 00:03:21.800 They made a mess of Julius one morning in the 45 00:03:21.960 --> 00:03:26.639 forum with it too bruti. J c grew mute. Some 46 00:03:26.919 --> 00:03:30.800 Clay mits at too brute tea. We mention it both 47 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:36.199 whole and split, as is our boundin' duty. Marc Antony 48 00:03:36.439 --> 00:03:40.280 arose and he talks some We shall not quote it. 49 00:03:40.840 --> 00:03:45.360 We've understood twas not as good as when Bill Shakespeare 50 00:03:45.400 --> 00:03:49.719 wrote it. Then Brutus skipped lest he be nipped. And 51 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:55.120 since his dissolution he's been accused and much abused in 52 00:03:55.319 --> 00:04:01.520 schools of elocution and a poem. This recording is in 53 00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:13.280 the public domain. Christopher Columbus by WILBERD. Nesbit read for 54 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:19.839 LibriVox dot org. When Christopher Columbus stood the egg upon 55 00:04:19.879 --> 00:04:23.199 its end, he solved a weighty problem that no one 56 00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:27.560 could comprehend. Perhaps it was the puzzle whose solution clearly 57 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:32.279 showed the psychologic motives of the hen that crossed the road. 58 00:04:32.839 --> 00:04:36.639 Perhaps cold storage minstrels never might have heard of this. 59 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:41.560 If it hadn't been for Chris Columbus packed his little 60 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:44.920 grip and got upon the train and went to see 61 00:04:44.920 --> 00:04:51.560 that noble man, King Ferdinand of Spain. Result he found America. Oh, 62 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:55.399 do not idly nod for if it hadn't been for this, 63 00:04:56.120 --> 00:05:00.000 we couldn't go abroad. Just think of all the travel 64 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:04.079 and the voyages we'd miss if it hadn't been for 65 00:05:04.199 --> 00:05:08.920 Chris Columbus found America and won a lot of fame. 66 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:13.040 Nobody ever thought to ask him how he knew its name. 67 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:18.240 Nobody ever booked him for some lectures to declare ineloquent 68 00:05:18.360 --> 00:05:22.319 assertions how he knew the land was there? To day 69 00:05:22.519 --> 00:05:26.759 we might be savages, a knowing modern bliss if it 70 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:31.920 hadn't been for Chris. He landed near Havana, and he said, 71 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:35.199 it seems to me that some time in the future, 72 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:40.120 little Cubi shall be free. His vision was prophetic. Far 73 00:05:40.120 --> 00:05:44.480 adown the future's track, he saw the dauntless Hobson and 74 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:49.000 the sinking Merrimac. We might have still been Tyros in 75 00:05:49.079 --> 00:05:52.600 the Ethics of the Kiss. If it hadn't been for 76 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:56.879 Chris to day, there are big cities and big buildings 77 00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:00.240 named for him, And yet he was so poor, or 78 00:06:00.279 --> 00:06:03.800 that once he thought he'd have to swim to find 79 00:06:03.959 --> 00:06:08.160 this wondrous country, for he was so badly broke. But 80 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:13.480 Isabella nobly put her watch and ring in soak. Who knows, 81 00:06:13.560 --> 00:06:17.560 but Isabella never might have thought of this if it 82 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:23.600 hadn't been for Chris and a poem. This recording is 83 00:06:23.639 --> 00:06:34.920 in the public domain. Diogenes by wilbrid D Nesbitt read 84 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:41.439 for LibriVox dot org. Diogenes lived in a tub his 85 00:06:41.639 --> 00:06:47.079 fellow's analyzing. These words were carved upon his club first 86 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:53.800 class philosophizing. If any question came his way involving people's morals, 87 00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:57.879 the things that