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1592 – The Holy Roman Empire, Prague A sharp knocking jarred Judah from his deep slumber. The darkness outside his window did little to reassure him. He was much too old for midnight visitors. “What is it?” he called, his voice choked with the grit of sleep. “Maharal!” called aContinue Reading

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On a fishing expedition, Sneferu gave a maiden a golden ring. She slid the ring onto her finger, then, thinking better of it, slid it off and dropped it in the Nile.  Stop the boat, she said. And retrieve my ring. This is Pharaoh Sneferu, the men said. He builtContinue Reading

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滥竽充数 很久很久以前，齐国的皇帝爱听吹竽，又非常喜欢热闹，所以为他吹竽的就有三百人。他常常叫这三百人一起吹竽给他听。有个南郭先生，完全不会吹竽，但是因为吹芋的人很多，所以他假装和别人一样会吹芋。 后来这位老皇帝死了，新皇帝喜欢听人一个一个地吹芋。南郭先生听到这个，非常害怕，只好逃走，不再假装自己很会吹竽了。 An emperor in the time of Warring states loved listening to panpipes. The emperor loved panpipes best of all intensely loud. And so he rustled up three-hundred pipers, a band he ordered, Pipe! But in this band there was a certain Mr. Bo—a Mr. Bo who couldContinue Reading

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Months leading up to the big event were filled with Chile Rellenos and The Simpsons reruns. I woke up, just like any other day, and began to get ready for school. Then Mom said, “You can’t go to school today. Your sister is in labor.” As we rushed to theContinue Reading

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Sometimes people become friends simply by chance. She was in her 60s and we were 10 or 11 when we first met her. Even though she wasn’t related to us, we called her Nanny; just like everyone else did. By the time we met her, Nanny’s life was almost over.Continue Reading

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The day she killed herself should have been the best day of her life so far. It was Monday afternoon, and on Monday evening, she was set to have the soft launch of her very first book kickoff at the local bookstore. Pre-orders had been strong, and her publisher hadContinue Reading

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He walked up to the mic stand slowly, deliberately—he didn’t look like someone who did karaoke, and yet here he was. He didn’t belong in the beer-drenched hall, enclosed in an expensive navy blue suit, tie knotted just so under his Adam’s apple. But despite his buttoned-upness, his hair wasContinue Reading

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Roger Camp is the author of three photography books including the award-winning Butterflies in Flight (Thames & Hudson, 2002) and Heat (Charta, Milano, 2008). His work has appeared in numerous journals including The New England Review, New York Quarterly, and the Vassar Review. He previously worked as a reference librarianContinue Reading

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I used to have a friend who was full of busted light bulbs some of them I assume were hereditary (his parents were both black holes) but others he collected himself he treated his anatomy like a trash bag shoveled in as much dead light as it could hold onceContinue Reading

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Was that my door I heard? I slowly rose and crawled to my door. Who was this new arrival at my door? I wasn’t expecting guests. Surely if any friends were going to stop by they would have phoned ahead. Did I pay the phone bill? If I press myContinue Reading