Add story downloader, cleaner, and 10 TTS-ready children's stories

- gutenberg_downloader.py: reusable Project Gutenberg downloader/parser
- download_stories.py: downloads 10 public domain children's stories
- clean_stories.py: strips Gutenberg boilerplate for clean TTS input
- 10 cleaned stories (691-2912 words each): Beatrix Potter, fairy tales
- .gitignore: exclude __pycache__

.gitignore

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+__pycache__/

stories/The_Adventures_of_Puss_in_Boots.txt

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+The Adventures of Puss in Boots
+
+There once liv'd a young man who was very poor.
+ For all that he had was a Cat;
+ His food being gone, he could get no more,
+ And so he resolv'd to kill that.
+
+ Now Puss from the cupboard came out and thus spoke,
+ "Grieve not my good master, I pray,
+ Provide me with boots, and a bag--'tis no joke--
+ Your fortune I'll make then straightway."
+
+
+ Puss baited his bag with parsley and bread,
+ And away to a warren he hied,
+ Where he laid himself down as if he was dead,
+ Until some young rabbits he spied.
+
+ One entered the bag, puss pull'd at the string,
+ The rabbit was kill'd in a trice,
+ Puss said this fine game I'll take to the king,
+ I'm sure he will say it is nice.
+
+
+ Next day to a wheat-field Grimalkin repair'd,
+ And there two fine partridges caught,
+ These he took to the king who kindly enquired,
+ From whence the fine present was brought.
+
+ "From the Marquis Carabas, great Monarch," said he,
+ "These birds and the rabbit I bring,"
+ They both were accepted, and puss in high glee
+ Receiv'd a reward from the king.
+
+
+ This king took a journey, his kingdom to view,
+ With his daughter so fine and so gay,
+ What happen'd then, I will now tell unto you,
+ To my tale therefore listen I pray.
+
+ Puss ran to a cornfield, to the reapers he said,
+ "When the king comes these words you repeat,
+ 'To the Marquis Carabas these fields all belong,
+ Or I'll chop you as small as minced meat.'"
+
+
+ To an Ogre's grand castle grimalkin now went,
+ Which was opened by servants so gay,
+ 'Is his highness the Ogre at home sir,' said he,
+ 'For my bus'ness is urgent to-day.'
+
+ The Ogre received him with kindness, and now,
+ Puss entr'd the castle so gay,
+ When making a low and reverend bow,
+ He march'd to the parlour straightway.
+
+
+ 'Tis thought mighty Ogre by all in the nation,
+ That miraculous power you possess,
+ The power, when you please, of complete transformation,
+ This a miracle is and no less.
+
+ To convince you 'tis true, the Ogre replied,
+ I will change myself now in your sight:
+ He did so--a lion he now roars by his side,
+ Which put the poor cat in a fright.
+
+
+ "Mighty sir," said the Cat, "such a change I must say,
+ I never expected to view:
+ Yet I venture to doubt--your pardon I pray,
+ If a mouse you could change yourself to."
+
+ Doubt not, said the Ogre, my power to do so,
+ When a mouse he directly became,
+ On his victim Grimalkin immediately flew,
+ And sealed in an instant his doom.
+
+
+ The king and princess now arriv'd at the place,
+ But Puss who had travell'd much faster,
+ Came out and invited them in with much grace,
+ In the name of the Marquis, his master.
+
+ In a spacious saloon, they sat themselves down,
+ Where a banquet was already spread,
+ And that day, "PUSS IN BOOTS" gain'd greater renown,
+ For the marquis and princess were wed.