he felt moved to say were sure 88 00:06:57.959 --> 00:07:02.279 to start some quarrels. In fact, his tub became a 89 00:07:02.360 --> 00:07:07.160 booth in which he dealt in wholesale truth. This world 90 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:11.639 was but a fleeting show. He knew a lot about it. 91 00:07:12.360 --> 00:07:15.839 When he was told a thing was so, he then 92 00:07:16.040 --> 00:07:20.480 began to doubt it. He seldom left his narrow home, 93 00:07:20.839 --> 00:07:25.079 not even hard a Sunday. The only time that he 94 00:07:25.199 --> 00:07:29.720 would roam abroad was on a Monday. He had to 95 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:35.920 roam then anyway, for that, you know, is washing day society, 96 00:07:36.439 --> 00:07:41.680 with all its sham, gave him a paroxysm. He always 97 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:47.120 spoke in epigram and thought in aphorism. One day he 98 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:51.480 took his lantern down and polished it and lit it. 99 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:56.519 But first he frowned a peevish frown, and growled the 100 00:07:56.560 --> 00:08:01.199 wick don't fit it. And then with pessimistic scan he 101 00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:07.360 sought to find an honest man. Diogenes has long been dead. 102 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:12.519 His search was not well heeded, for no historian has 103 00:08:12.680 --> 00:08:17.519 said if ever he succeeded. But there's this thought for 104 00:08:17.800 --> 00:08:22.120 you and me, it would not be quite pleasant if 105 00:08:22.199 --> 00:08:26.319 on that quest the sage should be with his fierce 106 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:30.680 light at present, For if he were one may but 107 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:37.200 think how much that light would make him blink and 108 00:08:37.399 --> 00:08:47.320 a poem. This recording is in the public domain. Euripides 109 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:54.879 by Wilbur D. Nesbit read for LibriVox dot org. Euripides 110 00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:59.639 of ancient Greece excelled in things dramatic. He could sit 111 00:08:59.720 --> 00:09:03.840 down and write a piece mild tempered or emphatic. The 112 00:09:03.960 --> 00:09:08.120 dramatists of modern days, No matter how much they write, 113 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:13.440 can never equal Rippy's ways, For he was quite a playwright. 114 00:09:13.960 --> 00:09:17.279 When Rippy took his pen in hand, the scenes would 115 00:09:17.320 --> 00:09:21.759 flow like magic. Though humor came at his command, his 116 00:09:22.039 --> 00:09:26.440 penchant was the tragic. He often wrote a little speech 117 00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:31.399 that was extremely pleasant. His jests were lasting all and 118 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:36.559 each are still used at the present. Euripides was serious. 119 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:40.759 He thought he had a mission. He said, by writing 120 00:09:40.919 --> 00:09:45.320 thus and thus, I'll elevate the Grecian. However, though he 121 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:49.960 oft produced his works in manners purty, he never wrote 122 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:53.440 a thing to boost the vogue of ten twenty thirty. 123 00:09:54.159 --> 00:09:57.759 In fact, his works could have been played in goodly 124 00:09:57.879 --> 00:10:02.279 style with no girls. He never used the soubrette maid 125 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:07.559 or based his play on showgirls. And this for old Euripides. 