When his father dies a poor man, Nicholas Nickleby goes to London with his mother and sister, Kate. He hopes for help from his rich Uncle Ralph. But Ralph Nickleby is only interested in making money. So Nicholas takes a teaching job at Dotheboys Hall – a terrible school belonging to Mr Wackford Squeers. There he helps a poor boy called Smike who has no one to look after him. Leaving Dotheboys, Nicholas makes both friends and enemies on his journey towards better things. But will Smike, who...

What is the secret of happiness, or the best thing for a wife to take with her when she leaves home? How does a man pay for the smell of bread, or decide if he is lucky? What happens when a friend steals a gift meant for you, or is careless when he tries to make his dreams of a better life come true? How can you change dirt into gold, or get what you want? The eight wise tales in this collection can teach us some important lessons about life.

‘There’s some bad weather out there,’ Captain MacWhirr said to himself just before he sailed his ship, the Nan-Shan, into the middle of the most terrible storm in the South China Sea. The typhoon brings out the best in some men on the ship, and the worst in others. Can MacWhirr bring the ship through the storm safely? And what will happen to all the poor Chinese workers travelling home down in the ship’s hold?

'There's some bad weather out there,' Captain MacWhirr said to himself just before he sailed his ship, the Nan-Shan, into the middle of the most terrible storm in the South China Sea. The typhoon brings out the best in some men on the ship, and the worst in others. Can MacWhirr bring the ship through the storm safely? And what will happen to all the poor Chinese workers travelling home down in the ship's hold?

What is the secret of happiness, or the best thing for a wife to take with her when she leaves home? How does a man pay for the smell of bread, or decide if he is lucky? What happens when a friend steals a gift meant for you, or is careless when he tries to make his dreams of a better life come true? How can you change dirt into gold, or get what you want?The eight wise tales in this collection can teach us some important lessons about life.An Oxford University Press media ...