stories/The_History_of_Tom_Thumb.txt

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+The History of Tom Thumb
+
+It is said that in the days of the famed Prince Arthur, who was king of
+Britain, in the year 516, there lived a great magician, called Merlin,
+the most learned and skilful enchanter in the world at that time.
+
+This great magician, who could assume any form he pleased, was
+travelling in the disguise of a poor beggar, and being very much
+fatigued, he stopped at the cottage of an honest ploughman to rest
+himself, and asked for some refreshment.
+
+The countryman gave him a hearty welcome, and his wife, who was a very
+good-hearted, hospital woman, soon brought him some milk in a wooden
+bowl, an some coarse brown bread on a platter.
+
+Merlin was much pleased with this homely repast and the kindness of
+the ploughman and his wife; but he could not help seeing that though
+everything was neat and comfortable in the cottage, they seemed both
+be sad and much cast down. He therefore questioned them on the cause
+of their sadness, and learned they were miserable because they had no
+children.
+
+The poor woman declared, with tears in her eyes, that she should be the
+happiest creature in the world if she had a son; and although he was no
+bigger than her husband's thumb, she would be satisfied.
+
+Merlin was so much amused with the idea of a boy no bigger than a man's
+thumb, that he made up his mind to pay a visit to the queen of the
+fairies, and ask her to grant the poor woman's wish. The droll fancy of
+such a little person among the human race pleased the fairy queen
+too, greatly, and she promised Merlin that the wish should be granted.
+Accordingly, a short time after, the ploughman's wife had a son, who,
+wonderful to relate! was not bigger than his father's thumb.
+
+The fairy queen, wishing to see the little fellow thus born into the
+world, came in at the window while the mother was sitting up in bed
+admiring him. The queen kissed the child, and, giving it the name of Tom
+Thumb, sent for some of the fairies, who dressed her little favorite as
+she bade them.
+
+ "An oak-leaf hat he had for his crown;
+ His shirt of web by spiders spun;
+ With jacket wove of thistle's down;
+ His trowsers were of feathers done.
+
+ His stockings, of apple-rind they tie
+ With eyelash from his mother's eye:
+ His shoes were made of mouse's skin
+ Tann'd with the downy hair within."
+
+It is remarkable that Tom never grew any larger than his father's thumb,
+which was only of an ordinary size; but as he got older he became very
+cunning and full of tricks. When he was old enough to play with the
+boys, and had lost all his own cherry-stones, he used to creep into
+the bags of his playfellows, fill his pockets, and, getting out unseen,
+would again join in the game.
+
+One day, however, as he was coming out of a bag of cherrystones, where
+he had been pilfering as usual, the boy to whom it belonged chanced to
+see him. "Ah, ha! my little Tommy," said the boy, "so I have caught you
+stealing my cherrystones at last, and you shall be rewarded for your
+thievish tricks." On saying this, he drew the string tight around his
+neck, and gave the bag such a hearty shake, that poor little Tom's legs,
+thighs, and body were sadly bruised. He roared out in pain, and begged
+to be let out, promising never to be guilty of such bad practices again.
+
+A short time afterwards his mother was making a batter-pudding, and Tom
+being very anxious to see how it was made, climbed up to the edge of the
+bowl; but unfortunately his foot slipped and he plumped over head and
+ears into the batter, unseen by his mother, who stirred him into the
+pudding-bag, and put him in the pot to boil.
+
+The batter had filled Tom's mouth, and prevented him from crying; but,
+on feeling the hot water, he kicked and struggled so much in the pot,
+that his mother thought that the pudding was bewitched, and, instantly
+pulling it out of the pot, she threw it to the door. A poor tinker, who
+was passing by, lifted up the pudding, and, putting it into his budget,
+he then walked off. As Tom had now got his mouth cleared of the batter,
+he then began to cry aloud, which so frightened the tinker that he flung
+down the pudding and ran away. The pudding being broke to pieces by the
+fall, Tom crept out covered over with the batter, and with difficulty
+walked home. His mother, who was very sorry to see her darling in such
+a woeful state, put him into a tea-cup, and soon washed off the batter;
+after which she kissed him, and laid him in bed.
+
+Soon after the adventure of the pudding, Tom's mother went to milk her
+cow in the meadow, and she took him along with her. As the wind was very
+high, fearing lest he should be blown away, she tied him to a thistle
+with a piece of fine thread. The cow soon saw the oak-leaf hat, and,
+liking the look of it, took poor Tom and the thistle at one mouthful.
+While the cow was chewing the thistle Tom was afraid of her great teeth,
+which threatened to crush him in pieces, and he roared out as loud as he
+could:
+
+"Mother, mother!"
+
+"Where are you, Tommy, my dear Tommy?" said his mother.
+
+"Here, mother," replied he, "in the red cow's mouth."
+
+His mother began to cry and wring her hands; but the cow, surprised
+at the odd noise in her throat, opened her mouth and let Tom drop out.
+Fortunately his mother caught him in her apron as he was falling to the
+ground, or he would have been dreadfully hurt. She then put Tom in her
+bosom and ran home with him.
+
+Tom's father made him a whip of barley straw to drive the cattle with,
+and having one day gone into the fields, he slipped a foot and rolled
+into the furrow. A raven, which was flying over, picked him up and flew
+with him to the top of a giant's castle that was near the seaside, and
+there left him.
+
+Tom was in a dreadful state, and did not know what to do; but he was
+soon more dreadfully frightened; for old Grumbo, the giant, came up to
+walk on the terrace, and seeing Tom, he took him up and swallowed him
+like a pill.
+
+The giant had no sooner swallowed Tom than he began to repent what he
+had done; for Tom began to kick and jump about so much that he felt very
+uncomfortable, and at last threw him up again into the sea. A large
+fish swallowed Tom the moment he fell into the sea, which was soon after
+caught, and bought for the table of King Arthur. When they opened the
+fish in order to cook it, every on was astonished at finding such a
+little boy, and Tom was quite delighted to be out again. They carried
+him to the king, who made Tom his dwarf, and he soon grew a great
+favorite at court: for by his tricks and gambols he not only amused the
+king and queen, but also all the knights of the Round Table.
+
+It is said that when the kind rode out on horseback he often took
+Tom along with him, and if a shower came on he used to creep into his
+majesty's waistcoat pocket, where he slept till the rain was over.
+
+King Arthur one day asked Tom about his parents, wishing to know if they
+were as small as he was, and whether rich or poor. Tom told the king
+that his father and mother were as tall as any of the persons about
+the court, but rather poor. On hearing this the king carried Tom to the
+treasure, the place where he kept all his money, and told him to take
+as much money as he could carry home to his parents, which made the poor
+little fellow caper with joy. Tom went immediately to fetch a purse,
+which was made of a water-bubble, and then returned to the treasury,
+where he got a silver three-penny-piece to put into it.
+
+Our little hero had some trouble in lifting the burden upon his back;
+but he at last succeeded in getting it placed to his mind, and set
+forward on his journey. However, without meeting with any accidents, and
+after resting himself more than a hundred times by the way, in two days
+and two nights he reached his father's house in safety.
+
+Tom had travelled forty-eight hours with a huge silver-piece on his
+back, and was almost tired to death, when his mother ran out to meet
+him, and carried him into the house.
+
+Tom's parents were both happy to see him, and the more so as he had
+brought such an amazing sum of money with him; but the poor little
+fellow was excessively wearied, having travelled half a mile in
+forty-eight hours, with a huge silver three-penny-piece on his back.
+His mother, in order to recover him, placed him in a walnut shell by the
+fireside, and feasted him for three days on a hazel nut, which made him
+very sick; for a whole nut used to serve him a month.
+
+Tom was soon well again; but as there had been a fall of rain, and the
+ground was very wet, he could not travel back to King Arthur's court;
+therefore his mother, one day when the wind was blowing in that
+direction, made a little parasol of cambric paper, and tying Tom to it,
+she gave him a puff into the air with her mouth, which soon carried him
+to the king's palace.
+
+Just at the time when Tom came flying across the courtyard, the cook
+happened to be passing with the king's great bowl of furmenty, which was
+a dish his majesty was very fond of; but unfortunately the poor little
+fellow fell plump into the middle of it, and splashed the hot furmenty
+about the cook's face.
+
+The cook, who was an ill-natured fellow, being in a terrible rage at Tom
+for frightening and scalding him with the furmenty, went straight to the
+king, and said that Tom had jumped into the royal furmenty, and thrown
+it down out of mere mischief. The king was so enraged when he heard
+this, that he ordered Tom to be seized and tried for high treason; and
+there being no person who dared to plead for him, he was condemned to be
+beheaded immediately.
+
+On hearing this dreadful sentence pronounced, poor Tom fell a-trembling
+with fear, but, seeing no means of escape, and observing a miller close
+to him gaping with his great mouth, as country boobies do at a far, he
+took a leap, and fairly jumped down his throat. This exploit was done
+with such activity that not one person present saw it, and even the
+miller did not know the trick which Tom had played upon him. Now, as
+Tom had disappeared, the court broke up, and the miller went home to his
+mill.
+
+When Tom heard the mill at work he knew he was clear of the court, and
+therefore he began to tumble and roll about, so that the poor miller
+could get no rest, thinking he was bewitched; so he sent for a doctor.
+When the doctor came, Tom began to dance and sing; and the doctor, being
+as much frightened as the miller, sent in haste for five other doctors
+and twenty learned men.
+
+When they were debating about this extraordinary case, the miller
+happened to yawn, when Tom, seizing the chance, made another jump, and
+alighted safely upon his feet in the middle of the table.
+
+The miller, who was very much provoked at being tormented by such a
+little pygmy creature, fell into a terrible rage, and, laying hold of
+Tom, ran to the king with him; but his majesty, being engaged with state
+affairs, ordered him to be taken away and kept in custody till he sent
+for him.
+
+The cook was determined that Tom should not slip out of his hands this
+time, so he put him into a mouse-trap, and left him to peep through the
+wires. Tom had remained in the trap a whole week, when he was sent for
+by King Arthur, who pardoned him for throwing down the furmenty,
+and took him again into favor. On account of his wonderful feats of
+activity, Tom was knighted by the king, and went under the name of the
+renowned Sir Thomas Thumb. As Tom's clothes had suffered much in the
+batter-pudding, the furmenty, and the insides of the giant, miller, and
+fishes, his majesty ordered him a new suit of clothes, and to be mounted
+as a knight.
+
+ "Of Butterfly's wings his shirt was made,
+ His boots of chicken's hide;
+ And by a nimble fairy blade,
+ Well learned in the tailoring trade,
+
+ His clothing was supplied.--
+ A needle dangled by his side;
+ A dapper mouse he used to ride,
+ Thus strutted Tom in stately pride!"
+
+ It was certainly very diverting to see Tom in this dress, and
+mounted on the mouse, as he rode out a-hunting with the king and
+nobility, who were all ready to expire with laughter at Tom and his fine
+prancing charger.
+
+One day, as they were riding by a farmhouse, a large cat, which was
+lurking about the door, made a spring, and seized both Tom and his
+mouse. She then ran up a tree with them, and was beginning to devour the
+mouse; but Tom boldly drew his sword, and attacked the cat so fiercely
+that she let them both fall, when one of the nobles caught him in his
+hat, and laid him on a bed of down, in a little ivory cabinet.
+
+The queen of fairies came soon after to pay Tom a visit, and carried him
+back to Fairy-land, where he lived several years. During his residence
+there, King Arthur, and all the persons who knew Tom, had died; and as
+he was desirous of being again at court, the fairy queen, after dressing
+him in a suit of clothes, sent him flying through the air to the palace,
+in the days of king Thunstone, the successor of Arthur. Every one
+flocked round to see him, and being carried to the king, he was asked
+who he was--whence he came--and where he lived? Tom answered:
+
+ "My name is Tom Thumb,
+ From the fairies I've come.
+ When King Arthur shone,
+ His court was my home.
+ In me he delighted,
+ By him I was knighted;
+ Did you never hear of Sir Thomas Thumb?"
+
+The king was so charmed with this address that he ordered a little
+chair to be made, in order that Tom might sit upon his table, and also
+a palace of gold, a span high, with a door an inch wide, to live in. He
+also gave him a coach, drawn by six small mice.
+
+The queen was so enraged at the honor paid to Sir Thomas that she
+resolved to ruin him, and told the king that the little knight had been
+saucy to her.
+
+The king sent for Tom in great haste, but being fully aware of the
+danger of royal anger, he crept into an empty snail-shell, where he lay
+for a long time, until he was almost starved with hunger; but at last he
+ventured to peep out, and seeing a fine large butterfly on the ground,
+near his hiding-place, he approached very cautiously, and getting
+himself placed astride on it, was immediately carried up into the air.
+The butterfly flew with him from tree to tree and from field to field,
+and at last returned to the court, where the king and nobility all
+strove to catch him; but at last poor Tom fell from his seat into a
+watering-pot, in which he was almost drowned.
+
+When the queen saw him she was in a rage, and said he should be
+beheaded; and he was again put into a mouse-trap until the time of his
+execution.
+
+However, a cat, observing something alive in the trap, patted it about
+till the wires broke, and set Thomas at liberty.
+
+The king received Tom again into favor, which he did not live to enjoy,
+for a large spider one day attacked him; and although he drew his sword
+and fought well, yet the spider's poisonous breath at last overcame him;
+
+ "He fell dead on the ground where he stood,
+ and the spider suck'd every drop of his blood."
+
+King Thunstone and his whole court were so sorry at the loss of their
+little favorite, that they went into mourning, and raised a fine white
+marble monument over his grave, with the following epitaph:
+
+ "Here lyes Tom Thumb, King Arthur's knight,
+ Who died by a spider's cruel bite.
+ He was well known in Arthur's court,
+ Where he afforded gallant sport;
+ He rode at tilt and tournament,
+ And on a mouse a-hunting went.
+ Alive he filled the court with mirth;
+ His death to sorrow soon gave birth.
+ Wipe, wipe your eyes, and shake your head,
+ And cry,--Alas! Tom Thumb is dead!"

