《The Hand of Ethelberta》作者： - Thomas Hardy【EPUB】

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The Hand of Ethelberta, by ThomasHardy The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Hand of Ethelberta, by Thomas Hardy This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: The Hand of Ethelberta Author: Thomas Hardy Release Date: October 28, 2004 [eBook #3469] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HAND OF ETHELBERTA*** This eBook was produced from the 1907 Macmillan and Co. edition by Les Bowler, St. Ives, Dorset. THE HAND OF ETHELBERTA—A COMEDY IN CHAPTERS by Thomas Hardy. “Vitae post-scenia celant.”—Lucretius. PREFACE This somewhat frivolous narrative was produced as an interlude between stories of a more sober design, and it was given the sub-title of a comedy to indicate—though not quite accurately—the aim of the performance.?? A high degree of probability was not attempted in the arrangement of the incidents, and there was expected of the reader a certain lightness of mood, which should inform him with a good-natured willingness to accept the production in the spirit in which it was offered.?? The characters themselves, however, were meant to be consistent and human. On its