,,atlantic ,,readings ,,number #ag ,,on ,,reading ,,in ,,relation ,,to ,,literature ,,by ,,lafcadio ,,hearn ,illustration ,the ,atlantic ,monthly ,press1 ,inc4 ,,boston ,copyright1 #aiba1 by ,,the ,,atlantic ,,monthly ,,press ,as the term approaches its close1 ,i wish to keep my promise regarding a series of lectures relating to literary life and work1 to be given independently of texts or authorities1 and to represent1 as far as possible1 the results of practical experience among the makers of literature in different countries4 ,the subject for this term will be ,reading--apparently1 perhaps1 a very simple subject1 but really not so simple as it looks1 and much more important than you may think it4 ,i shall begin this lecture by saying that very few persons know how to read4 ,considerable experience with literature is needed before taste and discrimination can possibly be acquired2 and without these1 it is almost impossible to learn how to read4 ,i say almost impossible2 since there are some rare men who1 through a natural inborn taste1 through a kind of inherited literary instinct1 are able to read very well even before reaching the age of twenty-five years4 ,but these are great exceptions1 and ,i am speaking of the average4 ,for1 to read the characters or the letters of the text does not mean reading in the true sense4 ,you will often find yourselves reading words or characters automatically1 even pronouncing them quite correctly1 while your minds are occupied with a totally different subject4 ,this mere mechanism of reading becomes altogether automatic at an early period of life1 and can be performed irrespective of attention4 ,neither can ,i call it reading1 to extract the narrative portion of a text from the rest simply for one's personal amusement1 or1 in other words1 to read a book 8for the story40 ,yet most of the reading that is done in the world is done in exactly this way4 ,thousands and thousands of books are bought every year1 every month1 ,i might even say every day1 by people who do not read at all4 ,they only think that they read4 ,they buy books just to amuse themselves1 8to kill time10 as they call it2 in one hour or two their eyes have passed over all the pages1 and there is left in their minds a vague idea or two about what they have been looking at2 and this they really believe is reading4 ,nothing is more common than to be asked1 8,have you read such a book80 or to hear somebody say1 8,i have read such and such a book40 ,but these persons do not speak seriously4 ,out of a thousand persons who say1 8,i have read this10 or 8,i have read that10 there is not one perhaps who is able to express any opinion worth hearing about what he has been reading4 ,many and many a time ,i hear students say that they have read certain books2 but if ,i ask them some questions regarding the book1 ,i find that they are not able to make any answer1 or at best1 they will only repeat something that somebody else has said about what they think that they have been reading4 ,but this is not peculiar to students2 it is in all countries the way that the great public devours books4 ,and to conclude this introductory part of the lecture1 ,i would say that the difference between the great critic and the common person is chiefly that the great critic knows how to read1 and the common person does not4 ,no man is really able to read a book who is not able to express an original opinion regarding the contents of a book4 ,no doubt you will think that this statement of the case confuses reading with study4 ,you might say1 8,when we read history or philosophy or science1 then we do read very thoroughly1 studying all the meanings and bearings of the text1 slowly1 and thinking about it4 ,this is hard study4 ,but when we read a story or a poem out of class-hour1 we read for amusement4 ,amusement and study are two different things40 ,i am not sure that you all think this2 but young men generally do so think4 ,as a matter of fact1 every book worth reading ought to be read in precisely the same way that a scientific book is read--not simply for amusement2 and every book worth reading should have the same amount of value in it that a scientific book has1 though the value may be of a totally different kind4 ,for1 after all1 the good book of fiction or romance or poetry is a scientific work2 it has been composed according to the best principles of more than one science1 but especially according to the principles of the great science of life1 the knowledge of human nature4 ,in regard to foreign books1 this is especially true2 but the advice suggested will be harder to follow when we read in a language which is not our own4 ,nevertheless1 how many ,englishmen do you suppose really read a good book in ,english8 how many ,frenchmen read a great book in their own tongue8 ,probably not more than one in two thousand of those who think that they read4 ,what is more1 although there are now published every year in ,london upwards of six thousand books1 at no time has there been so little good reading done by the average public as to-day4 ,books are written1 sold1 and read after a fashion--or rather according to the fashion4 ,there is a fashion in literature as well as in everything else2 and a particular kind of amusement being desired by the public1 a particular kind of reading is given to supply the demand4 ,so useless have become to this public the arts and graces of real literature1 the great thoughts which should belong to a great book1 that men of letters have almost ceased to produce true literature4 ,when a man can obtain a great deal of money by