eBooks - Children - Fables - Nathaniel Hawthorne - The Great Stone Face
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Windows Vista / XP / 2000, Mac OS X, Sony Reader Features
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Platforms
Windows Vista / XP / 2000, Mac OS X, Sony Reader Features
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Availability:
Download Now Price: $4.95
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Platforms
Windows 98+, Tablet PC, Pocket PC 2003 Features
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Availability:
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| THE first three numbers in this collection are tales of the White Hills in New Hampshire. The passages from Sketches from Memory show that Hawthorne had visited the mountains in one of his occasional rambles from home, but there are no entries in his Note Books which give accounts of such a visit. There is, however, among these notes the following interesting paragraph, written in 1840 and clearly foreshadowing The Great Stone Face: 'The semblance of a human face to be formed on the side of a mountain, or in the fracture of a small stone, by a lusus naturae [freak of nature]. The face is an object of curiosity for years or centuries, and by and by a boy is born whose features gradually assume the aspect of that portrait. At some critical juncture the resemblance is found to be perfect. A prophecy may be connected.' |
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| One afternoon, when the sun was going down, a mother and her little boy sat at the door of their cottage, talking about the Great Stone Face. They had but to lift their eyes, and there it was plainly to be seen, though miles away, with the sunshine brightening all its features. |
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| The Great Stone Face (The Old Man of the Mountains) juts out from the White Mountains of New Hampshire and looms over a small village. An old prophecy states that "someone will be born hereabouts who will look just like the Great Stone Face, and he will be the noblest person of his time." Like many others, young Ernest watches the faces of returning famous men for signs of the gentle wisdom seen in the face. The rich merchant, however, is grasping, the soldier only stern, and the politician--well, a politician. Ernest, meanwhile, works hard on his farm and is looked up to by his neighbors for the thoughtful counsel he offers. As he grows old, people remark that they fear they will never see the prophecy fulfilled. At length, however, noticing Ernest's face, they discover that it was fulfilled long ago. This thoughtful look at what it means to live a good life is as relevant today as when first written. This collection also includes The Ambitious Guest, The Great Carbuncle, and Sketches from Memory. Newly designed and typeset in a modern 5.5-by-8.5-inch format by Waking Lion Press. |
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eBooks - Titles - Authors - Children - Fables - Nathaniel Hawthorne - The Great Stone Face