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My father was, I am sure, intended by nature to be a cheerful, kindly man.

Your Majesty," spoke up the Baron, a ring of defiance in his voice, "I speak not for my comrades, but for myself. I begin no game that I fear to finish. We were about dice in order to discover whether Your Majesty should live or die.

In the text, "Pollux" refers to the brightest star in the constellation of Gemini.

It is now five years since an event occurred which so colored my life, or rather so changed some of its original colors, that I have thought it well to write an account of it, deeming that its lessons may be of advantage to persons whose situations in life are similar to my own.

This story exploring the true meaning of happiness is part of a trilogy marked by the appearance of the two characters, Burkin and Ivan Ivanovich.

This is one of the stories of Alfred. There are many of them still floating around the West, for Alfred was in his time very well known.

When the wind sweeps across a field of grass it makes little ripples in it like a lake; in a field of corn it makes great waves like the sea itself: this is the wind's frolic.

In relating the circumstances which have led to my confinement within this refuge for the demented, I am aware that my present position will create a natural doubt of the authenticity of my narrative.

In the last decades interest in hunger artists has declined considerably.