writing a book without style or beauty1 a mere narrative to amuse1 and knows at the same time that if he should give three1 five1 or ten years to the production of a really good book1 he would probably starve to death1 he is forced to be untrue to the higher duties of his profession4 ,men happily situated in regard to money matters might possibly attempt something great from time to time2 but they can hardly get a hearing4 ,taste has so much deteriorated within the past few years1 that1 as ,i told you before1 style has practically disappeared--and style means thinking4 ,and this state of things in ,england has been largely brought about by bad habits of reading1 by not knowing how to read4 ,for the first thing which a scholar should bear in mind is that a book ought not to be read for mere amusement4 ,half-educated persons read for amusement1 and are not to be blamed for it2 they are incapable of appreciating the deeper qualities that belong to a really great literature4 ,but a young man who has passed through a course of university training should discipline himself at an early day never to read for mere amusement4 ,and once the habit of the discipline has been formed1 he will even find it impossible to read for mere amusement4 ,he will then impatiently throw down any book from which he cannot obtain intellectual food1 any book which does not make an appeal to the higher emotions and to his intellect4 ,but on the other hand1 the habit of reading for amusement becomes with thousands of people exactly the same kind of habit as wine-drinking or opium-smoking2 it is like a narcotic1 something that helps to pass the time1 something that keeps up a perpetual condition of dreaming1 something that eventually results in destroying all capacity for thought1 giving exercise only to the surface parts of the mind1 and leaving the deeper springs of feeling and the higher faculties of perception unemployed4 ,let us simply state what the facts are about this kind of reading4 ,a young clerk1 for example1 reads every day on the way to his office and on the way back1 just to pass the time2 and what does he read8 ,a novel1 of course2 it is very easy work1 and it enables him to forget his troubles for a moment1 to dull his mind to all the little worries of his daily routine4 ,in one day or two days he finishes the novel2 then he gets another4 ,he reads quickly in these days4 ,by the end of the year he has read between a hundred and fifty and two hundred novels2 no matter how poor he is1 this luxury is possible to him1 because of the institution of circulating libraries4 ,at the end of a few years he has read several thousand novels4 ,does he like them8 ,no2 he will tell you that they are nearly all the same1 but they help him to pass away his idle time2 they have become a necessity for him2 he would be very unhappy if he could not continue this sort of reading4 ,it is utterly impossible that the result can be anything but a stupefying of the faculties4 ,he cannot even remember the names of twenty or thirty books out of thousands2 much less does he remember what they contain4 ,the result of all this reading means nothing but a cloudiness in his mind4 ,that is the direct result4 ,the indirect result is that the mind has been kept from developing itself4 ,all development necessarily means some pain2 and such reading as ,i speak of has been employed unconsciously as a means to avoid that pain1 and the consequence is atrophy4 ,of course this is an extreme case2 but it is the ultimate outcome of reading for amusement whenever such amusement becomes a habit1 and when there are means close at hand to gratify the habit4 ,at present in ,japan there is little danger of this state of things2 but ,i use the illustration for the sake of its ethical warning4 ,this does not mean that there is any sort of good literature which should be shunned4 ,a good novel is just as good reading as even the greatest philosopher can possibly wish for4 ,the whole matter depends upon the way of reading1 even more than upon the nature of what is read4 ,perhaps it is too much to say1 as has often been said1 that there is no book which has nothing good in it2 it is better simply to state that the good of a book depends incomparably more for its influence upon the habits of the reader than upon the art of the writer1 no matter how great that writer may be4 ,in a previous lecture ,i tried to call your attention to the superiority of the child's methods of observation to those of the man2 and the same fact may be noticed in regard to the child's method of reading4 ,certainly the child can read only very simple things2 but he reads most thoroughly2 and he thinks and thinks untiringly about what he reads2 one little fairy tale will give him mental occupation for a month after he has read it4 ,all the energies of his little fancy are exhausted upon the tale2 and if his parents be wise1 they do not allow him to read a second tale1 until the pleasure of the first1 and its imaginative effect1 has begun to die away4 ,later habits1 habits which ,i shall venture to call bad1 soon destroy the child's power of really attentive reading4 ,but let us now take the case of a professional reader1 a scientific reader2 and we shall observe the same power1 developed of course to an enormous degree4 ,in the office of a great publishing house which ,i used to visit1 there are received every year sixteen thousand manuscripts4 ,all these must be looked at and judged2 and such work in all publishing houses is performed by what are called professional readers4 ,the professional reader must be a scholar1 