Showing results by author "Mark Twain" in All Categories

This 1899 essay describes Mark Twain's method of teaching historical dates to his children. It was first published posthumously in Harper's Monthly Magazine in December 1914.

A couple was promised a $30,000 inheritance from a rich relative on condition that it remains a secret. Through the years, they invest money, accumulating sizable assets, until they lose it all in a stock market crash. One day, they find out that the relative had died penniless, which means they yearned for an illusion their whole life long.

The tale is told from the standpoint of a household pet. When a fire breaks out in the nursery, the dog risks her life to drag the baby to safety. In the process, her motives are misunderstood and she is cruelly beaten by the father of the family before the truth of the situation is discovered and she receives no end of praise. Later her puppy is killed by the father of the family to prove his opinion on optics to his scientist peers.

Mark Twain, incensed by increasing religious and political imperialism around the globe, characterizes a large nation's invasion and occupation of a smaller country as the "strange and over-showy onslaught of an elephant upon a nest of field mice, on the pretext that the mice had squeaked an insolence at him conduct which 'no self-respecting government could allow to pass unavenged' as Mr. Chamberlain said. Was that a good pretext in a small case when it had not been a good pretext in a large one?- for only recently Russia had affronted the elephant three times and survived...."

Adam cannot understand Eve - her penchant for naming everything in the garden irks him, as does her boundless curiosity, but he learns, in time, that he cannot live happily without her. And Eve finds that she loves Adam above all things.

Twain reflects on the defining moment of his childhood. The incident occurred when a measles epidemic was raging in his hometown; fear was everywhere, and Twain was confined to the house for months. The turning point was when he left the house as he concluded that taking brave action was better than being smothered by fear.

"The Californian's Tale" is the story of a man, Henry, waiting for his wife to come home. The narrator, a stranger to the town, knows nothing of the circumstances. He discovers the tragic truth at a party thrown by Henry’s friends at his house.

Mark Twain relates how he broke the news when he was still unknown. He was in Honolulu when the survivors from the harrowing open sea voyage of the clipper-ship Hornet arrive. He stayed up late to get the accounts of the sailors’ trials, writes through the night and relays a detailed account when the other reporters only had an outline report.

One of Mark Twain’s most famous books for young people. As children, his daughters loved to act out the story in their library. It’s a carefully researched and written story, which incorporates all of Mark Twain’s signature humor, evil villains, and compelling plotlines. Yes, it was written with young people in mind, but it is surely enjoyable to listeners of all ages.

Thirty years after his death, Capt. Stormfield is still speeding across the universe, on his way to the next life, though he doesn't know yet where or when his journey will end. It's not a spoiler to tell you that he does get into heaven (it's in the title after all), but you may be surprised at some of the customs, characters, and spectacles he finds there.

"The Invalid’s Story", an example of Mark Twain’s frontier-style humor, describes the misadventures of two men - Thompson and the narrator - on a train who mistake a gunbox and a rotting cheese for a corpse in a coffin. Thompson does not know much but his wild imagination has a strong influence on the naïve narrator. In the end, this situation leads to disaster.

This is a story within a story by Mark Twain. The one within is the tale of the gambler Jim Smiley and his jumping frog Dan’l. After many winning bets on Dan’l’s jumping ability, a cunning stranger comes along and that day Jim loses.

How to Tell a Story is a classic essay by American humorist and writer Mark Twain.

Mark Twain compiled some of his experiences and experiments with telepathy in a fascinating article titled ‘Mental Telegraphy.’ In the opening paragraph he states that what many consider to be mere accident or ‘curious coincidence’ is no more accidental than is the sending and receiving of a telegram. He believed that minds resonate with one another by transferring ideas and messages to and fro.

"Luck" was published in 1891 in Harper's Magazine and received little attention at the time. The English military hero, Lord Arthur Scoresby, is an idiot who blunders through life on pure good luck. In the Crimean War, he gets confused between his right and left hand to lead a charge in the wrong direction, which surprises a Russian force and ensures an Allied victory.

Mark Twain wrote this witty satire in response to a request by editors of the New York World to contribute a humorous essay describing his first lie. He used the opportunity for discussion on the nature of lying, including "the lie of silent assertion". He pointed out the difference between a spoken lie and any other, as well as the fact that we readily condemn a lie by an individual but rarely challenge the false assumptions on which entire nations and institutions base their existence.

In der LILYLA Hörbuch-Edition "Meistererzählungen" widmen wir uns einem Autoren, dessen Werke in Ausdruck, Authentizität und Sprachgewalt Einzug in den erlauchten Kreis der Welt-Literatur erhalten haben, weil sie den jeweiligen Zeitgeist widerspiegeln und ihre Erzählungen von dem handeln, was von zeitloser Ästhetik und Würde ist: Menschlichkeit und ungeschönte Beschreibung der Realität mit all dem pulsierenden Leben voll von Widersprüchen, Hoffnungen,Ängsten, Romanzen, Schicksalsschlägen, Lebensfreude, Brutalität, Liebe und dem Sinn unserer Existenz mit all ihrer Sanftheit und all ihrer Härte.

In der LILYLA Hörbuch-Edition "Meistererzählungen" widmen wir uns einem Autoren, dessen Werke in Ausdruck, Authentizität und Sprachgewalt Einzug in den erlauchten Kreis der Welt-Literatur erhalten haben, weil sie den jeweiligen Zeitgeist widerspiegeln und ihre Erzählungen von dem handeln, was von zeitloser Ästhetik und Würde ist: Menschlichkeit und ungeschönte Beschreibung der Realität mit all dem pulsierenden Leben voll von Widersprüchen, Hoffnungen,Ängsten, Romanzen, Schicksalsschlägen, Lebensfreude, Brutalität, Liebe und dem Sinn unserer Existenz mit all ihrer Sanftheit und all ihrer Härte.

Im Wald treffen die Bewohner die letzten Vorbereitungen für eine Expedition ins Ungewisse. Neue Lebensräume sollen erkundet, neue Horizonte erschlossen und neue Erkenntnisse gesammelt werden. Grashüpfer, Mistkäfer, Spinnen und Hummeln - Gelehrte, Arbeiter, Soldaten und Wissenschaftler - machen sich gemeinsam auf den Weg. Sie erkunden Pfade, auf denen noch niemand vor ihnen gewandelt ist und machen dabei eine unglaubliche Entdeckung. Sie finden den Beweis für die einstige Existenz einer in ihren Geschichtsbüchern beschriebenen Spezies: dem Menschen!

Mark Twain is one of the wittiest and most prolific writers of all time. He is mostly known for "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and its sequel, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", which is often called the Great American Novel. He was lauded as the "greatest humorist this country has produced" and William Faulkner called him "the father of American literature".