126 00:10:08.200 --> 00:10:12.120 In none of all his dramas did he observe the 127 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:18.840 modern pleas for chorus in Pajamas, Euripides was Athen's fitch 128 00:10:19.159 --> 00:10:24.320 for her Augustus Thomas. It's really hard to say just which, 129 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:28.720 but he was full of promise. It's time that Rippy 130 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:33.000 had his due and got his share of glory. For 131 00:10:33.320 --> 00:10:40.159 royalties he never knew, and no press agent story. End 132 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:49.919 of poem. This recording is in the public domain. Franklin 133 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:57.240 by Wilbur D. Nesbitt read for LibriVox dot Org. Fame 134 00:10:57.360 --> 00:11:02.279 twined a wreath on Franklin's brow many years ago, And 135 00:11:02.440 --> 00:11:05.879 yet how many people now the reason for it? No? 136 00:11:06.759 --> 00:11:11.240 Was it because he wisely wrote Poor Richard's Almanac. One 137 00:11:11.240 --> 00:11:15.039 of the few we paused to note which testimonials lack. 138 00:11:15.799 --> 00:11:20.399 Was Franklin's fame the sure result of his philosophy. No 139 00:11:20.600 --> 00:11:24.759 mental cure or psychic cult or great uplift had he 140 00:11:25.639 --> 00:11:29.600 was it because for years and years he was a diplomat. 141 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:35.039 Why know what person ever hears about such things as that? 142 00:11:35.960 --> 00:11:39.559 Then what did wise Ben Franklin do that he should 143 00:11:39.639 --> 00:11:44.360 merit fame that each edition of Who's Who in bold 144 00:11:44.440 --> 00:11:48.480 type puts his name. He flew his kite, he had 145 00:11:48.519 --> 00:11:53.679 the key his front door to unlock, like countless other men. 146 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:58.919 Then he acquired a sudden shock. The trolley cars and 147 00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:05.480 dynamos and incandescent light and buzzing fan with coolness blows 148 00:12:05.799 --> 00:12:10.559 all date from Franklin's kite. But what an oversight of fame? 149 00:12:10.919 --> 00:12:17.200 Ben Franklin's wife twas she that thoughtful, gentle, kindly dame 150 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:23.080 who let him have the key end a poem. This 151 00:12:23.240 --> 00:12:33.960 recording is in the public domain. Galilei Galileo by Wilbur D. 152 00:12:34.279 --> 00:12:41.159 Nesbitt read for LibriVox dot org. Galilei Galileo was an 153 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:45.000 early man of science. He was happy when inventing or 154 00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:49.759 discussing an appliance. Pendulums he found by study were precise 155 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:53.480 in every wobble, showing how old father Time went in 156 00:12:53.600 --> 00:12:59.320 his never ending hobble, Galilei Galileo the thermometer, invented and 157 00:12:59.480 --> 00:13:05.000 informed the gaping public what its figures represented. Oh, you foolish, Galileo, 158 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:08.320 cried the public. You shall rue it. Why get up 159 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:11.039 a thing to tell us we are hot? We always 160 00:13:11.080 --> 00:13:15.000 knew it. Galilei Galileo took a tube and got some 161 00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:19.879 lenses and discovered things that made him rather disbelieve his senses. 162 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:23.000 He would point his telescope up to the sky and 163 00:13:23.159 --> 00:13:27.720 then heat scannet, then go into breakfast, smiling for he'd 164 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:34.200 found another planet. Galilei Galileo viewed the luminary solar that's 165 00:13:34.279 --> 00:13:37.399 the Sun, and found it spotted on the belt and 166 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:40.759 region's polar But he didn't figure out that when the 167 00:13:40.840 --> 00:13:44.240 sun was thickly freckled. Then the world with lights and 168 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:49.759 fusses was continually speckled. Galilei Galileo wrote a thing and 169 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:52.919 then denounced it. But we often read his name and 170 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:56.600 wonder how the man pronounced it. Maybe when he tried to, 171 00:13:56.840 --> 00:14:00.080 he was all at sixes and at sevens, which is 172 00:14:00.120 --> 00:14:03.799 why he turned his studies to the dim and distant heavens. 