Fabian Perez Venice painting

Fabian Perez Venice paintingFabian Perez Tango painting
don' think there is, Hermione," choked Hagrid, attempting to stem the flood of his tears. "See, the rest o' the tribe ... Aragog's family . . . they're gettin' a bit funny now he's ill... bit restive ..."
"Yeah, I think we saw a bit of that side of them," said Ron in an undertone.
"... I don' reckon it'd be safe fer anyone but me ter go near the colony at the mo'," Hagrid finished, blowing his nose hard on his apron and looking up. "But thanks fer offerin', Hermione. ... It means a lot."
After that, the atmosphere lightened considerably, for although neither Harry nor Ron had shown any inclination to go and feed giant grubs to a murderous, gargantuan spider, Hagrid seemed to take it for granted that they would have liked to have done and became his usual self once more.
"Ar, I always knew yeh'd find it hard ter squeeze me inter yer timetables," he said gruffly, pouring them more tea. "Even if yeh applied fer Time-Turners —"

Frida Kahlo Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace painting

Frida Kahlo Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace paintingFrida Kahlo Self Portrait with Necklace painting
We'll go down after Quidditch," Harry assured her. He too was missing Hagrid, although like Ron he thought that they were better off without Grawp in their lives. "But trials might take all morning, the number of people who have applied." He felt slightly nervous at confronting the first hurdle of his Captaincy. "I dunno why the team's this popular all of a sudden."
"Oh, come on, Harry," said Hermione, suddenly impatient. "It's not Quidditch that's popular, it's you! You've never been more interesting, and frankly, you've never been more fanciable."
Ron gagged on a large piece of kipper. Hermione spared him one look of disdain before turning back to Harry.
"Everyone knows you've been telling the truth now, don't they? The whole Wizarding world has had to admit that you were right about Voldemort being back and that you really have fought him twice in the

Thomas Kinkade spirit of xmas painting

Thomas Kinkade spirit of xmas paintingThomas Kinkade Serenity Cove painting
heard you the first time!" snapped Gaunt. "And so what? Morfin gave a Muggle a bit of what was coming to him — what about it, then?"
"Morfin has broken Wizarding law," said Ogden sternly.
"'Morfin has broken Wizarding law.'" Gaunt imitated Ogden’s voice, making it pompous and singsong. Morfin cackled again. "He taught a filthy Muggle a lesson, that's illegal now, is it?"
"Yes," said Ogden. "I'm afraid it is."
He pulled from an inside pocket a small scroll of parchment and unrolled it.
"What's that, then, his sentence?" said Gaunt, his voice rising angrily.
"It is a summons to the Ministry for a hearing —"
"Summons! Summons? Who do you think you are, summoning my son anywhere?"
"I'm Head of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad," said Ogden.

Tamara de Lempicka Women at the Bath painting

Tamara de Lempicka Women at the Bath paintingTamara de Lempicka Girl Sleeping paintingTamara de Lempicka Femme a la Colombe painting
And in fact, their departure the following morning was smoother than usual. The Ministry cars glided up to the front of the Burrow to find them waiting, trunks packed; Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, safely enclosed in his traveling basket; and Hedwig; Ron's owl, Pig-widgeon; and Ginny's new purple Pygmy Puff, Arnold, in cages.
"Au revoir, 'Any," said Fleur throatily, kissing him good-bye. Ron hurried forward, looking hopeful, but Ginny stuck out her foot and Ron fell, sprawling in the dust at Fleur's feet. Furious, red-faced, and dirt-spattered, he hurried into the car without saying good-bye.
There was no cheerful Hagrid waiting for them at King's Cross Station. Instead, two grim-faced, bearded Aurors in dark Muggle suits moved forward the moment the cars stopped and, flanking the party, marched them into the station without speaking.
"Quick, quick, through the barrier," said Mrs. Weasley, who
seemed a little flustered by this austere efficiency. "Harry had better go first, with…"

Thomas Kinkade Graceland painting

Thomas Kinkade Graceland paintingThomas Kinkade Fisherman's Wharf paintingThomas Kinkade Cobblestone Bridge painting
And our Decoy Detonators are just walking off the shelves, look," said Fred, pointing at a number of weird-looking black horn-type objects that were indeed attempting to scurry out of sight. "You just drop one surreptitiously and it'll run off and make a nice loud noise out of sight, giving you a diversion if you need one.
"Handy," said Harry, impressed.
"Here," said George, catching a couple and throwing them to Harry.
A young witch with short blonde hair poked her head around the curtain; Harry saw that she too was wearing magenta staff robes.
"There's a customer out here looking for a joke cauldron, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley," she said.
Harry found it very odd to hear Fred and George called "Mr. Weasley," but they took it in their stride.

Guido Reni Baptism of Christ painting

Guido Reni Baptism of Christ painting
Guido Reni reni Aurora painting
from his aunt, uncle, and cousin was one that he was able to contemplate quite cheerfully but there was nevertheless a certain awkwardness in the air. What did you say to one another at the end of sixteen years' solid dislike?

　　　Back in his bedroom, Harry fiddled aimlessly with his rucksack then poked a couple of owl nuts through the bats of Hedwig's cage. They fell with dull thuds to the bottom where she ignored them.

