We are at the beginning of a new era which will, it is to be hoped, be
marked by a general _rapprochement_ between the nations. The need to
know and understand one another is being felt more and more. It follows
that the study of foreign languages will assume an ever-increasing
importance; indeed, so far as language, literature, and music are
concerned, one may safely assert that _fas est et ab hoste doceri_.
All those who wish to make acquaintance with the speech of their
neighbours, or who have allowed their former knowledge to grow rusty,
will welcome this edition, which will enable them, independently of
bulky dictionaries, to devote to language study the moments of leisure
which offer themselves in the course of the day.
The texts have been selected from the double point of view of their
literary worth and of the usefulness of their vocabulary; in the
translations, also, the endeavour has been to unite qualities of style
with strict fidelity to the original.