173 00:14:04.360 --> 00:14:10.440 Galilei Galileo. What a musical cognomen. Possibly some bright librettist 174 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:14.039 will find in this name an omen that presages fortune 175 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:16.919 for him, and the stage will pay what we owe 176 00:14:17.240 --> 00:14:24.679 to that honest old star gazer Galilei Galileo. And a poem. 177 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:35.600 This recording is in the public domain. Hippocrates by wilbrid 178 00:14:35.960 --> 00:14:43.200 Nesbitt read for LibriVox dot Org. Hippocrates was father to 179 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:47.639 an awful lot of bother Fortis claimed that as to medicine, 180 00:14:47.759 --> 00:14:51.919 he was the pioneer, that but for him, the surgeon 181 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:56.360 or the latter day chirurgion might never have been tinkering 182 00:14:56.720 --> 00:15:01.799 the human running gear. Hippocrates, to diploma, never threw him 183 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:05.600 into coma in his efforts to decipher what its classic 184 00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:09.840 diction said, for when he was seeking practice long ago. 185 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:13.360 The simple fact is that the Latin tongue was common 186 00:15:13.639 --> 00:15:17.559 and was very far from dead. He often growled dad 187 00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:21.279 gummet when he felt the glossy summit of his head, 188 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:25.159 which was as bald as any shiny billiard ball. But 189 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:27.919 old hip had to endure it, for he knew he 190 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:31.159 couldn't cure it, and that once his hair was falling, 191 00:15:31.320 --> 00:15:34.720 why he had to let it fall. He was written 192 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:37.960 up by Plato, who was quite a hot potato when 193 00:15:37.960 --> 00:15:41.759 it came to mental effort, for you know, he reasoned well. 194 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:47.000 Plato praised his diagnosis, called him healing's patient Moses, and 195 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:50.399 though facts were hard to gather, found a goodly lot 196 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:55.720 to tell. Hippocrates had knowledge. Though he didn't go to college. 197 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:58.879 He could speak of all diseases that he knew in 198 00:15:59.159 --> 00:16:04.399 Latin terms. Still twas only second nature to affect that nomenclature. 199 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:07.759 But he never even thought of much less heard of 200 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:12.919 any germs Streptococcus or Bacillus such as get in us 201 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:17.919 and kill us to Hippocrates, were always undiscovered and unknown. 202 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:21.840 And the grim appendicitis, which to day is sure to 203 00:16:21.960 --> 00:16:25.759 fright us, was by doctor hipp considered but a stomach 204 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:30.279 achic grown. Were he living at this moment, would the 205 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:33.799 world be in a foeman. Would physicians of the present 206 00:16:34.120 --> 00:16:37.360 take him out to see the town from New Jersey 207 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:40.679 clear to Joppa. Not a one would call him Papa, 208 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:44.679 and his theories and treatments would be greeted with a frown. 209 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:48.399 We must say that he was clever, and that in 210 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:52.320 one way, however, he resembled all the others who are 211 00:16:52.360 --> 00:16:57.000 treating human hills. He was constantly complaining that, in spite 212 00:16:57.039 --> 00:17:00.000 of all his training, he could never cure his page 213 00:17:00.440 --> 00:17:05.880 of the trait of dodging bills and a poem. This 214 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:16.759 recording is in the public domain. Iago by WILBERD Nesbitt, 215 00:17:17.480 --> 00:17:23.279 read for LibriVox dot Org. Iago as a villain was 216 00:17:23.319 --> 00:17:26.319 a master of his craft, and yet he did not 217 00:17:26.440 --> 00:17:30.000 work at all as modern villains do. No one can 218 00:17:30.119 --> 00:17:34.160 rise and say that bold Iago hoarsely left when someone 219 00:17:34.279 --> 00:17:38.680 demonstrated that his stories were untrue. He did not swagger 220 00:17:38.759 --> 00:17:42.200 on the stage in evening clothes and mutter, nor bite 221 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:46.200 his finger nails in baffled anger. Now and then he 222 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:49.279 never turned and left the stage with nothing else to 223 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:54.680 utter except Aha, proud beauty, I shall not be foiled again. 224 00:17:55.559 --> 00:17:59.400 Iogo did not hover near the old deserted mill to 225 00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:03.119 hurl the daring hero in the waters of the race. 226 00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:06.799 He never frowned and ground his teeth and burned the 227 00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:11.880 hidden will or kidnapped any children. Just to complicate the case. 228 00:18:12.440 --> 00:18:16.319 Iago was not like the villains that we have at present. 229 00:18:16.759 --> 00:18:20.039 He didn't even try to scowl or to look like 230 00:18:20.119 --> 00:18:25.000 the part. Iago as a villain was continually pleasant and 231 00:18:25.319 --> 00:18:28.519 never gave the notion that he had a stony heart. 232 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:33.599 Othello was his victim, and Iago's work was good. But 233 00:18:33.720 --> 00:18:38.480 still Iago doesn't seem to get the proper praise Othello 234 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:43.000 as the hero, as all proper heroes should, stood calmly 235 00:18:43.079 --> 00:18:47.440 in the spotlight and corralled the wreathing bays. Since then, 236 00:18:47.720 --> 00:18:51.079 there is no villain of the art of good Iago. 237 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:55.240 At least, we haven't seen an actor who approached him yet. 238 00:18:55.720 --> 00:18:59.759 The villains we have noticed from Galveston to Chicago have 239 00:19:00.119 --> 00:19:05.839 hist through black mustaches and have smoked the cigarette end 240 00:19:05.880 --> 00:19:15.519 a poem. This recording is in the public domain. Johnson 241 00:19:16.359 --> 00:19:22.920 by WILBERD. Nesbitt read for LibriVox dot org. Oh Rare 242 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:27.599 Ben Johnson, you who wrote to Celia presegure of that 243 00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:32.279 later note Bedelia to you, rare Ben our hat we 244 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:38.039 raise for all your poems and your plays. You knew forsooth. 245 00:19:38.279 --> 00:19:43.079 If Shakespeare's work was taken like copies by a scrawling 246 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:47.440 clerk from Bacon, you would have known of that flimflam 247 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:53.400 without a hidden cryptogram. Or rare Ben Johnson. With your pen, 248 00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:58.279 you labored, and with brave lords and gentlemen you neighbored. 249 00:19:58.759 --> 00:20:03.039 You never turned out feeble farce in sentences that would 250 00:20:03.079 --> 00:20:07.880 not parse to managers. You ne'er were made to grovel 251 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:12.599 and ben You never called a spade a shovel. Where 252 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:18.640 you wrote sentences risk gay. We now have costumes very gay, oh, 253 00:20:18.759 --> 00:20:22.920 rare Ben Jonson. When you asked that lady to drink 254 00:20:23.400 --> 00:20:27.680 her name, you never messed as Sadie, nor did you 255 00:20:27.799 --> 00:20:31.720 call her creole bell or half the song names we 256 00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:36.680 might tell drink to me only with thine eyes. Your 257 00:20:36.839 --> 00:20:41.839 sighing showed you no steigns of any size were buying. 