　　　"We're leaving soon, really soon," Harry told her. "And then you'll be able to fly again."

　　　The doorbell rang. Harry hesitated, then headed back out of his room and downstairs. It was too much to expect Hestia and Dedalus to cope with the Dursleys on their own.

　　　"Harry Potter!" squeaked an excited

Raphael The Holy Family painting

Raphael The Holy Family painting
William Bouguereau The Broken Pitcher painting
"Exactly – he's the best!" said Uncle Vernon, pointing at the blank television screen. The Dursleys had spotted Kingsley on the news, walking along the Muggle Prime Minister as he visited a hospital. This, and the fact that Kingsley had mastered the knack of dressing like a Muggle, not to mention a certain reassuring something in his slow, deep voice, had caused the Dursleys to take to Kingsley in a way that they had certainly not done with any other wizard, although it was true that they had never seen him with earring in.

　　　"Well, he's taken," said Harry. "But Hestia Jones and Dedalus Diggle are more than up to the job –"

　　　"If we'd even seen CVs…" began Uncle Vernon, but Harry lost patience. Getting to his feet, he advanced on his uncle, not pointing at the TV set himself.

Gustav Klimt Hope painting

Gustav Klimt Hope painting
Claude Monet The Seine At Argenteuil painting
This left a sizable stack of newspapers sitting on his desk beside his snowy owl, Hedwig: one for each of the days Harry had spent at Privet Drive this summer.

　　　He got up off the floor, stretched, and moved across to his desk. Hedwig made no movement as he began to flick through newspapers, throwing them into the rubbish pile one by one. The owl was asleep or else faking; she was angry with Harry about the limited amount of time she was allowed out of her cage at the moment.

　　　As he neared the bottom of the pile of newspapers, Harry slowed down, searching for one particular issue that he knew had arrived shortly after

Vincent van Gogh Self Portrait painting

Vincent van Gogh Self Portrait painting
Vincent van Gogh Sunflowers painting
the universe all other pursuit. I think there are many persons who look upon this new birth of our times as a sort of monster rising out of the sea of modern thought with the purpose of devouring the Andromeda of art. And now and then a Perseus, equipped with the shoes of swiftness of the ready writer, with the cap of invisibility of the editorial article, and it may be with the Medusa head of vituperation, shows himself ready to try conclusions with the scientific dragon. Sir, I hope that Perseus will think better of it; first, for his own sake, because the creature is hard of head, strong of jaw, and for some time past has shown a great capacity for going over and through whatever comes in his way: and secondly, for the sake of justice, for I assure you, of my own personal knowledge that if left alone, the creature is a very debonair

Pablo Picasso The Old Guitarist painting

Pablo Picasso The Old Guitarist painting
Pablo Picasso Girl Before a Mirror painting
12, 1947.Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, members of the Congress of the United States:The gravity of the situation which confronts the world today necessitates my appearance before a grand session of the Congress. The foreign policy and the national security of this country are involved. One aspect of the present situation which I present to you at this time for your consideration and decision concerns Greece and TurkeyThe United States has received from the Greek government an urgent appeal for financia1 and economic assistance. Preliminary report from the American Economic Mission now in Greece, and reports from the American ambassador in Greece, collaborate the statement of the Greek government that assistance is imperative if Greece is to survive as a free nation. I do not

Vincent van Gogh Wheatfield with Crows painting

Vincent van Gogh Wheatfield with Crows painting
Vincent van Gogh Roses painting
New Season Of American Renewal(2)To renew America we must revitalize our democracy. This beautiful capital, like every capital since the dawn of civilization, is often a place of intrigue and calculation. Powerful people maneuver for position and worry endlessly about who is in and who is out, who is up and who is down, forgetting those people whose toil and sweat sends us here and pays our way.Americans deserve better, and in this city today there are people who want to do better. And so I say to all of you here, let us resolve to reform our politics so that power and privilege no longer shout down the voice of the people. Let us put aside personal advantage so that we can feel the pain and see the promise of America. Let us resolve to make our Government a place for what Franklin Roosevelt called bold, persistent experimentation, a Government for our tomorrow, not our yesterdays. Let us give this capital back to the people to whom it belongs.

Gustav Klimt Danae painting

Gustav Klimt Danae painting
Salvador Dali The Rose painting
members -- Emma Bunton, Victoria Beckham, Melanie C and Melanie B -- have enjoyed solo success since they last toured as a group and have come together with a restrained, softer R&B sound. The Spice Girls, who first stormed pop charts in 1996, have lost much of the teen and pre-teen market to countless imitators who filled the void in their absence. But the group, which has scored eight No. 1 hits in Britain and sold more than 35 million albums worldwide, have matured along with their original fans. In 1999, "Scary Spice," Melanie C, gave birth to a daughter, while "Posh Spice," Victoria Beckham, had a son. Victoria married football star David Beckham later that year. The group's new single, a double-A side, offers fans a more sedate sound.

