Interactive English

'Ovsyanikov reminded me of the Russian boyars of the times before Peter the Great...The national holiday dress would have suited him well. He was one of the last men left of the old time. All his neighbours had a great respect for him, and considered it an honour to be acquainted with him. His fellow peasant-proprietors almost worshipped him, and took off their hats to him from a distance: they were proud of him.'

It was past midnight. Nikolay Yevgrafitch knew his wife would not be home very soon, not till five o'clock at least. He did not trust her, and when she was long away he could not sleep, was worried, and at the same time he despised his wife, and her bed, and her looking-glass, and her boxes of sweets, and the hyacinths, and the lilies of the valley which were sent her every day by someone or other, and which diffused the sickly fragrance of a florist's shop all over the house.

Once upon a time there was a little girl called Lucie, who lived at a farm called Little-town. She was a good little girl - only she was always losing her pocket-handkerchiefs! One day little Lucie came into the farm-yard crying - oh, she did cry so! I’ve lost my pocket-handkin! Three handkins and a pinny! Have you seen them, Tabby Kitten?

Once upon a time there was a little fat comfortable grey squirrel, called Timmy Tiptoes. He had a nest thatched with leaves in the top of a tall tree; and he had a little squirrel wife called Goody. Every day they made several journeys and picked quantities of nuts. They carried them away in bags, and stored them in several hollow stumps near the tree where they had built their nest.

In the cheapest room of a big block of furnished apartments Stepan Klotchkov, a medical student in his third year, was walking to and fro, zealously conning his anatomy. In the window, covered by patterns of frost, sat Anyuta, a thin little brunette of five-and-twenty, very pale with mild grey eyes. Sitting with bent back she was busy embroidering with red thread the collar of a man's shirt. She was working against time....

Once upon a time there was a miller who left no more riches to the three sons he had than his mill, his ass, and his cat. The division was soon made. Neither the lawyer nor the attorney was sent for. They would soon have eaten up all the poor property. The eldest had the mill, the second the ass, and the youngest nothing but the cat. Read in English, unabridged.

Once upon a time there was a village shop. The name over the window was Ginger and Pickles. The counter inside was a convenient height for rabbits. Ginger and Pickles sold red spotty pocket-handkerchiefs at a penny three farthings. They also sold sugar, and snuff and galoshes.

One morning a little rabbit sat on a bank. He pricked his ears and listened to the trit-trot, trit-trot of a pony. A gig was coming along the road; it was driven by Mr. McGregor, and beside him sat Mrs. McGregor in her best bonnet.

As soon as they had passed, little Benjamin Bunny slid down into the road, and set off - with a hop, skip, and a jump - to call upon his relations, who lived in the wood at the back of Mr. McGregor's garden.

A beautiful Christmas story of love, forgiveness and uneasy life. Set in Chicago on a bitterly cold Christmas night. William considers stealing both to satisfy his hunger and to find excitement in his dull life, but when a woman drops a parcel, he gives it to her instead of running off with it. He feels as if he is a failed thief, in the same manner as he has failed at everything - college, journalism, real estate, performing.

High above the city, on a tall column, stands the statue of the Happy Prince. He is gilded all over with thin leaves of fine gold, for eyes he has two bright sapphires, and a large red ruby glows on his sword hilt. He is very much admired by the town officials, yet a lot of poor people suffer here.

A collection of short stories from one of the most famous writers of very long novels, Leo Tolstoy, including: 'Ilyas', 'Little Girls Wiser Than Men' and 'The Coffee-House of Surat'.

'For man to be able to live, he must either not see the infinite, or have such an explanation of the meaning of life as will connect the finite with the infinite.' Read in English, unabridged.

Set in a magical kingdom where a wealthy prince and a Russian princess meet for the first time and fall madly in love with each other. Their wedding is to be a huge celebration for the entire realm, with all sorts of entertainment, including fireworks as a grand finale. As soon as various firework elements are set in place, they start talking amongst each other, and we meet the very distinguished Remarkable Rocket, responsible for so many of Oscar Wilde's memorable epigrams.

Listen to the story about two disagreeable people called Tommy Brock and Mr. Tod. Nobody could call Mr. Tod nice. The rabbits could not bear him; they could smell him half a mile off. He was of a wandering habit, and he had foxey whiskers; they never knew where he would be next. One day he was living in a stick-house in the coppice, causing terror to the family of old Mr. Benjamin Bouncer. Next day he moved into a pollard willow near the lake, frightening the wild ducks and the water rats. Read in English, unabridged.

Natalya Bronin is lying in her bedroom, her whole being abandoned to repose. She lies, deliciously drowsy, thinking of her little daughter, who lives somewhere far away with her grandmother or aunt. The child is more precious to her than the public, bouquets, notices in the papers, and adorers, and she would be glad to think about her till morning. She is happy, at peace, and all she longs for is not to be prevented from lying undisturbed, dozing and dreaming of her little girl. Read in English, unabridged.

Once upon a time, there was a man who had fine houses in both town and country, a deal of silver and gold plate, carved furniture, and coaches gilded all over. But, unhappily, this man had a blue beard, which made him so ugly and so terrible that all the women and girls ran away from him. Read in English, unabridged.

There was once a merchant who was very, very rich. He had six children, three boys and three girls, and as he was a man of good sense, he spared no expense in order that they might be well educated and gave them masters of every kind. His daughters were all beautiful, but his youngest one was especially admired, and from the time she was a small child had been known and spoken of only as Beauty. Read in English, unabridged.

Listen to the story of how mischievous Tom Kitten got himself into trouble with two very large rats that wanted to turn him into a dumpling. They smeared him with butter, and then they rolled him in dough. Read in English, unabridged.

The starways' Lone Watcher had expected some odd developments in his singular, nerve-fraught job on the asteroid. But nothing like the weird, twenty-one-day liquid test devised by the invading Steel-Blues. Unlike the usual style of audiobook, this release has a music and effects soundtrack backing the narration, giving it a radio play feel rather than a straightforward reading.

Smirnov is scared of being robbed. To compensate and deter the cabman from attacking him, he blusters on in a comical way about his fighting abilities, the three revolvers he doesn't have, and how a party of armed friends will join him soon.

I understood that when you love you must either, in your reasonings about that love, start from what is highest, from what is more important than happiness or unhappiness, sin or virtue in their accepted meaning, or you must not reason at all.