Chapter XIII: Part 13

Nero was alarmed. The people were absolute lords in the 10
Circus. He wanted their favor on his side against the
senate and the patricians, and especially after the burning
of Rome he strove by all means to win it, and turn their
anger against the Christians. He understood, besides,
that to oppose longer was simply dangerous. A disturbance 15
begun in the Circus might seize the whole city, and have
results incalculable. And seeing everywhere frowning brows,
moved faces, and eyes fixed on him, he gave the sign for
mercy.

--_Quo Vadis._

1. At about what time is this story laid? Where?
Compare its setting with that of "The Lists at
Ashby," page 363.

2. Who are the chief characters? What was the
general situation with respect to the Christians?

3. Did Ursus know what he was to confront when he
entered the arena? Why did he expect to be
crucified?

4. Relate what took place in the arena.

5. Explain: podium, Hercules, colossus, superhuman,
barbarian; line 13, page 407; lines 8-9, page 412.

6. Sienkiewicz (sh[)e]n-ky[=a]´v[vi]ch) is a famous
Polish novelist (1846-1916). His best known novel
is _Quo Vadis_ ("Whither goest thou?").

(From Jeremiah Curtin's translation of _Quo Vadis_,
copyrighted by Little, Brown & Company.)

POLONIUS'S ADVICE TO HIS SON

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Memorize a goodly passage from this, and interpret
the meaning of your selection to the class.

There; my blessing with thee!
And these few precepts in thy memory
See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportion'd thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. 5
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, unfledg'd comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel, but, being in, 10
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,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy; 15
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are most select and generous, chief in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend, 20
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all; to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

--_Hamlet._

1. Spend at least one recitation discussing the
life and works of Shakespeare. Bring to class some
interesting accounts of him or his plays.

MERCY

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Antonio, a merchant-shipper of Venice, has met with
financial losses. Shylock, his grasping creditor
and competitor, demands in court the fulfillment of
Antonio's bond, which states that Antonio has
forfeited a pound of his own flesh to Shylock.
Portia, a young woman who plays the part of
attorney for Antonio, makes the following appeal to
Shylock for mercy.

The quality of mercy is not strain'd;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes 5
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His scepter shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this scepter'd sway; 10
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,-- 15
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation; we do pray for mercy,
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.

--_The Merchant of Venice._

1. Read this extract line by line, and interpret
its meaning. Then read the whole of it aloud as
Portia spoke it.

GOOD BOOKS YOU SHOULD KNOW

The following list of book titles suggests some good
library browsing for you. Try reading one good
book a week outside of school hours. Aside from the
immediate pleasure and knowledge derived, you will thus
establish an invaluable habit and set up for yourself
standards of literary judgment.

Alcott's _Eight Cousins_
Aldrich's _Story of a Bad Boy_
Baldwin's _Discovery of the Old Northwest_
Baldwin's _Fifty Famous Rides and Riders_
Baldwin's _Old Greek Stories_
Brown's _Rab and his Friends_
Bunyan's _Pilgrim's Progress_
Burnett's _Secret Garden_
Burroughs's _Bird Stories_
Burroughs's _Squirrels and Other Fur-Bearers_
Clemens's _Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_
Clemens's _Adventures of Tom Sawyer_
Clemens's _Prince and the Pauper_
Clemens's _Roughing It_
Cooke's _Stories of the Old Dominion_
Cooper's _Deerslayer_
Cooper's _Pathfinder_
Cooper's _Spy_
Dana's _Two Years before the Mast_
Dickens's _Child's History of England_
Dickens's _Christmas Carol_
Dickens's _Cricket on the Hearth_
Dickens's _Nicholas Nickleby_
Dickens's _Pickwick Papers_
Garland's _Boy Life on the Prairie_
Guerber's _Myths and Legends of the Middle Ages_
Hill's _On the Trail of Washington_
Holland's _Historic Boyhoods_
Holland's _Historic Girlhoods_
Howells's _Stories of Ohio_
Hughes's _Tom Brown at Rugby_
Irving's _Sketch Book_
Kipling's _Captains Courageous_
Kipling's _Jungle Books_
Lamb's _Tales from Shakespeare_
London's _Call of the Wild_
Longfellow's _Courtship of Miles Standish_
Lucas's _Slowcoach_
Mabie's _Book of Christmas_
Mabie's _Book of Old English Ballads_
Mabie's _Famous Stories Every Child should Know_
Marden's _Stories from Life_
Ollivant's _Bob, Son of Battle_
Pyle's _Men of Iron_
Roosevelt's _Stories of the Great West_
Scott's _Ivanhoe_
Scott's _Quentin Durward_
Seton's _Trail of the Sandhill Stag_
Stevenson's _Kidnapped_
Stevenson's _Master of Ballantrae_
Stevenson's _Travels with a Donkey_
Stockton's _Stories of New Jersey_
Swift's _Gulliver's Travels_
Tarkington's _Penrod_
Thompson's _Stories of Indiana_
Warner's _Being a Boy_
Whitehead's _Standard Bearer_
Wiggin's _Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm_
Yonge's _Book of Golden Deeds_

* * * * *

Transcriber's Notes:

Obvious punctuation errors repaired.

Page 15, "occured" changed to "occurred" (Lincoln's assasination occurred)

Diacritical marks are denoted by:

Characters with a breve by [)e]
Characters with a macron by [=e]
Characters with a caron by [vi]
Chacacters with an oe-ligature by [oe]

End of Project Gutenberg's Story Hour Readings: Seventh Year, by E.C. Hartwell