stories/The_Little_Gingerbread_Man.txt

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+The Little Gingerbread Man
+
+One day, the cook went into the kitchen to make some gingerbread.
+She took some flour and water, and treacle and ginger, and mixed
+them all well together, and she put in some more water to make it
+thin, and then some more flour to make it thick, and a little salt
+and some spice, and then she rolled it out into a beautiful,
+smooth, dark-yellow dough.
+
+Then she took the square tins and cut out some square cakes for the
+little boys, and with some round tins she cut out some round cakes
+for the little girls, and then she said, "I'm going to make a
+little gingerbread man for little Bobby." So she took a nice round
+lump of dough for his body, and a smaller lump for his head, which
+she pulled out a little for the neck. Two other lumps were stuck on
+beneath for the legs, and were pulled out into proper shape, with
+feet and toes all complete, and two still smaller pieces were made
+into arms, with dear little hands and fingers.
+
+
+But the nicest work was done on the head, for the top was frizzed
+up into a pretty sugary hat; on either side was made a dear little
+ear, and in front, after the nose had been carefully moulded, a
+beautiful mouth was made out of a big raisin, and two bright little
+eyes with burnt almonds and caraway seeds.
+
+Then the gingerbread man was finished ready for baking, and a very
+jolly little man he was. In fact, he looked so sly that the cook
+was afraid he was plotting some mischief, and when the batter was
+ready for the oven, she put in the square cakes and she put in the
+round cakes; and then she put in the little gingerbread man in a
+far back corner, where he couldn't get away in a hurry.
+
+
+Then she went up to sweep the parlor, and she swept and she swept
+till the clock struck twelve, when she dropped her broom in a
+hurry, and exclaiming, "Lawks! the gingerbread will be all baked to
+a cinder," she ran down into the kitchen, and threw open the oven
+door. And the square cakes were all done, nice and hard and brown,
+and the round cakes were all done, nice and hard and brown, and the
+gingerbread man was all done too, nice and hard and brown; and he
+was standing up in his corner, with his little caraway-seed eyes
+sparkling, and his raisin mouth bubbling over with mischief, while
+he waited for the oven door to be opened. The instant the door was
+opened, with a hop, skip, and a jump, he went right over the square
+cakes and the round cakes, and over the cook's arm, and before she
+could say "Jack Robinson" he was running across the kitchen floor,
+as fast as his little legs would carry him, towards the back door,
+which was standing wide open, and through which he could see the
+garden path.
+
+
+The old cook turned round as fast as she could, which wasn't very
+fast, for she was rather a heavy woman and she had been quite taken
+by surprise, and she saw lying right across the door-way, fast
+asleep in the sun, old Mouser, the cat.
+
+
+"Mouser, Mouser," she cried, "stop the gingerbread man! I want him
+for little Bobby." When the cook first called, Mouser thought it
+was only some one calling in her dreams, and simply rolled over
+lazily; and the cook called again, "Mouser, Mouser!" The old cat
+sprang up with a jump, but just as she turned round to ask the cook
+what all the noise was about, the little gingerbread man cleverly
+jumped under her tail, and in an instant was trotting down the
+garden walk. Mouser turned in a hurry and ran after, although she
+was still rather too sleepy to know what it was she was trying to
+catch, and after the cat came the cook, lumbering along rather
+heavily, but also making pretty good speed.
+
+
+Now at the bottom of the walk, lying fast asleep in the sun against
+the warm stones of the garden wall, was Towser, the dog.
+
+And the cook called out: "Towser, Towser, stop the gingerbread man!
+I want him for little Bobby."
+
+And when Towser first heard her calling he thought it was some one
+speaking in his dreams, and he only turned over on his side, with
+another snore, and then the cook called again, "Towser, Towser,
+stop him, stop him!"
+
+Then the dog woke up in good earnest, and jumped up on his feet to
+see what it was that he should stop. But just as the dog jumped up,
+the little gingerbread man, who had been watching for the chance,
+quietly slipped between his legs, and climbed up on the top of the
+stone wall, so that Towser saw nothing but the cat running towards
+him down the walk, and behind the cat the cook, now quite out of
+breath.
+
+
+He thought at once that the cat must have stolen something, and
+that it was the cat the cook wanted him to stop. Now, if there was
+anything that Towser liked, it was going after the cat, and he
+jumped up the walk so fiercely that the poor cat did not have time
+to stop herself or to get out of his way, and they came together
+with a great fizzing, and barking, and meowing, and howling, and
+scratching, and biting, as if a couple of Catherine-wheels had gone
+off in the wrong way and had got mixed up with one another.
+
+
+But the old cook had been running so hard that she was not able to
+stop herself any better than the cat had done, and she fell right
+on top of the mixed up dog and cat, so that all three rolled over
+on the walk in a heap together.
+
+And the cat scratched whichever came nearest, whether it was a
+piece of the dog or of the cook, and the dog bit at whatever came
+nearest, whether it was a piece of the cat or of the cook, so that
+the poor cook was badly pummelled on both sides.
+
+
+Meanwhile, the gingerbread man had climbed up on the garden wall,
+and stood on the top with his hands in his pockets, looking at the
+scrimmage, and laughing till the tears ran down from his little
+caraway-seed eyes and his raisin mouth was bubbling all over with
+fun.
+
+
+After a little while, the cat managed to pull herself out
+from under the cook and the dog, and a very cast-down and
+crumpled-up-looking cat she was. She had had enough of hunting
+gingerbread men, and she crept back to the kitchen to repair
+damages.
+
+
+The dog, who was very cross because his face had been badly
+scratched, let go of the cook, and at last, catching sight of the
+gingerbread man, made a bolt for the garden wall. The cook picked
+herself up, and although her face was also badly scratched and her
+dress was torn, she was determined to see the end of the chase, and
+she followed after the dog, though this time more slowly.
+
+
+When the gingerbread man saw the dog coming, he jumped down on the
+farther side of the wall, and began running across the field. Now
+in the middle of the field was a tree, and at the foot of the tree
+was lying Jocko, the monkey. He wasn't asleep--monkeys never
+are--and when he saw the little man running across the field and
+heard the cook calling, "Jocko, Jocko, stop the gingerbread man,"
+he at once gave one big jump. But he jumped so fast and so far that
+he went right over the gingerbread man, and as luck would have it,
+he came down on the back of Towser, the dog, who had just scrambled
+over the wall, and whom he had not before noticed. Towser was
+naturally taken by surprise, but he turned his head around and
+promptly bit off the end of the monkey's tail, and Jocko quickly
+jumped off again, chattering his indignation.
+
+
+Meanwhile, the gingerbread man had got to the bottom of the tree,
+and was saying to himself: "Now, I know the dog can't climb a tree,
+and I don't believe the old cook can climb a tree; and as for the
+monkey I'm not sure, for I've never seen a monkey before, but I am
+going up."
+
+So he pulled himself up hand over hand until he had got to the
+topmost branch.
+
+But the monkey had jumped with one spring onto the lowest branch,
+and in an instant he also was at the top of the tree.
+
+The gingerbread man crawled out to the furthermost end of the
+branch, and hung by one hand, but the monkey swung himself under
+the branch, and stretching out his long arm, he pulled the
+gingerbread man in. Then he held him up and looked at him so
+hungrily that the little raisin mouth began to pucker down at the
+corners, and the caraway-seed eyes filled with tears.
+
+
+And then what do you think happened? Why, little Bobby himself came
+running up. He had been taking his noon-day nap upstairs, and in
+his dreams it seemed as if he kept hearing people call "Little
+Bobby, little Bobby!" until finally he jumped up with a start, and
+was so sure that some one was calling him that he ran down-stairs,
+without even waiting to put on his shoes.
+
+
+As he came down, he could see through the window in the field
+beyond the garden the cook, and the dog, and the monkey, and could
+even hear the barking of Towser and the chattering of Jocko. He
+scampered down the walk, with his little bare feet pattering
+against the warm gravel, climbed over the wall, and in a few
+seconds arrived under the tree, just as Jocko was holding up the
+poor little gingerbread man.
+
+
+"Drop it, Jocko!" cried Bobby, and drop it Jocko did, for he always
+had to mind Bobby. He dropped it so straight that the gingerbread
+man fell right into Bobby's uplifted pinafore.
+
+Then Bobby held him up and looked at him, and the little raisin
+mouth puckered down lower than ever, and the tears ran right out of
+the caraway-seed eyes.
+
+But Bobby was too hungry to mind gingerbread tears, and he gave one
+big bite, and swallowed down both legs and a piece of the body.
+
+
+"OH!" said the gingerbread man, "I'M ONE-THIRD GONE!"
+
+Bobby gave a second bite, and swallowed the rest of the body and
+the arms.
+
+
+"OH!" said the gingerbread man, "I'M TWO-THIRDS GONE!"
+
+Bobby gave a third bite, and gulped down the head.
+
+"Oh!" said the gingerbread man, "I'm all gone!"
+
+And so he was--and that is the end of the story.