258 00:20:42.599 --> 00:20:47.440 But from the way the stanzas run you, rare Ben Jonson, 259 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:53.359 were well done. End of poem. This recording is in 260 00:20:53.440 --> 00:21:05.200 the public domain. Kid by Wilbride Nesbit read for LibriVox 261 00:21:05.319 --> 00:21:11.440 dot org. Oh. William Kidd was a pirate bold yo ho, 262 00:21:11.759 --> 00:21:15.880 my lads, yo ho. He sailed the seas in search 263 00:21:15.960 --> 00:21:20.559 of gold. Yo ho, my lads, yo ho. He sailed 264 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:24.319 on both sides of the line, the skull and bones. 265 00:21:24.359 --> 00:21:27.880 He made his sign where he found wealth, he said, 266 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:33.559 that's mine. Three centuries ago. Oh, William Kidd was a 267 00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:40.000 pirate bad three centuries ago, a very dark repute he had, 268 00:21:40.359 --> 00:21:44.200 Yo ho, my lads, yo ho. He'd board a ship 269 00:21:44.359 --> 00:21:48.880 and take its hoard, then walk the plank. He fiercely roared, 270 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:52.480 the ship is all that I can board. Yo ho, 271 00:21:52.839 --> 00:21:57.359 my lads, yo ho. Oh. William Kidd was a pirate 272 00:21:57.559 --> 00:22:01.640 great yo ho, my lads. You oh ho, he said, 273 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:07.160 I'll rob you while you wait. Three centuries ago. He 274 00:22:07.319 --> 00:22:11.640 had a long low rakish craft with long toms both 275 00:22:11.720 --> 00:22:16.720 before and aft, and wickedly and loud he left, Yo ho, 276 00:22:17.079 --> 00:22:21.640 my lads, yo ho. Oh. William Kidd was a pirate 277 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:26.319 big yo ho, my lads, yo ho. He feared no 278 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:30.839 frigate bark or brig Yo ho, my lads, yo ho. 279 00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:35.880 And while his grim flag flapped and tossed above the ship, 280 00:22:36.039 --> 00:22:40.319 that bill kid bust his victims knew just how they 281 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:46.440 lost three centuries ago. Oh, William Kidd was a pirate 282 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:52.519 then three centuries ago. If he should come to life again, 283 00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:57.240 Yo ho, my lads, Yo ho, The chances are that 284 00:22:57.440 --> 00:23:01.759 he would just go out and organizes a trust. He 285 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:06.799 knew the way to raise the dust three centuries ago 286 00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:12.319 and a poem. This recording is in the public domain. 287 00:23:18.440 --> 00:23:24.440 Lucullus by Wilbur D. Nesbitt read for LibriVox dot Org. 288 00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:29.920 Lucullus was a fighter for a portion of his life. 289 00:23:30.359 --> 00:23:33.480 He won the Bay and Laurel by his prowess in 290 00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:37.519 the strife. He came back home a hero, and no doubt, 291 00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:41.559 just as today. They named a cocktail for him. Ere 292 00:23:41.640 --> 00:23:46.000 they looked the other way. But when Lucullus noticed he 293 00:23:46.200 --> 00:23:50.119 was losing grips on fame, he struck a happy notion 294 00:23:50.359 --> 00:23:54.720 to perpetuate his name. He took to giving dinners in 295 00:23:54.839 --> 00:23:58.400 a palace he had built. Tis said that lots was 296 00:23:58.440 --> 00:24:02.440 eaten and a sea of wine was spilt. That guests 297 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:06.759 might order anything in dishes, old or new, and get 298 00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:11.160 the very rarest, and a second order too quick lunches 299 00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:15.160 or coarse dinners. Anything a man could wish in the 300 00:24:15.240 --> 00:24:19.480 line of drinks or dainties. Yet he was no nuvo riche. 301 00:24:20.200 --> 00:24:25.279 Lucullus won great battles, victories that he might boast, yet 302 00:24:25.319 --> 00:24:29.559 to day we recollect him merely as a lavish host. 303 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:33.640 It is said that once he ordered quite the richest 304 00:24:33.680 --> 00:24:38.000 feast prepared, but no guests came to enjoy it, and 305 00:24:38.200 --> 00:24:42.680 the busy chef was scared. Is nobody here for dinner? 