and a man of very uncommon capacity4 ,out of a thousand manuscripts he will read perhaps not more than one2 out of two thousand he may possibly read three4 ,the others he simply looks at for a few seconds--one glance is enough for him to decide whether the manuscript is worth reading or not4 ,the shape of a single sentence will tell him that1 from the literary point of view4 ,as regards subject1 even the title is enough for him to judge1 in a large number of cases4 ,some manuscripts may receive a minute or even five minutes of his attention2 very few receive a longer consideration4 ,out of sixteen thousand1 we may suppose that sixteen are finally selected for judgment4 ,he reads these from beginning to end4 ,having read them1 he decides that only eight can be further considered4 ,the eight are read a second time1 much more carefully4 ,at the close of the second examination the number is perhaps reduced to seven4 ,these seven are destined for a third reading2 but the professional reader knows better than to read them immediately4 ,he leaves them locked up in a drawer1 and passes a whole week without looking at them4 ,at the end of the week he tries to see whether he can remember distinctly each of these seven manuscripts and their qualities4 ,very distinctly he remembers three2 the remaining four he cannot at once recall4 ,with a little more effort1 he is able to remember two more4 ,but two he has utterly forgotten4 ,this is a fatal defect2 the work that leaves no impression upon the mind after two readings cannot have real value4 ,he then takes the manuscripts out of the drawer1 condemns two 7those he could not remember71 and re-reads the five4 ,at the third reading everything is judged--subject1 execution1 thought1 literary quality4 ,three are discovered to be first class2 two are accepted by the publishers only as second class4 ,and so the matter ends4 ,something like this goes on in all great publishing houses2 but unfortunately not all literary work is now judged in the same severe way4 ,it is now judged rather by what the public likes2 and the public does not like the best4 ,but you may be sure that in a house such as that of the ,cambridge or the ,oxford ,university publishers1 the test of a manuscript is very severe indeed2 it is there read much more thoroughly than it is likely ever to be read again4 ,now this professional reader whom we speak of1 with all his knowledge and scholarship and experience1 reads the book very much in the same way as the child reads a fairy tale4 ,he has forced his mind to exert all its powers in the same minute way that the child's mind does1 to think about everything in the book1 in all its bearings1 in a hundred different directions4 ,it is not true that a child is a bad reader2 the habit of bad reading is only formed much later in life1 and is always unnatural4 ,the natural and also the scholarly way of reading is the child's way4 ,but it requires what we are apt to lose as we grow up1 the golden gift of patience2 and without patience nothing1 not even reading1 can be well done4 ,important then as careful reading is1 you can readily perceive that it should not be wasted4 ,the powers of a well-trained and highly educated mind ought not to be expended upon any common book4 ,by common ,i mean cheap and useless literature4 ,nothing is so essential to self-training as the proper choice of books to read2 and nothing is so universally neglected4 ,it is not even right that a person of ability should waste his time in 8finding out0 what to read4 ,he can easily obtain a very correct idea of the limits of the best in all departments of literature1 and keep to that best4 ,of course1 if he has to become a specialist1 a critic1 a professional reader1 he will have to read what is bad as well as what is good1 and will be able to save himself from much torment only by an exceedingly rapid exercise of judgment1 formed by experience4 ,imagine1 for example1 the reading that must have been done1 and thoroughly done1 by such a critic as ,professor ,saintsbury4 ,leaving out of the question all his university training1 and his mastery of ,greek and ,latin classics1 which is no small reading to begin with1 he must have read some five thousand books in the ,english of all centuries--learned thoroughly everything that was in them1 the history of each one1 and the history of its author1 whenever that was accessible4 ,he must also have mastered thoroughly the social and political history relating to all this mass of literature4 ,but this is still less than half his work4 ,for1 being an authority upon two literatures1 his study of ,french1 both old and new ,french1 must have been even more extensive than his study of ,english4 ,and all his work had to be read as a master reads2 there was little more amusement in the whole from beginning to end4 ,the only pleasure could be in results2 but these results are very great4 ,nothing is more difficult in this world than to read a book and then to express clearly and truly in a few lines exactly what the literary value of the book is4 ,there are not more than twenty people in the world who can do this1 for the experience as well as the capacity required must be enormous4 ,very few of us can hope to become even third or fourth class critics after a lifetime of study4 ,but we can all learn to read2 and that is not by any means a small feat4 ,the great critics can best show us the way to do this1 by their judgment4 ,yet after all1 the greatest of critics is the public--not the public of a day or a generation1 but the public of centuries1 the consensus of national opinion