stories/The_Little_Red_Hen.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,216 @@
+The Little Red Hen
+
+A Little Red Hen lived in a barnyard. She spent almost all of her time
+walking about the barnyard in her picketty-pecketty fashion,
+scratching everywhere for worms.
+
+
+She dearly loved fat, delicious worms and felt they were absolutely
+necessary to the health of her children. As often as she found a worm
+she would call "Chuck-chuck-chuck!" to her chickies.
+
+
+When they were gathered about her, she would distribute choice morsels
+of her tid-bit. A busy little body was she!
+
+
+A cat usually napped lazily in the barn door, not even bothering
+herself to scare the rat who ran here and there as he pleased. And as
+for the pig who lived in the sty--he did not care what happened so
+long as he could eat and grow fat.
+
+
+One day the Little Red Hen found a Seed. It was a Wheat Seed, but the
+Little Red Hen was so accustomed to bugs and worms that she supposed
+this to be some new and perhaps very delicious kind of meat. She bit
+it gently and found that it resembled a worm in no way whatsoever as
+to taste although because it was long and slender, a Little Red Hen
+might easily be fooled by its appearance.
+
+
+Carrying it about, she made many inquiries as to what it might be. She
+found it was a Wheat Seed and that, if planted, it would grow up and
+when ripe it could be made into flour and then into bread.
+
+
+When she discovered that, she knew it ought to be planted. She was so
+busy hunting food for herself and her family that, naturally, she
+thought she ought not to take time to plant it.
+
+
+So she thought of the Pig--upon whom time must hang heavily and of the
+Cat who had nothing to do, and of the great fat Rat with his idle
+hours, and she called loudly:
+
+
+"Who will plant the Seed?"
+
+
+But the Pig said, "Not I," and the Cat said, "Not I," and the Rat
+said, "Not I."
+
+
+"Well, then," said the Little Red Hen, "I will."
+
+And she did.
+
+
+Then she went on with her daily duties through the long summer days,
+scratching for worms and feeding her chicks, while the Pig grew fat,
+and the Cat grew fat, and the Rat grew fat, and the Wheat grew tall
+and ready for harvest.
+
+
+So one day the Little Red Hen chanced to notice how large the Wheat
+was and that the grain was ripe, so she ran about calling briskly:
+"Who will cut the Wheat?"
+
+The Pig said, "Not I," the Cat said, "Not I," and the Rat said, "Not
+I."
+
+
+"Well, then," said the Little Red Hen, "I will."
+
+And she did.
+
+
+She got the sickle from among the farmer's tools in the barn and
+proceeded to cut off all of the big plant of Wheat.
+
+On the ground lay the nicely cut Wheat, ready to be gathered and
+threshed, but the newest and yellowest and downiest of Mrs. Hen's
+chicks set up a "peep-peep-peeping" in their most vigorous fashion,
+proclaiming to the world at large, but most particularly to their
+mother, that she was neglecting them.
+
+
+Poor Little Red Hen! She felt quite bewildered and hardly knew where
+to turn.
+
+Her attention was sorely divided between her duty to her children and
+her duty to the Wheat, for which she felt responsible.
+
+So, again, in a very hopeful tone, she called out, "Who will thresh
+the Wheat?"
+
+But the Pig, with a grunt, said, "Not I,"
+and the Cat, with a meow, said, "Not I," and
+the Rat, with a squeak, said, "Not I."
+
+So the Little Red Hen, looking, it must be admitted, rather
+discouraged, said, "Well, I will, then."
+
+And she did.
+
+Of course, she had to feed her babies first, though, and when she had
+gotten them all to sleep for their afternoon nap, she went out and
+threshed the Wheat. Then she called out: "Who will carry the Wheat to
+the mill to be ground?"
+
+
+Turning their backs with snippy glee,
+that Pig said, "Not I,"
+
+
+and that Cat said, "Not I," and that Rat said, "Not I."
+
+
+So the good Little Red Hen could do nothing but say, "I will then."
+And she did.
+
+Carrying the sack of Wheat, she trudged off to the distant mill. There
+she ordered the Wheat ground into beautiful white flour. When the
+miller brought her the flour she walked slowly back all the way to her
+own barnyard in her own picketty-pecketty fashion.
+
+
+She even managed, in spite of her load, to catch a nice juicy worm now
+and then and had one left for the babies when she reached them. Those
+cunning little fluff-balls were so glad to see their mother. For the
+first time, they really appreciated her.
+
+
+After this really strenuous day Mrs. Hen retired to her slumbers
+earlier than usual--indeed, before the colors came into the sky to
+herald the setting of the sun, her usual bedtime hour.
+
+She would have liked to sleep late in the morning, but her chicks,
+joining in the morning chorus of the hen yard, drove away all hopes of
+such a luxury.
+
+Even as she sleepily half opened one eye, the thought came to her that
+to-day that Wheat must, somehow, be made into bread.
+
+
+She was not in the habit of making bread, although, of course, anyone
+can make it if he or she follows the recipe with care, and she knew
+perfectly well that she could do it if necessary.
+
+So after her children were fed and made sweet and fresh for the day,
+she hunted up the Pig, the Cat and the Rat.
+
+
+Still confident that they would surely help her some day she sang out,
+"Who will make the bread?"
+
+
+Alas for the Little Red Hen! Once more her hopes were dashed! For the
+Pig said, "Not I,"
+
+
+the Cat said, "Not I," and the Rat said, "Not I."
+
+
+So the Little Red Hen said once more, "I will then," and she did.
+
+Feeling that she might have known all the time that she would have to
+do it all herself, she went and put on a fresh apron and spotless
+cook's cap. First of all she set the dough, as was proper. When it was
+time she brought out the moulding board and the baking tins, moulded
+the bread, divided it into loaves, and put them into the oven to bake.
+All the while the Cat sat lazily by, giggling and chuckling.
+
+
+And close at hand the vain Rat powdered his nose and admired himself
+in a mirror.
+
+
+In the distance could be heard the long-drawn snores of the dozing
+Pig.
+
+
+At last the great moment arrived. A delicious odor was wafted upon the
+autumn breeze. Everywhere the barnyard citizens sniffed the air with
+delight.
+
+
+The Red Hen ambled in her picketty-pecketty way toward the source of
+all this excitement.
+
+
+Although she appeared to be perfectly calm, in reality she could only
+with difficulty restrain an impulse to dance and sing, for had she not
+done all the work on this wonderful bread?
+
+
+Small wonder that she was the most excited person in the barnyard!
+
+She did not know whether the bread would be fit to eat, but--joy of
+joys!--when the lovely brown loaves came out of the oven, they were
+done to perfection.
+
+
+Then, probably because she had acquired the habit, the Red Hen called:
+"Who will eat the Bread?"
+
+
+All the animals in the barnyard were watching hungrily and smacking
+their lips in anticipation, and the Pig said, "I will," the Cat said,
+"I will," the Rat said, "I will."
+
+But the Little Red Hen said,
+
+
+"No, you won't. I will."
+
+And she did.

