From John Le Carré's Smiley's People: “More coffee, George?” “No, thank you, Peter. No, I don’t think so. No.” “They seem to have soup of some sort. Unless that was the coffee.” “Thank you, I think I’ve consumed about all I can manage,” said Smiley, in quite a general tone, as if anyone who wish...

I remember reading a fairy tale (I think it would be described as a fairy tale, but I could be misremembering something more like a nursery rhyme) about some foolish parents who had many children and gave them all the same name so they wouldn't have to remember each one. I don't remember what the...

"The Ruin" is a poem in Old English by an unknown poet, preserved in The Exeter Book. It reflects on the fall of civilizations, and was likely inspired by the ruins of Roman Bath. But the poem is damaged - two passages are lost to a burn mark. Translations are freely available - you can read one ...

Atlas’ daughter it is who holds Odysseus captive, luckless man—despite his tears, forever trying to spellbind his heart with suave, seductive words and wipe all thought of Ithaca from his mind. But he, straining for no more than a glimpse of hearth-smoke drifting up from his own land, Odysseus l...

I once read that the Tombs of Atuan were based on a real archaeology site Le Guin had visited as a child. The article did state which site is was, but I cannot find that article now or remember the name of the site. I think it was somewhere around the Mediterranean. The site was buried and possib...