Claude Monet The Picnic painting

Claude Monet The Picnic painting
Claude Monet Sunset painting
Though the ad cannot be seen by the human eye, "we've proved it can be done," Newport said.To create the ad, scientists used a laser to layer evaporated gold onto a piece of film through a stencil reading "guinnessworldrecords.com." The film then was mounted on a band and fitted to the bee's knee. Why a bee’s knee?"Because of that play on words, to be the business, to be the bee's knees, to be the best," Newport said Wednesday.He said the new advertisement breaks the existing record for the world's smallest ad, which had been a 0.67-inch by 0.47-inch notice published last year in Brazil's Vossa Senhoria, the world's smallest newspaper.

Turner The Grand Canal Venice painting

Turner The Grand Canal Venice painting
John Singer Sargent El Jaleo painting
The suspect, Michael McDermott, 42, was set to be arraigned on murder charges on Wednesday, officials said.McDermott, described as a 300-pound man with a big beard, reported for work Tuesday at Edgewater Technology's corporate headquarters armed with a loaded AK-47 assault rifle, a shotgun and a semiautomatic handgun, police said.At about 11 a.m. he allegedly walked through the office building and fatally shot seven co-workers at a firm undergoing a major reorganization in the latest of a series of mass shootings in the United States."I thought I was going to die," a 29-year-old Edgewater worker, who declined to give his name, told Reuters. He was one of up to 70 people who were at work in the building at the time, officials said.

Rembrandt Samson And Delilah painting

Rembrandt Samson And Delilah painting
Guido Reni The Archangel Michael painting
Some traders already had speculated the central bank would cut interest rates before then, especially if crucial employment numbers due on Friday point to more worrisome signs of an economic slowdown. But very few were expecting the mid-week Fed announcement. "People were caught off guard, it hit the wires and there was no warning, and if you were not looking at the screen, it cost you money either in lost opportunity or by the market moving so quickly," Coolidge said. The Nasdaq was lifted by a surge in the shares of heavyweights like Internet gear makers Cisco Systems Inc. and Juniper Networks and software giant Microsoft Corp, among others. Cisco, up $8 at $41-5/16, was the most actively traded issue on Nasdaq, while Juniper rose $29-7/16 to $132, for a gain of more than 28 percent.

Albert Bierstadt Autumn in America Oneida County New York painting

Albert Bierstadt Autumn in America Oneida County New York painting
Steve Hanks Reflecting painting

Electronic picture frames let you look at your digital images in a whole new way. You can choose which pictures you'd like to look at, in what order, for how long.
Dec. 6 — Images are going high-tech everywhere you look, and bit by bit, picture frames have been getting in on the act.Whether you snap black-and-white photographs with your 35 mm or zap pictures with your digital camera, electronic picture frames offer a high-tech way to showcase your images. Copping a traditional design, these devices let you display more than an album's worth of pictures one frame at a time. As long as you have access to a scanner or a digital camera, you can mount your photos in one of these frames and create a virtual slide show of the images you choose

Pino Soft Light painting

Pino Soft Light painting
Pino Mystic Dreams painting
That record-setting haul - three golds, two bronzes - in a personally stormy month Down Under was enough for Jones to be chosen as The Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year. In balloting by sports writers and broadcasters, Jones received 27 first-place votes and 111 points, edging tennis star Venus Williams, runner-up with 161/2 firsts and 1041/2 points. Golfer Karrie Webb was third with 30 points. Points were awarded on a 3-2-1 basis. Jones, 24, was the 10th woman track-and-field athlete to win the honor since the award was inaugurated in 1931, and the first since the late Florence Griffith Joyner in 1988. The imperturbable Jones earned golds in the 100 and 200 meters and the 1,600 relay, the bronzes in the long jump and 400 relay. "I set out to do something that a lot of people thought I couldn't

Il'ya Repin paintings

Il'ya Repin paintings
Igor V.Babailov paintings

BRUSSELS, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Angry farmers clashed with riot police on Monday ahead of European Union talks over the dual threat to livestock businesses from mad cow and foot-and-mouth disease.
Police, who set up a ring of steel around the EU headquarters, fired water cannon to disperse protesters trying to break down barbed-wire barriers.Some arrests were made.The farmers fear the crises, which both originated in Britain, could have a devastating effect on already squeezed farm incomes.They want compensation to cover the cost of measures introduced by the EU to tackle bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease

Dancer painting

Dancer painting
field painting
Brown, speaking to the House of Commons, also said the government would seek permission from the European Union to use a vaccination against the disease. But he stressed this measure would be taken only if and when the government chose to add vaccination to its control measures. His comments came after British Prime Minister Tony Blair hinted his government could reverse a long-standing policy and begin vaccinating livestock against foot-and-mouth disease. The government has so far resisted vaccination because countries that resort to vaccinations lose their foot-and-mouth-free status, with potentially devastating results for their meat and livestock exports.