306 00:24:43.079 --> 00:24:48.160 Asked the flustered, pestered chef. I am dining with Lucullis, 307 00:24:48.519 --> 00:24:52.599 roared Lucullus, Are you deaf? But we think that one 308 00:24:52.720 --> 00:24:57.039 great reason for his never dying fame, for the pure, 309 00:24:57.240 --> 00:25:02.039 unfading luster of his dinner eating name, is that though 310 00:25:02.200 --> 00:25:06.960 Lucullus feasted at a very great expense and sat down 311 00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:11.599 to simple breakfasts where the health foods were immense, he 312 00:25:11.799 --> 00:25:16.400 was gracious to his fellows, was considerate of each, and 313 00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:20.799 he never put his chestnuts in an after dinner speech 314 00:25:22.759 --> 00:25:25.960 and a poem. This recording is in the public domain. 315 00:25:32.039 --> 00:25:37.960 Methuselah by Wilbur D. Nesbitt read for LibriVox dot org. 316 00:25:40.119 --> 00:25:45.319 Methuselah lived long ago. He was the old inhabitant those 317 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:49.839 times but never had a show. His opportunities were scant. 318 00:25:50.559 --> 00:25:56.319 Although he lived nine centuries and threescore years and nine beside, 319 00:25:56.720 --> 00:26:00.680 the times he saw were not like these. A chance 320 00:26:00.759 --> 00:26:05.039 to spread he was denied. He could not seek the 321 00:26:05.160 --> 00:26:09.799 corner's store and lunch on crackers, cheese and prunes, and 322 00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:15.759 there display his helpful lore through mornings and through afternoons. 323 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:19.839 He could not talk about the days when folks first 324 00:26:19.960 --> 00:26:25.400 saw the telegraph or telephone, how their amaze made better 325 00:26:25.599 --> 00:26:30.119 posted people laugh. He could not take the stranger out 326 00:26:30.440 --> 00:26:34.720 to some tall building, then say here and for a 327 00:26:34.839 --> 00:26:38.960 good ways hereabout I used to shoot the bear and deer. 328 00:26:39.880 --> 00:26:45.400 Sky scrapers were an unknown thing excepting Babel in his land, 329 00:26:45.720 --> 00:26:50.359 and Babel only served to bring speech that he could 330 00:26:50.400 --> 00:26:56.720 not understand. Perhaps this Babel item is anachronistic. As to that, 331 00:26:57.039 --> 00:27:01.039 we'll say one pleasant thing was his He never had 332 00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:05.839 to rent a flat. Another joy in his career was this. 333 00:27:06.400 --> 00:27:11.359 Nobody ever told Methuselah the stated year when he should 334 00:27:11.400 --> 00:27:16.079 be considered old at thirty five. He was not barred 335 00:27:16.119 --> 00:27:20.039 from working if he wanted to. He did not need 336 00:27:20.160 --> 00:27:24.680 a union card. His daily labors to pursue, and when 337 00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:28.960 his hair was snowy white and age. His manly form 338 00:27:29.119 --> 00:27:33.599 had bent. Nobody called him young and bright and ran 339 00:27:33.759 --> 00:27:39.640 him for vice president and a poem. This recording is 340 00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:50.440 in the public domain. Newton by Wilberd D. Nesbitt, read 341 00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:56.839 for LibriVox dot org. Now Newton in the orchard felt 342 00:27:56.880 --> 00:28:02.880 an apple strike his head. Tis gravity, tis gravity. Excitedly, 343 00:28:03.240 --> 00:28:06.799 he said, had you or I been sitting there a 344 00:28:06.920 --> 00:28:11.599 thinking of this earth as Newton was, and wondering about 345 00:28:11.640 --> 00:28:15.680 its size and girth, and just when we were figuring 346 00:28:16.200 --> 00:28:19.960 a long and heavy sum, the apple hit us on 347 00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:24.440 the mind and made our bolt spot numb. We say, 348 00:28:24.680 --> 00:28:28.160 had you or I been there as Newton was that day, 349 00:28:28.720 --> 00:28:32.400 would there have been much gravity in what we had 350 00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:36.480 to say? This shows how great it is to have 351 00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:41.960 a scientific mind, an intellect that reaches out to see 352 00:28:42.079 --> 00:28:46.559 what it may find. Perchance, an ordinary man in such 353 00:28:46.599 --> 00:28:50.440 a circumstance would have got up and