Short Fiction by O. Henry

Some Ancient News Notes

Words you’ll meet in this part (12)
monastery
A building or complex where monks live and worship.
archives
A collection of historical records or documents.
scripture
Sacred writings or texts of a religion.
procured
Obtained or acquired something, especially with care or effort.
fragments
Small, broken pieces of something.
palimpsests
Manuscripts or documents that have been erased and rewritten, often revealing traces of earlier text.
manuscripts
Handwritten documents, especially those from ancient or medieval times.
commodore
A naval rank above captain and below rear admiral.
menagerie
A collection of wild or exotic animals kept for exhibition.
goliath
A giant from the Bible defeated by David.
Gath
A gathering or assembly of people.
sling
A flexible strap or band used to carry or support something.

Short Fiction by O. Henry 12 new words

Some Ancient News Notes

It will be remembered that a short while ago, some very ancient documents and records were discovered in an old on Mt. Sinai, where they have been kept filed away by the monks among their dusty . Some of them antedate the oldest writings previously known by one hundred years. The finders claim that among them are the original traced in Syriac language, and that they differ in many material ways from the translation in use. We have some advance sheets from the discoverers and in a few given below our readers will perceive that human nature was pretty much the same a thousand years ago. It is evident from the in our possession that newspapers were not entirely unknown even at that early date. We give some random translations from the original :

“ Noah, one of our oldest citizens, predicts a big rain soon. The commodore is building an up-to-date houseboat and expects to spend about six weeks afloat with his family and his private .”

“Colonel of , and the new middleweight, Mr. David, are at their old tricks again blowing about the championship. Mr. David has one hand in a , but says he will be all right when the affair is pulled off. A little more fighting and less talking would please the readers of the Daily Cymbal.”

“Ladies, get one of those new fig leaves at the Eden Bazaar before the style is dropped.”

“The exposition at Shinar is going to be a grand success. Work on the New Woman’s Building called the Tower of Babel has been stopped on account of a misunderstanding. The lady managers have been holding meetings in the Tower for some time.”

“See Professor Daniel and his performing lions next Sunday.”

“Colonel Job, who has been suffering from quite a siege of boils at his residence on Avenue C, was arrested yesterday for cussing and disturbing the neighborhood. The colonel has generally a very equable temper, but completely lost his balance on finding that Mrs. Job had put a large quantity of starch in his only night robe.”

“About 1,500 extra deputy clerks were put on by the county clerk yesterday to assist in getting out summonses for witnesses in the divorce case recently brought by Judge Solomon against the last batch of his wives.”

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