Children love listening to stories. We all have our favorites from the past. Mine was 'The Happy Prince' by Oscar Wilde. My father had read a lot in his youth and was of in particular a fan of Russian literature, something he passed on to me. Any free time he had with my sister and I, I recall asking him to repeat the stories of The Happy Prince, The Selfish Giant, both by Oscar Wilde and The Russian folktale of Masha and the Bear.
No matter how many times I had heard it before, these stories could never exhaust me. In fact, they remind me why I believe what I do. As children these stories molded our thought patterns and our sense of morals and ethics.
Stories are seeds of lessons, morals and values of life that are sown in the hearts and minds of children that grow with them. I recently purchased the complete fairy tale collection of Hans Christan Anderson as a future investment. I confess that I am a sucker for books, and a trip to the book store means that it is going to take longer than anticipated and of course bad news for my wallet.
With no further ado let me bring to you THE HAPPY PRINCE:
High above the city, on a tall column, stood the statue of the Happy Prince. He was gilded all over with thin leaves of fine gold, for eyes he had two bright sapphires, and a large red ruby
glowed on his sword-hilt.
He was very much admired indeed. "He is as beautiful as a weathercock," remarked one of the Town Councillors who wished to gain a reputation for having artistic tastes; "only not quite so
useful," he added, fearing lest people should think him unpractical, which he really was not.
"Why can't you be like the Happy Prince?" asked a sensible mother of her little boy who was crying for the moon. "The Happy Prince never dreams of crying for anything.".... Read full story.
* Find other fairy tales of Oscar Wilde
Monday, March 30, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
This above all- to thine own self be true
In Act I, scene iii of Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the character of Polonius prepares his son Laertes for travel abroad with a speech (55-81) in which he directs the youth to commit a "few precepts to memory." Among these percepts is the now-familiar adage "neither a borrower nor a lender be" (75) and the dictum: "This above all: to thine own self be true,/And it must follow, as the night the day,/Thou cans't not be false to any man "(78-80).
Polonius’ Advice to Laertes
Hamlet I, Scene iii, 55-81
LORD POLONIUS:
Yet here, Laertes! aboard, aboard, for shame! 55
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail,
And you are stay’d for. There; my blessing with thee!
And these few precepts in thy memory
See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportioned thought his act. 60
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch’d, unfledged comrade. Beware 65
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,
Bear’t that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, 70
But not express’d in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be; 75
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man. 80
Farewell: my blessing season this in thee!
Watch Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet (1990) starring Mel Gibson.
Polonius’ Advice to Laertes
Hamlet I, Scene iii, 55-81
LORD POLONIUS:
Yet here, Laertes! aboard, aboard, for shame! 55
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail,
And you are stay’d for. There; my blessing with thee!
And these few precepts in thy memory
See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportioned thought his act. 60
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch’d, unfledged comrade. Beware 65
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,
Bear’t that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, 70
But not express’d in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be; 75
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man. 80
Farewell: my blessing season this in thee!
Watch Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet (1990) starring Mel Gibson.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Time Saving Truth from Falsehood and Envy
This is a faithful photographic reproduction of the original two-dimensional work of art, Time Saving Truth from Falsehood and Envy 1737, a painting by François Lemoyne (1688-1737), supposedly completed on the day before the artist committed suicide.
Source: Wikipedia Commons, Full Resolution: 780 × 966 pixels, file size: 197 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg
This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to the United States, Canada, the European Union and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years.
Source: Wikipedia Commons, Full Resolution: 780 × 966 pixels, file size: 197 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg
This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to the United States, Canada, the European Union and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years.
Monday, March 9, 2009
On Candid Camera? Not Quite
Check out photographs on Flickr of Charith & I taken by Hiranya Malwatta for a specific project. I believe we did not do too bad for first timers. Comments are nevertheless very interesting.
Good job by Hiranya akki!
Good job by Hiranya akki!
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