rubbed his head 354 00:28:50.680 --> 00:28:55.119 and done a little dance and muttered things that gentle 355 00:28:55.200 --> 00:29:00.440 folks should scarcely ever state and not concede. The apple 356 00:29:00.799 --> 00:29:06.000 simply had to gravitate again. We say, if Newton's place 357 00:29:06.279 --> 00:29:10.640 was held by you or I instead of gravity, we 358 00:29:10.799 --> 00:29:15.160 might have thought of apple pie. You see, again, we 359 00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:20.480 make the point that scientific minds discover facts which any 360 00:29:20.559 --> 00:29:25.480 brain that's common never finds. You see, when Newton felt 361 00:29:25.519 --> 00:29:30.440 the jolt, his science did not stop. He simply meditated 362 00:29:30.519 --> 00:29:35.200 on what made the apple drop. And while in cogitation, 363 00:29:35.720 --> 00:29:39.960 deep beneath the tree he lay, he mused, it's odd 364 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:45.079 that apple's never drop the other way. Once more, if 365 00:29:45.160 --> 00:29:49.119 you or I had been beneath the apple tree, we 366 00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:52.440 might have howled, who was it through that apple? And 367 00:29:52.680 --> 00:29:58.599 hit me. To finish this, However, with becoming gravity, we'll 368 00:29:58.640 --> 00:30:03.799 state that Newton lingered there beneath the apple tree with 369 00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:08.920 logarithmic tables. He discovered that the speed at which the 370 00:30:09.000 --> 00:30:13.799 apple fell was based on whence it fell. Indeed, had 371 00:30:13.839 --> 00:30:16.920 it dropped from the moon, we'll say it would have 372 00:30:17.039 --> 00:30:20.400 grown so hot that it would have been melted up 373 00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:26.640 before to Earth it got again. And finally, had Yuorai 374 00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:31.319 held Newton's seat, we should like heeded, take the apple 375 00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:37.319 up and start to eat and a poem. This recording 376 00:30:37.400 --> 00:30:47.440 is in the public domain. Omar by Wilbur D. Nesbitt 377 00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:54.200 read for LibriVox dot org old Omar in a tent 378 00:30:54.400 --> 00:30:58.039 he had to live, yet gave to verse such time 379 00:30:58.160 --> 00:31:01.920 as he could give whereat. The critics rose and hurled 380 00:31:01.960 --> 00:31:06.400 at him, the stuff you write is only tentative. Yet 381 00:31:06.599 --> 00:31:10.920 Chiam never worried over that he kept his troubles underneath 382 00:31:11.000 --> 00:31:14.720 his hat, except such times as when he worked them 383 00:31:14.839 --> 00:31:20.880 up into an apt and pleasing Rubaiyat. Fitzgerald, the translator 384 00:31:21.200 --> 00:31:25.240 took his pen and made a flowing version yes, and 385 00:31:25.400 --> 00:31:28.880 then to show that he could keep it up awhile 386 00:31:29.279 --> 00:31:33.759 translated all the rubay it again. Now? Is there any 387 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:39.079 home that don't reveal o Kaiyam's volume resting by Lucille, 388 00:31:39.519 --> 00:31:43.400 bound in limp leather, with each edge uncut, to show 389 00:31:43.559 --> 00:31:47.319 the literary sense we feel? And is there any town 390 00:31:47.519 --> 00:31:52.240 from York to Butte wherein some maiden fair don't elocute 391 00:31:52.480 --> 00:31:58.319 through Chiam's easy speaking poetry with musical accompaniment to suit 392 00:31:58.799 --> 00:32:02.799 i verily, And where the parodist who does not seek 393 00:32:03.119 --> 00:32:06.880 threw all upon his list and come back at the 394 00:32:07.000 --> 00:32:11.759 last two Cayams work each time to find new chances 395 00:32:11.799 --> 00:32:15.960 he has missed. A good cigar, a ready fountain pen, 396 00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:20.319 or a typewriter one can use. And then a book 397 00:32:20.359 --> 00:32:24.599 of omar. Whence to draw the thought, oh parodies, one 398 00:32:24.680 --> 00:32:29.839 will turn out again some black initial letters here and there. 399 00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:35.440 Perchance he also had e Hubbard hair. But anyhow, old 400 00:32:35.559 --> 00:32:39.759 Chiam set a task to fill all his successors with 401 00:32:40.200 --> 00:32:46.079