stories/The_Sleeping_Beauty.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,362 @@
+The Sleeping Beauty Picture Book
+
+Long, long ago, in ancient times, there lived a King and Queen,
+And for the blessing of a child their longing sore had been:
+At last, a little daughter fair, to their great joy, was given,
+And to the christening feast they made, they bade the Fairies seven--
+
+
+The Fairies seven, who loved the land--that they the child
+ might bless.
+Yet one old Fairy they left out, in pure forgetfulness.
+And at the feast, the dishes fair were of the reddest gold;
+But when the Fairy came, not one for her, so bad and old,
+Angry was she, because her place and dish had been forgot,
+And angry things she muttered long, and kept her anger hot.
+
+
+Until the Fairy godmothers their gifts and wishes gave:
+She waited long to spoil the gifts, and her revenge to have.
+One gave the Princess goodness, and one gave her beauty rare;
+One gave her sweetest singing voice; one, gracious mien and air;
+One, skill in dancing; one, all cleverness; and then the crone
+Came forth, and muttered, angry still, and good gift gave she none;
+
+
+But said, that in the future years the Princess young should die,
+By pricking of a spindle-point--ah, woeful prophecy!
+But now, a kind young Fairy, who had waited to the last,
+Stepped forth, and said, "No, she shall sleep till a hundred years
+ are past;
+And then she shall be wakened by a King's son--truth I tell--
+And he will take her for his wife, and all will yet be well."
+
+In vain in all her father's Court the spinning-wheel's forbid
+In vain in all the country-side the spindles sharp are hid;
+For in a lonely turret high, and up a winding stair,
+There lives an ancient woman who still turns her wheel with care.
+The Princess found her out one day, and tried to learn to spin;
+Alas! the spindle pricked her hand--the charm had entered in!
+
+And down she falls in death-like sleep: they lay her on her bed,
+And all around her sink to rest--a palace of the dead!
+A hundred years pass--still they sleep, and all around the place
+A wood of thorns has risen up--no path a man can trace.
+At last, a King's son, in the hunt, asked how long it had stood,
+And what old towers were those he saw above the ancient wood.
+
+
+An aged peasant told of an enchanted palace, where
+A sleeping King and Court lay hid, and sleeping Princess fair.
+Through the thick wood, that gave him way, and past the thorns that drew
+Their sharpest points another way, the King's son presses through.
+He reached the guard, the court, the hall,--and there, where'er he
+ stept,
+He saw the sentinels, and grooms, and courtiers as they slept.
+
+
+Ladies in act to smile, and pages in attendance wait;
+The horses slept within their stalls, the dogs about the gate.
+The King's son presses on, into an inner chamber fair,
+And sees, laid on a silken bed, a lovely lady there;
+So sweet a face, so fair--was never beauty such as this;
+He stands--he stoops to gaze--he kneels--he wakes her with a kiss.
+
+
+He leads her forth: the magic sleep of all the Court is o'er,--
+They wake, they move, they talk, they laugh, just as they did of yore
+A hundred years ago. The King and Queen awake, and tell
+How all has happed, rejoicing much that all has ended well.
+They hold the wedding that same day, with mirth and feasting good--
+The wedding of the Prince and Sleeping Beauty in the Wood.
+
+
+Aa
+
+
+As I was going up Pippin Hill
+ Pippin hill was dirty.
+There I met a pretty miss,
+ And she dropped me a curtsy.
+
+Bb
+
+
+Boys and girls come out to play.
+The moon doth shine as bright as day:
+Come with a whoop, come with a call,
+Come with a good will, or not at all.
+
+Cc
+
+
+Cuckoo, cherry tree
+Come down & tell me
+How many years
+I have to live!
+
+Dd
+
+
+Ding, dong, bell,
+Pussy's in the well.
+Who put her in?
+Naughty Johnny Green.
+Who pulled her out?
+Little Tommy Trout.
+
+Ee
+
+
+Early to bed, and early to rise,
+Is the way to be healthy, wealthy, and wise.
+
+Ff
+
+
+For every evil under the sun
+ There is a remedy, or there is none.
+If there be one, try and find it;
+ If there be none, never mind it.
+
+Gg
+
+
+Great A, little A; Bouncing B;
+The cat's in the cupboard.
+And she can't see me.
+
+Hh
+
+
+Hark! hark! the dogs do bark,
+The Beggars are coming to town.
+Some in rags & some in jag's
+And some in velvet gowns.
+
+Ii
+
+
+I had a little pony
+They called it Dapple Gray,
+I lent it to a lady
+To ride a mile away.
+She whipped it, she slashed it,
+She drove it through the mire.
+I will not lend my pony more,
+For all the ladies' hire.
+
+Jj
+
+
+John Smith, fellow fine,
+Can you shoe this horse o' mine?
+Yes, indeed, and that I can
+As well as any man!
+There's a nail upon the tae, &c
+To make the powny speel the brae;
+There's a nail and there's a brod
+ --a horse weel shod.
+
+Kk
+
+
+King o' Katchem met a king
+In a narrow lane;
+Says this king to that king
+"Where have you been?"
+
+Oh, I've been a hunting
+With my dog & my doe
+Pray lend him to me,
+That I may do so.
+
+"There's the dog, TAKE the dog."
+"What's the dog's name?"
+"I've told you already."
+"Pray tell me again."
+
+Ll
+
+
+Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home,
+Your house is a-fire, your children all gone,
+All but one that lies under a stone;
+Fly the home, ladybird, ere it be gone!
+
+Mm
+
+
+Multiplication is vexation,
+Division is twice as bad;
+The Rule of Three it puzzles me
+And Fractions drive me mad!
+
+Nn
+
+
+Nievie, nievie, nicknack,
+Which hand will ye tak'?
+Tak' the right, or tak' the wrong,
+I'll beguile ye, if I can.
+
+Oo
+
+
+Oh, Mother, I'm to be married
+To Mr. Punchinello,
+To Mr. Pun,
+To Mr. Chin,
+To Mr. Nel,
+To Mr. Lo,
+Mr. Pun, Mr. Chin, Mr. Nel, Mr. Lo
+To Mr. Punchinello.
+
+Pp
+
+
+Pat a cake, pat a cake, baker's man,
+Prick it and bake it as fast as you can.
+Prick it, and bake it, and mark it with B,
+And put it in the oven for baby and me.
+
+Qq
+
+
+Queen of Hearts,
+She made some tarts,
+All on a summer's day.
+The Knave of Hearts,
+He stole the tarts,
+And took them all away.
+
+Rr
+
+
+Rain, rain,
+Go to Spain,
+And never come back again.
+
+Ss
+
+
+See, Saw, Margery Daw,
+Sold her bed, and lay upon straw.
+
+Tt
+
+
+Three children sliding on the ice,
+Upon a summer's day;
+As it fell out they all fell in:
+The rest they ran away.
+
+Uu
+
+
+Uphill spare me,
+Downhill 'ware me,
+On level ground spare me not,
+And in the stable forget me not.
+
+Vv
+
+
+VALENTINE
+
+The rose is red; the Violet's blue
+The pink is sweet; & so are you.
+
+Ww
+
+
+"We'll go a-shooting," says Robin to Bobbin;
+"We'll go a-shooting," says Richard to John.
+"We'll go a-shooting," says John all alone;
+"We'll go a-shooting," says every one.
+
+Xx
+
+
+XMAS GIFTS.
+
+The first day of Xmas
+My mother sent to me
+A partridge in a pear tree.
+
+Yy
+
+
+YULE DAYS.
+
+The king sent his lady on the first Yule day,
+A papingo-aye
+Who learns my carol & carries it away?
+
+Zz
+
+
+ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.
+
+Where you shall go, too;
+But it's through A B C that we get to the Zoo.
+
+
+BLUEBEARD.
+
+
+Once on a time there lived a man hated by all he knew,
+Both that his ways were very bad, and that his beard was blue;
+But as he was so rich and grand, and led a merry life,
+A lady he contrived at last to induce to be his wife.
+
+
+For a month after the wedding they lived and had good cheer,
+And then said Bluebeard to his wife, "I'll say good-bye, my dear;
+Indeed, it is but for six weeks that I shall be away,
+I beg that you'll invite your friends, and feast and dance and play;
+And all my property I'll leave confided to your care.
+Here are the keys of all my chests, there's plenty and to spare."
+
+"But this small key belongs to one small room on the ground-floor,--
+And this you must not open, or you will repent it sore."
+And so he went; and all the friends came there from far and wide,
+And in her wealth the lady took much happiness and pride;
+But in a while this kind of joy grew nearly satisfied.
+
+
+And oft she saw the closet door, and longed to look inside.
+At last she could no more refrain, and turned the little key,
+And looked within, and fainted straight the horrid sight to see;
+For there upon the floor was blood, and on the walls were wives,
+For Bluebeard first had married them, then cut their throats
+ with knives.
+
+And this poor wife, distracted, picked the key up from the floor,
+All stained with blood; and with much fear she shut and locked the door.
+She tried in vain to clean the key and wash the stain away
+With sand and soap,--it was no use. Bluebeard came back that day;
+At once he asked her for the key,--he saw the bloody stain.--
+
+
+"You have been in the closet once, and you shall go again!"
+"O spare me, spare me! give me time, nor kill me hastily!"
+"You have a quarter of an hour,--then, madam, you must die!"
+"O sister Anne, go up, go up, and look out from the tower;"
+"I'm dead unless my brothers come in a quarter of an hour!"
+And Anne looked once, and Anne looked twice, and nothing saw abroad,
+But shining sun and growing grass, and dust upon the road.
+
+
+"Come down!" cried Bluebeard, "time is up!" With many a sigh and moan,
+She prayed him for a minute more; he shouted still, "Come down!"
+"O sister Anne, look out, look out! and do you nothing see?"
+"At last I see our brothers two come riding hastily."
+"Now spare me, Bluebeard,--spare thy wife!" but as the words were said,
+
+
+And just as Bluebeard's cruel blade was descending on her head,
+In rushed the brothers with their swords,--they cut the murderer down,
+And saved their sister's life, and gained much glory and renown;
+And then they all with gold and plate and jewels rare made free,
+And ever after lived content on Bluebeard's property.