Jean-Leon Gerome paintings

Jean-Leon Gerome paintings
Lorenzo Lotto paintings

There's a 69,000 seat stadium in Baltimore that could have your name on it.
To be precise, that would be the venue currently known as PSINet Stadium, home of the Super Bowl champion Ravens.Two years ago, PSINet, a large Internet access provider, signed a 20-year, $105.5 million deal for naming rights to the stadium — the kind of deal companies make in hopes that the teams they back will win and win big, earning the sponsor plenty of valuable publicity.So with the Ravens having whipped the Giants 34-7 in January's Super Bowl to become world champs, Virginia-based PSINet would seem to have hit the jackpot. In the second week of next season, for instance, the stadium will be the setting as Baltimore hosts Minnesota in a prime-time showdown

Johannes Vermeer Girl with a Pearl Earring painting

Johannes Vermeer Girl with a Pearl Earring painting
Howard Behrens Bellagio Promenade painting
Teresa Joel, a hostess at the Atlanta Olympics, remembered the prince as a man bogged down by family responsibilities. "He felt like he was misunderstood by his family," she told iCanSay.com. "And they had certain expectations of him that he wasn't quite sure he could fulfill." A Shakespearean TragedyBy most accounts, Dipendra's romance with Devyani Rana, a beautiful 23-year-old of royal stock, brought the clash between free will and family responsibility to a flashpoint. The two traveled abroad together frequently, where they were seen holding hands. But pressure from Queen Aishwarya — herself a member of the Rana clan, a powerful family in the subcontinent of which Devyani is a part, — reportedly caused the prince to snap.

Guillaume Seignac L'Abandon painting

Guillaume Seignac L'Abandon painting
Claude Monet Woman In A Green Dress painting
of a family that traces its ancestry to the founder of the nation. Dipendra — or "Dippy" as he was known to friends at Eton, where he schooled — was a bit of a "partyboy." Classmates at Eton described Dippy as a boy with a temper who often showed off a loaded revolver he had in his room. Helicopters, fast cars and poetry were his indulgences and some friends fondly recalled how the young prince hid bottles of alcohol brought in by his faithful bodyguards. He returned to Nepal to assume his responsibilities after graduating from Eton, responsibilities that included heading the Nepali Olympic delegation to the 1996 Atlanta Games and the 2000 Sydney Games.

Rembrandt Christ In The Storm painting

Rembrandt Christ In The Storm painting
Claude Monet The Red Boats painting
balance between the demand for and supply of water by expanding water sources and encouraging water saving.Beijing has already had 80 percent of urban garbage safely disposed of at present. By 2007, the amount will increase to 100 percent. At the same time, 50 percent of the domestic waste will be sorted before being collected and 30 percent will be recycled.Trees will cover 70 percent of Beijing's mountainous areas by 2007. It will also develop more than 23,000 hectares of green belts along the major rivers and roads and 12,000 hectares of forest strips to separate the city from the surrounding countryside.Beijing will restructure its key industries and let the 200 industrial enterprises in the downtown area shift production or move out so as to reduce the amount of pollution in the urban areas

Jehan Georges Vibert paintings

Jehan Georges Vibert paintings
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot paintings
Serena reached Saturday's championship match by beating the world's top-ranked player, Martina Hingis in Friday's semifinals, before Venus eliminated No. 2 Jennifer Capriati, with proud papa Richard snapping photographs from the stands all the while. It wasn't too surprising that one Williams or the other might reach the final here - Serena won the 1999 Open, and Venus did last year. Their seedings (Venus at No. 4, Serena at No. 10) suffer, though, because they don't play as often as other stars. Sisters Sledgehammer also are celebrities, gracing Time magazine's cover last week and earning millions in endorsement deals with companies such as Revlon and Wrigley Doublemint gum. They play a none-too-subtle, power-driven style of tennis that was not to be found in 1884, when Maud Watson beat her younger sibling

Arthur Hughes paintings

Arthur Hughes paintings
Albert Bierstadt paintings
want to do something and reach out this way," says Bob Garfield of Advertising Age. "That's fine, but when you start exploiting the situation to promote your brand, it becomes gross opportunism."Zero Financing, Zero ProfitsRecent ad campaigns have done everything from the big three automakers' Chrysler, Ford and General Motors' offers of special zero percent financing on automobiles to American Express' call to support businesses in downtown Manhattan. Others, like AT&T Wireless' billboard proclaiming, "You Do Us Proud New York, New York" over an apple-shaped American flag, simply offer words of encouragement.The Big Three campaigns have drawn particular attention from critics like Garfield, who scoff at the notion of using patriotism to sell cars. Ford is using the tagline "Ford Drives America" while General Motors is urging consumers to "Keep America Rolling."

painting in oil

painting in oil
oil painting for sale
M. K. Holder, a biological anthropologist at Indiana University in Bloomington, has found no right-handed majority among primates in the wild and argues the artificial environment of captivity and the presence of human influences likely change behavior. "When animals are housed in artificial social and environmental conditions, eat atypical foods and perform artificial tasks, this can affect behavior," she said. Humans Not Unique?But recently new evidence has been mounting that people aren't alone in favoring one side. A study on humpback whales shows these advanced mammals favor their right sides when snatching prey and when slapping the sea surface. A study on toads found the creatures mostly used their right legs when removing a plastic balloon that researchers had wrapped around their heads. And scientists have found Australian cockatoos appear overwhelmingly left-footed.

