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Advice to Youth by Mark Twain

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Advice to Youth  by Mark Twain  The following is a lecture Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clemens) delivered to a group of young people, though the original location, date & occasion for the lecture is now unknown.  Being told I would be expected to talk here, I inquired what sort of talk I ought to make. They said it should be something suitable to youth-something didactic, instructive, or something in the nature of good advice. Very well. I have a few things in my mind which I have often longed to say for the instruction of the young; for it is in one’s tender early years that such things will best take root and be most enduring and most valuable. First, then. I will say to you my young friends -- and I say it beseechingly, urgently –  Always obey your parents, when they are present. This is the best policy in the long run, because if you don’t, they will make you. Most parents think they know better than you do, and you can generally make more by humoring that superst...
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Abhisar, The Tryst / Upagupta by Rabindranath Tagore

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Abhisar, The Tryst / Upagupta  by Rabindranath Tagore Upagupta, the disciple of Buddha, lay asleep on the dust by the city wall of Mathura. Lamps were all out, doors were all shut, and stars were all hidden by the murky sky of August. Whose feet were those tinkling with anklets, touching his breast of a sudden? He woke up startled, and the light from a woman’s lamp struck his forgiving eyes. It was Vasavadatta the dancing girl, starred with jewels, clouded with a pale-blue mantle, drunk with the wine of her youth. She lowered her lamp and saw the young face, austerely beautiful. “Forgive me, young ascetic,” said the woman; “graciously come to my house. The dusty earth is not a fit bed for you.” The young ascetic answered, “Woman, go on your way; when the time is ripe I will come to you.” Suddenly the black night showed its teeth in a flash of lightning. The storm growled from the corner of the sky, and the woman trembled in fear. A Year had not yet passed. It was evening of a day i...
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Location: Satna, Madhya Pradesh, India
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Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka

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Telephone Conversation  by Wole Soyinka PROSE PARAPHRASE – TELEPHONE CONVERSATION The speaker telephones a landlady to enquire about renting a house. The rent seems reasonable and the location is acceptable. The landlady tells him that she does not live on the premises, so there should be no problem. Everything appears to be settled. Before going to see the house, the speaker honestly informs her that he is African because he does not want to waste his time or hers by making an unnecessary journey. After hearing this, the landlady suddenly becomes silent. This silence is awkward and full of tension. It shows her hidden prejudice, though she pretends to be polite. When she finally speaks, her voice sounds artificial and affected, as if she is a fashionable woman holding a cigarette. Then she shockingly asks, “How dark are you? Are you light or very dark?” The speaker is stunned and offended. He realizes that he has been trapped by her racism. The red telephone booth, the red postbox...
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Location: Satna, Madhya Pradesh, India
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