or of human opinion about a book that has been subjected to the awful test of time4 ,reputations are made not by critics1 but by the accumulation of human opinion through hundreds of years4 ,and human opinion is not sharply defined like the opinion of a trained critic2 it cannot explain2 it is vague1 like a great emotion of which we cannot exactly describe the nature2 it is based upon feeling rather than upon thinking2 it only says1 8we like this40 ,yet there is no judgment so sure as this kind of judgment1 for it is the outcome of an enormous experience4 ,the test of a good book ought always to be the test which human opinion1 working for generations1 applies4 ,and this is very simple4 ,the test of a great book is whether we want to read it only once or more than once4 ,any really great book we want to read the second time even more than we wanted to read it the first time2 and every additional time that we read it we find new meanings and new beauties in it4 ,a book that a person of education and good taste does not care to read more than once is very probably not worth much4 ,some time ago there was a very clever discussion going on regarding the art of the great ,french novelist1 ,zola2 some people claimed that he possessed absolute genius2 others claimed that he had only talent of a very remarkable kind4 ,the battle of argument brought out some strange extravagances of opinion4 ,but suddenly a very great critic simply put this question3 8,how many of you have read1 or would care to read1 one of ,zola's books a second time80 ,there was no answer2 the fact was settled4 ,probably no one would read a book by ,zola more than once2 and this is proof positive that there is no great genius in them1 and no great mastery of the highest form of feeling4 ,shallow or false any book must be1 that1 although bought by a hundred thousand readers1 is never read more than once4 ,but we cannot consider the judgment of a single individual infallible4 ,the opinion that makes a book great must be the opinion of many4 ,for even the greatest critics are apt to have certain dullnesses1 certain inappreciations4 ,carlyle1 for example1 could not endure ,browning2 ,byron could not endure some of the greatest of ,english poets4 ,a man must be many-sided to utter a trustworthy estimate of many books4 ,we may doubt the judgment of the single critic at times4 ,but there is no doubt possible in regard to the judgment of generations4 ,even if we cannot at once perceive anything good in a book which has been admired and praised for hundreds of years1 we may be sure that by trying1 by studying it carefully1 we shall at last be able to feel the reason of this admiration and praise4 ,the best of all libraries for a poor man would be a library entirely composed of such great works only1 books which have passed the test of time4 ,this then would be the most important guide for us in the choice of reading4 ,we should read only the books that we want to read more than once1 nor should we buy any others1 unless we have some special reason for so investing money4 ,the second fact demanding attention is the general character of the value that lies hidden within all such great books4 ,a great book is not apt to be comprehended by a young person at the first reading except in a superficial way4 ,only the surface1 the narrative1 is absorbed and enjoyed4 ,no young man can possibly see at first reading the qualities of a great book4 ,remember that it has taken humanity in many cases hundreds of years to find out all that there is in such a book4 ,but according to a man's experience of life1 the text will unfold new meanings to him4 ,the book that delighted us at eighteen1 if it be a good book1 will delight us much more at twenty-five1 and it will prove like a new book to us at thirty years of age4 ,at forty we shall re-read it1 wondering why we never saw how beautiful it was before4 ,at fifty or sixty years of age the same facts will repeat themselves4 ,a great book grows exactly in proportion to the growth of the reader's mind4 ,it was the discovery of this extraordinary fact by generations of people long dead that made the greatness of such works as those of ,shakespeare1 of ,dante1 or of ,goethe4 ,perhaps ,goethe can give us at this moment the best illustration4 ,he wrote a number of little stories in prose1 which children like1 because to children they have all the charm of fairy tales4 ,but he never intended them for fairy tales2 he wrote them for experienced minds4 ,a young man finds very serious reading in them2 a middle aged man discovers an extraordinary depth in their least utterance2 and an old man will find in them all the world's philosophy1 all the wisdom of life4 ,if one is very dull1 he may not see much in them1 but just in proportion as he is a superior man1 and in proportion as his knowledge of life has been extensive1 so will he discover the greatness of the mind that conceived them4 ,this does not mean that the authors of such books could have preconceived the entire range and depth of that which they put into their work4 ,great art works unconsciously without ever suspecting that it is great2 and the larger the genius of a writer1 the less chance there is of his ever knowing that he has genius2 for his power is less likely to be discovered by the public until long after he is dead4 ,the great things done in literature have not usually been done by men who thought themselves great4 ,many thousand years ago some wanderer in ,arabia1 looking at the stars of the night1 and thinking about the relation of man to the unseen powers that shaped the world1 