Dancer painting

Dancer painting
field painting

'Home on the Range' may be the last hand-drawn film for the Walt Disney Company.In fact, most of Disney's recent hand-drawn animated films have not been successful...
'Home on the Range' may be the last hand-drawn film for the Walt Disney Company.In fact, most of Disney's recent hand-drawn animated films have not been successful. Disney's film studio is under pressure in its animation division, having cut back staff and ended a partnership with Pixar Animation Studios Inc., which established new computer-animated movies like the $850 million global box office hit "Finding Nemo."Moreover, most of the industry is moving in the direction of computer animation. "It is where things are going," studio chief Dick Cook said.

Village painting

Village painting
wine painting

The elderly patients suffer from severe dementia, but their faces light up when they see the dog-shaped robot in soft clothing walk around the hospital floor...
The elderly patients suffer from severe dementia, but their faces light up when they see the dog-shaped robot in soft clothing walking around the hospital floor, swinging the body from one side to the other"It's cute," one female patient cries out.This is in one robot-therapy session at a Japanese hospital. Robots there serve not just as helpers -- carrying out simple chores and reminding patients to take their medication -- but also as companions, even if the machines can carry on only a simulation of a real dialogue. Such "partner" robots bring the ideal results: huge savings in medical costs, reduced burdens on family and caretakers, and old and sick people kept in better health.

Leonardo da Vinci Mona Lisa Smile painting

Leonardo da Vinci Mona Lisa Smile painting
Yvonne Jeanette Karlsen Eva painting

The Habo No. 1 looks like any one of the Volkswagen sedans in China. But can you guess why it's different from other cars? It is fueled not by gas but hydrogen peroxide. This car only emits ...
The Habo No. 1 looks like any one of the Volkswagen sedans in China. But the mystery is it is fueled not by gas but hydrogen peroxide. This car only emits water vapor and oxygen.The Habo was shown at an exhibition of ecologically friendly cars outside Shanghai. It was among 150 experimental and advanced-technology vehicles on display.The event reflects China's growing awareness of the dark side of its love affair with the car — dependence on imported oil, traffic-choked roads, cities awash in smog.

Diego Rivera Portrait of Natasha Zakolkowa Gelman painting

Diego Rivera Portrait of Natasha Zakolkowa Gelman painting
Vincent van Gogh The Starry Night painting

These days, increasingly, men are paying more attention to their appearance and going to great lengths to improve it — even if it means going under the knife...
These days, increasingly, men are paying more attention to their appearance and going to great lengths to improve it — even if it means going under the knife.Steve Tauber took notice of the growing trend and decided it was time to do something about his pockmarks and baggy eyes. "If I'm going to be 45, I want to look the best I can at 45," said Tauber. He hopes a laser facial procedure will help him both in the dating world and the professional world.The number of men undergoing plastic surgery each year is on the rise, with rhinoplasty (better known as a nose job), chin implants and less invasive procedures such as Botox injections and chemical peels especially popular

childe hassam paintings

childe hassam paintings
Cheri Blum paintings
why are U.S. soldiers rare sights in the Kurdish north? In part, it's because they're not needed. Kurdish troops known as peshmerga are responsible for keeping order, and do. Yet soldiers don't even go to the Jiyan Hotel anymore for R&R; they go to Kuwait and Qatar instead. And you might think the Americans could use a base in a stable area, if only to focus a little attention there. So what gives? The answer goes a long way toward explaining the delicacy of the U.S. position. America can't afford to accept the offers of its friends in Iraq any more than it can bow to the demands of its enemies—at least not yet.The Kurds' proffered hospitality is not altruistic. They have a long history of being massacred by their neighbors and betrayed by their friends (including the United States). Since 1991, however, the Americans have provided fairly consistent protection, and the Kurds have developed their economy and their fledgling democracy. Since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003, many have dared to dream of an even closer alliance that would serve to protect them further.

John Singer Sargent paintings

John Singer Sargent paintings
Jean-Leon Gerome paintings
you're just a child. It'll come to you, this love of the land. There's no getting away from it if you're Irish.(Next day, the O'Haras drive to Twelve Oaks for the barbeque there.)Mr. O'HARA: Well, John Wilkes. It's a grand day you'll be having for the barbecue.JOHN WILKES: So it seems, Gerald. Why isn't Mrs. 0' Hara with you?Mr. O'HARA: She's after settling accounts with the overseer, but she'll be along for the ball tonight.INDIA: Welcome to Twelve Oaks, Mr. O'Hara.Mr.O'HARA: : Thank you kindly, India. Your daughter is getting prettier everyday, John.JOHN WILKES: Oh, India, here are the O'Hara girls, we must greet them.INDIA: Can't stand that Scarlett. If you'd see the way she throws herself at Ashley.JOHN WILKES: Now, now, that's your brother's business

Andrew Atroshenko The Passion of Music painting

Andrew Atroshenko The Passion of Music painting
Vincent van Gogh Starry Night over the Rhone painting
camp; I took Sir Henry with me, and we walked to the top of the slope opposite and gazed out across the desert. The air was very clear, and far, far away I could distinguish the faint blue outlines, here and there capped with white, of the great Suliman Berg.
"There," I said, "there is the wall of Solomon's Mines, but God knows if we shall ever climb it."
"My brother should be there, and if he is I shall reach him somehow," said Sir Henry, in that tone of quiet confidence which marked the man.
"I hope so," I answered, and turned to go back to the camp, when I saw that we were not alone. Behind us, also gazing earnestly towards the far-off mountains, was the great Zulu, Umbopa.
The Zulu spoke when he saw that I had observed him, but addressed himself to Sir Henry, to whom he had attached himself.
"Is it to that land that thou wouldst journey, `Incubu?" (a native word meaning, I believe, an elephant, and the name given to Sir Henry by the Kaffirs) he said, pointing towards the mountains with his broad assegai.