stories/The_Story_of_the_Three_Little_Pigs.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+The Story of the Three Little Pigs
+
+Once upon a time there was an old Sow with three little Pigs,
+and as she had not enough to keep them, she sent them out to seek their
+fortune.
+
+
+The first that went off met a Man with a bundle of straw, and said to
+him, "Please, Man, give me that straw to build me a house"; which the
+Man did, and the little Pig built a house with it. Presently came along
+a Wolf, and knocked at the door, and said, "Little Pig, little Pig, let
+me come in."
+
+To which the Pig answered, "No, no, by the hair of my chinny chin chin."
+
+
+"Then I'll huff and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house
+in!" said the Wolf. So he huffed and he puffed, and he blew his house
+in, and ate up the little Pig.
+
+The second Pig met a Man with a bundle of furze, and said, "Please, Man,
+give me that furze to build a house"; which the Man did, and the Pig
+built his house.
+
+
+Then along came the Wolf and said, "Little Pig, little Pig, let me come
+in."
+
+"No, no, by the hair of my chinny chin chin."
+
+"Then I'll puff and I'll huff, and I'll blow your house in!" So he
+huffed and he puffed, and he puffed and he huffed, and at last he blew
+the house down, and ate up the second little Pig.
+
+
+The third little Pig met a Man with a load of bricks, and said, "Please,
+Man, give me those bricks to build a house with"; so the Man gave him
+the bricks, and he built his house with them. So the Wolf came, as he
+did to the other little Pigs, and said, "Little Pig, little Pig, let me
+come in."
+
+"No, no, by the hair of my chinny chin chin."
+
+"Then I'll huff and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in."
+
+Well, he huffed and he puffed, and he huffed and he puffed, and he
+puffed and he huffed; but he could not get the house down. When he
+found that he could not, with all his huffing and puffing, blow the
+house down, he said, "Little Pig, I know where there is a nice field of
+turnips."
+
+
+"Where?" said the little Pig.
+
+"Oh, in Mr. Smith's home-field; and if you will be ready to-morrow
+morning, I will call for you, and we will go together and get some for
+dinner."
+
+"Very well," said the little Pig, "I will be ready. What time do you
+mean to go?"
+
+"Oh, at six o'clock."
+
+
+Well, the little Pig got up at five, and got the turnips and was home
+again before six. When the Wolf came he said, "Little Pig, are you
+ready?"
+
+"Ready!" said the little Pig, "I have been and come back again, and got
+a nice pot-full for dinner."
+
+
+The Wolf felt very angry at this, but thought that he would be up to
+the little Pig somehow or other; so he said, "Little Pig, I know where
+there is a nice apple-tree."
+
+"Where?" said the Pig.
+
+"Down at Merry-garden," replied the Wolf; "and if you will not deceive
+me I will come for you, at five o'clock to-morrow, and we will go
+together and get some apples."
+
+
+Well, the little Pig woke at four the next morning, and bustled up, and
+went off for the apples, hoping to get back before the Wolf came; but
+he had farther to go, and had to climb the tree, so that just as he was
+coming down from it, he saw the Wolf coming, which, as you may suppose,
+frightened him very much. When the Wolf came up he said, "Little Pig,
+what! are you here before me? Are they nice apples?"
+
+
+"Yes, very," said the little Pig; "I will throw you down one." And he
+threw it so far that, while the Wolf was gone to pick it up, the
+little Pig jumped down and ran home.
+
+
+The next day the Wolf came again, and said to the little Pig, "Little
+Pig, there is a Fair in the Town this afternoon: will you go?"
+
+"Oh, yes," said the Pig, "I will go; what time shall you be ready?"
+
+"At three," said the Wolf.
+
+
+So the little Pig went off before the time, as usual, and got to the
+Fair, and bought a butter churn, and was on his way home with it when he
+saw the Wolf coming. Then he could not tell what to do. So he got into
+the churn to hide, and in doing so turned it round, and it began to
+roll, and rolled down the hill with the Pig inside it, which frightened
+the Wolf so much that he ran home without going to the Fair.
+
+
+He went to the little Pig's house, and told him how frightened he had
+been by a great round thing which came down the hill past him.
+
+Then the little Pig said, "Hah! I frightened you, did I? I had been to
+the Fair and bought a butter churn, and when I saw you I got into it,
+and rolled down the hill."
+
+
+Then the Wolf was very angry indeed, and declared he would eat up the
+little Pig, and that he would get down the chimney after him.
+
+
+When the little Pig saw what he was about, he hung on the pot full of
+water, and made up a blazing fire, and, just as the Wolf was coming
+down, took off the cover of the pot, and in fell the Wolf. And the
+little Pig put on the cover again in an instant, boiled him up, and ate
+him for supper, and lived happy ever after.