uttered all his heart in certain verses that have been preserved to us in the ,book of ,job4 ,to him the sky was a solid vault2 of that which might exist beyond it1 he never even dreamed4 ,since his time how vast has been the expansion of our astronomical knowledge6 ,we now know thirty millions of suns1 all of which are probably attended by planets1 giving a probable total of three hundred millions of other worlds within sight of our astronomical instruments4 ,probably multitudes of these are inhabited by intelligent life2 it is even possible that within a few years more we shall obtain proof positive of the existence of an older civilization than our own upon the planet ,mars4 ,how vast a difference between our conception of the universe and ,job's conception of it4 ,yet the poem of that simple-minded ,arab or ,jew has not lost one particle of its beauty and value because of this difference4 ,quite the contrary6 ,with every new astronomical discovery the words of ,job take grander meanings to us1 simply because he was truly a great poet and spoke only the truth that was in his heart thousands of years ago4 ,very anciently also there was a ,greek story-teller who wrote a little story about a boy and girl in the country1 called ,daphnis and ,chloe4 ,it was a little story1 telling in the simplest language possible how that boy and girl fell in love with each other1 and did not know why1 and all the innocent things they said to each other1 and how grown-up people kindly laughed at them and taught them some of the simplest laws of life4 ,what a trifling subject1 some might think4 ,but that story1 translated into every language in the world1 still reads like a new story to us2 and every time we re-read it1 it appears still more beautiful1 because it teaches a few true and tender things about innocence and the feeling of youth4 ,it never can grow old1 any more than the girl and boy whom it describes4 ,or1 to descend to later times1 about three hundred years ago a ,french priest conceived the idea of writing down the history of a student who had been charmed by a wanton woman1 and led by her into many scenes of disgrace and pain4 ,this little book1 called ,manon ,lescaut1 describes for us the society of a vanished time1 a time when people wore swords and powdered their hair1 a time when everything was as different as possible from the life of to-day4 ,but the story is just as true of our own time as of any time in civilization2 the pain and the sorrow affect us just as if they were our own2 and the woman1 who is not really bad1 but only weak and selfish1 charms the reader almost as much as she charmed her victim1 until the tragedy ends4 ,here again is one of the world's great books that cannot die4 ,or1 to take one more example out of a possible hundred1 consider the stories of ,hans ,andersen4 ,he conceived the notion that moral truths and social philosophy could be better taught through little fairy tales and child stories than in almost any other way2 and with the help of hundreds of old-fashioned tales1 he made a new series of wonderful stories that have become a part of every library and are read in all countries by grown-up people much more than by children4 ,there is in this astonishing collection of stories1 a story about a mermaid1 which ,i suppose you have all read4 ,of course there can be no such thing as a mermaid2 from one point of view the story is quite absurd4 ,but the emotions of unselfishness and love and loyalty which the story expresses are immortal1 and so beautiful that we forget about all the unreality of the framework2 we see only the eternal truth behind the fable4 ,you will understand now exactly what ,i mean by a great book4 ,what about the choice of books8 ,some years ago you will remember that an ,englishman of science1 ,sir ,john ,lubbock1 wrote a list of what he called the best books in the world--or at least the best hundred books4 ,then some publishers published the hundred books in cheap form4 ,following the example of ,sir ,john1 other literary men made different lists of what they thought the best hundred books in existence2 and now quite enough time has passed to show us the value of these experiments4 ,they have proved utterly worthless1 except to the publishers4 ,many persons may buy the hundred books2 but very few read them4 ,and this is not because ,sir ,john ,lubbock's idea was bad2 it is because no one man can lay down a definite course of reading for the great mass of differently constituted minds4 ,sir ,john expressed only his opinion of what most appealed to him2 another man of letters would have made a different list2 probably no two men of letters would have made exactly the same one4 ,the choice of great books must1 under all circumstances1 be an individual one4 ,in short1 you must choose for yourselves according to the light that is in you4 ,very few persons are so many-sided as to feel inclined to give their best attention to many different kinds of literature4 ,in the average of cases it is better for a man to confine himself to a small class of subjects--the subjects best according with his natural powers and inclinations1 the subjects that please him4 ,and no man can decide for us1 without knowing our personal character and disposition perfectly well and being in sympathy with it1 where our powers lie4 ,but one thing is easy to do--that is1 to decide1 first1 what subject in literature has already given you pleasure2 to decide1 secondly1 what is the best that has been written upon that subject1 and then to study that best to the exclusion of ephemeral and trifling books