# Readings

A selection of readings. Those marked with an asterisk were recorded more or less in studio conditions; the rest were recorded live.

=* _The Witch’s Promise_ $audiofile{TheWitch'sPromise.m4a}=
    Robert Fenner’s winning entry in the 2010 _Times_-Vintage Hallowe’en ghost story competition.
=* _The Bowling Green_ $audiofile{The Bowling Green.mp3}=
    The original, _Sphaeristerium_, written in Latin by Joseph Addison, was translated into English by his contemporary, Nicholas Amhurst. In 1991 I won a silver medal reciting an abridged version!
=* _The Cemetery by the Sea_ $audiofile{The Cemetery by the Sea.mp3,MP3}=
    Charles Davy’s "rendering" of Paul Valéry’s _Le cimitière marin_ from his book _Words in the Mind_.
=_The Quest of Iranon_ $audiofile{The Quest of Iranon.mp3,MP3}=
    A short story by H. P. Lovecraft from 1921, as fantastical as ever, but unusually without horror.
=* Éowyn and the Nazgûl Lord $audiofile{/Music/Recitals/TheRoadGoesEverOn_April2005/17 Eowyn.mp3,MP3}=
    A reading from _Lord of the Rings_, given as part of a recital. Some of the songs are also [available]($url{/Music/Recordings}).
=* _The Infanta’s Birthday_ $audiofile{The Infanta's Birthday.mp3,MP3}=
    From Oscar Wilde’s bittersweet fairy tale collection, _The Happy Prince and Other Tales_.
=* _Leaf by Niggle_ $audiofile{Leaf by Niggle/Leaf by Niggle.mp3,MP3}=
    J. R. R. Tolkien’s strangest faery story.
=* _Smith of Wootton Major_ $audiofile{Smith of Wootton Major.mp3,MP3}=
    A faery story by J. R. R. Tolkien about cake.
=_The Night the Ghost Got In_ $audiofile{The Night the Ghost Got In.mp3,MP3}=
    By James Thurber, from _My Life and Hard Times_.
=_The Small Miracle_ $audiofile{The Small Miracle.mp3,MP3}=
    Paul Gallico’s charming tale of post-war Assisi.
=_The Inopportune Behaviour of the Covetous Li-Loe_ $audiofile{The Inopportune Behaviour of the Covetous Li-Loe.mp3,MP3}=
    By Ernest Bramah, from _Kai Lung’s Golden Hours_.
=_The Story of Wong Tsoi and the Merchant Teen King’s Thumb_ $audiofile{The Story of Wong Tsoi and the Merchant Teen King's Thumb.mp3,MP3}=
    By Ernest Bramah, from _Kai Lung Unrolls his Mat_.
=_The Chaos_ $audiofile{The Chaos.mp3,MP3}=
    A [version](http://www.i18nguy.com/chaos.html) of Gerard Nolst Trenité’s [classic teaching aid](http://www.spellingsociety.org/journals/j17/caos.php), from _Drop Your Foreign Accent: engelsche uitspraakoefeningen_ (Haarlem: H D Tjeenk Willink & Zoon, 1920).
=_Death of a duck_ $audiofile{Death of a duck.mp3,MP3}=
    A [short story]($url{/Writing/Fiction/Death of a duck.tex}) I wrote about music and life. The text is the 2013 version; some errors have since been corrected and infelicities improved.

## Dialogues from _Gödel, Escher, Bach_

Dialogues from Douglas Hofstadter’s astonishing book, with the corresponding music played by [Iain Simcock]($url{/People/Iain Simcock.md}).

=* [_Contrafac/punctus_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESdB71I0Cvw)=
    A dialogue about football, with Bach’s Contrapunctus XI from _Die Kunst der Fuge_.
=* [_Sloth Canon_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKg0VTYoDe4)=
    A dialogue about football, with Bach’s Canon per augmentationem from _Die Kunst der Fuge_. (Yes, I know that’s not the right canon!)

## _The Club of Queer Trades_

Stories from G. K. Chesterton’s six mystery stories featuring his lesser-known detective, Basil Grant, _The Club of Queer Trades_.

<dl>
<dt>1 <em>The Tremendous Adventures of Major Brown</em> $audiofile{The Tremendous Adventures of Major Brown.mp3,MP3}</dt>
<dt>3 <em>The Awful Reason of the Vicar’s Visit</em> $audiofile{The Awful Reason of the Vicar's Visit.mp3,MP3}</dt>
</dl>

## _Wind, Sand and Stars_

Extracts from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s memoir of his time as a commercial pilot in the 1920s, _Wind, Sand and Stars_ (_Terre des Hommes_).

=* _Spanish geography for pilots_ $audiofile{Spanish geography for pilots.mp3,MP3}=
    The author’s introduction to Spain at the hands of an experienced colleague.
=* _Sahara_ $audiofile{Sahara.mp3,MP3}=
    Spending a night in the Sahara.
=_The Tool_ $audiofile{The Tool.mp3,MP3}=
    About the aeroplane.
=_Mermoz_ $audiofile{Mermoz.mp3,MP3}=
    Tales of the great pilot Mermoz.

## _A Universal History of Infamy_

Jorge Luis Borges’s early collection of histories of the infamous, and some shorter but characteristic writings.

<dl>
<dt><em>The Masked Dyer, Hakim of Merv</em> $audiofile{Jorge Luis Borges - The Masked Dyer\, Hakim of Merv.mp3,MP3}</dt>
<dt><em>Tale of the Two Dreamers</em> $audiofile{Jorge Luis Borges - Tale of the Two Dreamers.mp3,MP3}</dt>
</dl>

## [John Hegley](John Hegley)

## Hilaire Belloc

Some of Belloc’s less-well-known poetry and epigrams. The three sonnets are all based on Shakespeare’s famous observation that “all the world’s a stage”.

<dl>
<dt>Sonnet XXIX $audiofile{Hilaire Belloc - Sonnet XXIX.mp3,MP3}</dt>
<dt>Sonnet XXX $audiofile{Hilaire Belloc - Sonnet XXX.mp3,MP3}</dt>
<dt>Sonnet XXXI $audiofile{Hilaire Belloc - Sonnet XXXI.mp3,MP3}</dt>
<dt>Epigrams on sundials $audiofile{Hilaire Belloc - Epigrams on Sundials.mp3,MP3}</dt>
</dl>

## Ford Madox Ford

Some _Memories and Impressions_.

<dl>
<dt><em>A Lion in The Strand</em> $audiofile{A Lion in The Strand.mp3,MP3}</dt>
<dt><em>That Terrible Word ‘Genius’</em> $audiofile{That Terrible Word 'Genius'.mp3,MP3}</dt>
</dl>