stories/The_Tale_of_Benjamin_Bunny.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,181 @@
+The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
+
+One morning a little rabbit sat on a bank.
+
+He pricked his ears and listened to the trit-trot, trit-trot of a pony.
+
+A gig was coming along the road; it was driven by Mr. McGregor, and beside
+him sat Mrs. McGregor in her best bonnet.
+
+As soon as they had passed, little Benjamin Bunny slid down into the road,
+and set off--with a hop, skip, and a jump--to call upon his relations, who
+lived in the wood at the back of Mr. McGregor's garden.
+
+
+That wood was full of rabbit holes; and in the neatest, sandiest hole of
+all lived Benjamin's aunt and his cousins--Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and
+Peter.
+
+Old Mrs. Rabbit was a widow; she earned her living by knitting rabbit-wool
+mittens and muffatees (I once bought a pair at a bazaar). She also sold
+herbs, and rosemary tea, and rabbit-tobacco (which is what we call
+lavender).
+
+Little Benjamin did not very much want to see his Aunt.
+
+He came round the back of the fir-tree, and nearly tumbled upon the top of
+his Cousin Peter.
+
+
+Peter was sitting by himself. He looked poorly, and was dressed in a red
+cotton pocket-handkerchief.
+
+"Peter," said little Benjamin, in a whisper, "who has got your clothes?"
+
+Peter replied, "The scarecrow in Mr. McGregor's garden," and described how
+he had been chased about the garden, and had dropped his shoes and coat.
+
+Little Benjamin sat down beside his cousin and assured him that Mr.
+McGregor had gone out in a gig, and Mrs. McGregor also; and certainly for
+the day, because she was wearing her best bonnet.
+
+
+Peter said he hoped that it would rain.
+
+At this point old Mrs. Rabbit's voice was heard inside the rabbit hole,
+calling: "Cotton-tail! Cotton-tail! fetch some more camomile!"
+
+Peter said he thought he might feel better if he went for a walk.
+
+They went away hand in hand, and got upon the flat top of the wall at the
+bottom of the wood. From here they looked down into Mr. McGregor's garden.
+Peter's coat and shoes were plainly to be seen upon the scarecrow, topped
+with an old tam-o'-shanter of Mr. McGregor's.
+
+
+Little Benjamin said: "It spoils people's clothes to squeeze under a gate;
+the proper way to get in is to climb down a pear-tree."
+
+Peter fell down head first; but it was of no consequence, as the bed below
+was newly raked and quite soft.
+
+It had been sown with lettuces.
+
+They left a great many odd little footmarks all over the bed, especially
+little Benjamin, who was wearing clogs.
+
+
+Little Benjamin said that the first thing to be done was to get back
+Peter's clothes, in order that they might be able to use the
+pocket-handkerchief.
+
+They took them off the scarecrow. There had been rain during the night;
+there was water in the shoes, and the coat was somewhat shrunk.
+
+Benjamin tried on the tam-o'-shanter, but it was too big for him.
+
+Then he suggested that they should fill the pocket-handkerchief with
+onions, as a little present for his Aunt.
+
+Peter did not seem to be enjoying himself; he kept hearing noises.
+
+
+Benjamin, on the contrary, was perfectly at home, and ate a lettuce leaf.
+He said that he was in the habit of coming to the garden with his father
+to get lettuces for their Sunday dinner.
+
+(The name of little Benjamin's papa was old Mr. Benjamin Bunny.)
+
+The lettuces certainly were very fine.
+
+Peter did not eat anything; he said he should like to go home. Presently
+he dropped half the onions.
+
+
+Little Benjamin said that it was not possible to get back up the pear-tree
+with a load of vegetables. He led the way boldly towards the other end of
+the garden. They went along a little walk on planks, under a sunny, red
+brick wall.
+
+The mice sat on their doorsteps cracking cherry-stones; they winked at
+Peter Rabbit and little Benjamin Bunny.
+
+Presently Peter let the pocket-handkerchief go again.
+
+
+They got amongst flower-pots, and frames, and tubs. Peter heard noises
+worse than ever; his eyes were as big as lolly-pops!
+
+He was a step or two in front of his cousin when he suddenly stopped.
+
+This is what those little rabbits saw round that corner!
+
+Little Benjamin took one look, and then, in half a minute less than no
+time, he hid himself and Peter and the onions underneath a large
+basket....
+
+
+The cat got up and stretched herself, and came and sniffed at the basket.
+
+Perhaps she liked the smell of onions!
+
+Anyway, she sat down upon the top of the basket.
+
+She sat there for five hours.
+
+
+I cannot draw you a picture of Peter and Benjamin underneath the basket,
+because it was quite dark, and because the smell of onions was fearful; it
+made Peter Rabbit and little Benjamin cry.
+
+The sun got round behind the wood, and it was quite late in the afternoon;
+but still the cat sat upon the basket.
+
+
+At length there was a pitter-patter, pitter-patter, and some bits of
+mortar fell from the wall above.
+
+The cat looked up and saw old Mr. Benjamin Bunny prancing along the top of
+the wall of the upper terrace.
+
+He was smoking a pipe of rabbit-tobacco, and had a little switch in his
+hand.
+
+He was looking for his son.
+
+Old Mr. Bunny had no opinion whatever of cats.
+
+He took a tremendous jump off the top of the wall on to the top of the
+cat, and cuffed it off the basket, and kicked it into the greenhouse,
+scratching off a handful of fur.
+
+The cat was too much surprised to scratch back.
+
+
+When old Mr. Bunny had driven the cat into the greenhouse, he locked the
+door.
+
+Then he came back to the basket and took out his son Benjamin by the ears,
+and whipped him with the little switch.
+
+Then he took out his nephew Peter.
+
+Then he took out the handkerchief of onions, and marched out of the
+garden.
+
+
+When Mr. McGregor returned about half an hour later he observed several
+things which perplexed him.
+
+It looked as though some person had been walking all over the garden in a
+pair of clogs--only the footmarks were too ridiculously little!
+
+Also he could not understand how the cat could have managed to shut
+herself up inside the greenhouse, locking the door upon the outside.
+
+
+When Peter got home his mother forgave him, because she was so glad to see
+that he had found his shoes and coat. Cotton-tail and Peter folded up the
+pocket-handkerchief, and old Mrs. Rabbit strung up the onions and hung
+them from the kitchen ceiling, with the bunches of herbs and the
+rabbit-tobacco.