which profess to deal with the same theme1 but which have not yet obtained the approbation of great critics or of a great public opinion4 ,those books which have obtained both are not so many in number as you might suppose4 ,each great civilization has produced only two or three of the first rank1 if we except the single civilization of the ,greeks4 ,the sacred books embodying the teaching of all great religions necessarily take place in the first rank1 even as literary productions2 for they have been polished and repolished1 and have been given the highest possible literary perfection of which the language in which they are written is capable4 ,the great epic poems which express the ideals of races1 these also deserve a first place4 ,thirdly1 the masterpieces of drama1 as reflecting life1 must be considered to belong to the highest literature4 ,but how many books are thus represented8 ,not very many4 ,the best1 like diamonds1 will never be found in great quantities4 ,besides such general indications as ,i have thus ventured1 something may be said regarding a few choice books--those which a student should wish to possess good copies of and read all his life4 ,there are not many of these4 ,for ,european students it would be necessary to name a number of ,greek authors4 ,but without a study of the classic tongues such authors could be of much less use to the students of this country2 moreover1 a considerable knowledge of ,greek life and ,greek civilization is necessary to quicken appreciation of them4 ,such knowledge is best gained through engravings1 pictures1 coins1 statues--through those artistic objects which enable the imagination to see what has existed2 and as yet the artistic side of classical study is scarcely possible in ,japan1 for want of pictorial and other material4 ,i shall therefore say very little regarding the great books that belong to this category4 ,but as the whole foundation of ,european literature rests upon classical study1 the student should certainly attempt to master the outlines of ,greek mythology1 and the character of the traditions which inspired the best of ,greek literature and drama4 ,you can scarcely open an ,english book belonging to any high class of literature1 in which you will not find allusions to ,greek beliefs1 ,greek stories1 or ,greek plays4 ,the mythology is almost necessary for you2 but the vast range of the subject might well deter most of you from attempting a thorough study of it4 ,a thorough study of it1 however1 is not necessary4 ,what is necessary is an outline only2 and a good book1 capable of giving you that outline in a vivid and attractive manner would be of inestimable service4 ,in ,french and ,german there are many such books2 in ,english1 ,i know of only one1 a volume in ,bohn's ,library1 ,keightley's ,mythology of ,ancient ,greece and ,italy4 ,it is not an expensive work2 and it has the exceptional quality of teaching in a philosophical spirit4 ,as for the famous ,greek books1 the value of most of them for you must be small1 because the number of adequate translations is small4 ,i should begin by saying that all verse translations are useless4 ,no verse translation from the ,greek can reproduce the ,greek verse--we have only twenty or thirty lines of ,homer translated by ,tennyson1 and a few lines of other ,greek poets translated by equally able men1 which are at all satisfactory4 ,under all circumstances take a prose translation when you wish to study a ,greek or ,latin author4 ,we should of course consider ,homer first4 ,i do not think that you can afford not to read something of ,homer4 ,there are two excellent prose translations in ,english1 one of the ,iliad and one of the ,odyssey4 ,the latter is for you the more important of the two great poems4 ,the references to it are innumerable in all branches of literature2 and these references refer usually to the poetry of its theme1 for the ,odyssey is much more a romance than is the ,iliad4 ,the advantage of the prose translation by ,lang and ,butcher is that it preserves something of the rolling sound and music of the ,greek verse1 though it is only prose4 ,that book ,i should certainly consider worth keeping constantly by you2 its utility will appear to you at a later day4 ,the great ,greek tragedies have all been translated2 but ,i should not so strongly recommend these translations to you4 ,it would be just as well1 in most cases1 to familiarize yourselves with the stories of the dramas through other sources2 and there are hundreds of these4 ,you should at least know the subject of the great dramas of ,sophocles1 schylus1 and above all ,euripides4 ,greek drama was constructed upon a plan that requires much study to understand correctly2 it is not necessary that you should understand these matters as an antiquarian does1 but it is necessary to know something of the stories of the great plays4 ,as for comedy1 the works of ,aristophanes are quite exceptional in their value and interest4 ,they require very little explanation2 they make us laugh to-day just as heartily as they made the ,athenians laugh thousands of years ago2 and they belong to immortal literature4 ,there is the ,bohn translation in two volumes1 which ,i would strongly recommend4 ,aristophanes is one of the great ,greek dramatists whom we can read over and over again1 gaining at every reading4 ,of the lyrical poets there is also one translation likely to become an ,english classic1 although a modern one2 that is ,lang's translation of ,theocritus1 a tiny little book1 but very precious of its kind4 ,you see ,i am mentioning very few2 but these few