Jeffrey T.Larson paintings

Jeffrey T.Larson paintings
Jean-Paul Laurens paintings
am sure we are very glad--and we wish you all possible happiness," said Anne, very flatly and inadequately, as she felt. She was not prepared for such an occasion. She had never imagined herself offering betrothal felicitations to Miss Cornelia.
"Thanks, I knew you would," said Miss Cornelia. "You are the first of my friends to know it."
"We shall be so sorry to lose you, though, dear Miss Cornelia," said Anne, beginning to be a little sad and sentimental.
"Oh, you won't lose me," said Miss Cornelia unsentimentally. "You don't suppose I would live over harbor with all those MacAllisters and Elliotts and Crawfords, do you? `From the conceit of the Elliotts, the pride of the MacAllisters and the vain-glory of the Crawfords, good Lord deliver us.' Marshall is coming to live at my place. I'm sick and tired of hired men. That Jim Hastings I've got this summer is positively the worst of the species. He would drive anyone to getting married. What do you think? He upset the churn yesterday and spilled a big churning of cream over the yard. And not one whit concerned about it was he! Just gave a foolish laugh and said cream was good for the land. Wasn't that like a man? I told him I wasn't in the habit of fertilising my back yard with cream."

James Jacques Joseph Tissot The Bunch of Violets painting

James Jacques Joseph Tissot The Bunch of Violets painting
John William Godward Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder painting
that dreadful way about you again. Talking it all out seems to have done away with it, somehow. It's very strange --and I thought it so real and bitter. It's like opening the door of a dark room to show some hideous creature you've believed to be there--and when the light streams in your monster turns out to have been just a shadow, vanishing when the light comes. It will never come between us again."
"No, we are real friends now, Leslie, and I am very glad."
"I hope you won't misunderstand me if I say something else. Anne, I was grieved to the core of my heart when you lost your baby; and if I could have saved her for you by cutting off one of my hands I would have done it. But your sorrow has brought us closer together. Your perfect happiness isn't a barrier any longer. Oh, don't misunderstand, dearest--I'm not glad that your happiness isn't perfect any longer--I can say that sincerely; but since it isn't, there isn't such a gulf between us."

childe hassam At the Piano painting

childe hassam At the Piano painting
Martin Johnson Heade A Magnolia on Red Velvet painting
wouldn't talk like that, Leslie, dearie," said Miss Cornelia deprecatingly. She was afraid that the dignified Miss Cuthbert would think Leslie quite terrible.
Anne's convalescence was long, and made bitter for her by many things. The bloom and sunshine of the Four Winds world grated harshly on her; and yet, when the rain fell heavily, she pictured it beating so mercilessly down on that little grave across the harbor; and when the wind blew around the eaves she heard sad voices in it she had never heard before.
Kindly callers hurt her, too, with the well-meant platitudes with which they strove to cover the nakedness of bereavement. A letter from Phil Blake was an added sting. Phil had heard of the baby's birth, but not of its death, and she wrote Anne a congratulatory letter of sweet mirth which hurt her horribly.
"I would have laughed over it so happily if I had my baby," she sobbed to Marilla. "But when I haven't it just seems like wanton cruelty--though I know Phil wouldn't

Peder Severin Kroyer paintings

Peder Severin Kroyer paintings
Pieter de Hooch paintings
The Irvings came back to Echo Lodge for the summer, and Anne spent a happy three weeks there in July. Miss Lavendar had not changed; Charlotta the Fourth was a very grown-up young lady now, but still adored Anne sincerely.
"When all's said and done, Miss Shirley, ma'am, I haven't seen any one in Boston that's equal to you," she said frankly.
Paul was almost grown up, too. He was sixteen, his chestnut curls had given place to close-cropped brown locks, and he was more interested in football than fairies. But the bond between him and his old teacher still held. Kindred spirits alone do not change with changing years.
It was a wet, bleak, cruel evening in July when

oil painting from picture

oil painting from picture
famous painting
anything I could do. Mother died when we'd been going together for eight years. I thought he maybe would speak out then, seeing as I was left alone in the world. He was real kind and feeling, and did everything he could for me, but he never said marry. And that's the way it has been going on ever since. People blame ME for it. They say I won't marry him because his mother is so sickly and I don't want the bother of waiting on her. Why, I'd LOVE to wait on John's mother! But I let them think so. I'd rather they'd blame me than pity me! It's so dreadful humiliating that John won't ask me. And WHY won't he? Seems to me if I only knew his reason I wouldn't mind it so much."
"Perhaps his mother doesn't want him to marry anybody," suggested Anne.
"Oh, she does. She's told me time and again that she'd love to see John settled before her time comes. She's always giving him hints -- you heard her yourself the other day. I thought I'd ha' gone through the floor."
"It's beyond me," said Anne helplessly. She thought of Ludovic Speed. But the cases were not parallel. John Douglas was not a man of Ludovic's type.

Frederic Edwin Church Landscape in the Adirondacks painting

Frederic Edwin Church Landscape in the Adirondacks painting
Pierre Auguste Renoir The Boating Party Lunch I painting
But tonight Anne did not feel this so keenly. Ruby was strangely quiet. She said not a word about parties and drives and dresses and "fellows." She lay in the hammock, with her untouched work beside her, and a white shawl wrapped about her thin shoulders. Her long yellow braids of hair -- how Anne had envied those beautiful braids in old schooldays! -- lay on either side of her. She had taken the pins out -- they made her head ache, she said. The hectic flush was gone for the time, leaving her pale and childlike.
The moon rose in the silvery sky, empearling the clouds around her. Below, the pond shimmered in its hazy radiance. Just beyond the Gillis homestead was the church, with the old graveyard beside it. The moonlight shone on the white stones, bringing them out in clear-cut relief against the dark trees behind.
"How strange the graveyard looks by moonlight!" said Ruby suddenly. "How ghostly

Howard Behrens Lake Como Landing painting

Howard Behrens Lake Como Landing painting
Gustav Klimt Beethoven Frieze painting
course not," he admitted sulkily.
"`Tomcat' isn't a holy word. I wouldn't mention such an animal before a minister at all."
"But if you had to?" persisted Dora.
"I'd call it a Thomas pussy," said Davy.
"_I_ think `gentleman cat' would be more polite," reflected Dora.
"YOU thinking!" retorted Davy with withering scorn.
Davy was not feeling comfortable, though he would have died before he admitted it to Dora. Now that the exhilaration of truant delights had died away, his conscience was beginning to give him salutary twinges. After all, perhaps it would have been better to have gone to Sunday School and church. Mrs. Lynde might be bossy; but there was always a box of cookies in her kitchen cupboard

Johannes Vermeer girl with the pearl earring painting

Johannes Vermeer girl with the pearl earring painting
Claude Monet Girls In A Boat painting
and telling them how they all had behaved, and casting up all the quarrels and scandals of the past ten years. Finally she wound up by saying that she was disgusted with Spencervale church and she never meant to darken its door again, and she hoped a fearful judgment would come upon it. Then she sat down out of breath, and the minister, who hadn't heard a word she said, immediately remarked, in a very devout voice, `amen! The Lord grant our dear sister's prayer!' You ought to hear father tell the story."
"Speaking of stories, Diana," remarked Anne, in a significant, confidential tone, "do you know that lately I have been wondering if I could write a short story -- a story that would be good enough to be published?"
"Why, of course you could," said Diana, after she had grasped the amazing suggestion. "You used to write perfectly thrilling stories years ago in our old Story Club."
"Well, I hardly meant one of that kind of stories," smiled Anne. "I've been thinking about

Pino Tuscan Stroll painting

Pino Tuscan Stroll painting
Yvonne Jeanette Karlsen By the sea painting
dinner bell which had adorned the dining room mantel. Paul's only motive was to make a joyful noise; but as the clangor died away, from point and curve and hill across the river came the chime of "fairy wedding bells," ringing clearly, sweetly, faintly and more faint, as if Miss Lavendar's beloved echoes were bidding her greeting and farewell. And so, amid this benediction of sweet sounds, Miss Lavendar drove away from the old life of dreams and make-believes to a fuller life of realities in the busy world beyond.
Two hours later Anne and Charlotta the Fourth came down the lane again. Gilbert had gone to West Grafton on an errand and Diana had to keep an engagement at home. Anne and Charlotta had come back to put things in order and lock up the little stone house. The garden was a pool of late golden sunshine, with butterflies hovering and bees booming; but the little house had already that indefinable air of desolation which always follows a festivity.
"Oh dear me, don't it look lonesome?" sniffed Charlotta the Fourth, who

Louis Aston Knight A Bend in the River painting

Louis Aston Knight A Bend in the River painting
Albert Bierstadt Autumn in America Oneida County New York painting
I hope that he'll marry Miss Lavendar," was Charlotta's unequivocal response. "Some women's intended from the start to be old maids, and I'm afraid I'm one of them, Miss Shirley, ma'am, because I've awful little patience with the men. But Miss Lavendar never was. And I've been awful worried, thinking what on earth she'd do when I got so big I'd have to go to Boston. There ain't any more girls in our family and dear knows what she'd do if she got some stranger that might laugh at her pretendings and leave things lying round out of their place and not be willing to be called Charlotta the Fifth. She might get someone who wouldn't be as unlucky as me in breaking dishes but she'd never get anyone who'd love her better."
And the faithful little handmaiden dashed to the oven door with a sniff.
They went through the form of having tea as usual that night at Echo Lodge; but nobody really ate anything. After tea Miss Lavendar went to her room and put on her new forget-me-not organdy, while Anne did her hair for her. Both were dreadfully excited; but Miss Lavendar pretended to be very