would mean a great deal for you1 should you use them properly4 ,among later ,greek work1 work done in the decline of the old civilization1 there is one masterpiece that the world will never become tired of--,i mentioned it before1 the story of ,daphnis and ,chloe4 ,this has been translated into every language1 and ,i am sorry to say that the best translation is not ,english1 but ,french--the version of ,amyot4 ,but there are many ,english translations4 ,that book you certainly ought to read4 ,about the ,latin authors1 it is not here necessary to say much4 ,there are very good prose translations of ,virgil and ,horace1 but the value of these to you cannot be very great without a knowledge of ,latin4 ,however1 the story of the neid is necessary to know1 and it were best read in the version of ,conington4 ,in the course of your general education it is impossible to avoid learning something regarding the chief ,latin writers and thinkers2 but there is one immortal book that you may not have often seen the name of2 and it is a book everybody should read--,i mean the ,golden ,ass of ,apuleius4 ,you have this in a good ,english translation4 ,it is only a story of sorcery1 but one of the most wonderful stories ever written1 and it belongs to world literature rather than to the literature of a time4 ,but the ,greek myths1 although eternally imperishable in their beauty1 are not more intimately related to ,english literature than are the myths of the ancient ,english religion1 the religion of the ,northern races1 which has left its echoes all through our forms of speech1 even in the names of the days of the week4 ,a student of ,english literature ought to know something about ,northern mythology4 ,it is full of beauty also1 beauty of another and stranger kind2 and it embodies one of the noblest warrior-faiths that ever existed1 the religion of force and courage4 ,you have now in the library a complete collection of ,northern poetry1 ,i mean the two volumes of the ,corpus ,poeticum ,boreali4 ,unfortunately you have not as yet a good collection of the ,sagas and ,eddas4 ,but1 as in the case of the vaster subject of ,greek mythology1 there is an excellent small book in ,english1 giving an outline of all that is important--,i mean necessary for you--in regard to both the religion and the literature of the ,northern races1 ,mallet's ,northern ,antiquities4 ,sir ,walter ,scott contributed the most valuable portion of the translations in this little book2 and these translations have stood the test of time remarkably well4 ,the introductory chapters by ,bishop ,percy are old-fashioned1 but this fact does not in the least diminish the stirring value of the volume4 ,i think it is one of the books that every student should try to possess4 ,with regard to the great modern masterpieces translated into ,english from other tongues1 ,i can only say that it is better to read them in the originals1 if you can4 ,if you can read ,goethe's ,faust in ,german1 do not read it in ,english2 and if you can read ,heine in ,german1 the ,french translation in prose1 which he superintended1 and the ,english translations 7there are many of them7 in verse can be of no use to you4 ,but if ,german be too difficult1 then read ,faust in the prose version of ,hayward1 as revised by ,dr4 ,buchheim4 ,you have that in the library2 and it is the best of the kind in existence4 ,faust is a book that a man should buy and keep1 and read many times during his life4 ,as for ,heine1 he is a world poet1 but he loses a great deal in translation2 and ,i can only recommend the ,french prose version of him2 the ,english versions of ,browning and ,lazarus and others are often weak4 ,some years ago a series of extraordinary translations of ,heine appeared in ,blackwood's ,magazine2 but these have not appeared1 ,i believe1 in book form4 ,as for ,dante1 ,i do not know whether he can make a strong appeal to you in any language except his own2 and you must understand the ,middle ,ages very well to feel how wonderful he was4 ,i might say something similar about other great ,italian poets4 ,of the ,french dramatists1 you must study ,molire2 he is next in importance only to ,shakespeare4 ,but do not read him in any translation4 ,here ,i should say positively1 that one who cannot read ,french might as well leave ,molire alone2 the ,english language cannot reproduce his delicacies of wit and allusion4 ,as for modern ,english literature1 ,i have tried in the course of my lectures to indicate the few books deserving of a place in world-literature2 and ,i need scarcely repeat them here4 ,going back a little further1 however1 ,i should like to remind you again of the extraordinary merit of ,malory's book the ,morte d',arthur1 and to say that it is one of the very few that you should buy and keep and read often4 ,the whole spirit of chivalry is in that book2 and ,i need scarcely tell you how deep is the relation of the spirit of chivalry to all modern ,english literature4 ,i do not recommend you to read ,milton1 unless you intend to make certain special studies of language2 the linguistic value of ,milton is based upon ,greek and ,latin literature4 ,as for his lyrics--that is another matter4 ,those ought to be studied4 ,as there is little more to say1 except by way of suggestion1 ,i think that you ought1 every one of you1 to have a good copy of ,shakespeare1 and to read ,shakespeare through once every year1 not caring at first whether you can understand all the sentences or not2 that knowledge can be acquired at a later day4 ,i am sure that if you follow this advice you will find ,shakespeare become