Claude Monet The Red Boats Argenteuil painting

Claude Monet The Red Boats Argenteuil painting
Leonardo da Vinci the picture of the last supper painting
Jane will do her duty, I've no doubt," said Mrs. Andrews rather stiffly. "I don't suppose she'll tell the children quite so many fairy tales or spend so much time roaming about the woods with them. But she has her name on the Inspector's Roll of Honor and the Newbridge people are in a terrible state over her leaving."
"I'm real glad Anne is going to college," said Mrs. Bell. "She has always wanted it and it will be a splendid thing for her."
"Well, I don't know." Mrs. Andrews was determined not to agree fully with anybody that day. "I don't see that Anne needs any more education. She'll probably be marrying Gilbert Blythe, if his infatuation for her lasts till he gets through college, and what good will Latin and Greek do her then? If they taught you at college how to manage a man there might be some sense in her going."
Mrs. Harmon Andrews, so Avonlea gossip whispered, had never learned how to manage her

Andreas Achenbach paintings

Andreas Achenbach paintings
Alphonse Maria Mucha paintings
Perfectly sure, dear heart."
"Then I won't worry," said Paul, with a long breath of relief, "especially as I really think Mary Joe will listen to reason. She's not a naturally unreasonable person, but she has learned by experience that it doesn't do to disobey Grandma's orders. Grandma is an excellent woman but people must do as she tells them. She was very much pleased with me this morning because I managed at last to eat all my plateful of porridge. It was a great effort but I succeeded. Grandma says she thinks she'll make a man of me yet. But, teacher, I want to ask you a very important question. You will answer it truthfully, won't you?"
"I'll try," promised Anne.
"Do you think I'm wrong in my upper story?" asked Paul, as if his very existence depended on her reply.

Stephen Gjertson paintings

Stephen Gjertson paintings
Sir Henry Raeburn paintings
Anne," said Davy, sitting up in bed and propping his chin on his hands, "Anne, where is sleep? People go to sleep every night, and of course I know it's the place where I do the things I dream, but I want to know where it is and how I get there and back without knowing anything about it. . .and in my nighty too. Where is it?"
Anne was kneeling at the west gable window watching the sunset sky that was like a great flower with petals of crocus and a heart of fiery yellow. She turned her head at Davy's question and answered dreamily, "`Over the mountains of the moon,
Down the valley of the shadow.'"
Paul Irving would have known the meaning of this, or made a meaning out of it for himself, if he didn't; but practical Davy, who, as Anne often despairingly remarked, hadn't a particle

Thomas Kinkade paintings

Thomas Kinkade paintings
Thomas Stiltz paintings
Isabella Andrews?"
"No, I'm sure there isn't. He just called there one evening on business with Mr. Harmon Andrews and Mrs. Lynde saw him and said she knew he was courting because he had a white collar on. I don't believe Mr. Harrison will ever marry. He seems to have a prejudice against marriage."
"Well, you can never tell about those old bachelors. And if he had a white collar on I'd agree with Rachel that it looks suspicious, for I'm sure he never was seen with one before."
"I think he only put it on because he wanted to conclude a business deal with Harmon Andrews," said Anne. "I've heard him say that's the only time a man needs to be particular about his appearance, because if he looks prosperous the party of the second part won't be so likely to try to cheat him. I really feel sorry for Mr. Harrison; I don't believe he feels satisfied with his life. It must be very lonely to have no one to care about except a parrot, don't you

Frank Dicksee Romeo and Juliet painting

Frank Dicksee Romeo and Juliet painting
Guillaume Seignac Cupid Disarmed painting
somebody once define man as a fighting animal?. . .and I want to fight disease and pain and ignorance. . .which are all members one of another. I want to do my share of honest, real work in the world, Anne. . . add a little to the sum of human knowledge that all the good men have been accumulating since it began. The folks who lived before me have done so much for me that I want to show my gratitude by doing something for the folks who will live after me. It seems to me that is the only way a fellow can get square with his obligations to the race."
"I'd like to add some beauty to life," said Anne dreamily. "I don't exactly want to make people know more. . .though I know that is the noblest ambition. . .but I'd love to make them have a pleasanter time because of me. . .to have some little joy or happy thought that would never have existed if I hadn't been born."
"I think you're fulfilling that ambition every day," said Gilbert admiringly.

Pino Sweet Repose painting

Pino Sweet Repose painting
Johannes Vermeer The Kitchen Maid painting
We tied the horse and then rapped at the kitchen door. Nobody came but the door was open and we could hear somebody in the pantry, going on dreadfully. We couldn't make out the words but Diana says she knows they were swearing by the sound of them. I can't believe that of Mr. Blair, for he is always so quiet and meek; but at least he had great provocation, for Marilla, when that poor man came to the door, red as a beet, with perspiration streaming down his face, he had on one of his wife's big gingham aprons. `I can't get this durned thing off,' he said, `for the strings are tied in a hard knot and I can't bust 'em, so you'll have to excuse me, ladies.' We begged him not to mention it and went in and sat down. Mr. Blair sat down too; he twisted the apron around to his back and rolled it up, but he did look so ashamed and worried that I felt sorry for him, and Diana said she feared we had called at an inconvenient time. `Oh, not at all,' said Mr. Blair, trying to smile. . .you know he is always very polite. . .'I'm a little busy. . .getting ready to bake a cake as it