larger every time that you read him1 and that at last he will begin to exercise a very strong and very healthy influence upon your methods of thinking and feeling4 ,a man does not require to be a great scholar in order to read ,shakespeare4 ,and what is true of reading ,shakespeare1 you will find to be true also in lesser degree of all the world's great books4 ,you will find it true of ,goethe's ,faust4 ,you will find it true of the best chapters in the poems of ,homer4 ,you will find it true of the best plays of ,molire4 ,you will find it true of ,dante1 and of those books in the ,english ,bible about which ,i gave a short lecture last year4 ,and therefore ,i do not think that ,i can better conclude these remarks than by repeating an old but very excellent piece of advice which has been given to young readers3 8,whenever you hear of a new book being published1 read an old one40 ,,atlantic ,,readings ,teachers everywhere are cordially welcoming our series of ,atlantic ,readings2 for material not otherwise available is here published for classroom use in convenient and inexpensive form4 ,in most cases the selections reprinted have been suggested by teachers in schools and colleges where a need for a particular essay or story has been urgently felt4 ,supplied for one institution1 the reprint has created an immediate market elsewhere4 ,the ,atlantic ,monthly ,press most warmly invites conference and correspondence that will suggest additions to this growing list4 ,it is of course apparent from the titles below that the material is chosen only in part from the files of the ,atlantic ,monthly4 ,the titles already published follow3-- #a4 ,,the ,,lie ,by ,mary ,antin #ae;c #b4 ,,ruggs--,r4,o4,t4,c4 ,by ,william ,addleman ,ganoe #ae;c #c4 ,,jungle ,,night ,by ,william ,beebe #ae;c #d4 ,,an ,,englishwoman',s ,,message ,by ,mrs4 ,a4 ,burnett-,smith #ae;c #e4 ,a ,,father ,,to ,,his ,,freshman ,,son ,by ,edward ,sanford ,martin #ae;c #f4 ,a ,,port ,,said ,,miscellany ,by ,william ,mc,fee #ae;c #g4 ,,education3 ,,the ,,mastery ,,of ,,the ,,arts ,,of ,,life ,by ,arthur ,e4 ,morgan #ae;c #h4 ,,intensive ,,living ,by ,cornelia ,a4 ,p4 ,comer #ae;c #i4 ,,the ,,preliminaries ,by ,cornelia ,a4 ,p4 ,comer #ae;c #aj4 ,,the ,,moral ,,equivalent ,,of ,,war ,by ,william ,james #ae;c #aa4 ,,the ,,study ,,of ,,poetry ,by ,matthew ,arnold #ae;c #ab4 ,,books ,by ,arthur ,c4 ,benson #ae;c #ac4 ,,on ,,composition ,by ,lafcadio ,hearn #ae;c #ad4 ,,the ,,basic ,,problem ,,of ,,democracy ,by ,walter ,lippmann #ae;c #ae4 ,,the ,,pilgrims ,,of ,,plymouth ,by ,henry ,cabot ,lodge #be;c #af4 ,,after ,,thirty-,,five ,,years ,by ,professor ,frederick ,j4 ,e4 ,woodbridge #ae;c #ag4 ,,on ,,reading ,,in ,,relation ,,to ,,literature ,by ,lafcadio ,hearn #ae;c ,we are constantly adding new titles to this series ,address ,the ,educational ,department ,,the ,,atlantic ,,monthly ,,press1 ,,inc4 #h ,,arlington ,,street1 ,,boston 7#ag7 ,,atlantic ,,texts ,,textbooks ,,in ,,library ,,form ,,atlantic ,,classics1 ,first ,series #a4ej ,,atlantic ,,classics1 ,second ,series #a4ej ,both volumes collected and edited by ,,ellery ,,sedgwick1 ,editor of the ,atlantic ,monthly4 ,for classes in ,american literature4 ,,essays ,,and ,,essay-,,writing #a4be ,collected and edited by ,,william ,m4 ,,tanner1 ,university of ,texas4 ,for literature and composition classes4 ,,atlantic ,,narratives1 ,first ,series #a4be ,for college use in classes studying the short story4 ,,atlantic ,,narratives1 ,second ,series #a4be ,for secondary schools4 ,both volumes collected and edited by ,,charles ,,swain ,,thomas1 ,editorial department of the ,atlantic ,monthly ,press1 and ,lecturer at ,harvard ,university4 ,,atlantic ,,prose ,,and ,,poetry #a4jj ,collected and edited by ,,charles ,,swain ,,thomas and ,,harry ,g4 ,,paul of the ,university of ,illinois4 ,a literary reader for upper grammar grades and junior high schools4 ,,the ,,profession ,,of ,,journalism #a4be ,collected and edited by ,,willard ,g4 ,,bleyer1 ,university of ,wisconsin4 ,for college use4 ,,the ,,atlantic ,,monthly ,,and ,,its ,,makers #a4jj ,by ,m4 ,a4 ,,dewolfe ,,howe1 ,editorial department of the ,atlantic ,monthly ,press4 ,biographical and literary matter for the ,english class4 ,,writing ,,through ,,reading 4#ij ,by ,,robert ,m4 ,,gay1 ,simmons ,college4 ,a short course in composition for colleges and normal schools4 ,,the ,,league ,,of ,,nations3 ,the ,principle and the ,practice #b4ej ,edited by ,,stephen ,p4 ,,duggan1 ,college of the ,city of ,new ,york4 ,a basic text on international relations4 ,,the ,,light3 ,an ,educational ,pageant 4#fe ,by ,,catherine ,t4 ,,bryce1 ,yale ,university4 ,especially suitable for public presentation at ,teachers' ,conventions4 ,,patrons ,,of ,,democracy 4#hj ,by ,,dallas ,,lore ,,sharp1 ,boston ,university4 ,for classes interested in discussing democracy in our public schools4 ,,americans ,,by ,,adoption #a4ej ,by ,,joseph ,,husband4 ,for ,americanization courses4 ,,the ,,voice ,,of ,,science ,,in ,,nineteenth-,,century ,,literature #b4jj ,collected and edited by ,,robert ,e4 ,,rogers and ,,henry ,g4 ,,pearson1 ,massachusetts ,institute of ,technology4 ,the ,atlantic ,monthly ,press1 ,,inc4 #h ,arlington ,street1 ,boston 7#ag7 ,transcriber's ,note ,in this file1 text in italics is indicated by underscores1 and text in ,,small ,,caps is in uppercase4 ,on page #bb1 the 8#ae;c0 which appears opposite title #ag was moved opposite the name of the author1 rather than that of the book title1 to match the other items in the table4 ,otherwise1 as far as possible1 the original text was maintained4