stories/The_Tale_of_Jemima_Puddle_Duck.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,211 @@
+The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck
+
+What a funny sight it is to see a brood of ducklings with a hen!
+
+--Listen to the story of Jemima Puddle-duck, who was annoyed because the
+farmer's wife would not let her hatch her own eggs.
+
+
+Her sister-in-law, Mrs. Rebeccah Puddle-duck, was perfectly willing to
+leave the hatching to some one else--"I have not the patience to sit on a
+nest for twenty-eight days; and no more have you, Jemima. You would let
+them go cold; you know you would!"
+
+"I wish to hatch my own eggs; I will hatch them all by myself," quacked
+Jemima Puddle-duck.
+
+
+She tried to hide her eggs; but they were always found and carried off.
+
+Jemima Puddle-duck became quite desperate. She determined to make a nest
+right away from the farm.
+
+
+She set off on a fine spring afternoon along the cart-road that leads over
+the hill.
+
+She was wearing a shawl and a poke bonnet.
+
+
+When she reached the top of the hill, she saw a wood in the distance.
+
+She thought that it looked a safe quiet spot.
+
+
+Jemima Puddle-duck was not much in the habit of flying. She ran downhill a
+few yards flapping her shawl, and then she jumped off into the air.
+
+
+She flew beautifully when she had got a good start.
+
+She skimmed along over the tree-tops until she saw an open place in the
+middle of the wood, where the trees and brushwood had been cleared.
+
+
+Jemima alighted rather heavily, and began to waddle about in search of a
+convenient dry nesting-place. She rather fancied a tree-stump amongst some
+tall fox-gloves.
+
+But--seated upon the stump, she was startled to find an elegantly dressed
+gentleman reading a newspaper.
+
+He had black prick ears and sandy coloured whiskers.
+
+"Quack?" said Jemima Puddle-duck, with her head and her bonnet on one
+side--"Quack?"
+
+
+The gentleman raised his eyes above his newspaper and looked curiously at
+Jemima--
+
+"Madam, have you lost your way?" said he. He had a long bushy tail which
+he was sitting upon, as the stump was somewhat damp.
+
+Jemima thought him mighty civil and handsome. She explained that she had
+not lost her way, but that she was trying to find a convenient dry
+nesting-place.
+
+
+"Ah! is that so? indeed!" said the gentleman with sandy whiskers, looking
+curiously at Jemima. He folded up the newspaper, and put it in his
+coat-tail pocket.
+
+Jemima complained of the superfluous hen.
+
+"Indeed! how interesting! I wish I could meet with that fowl. I would
+teach it to mind its own business!"
+
+
+"But as to a nest--there is no difficulty: I have a sackful of feathers in
+my wood-shed. No, my dear madam, you will be in nobody's way. You may sit
+there as long as you like," said the bushy long-tailed gentleman.
+
+He led the way to a very retired, dismal-looking house amongst the
+fox-gloves.
+
+It was built of faggots and turf, and there were two broken pails, one on
+top of another, by way of a chimney.
+
+
+"This is my summer residence; you would not find my earth--my winter
+house--so convenient," said the hospitable gentleman.
+
+There was a tumble-down shed at the back of the house, made of old
+soap-boxes. The gentleman opened the door, and showed Jemima in.
+
+
+The shed was almost quite full of feathers--it was almost suffocating; but
+it was comfortable and very soft.
+
+Jemima Puddle-duck was rather surprised to find such a vast quantity of
+feathers. But it was very comfortable; and she made a nest without any
+trouble at all.
+
+
+When she came out, the sandy whiskered gentleman was sitting on a log
+reading the newspaper--at least he had it spread out, but he was looking
+over the top of it.
+
+He was so polite, that he seemed almost sorry to let Jemima go home for
+the night. He promised to take great care of her nest until she came back
+again next day.
+
+He said he loved eggs and ducklings; he should be proud to see a fine
+nestful in his wood-shed.
+
+
+Jemima Puddle-duck came every afternoon; she laid nine eggs in the nest.
+They were greeny white and very large. The foxy gentleman admired them
+immensely. He used to turn them over and count them when Jemima was not
+there.
+
+At last Jemima told him that she intended to begin to sit next day--"and I
+will bring a bag of corn with me, so that I need never leave my nest until
+the eggs are hatched. They might catch cold," said the conscientious
+Jemima.
+
+
+"Madam, I beg you not to trouble yourself with a bag; I will provide oats.
+But before you commence your tedious sitting, I intend to give you a
+treat. Let us have a dinner-party all to ourselves!
+
+"May I ask you to bring up some herbs from the farm-garden to make a
+savoury omelette? Sage and thyme, and mint and two onions, and some
+parsley. I will provide lard for the stuff--lard for the omelette," said
+the hospitable gentleman with sandy whiskers.
+
+
+Jemima Puddle-duck was a simpleton: not even the mention of sage and
+onions made her suspicious.
+
+She went round the farm-garden, nibbling off snippets of all the different
+sorts of herbs that are used for stuffing roast duck.
+
+
+And she waddled into the kitchen, and got two onions out of a basket.
+
+The collie-dog Kep met her coming out, "What are you doing with those
+onions? Where do you go every afternoon by yourself, Jemima Puddle-duck?"
+
+Jemima was rather in awe of the collie; she told him the whole story.
+
+The collie listened, with his wise head on one side; he grinned when she
+described the polite gentleman with sandy whiskers.
+
+
+He asked several questions about the wood, and about the exact position of
+the house and shed.
+
+Then he went out, and trotted down the village. He went to look for two
+fox-hound puppies who were out at walk with the butcher.
+
+
+Jemima Puddle-duck went up the cart-road for the last time, on a sunny
+afternoon. She was rather burdened with bunches of herbs and two onions in
+a bag.
+
+She flew over the wood, and alighted opposite the house of the bushy
+long-tailed gentleman.
+
+
+He was sitting on a log; he sniffed the air, and kept glancing uneasily
+round the wood. When Jemima alighted he quite jumped.
+
+"Come into the house as soon as you have looked at your eggs. Give me the
+herbs for the omelette. Be sharp!"
+
+He was rather abrupt. Jemima Puddle-duck had never heard him speak like
+that.
+
+She felt surprised, and uncomfortable.
+
+
+While she was inside she heard pattering feet round the back of the shed.
+Some one with a black nose sniffed at the bottom of the door, and then
+locked it.
+
+Jemima became much alarmed.
+
+
+A moment afterwards there were most awful noises--barking, baying, growls
+and howls, squealing and groans.
+
+And nothing more was ever seen of that foxy-whiskered gentleman.
+
+Presently Kep opened the door of the shed, and let out Jemima Puddle-duck.
+
+
+Unfortunately the puppies rushed in and gobbled up all the eggs before he
+could stop them.
+
+He had a bite on his ear and both the puppies were limping.
+
+
+Jemima Puddle-duck was escorted home in tears on account of those eggs.
+
+
+She laid some more in June, and she was permitted to keep them herself:
+but only four of them hatched.
+
+Jemima Puddle-duck said that it was because of her nerves; but she had
+always been a bad sitter.

stories/The_Tale_of_Peter_Rabbit.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+The Tale of Peter Rabbit
+
+Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names
+were--
+
+ Flopsy,
+ Mopsy,
+ Cotton-tail,
+and Peter.
+
+They lived with their Mother in a sand-bank, underneath the root of a
+very big fir-tree.
+
+'Now my dears,' said old Mrs. Rabbit one morning, 'you may go into
+the fields or down the lane, but don't go into Mr. McGregor's garden:
+your Father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs.
+McGregor.'
+
+
+'Now run along, and don't get into mischief. I am going out.'
+
+Then old Mrs. Rabbit took a basket and her umbrella, and went through
+the wood to the baker's. She bought a loaf of brown bread and five
+currant buns.
+
+
+Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail, who were good little bunnies, went
+down the lane to gather blackberries:
+
+But Peter, who was very naughty, ran straight away to Mr. McGregor's
+garden, and squeezed under the gate!
+
+
+First he ate some lettuces and some French beans; and then he ate
+some radishes;
+
+And then, feeling rather sick, he went to look for some parsley.
+
+
+But round the end of a cucumber frame, whom should he meet but Mr.
+McGregor!
+
+Mr. McGregor was on his hands and knees planting out young cabbages,
+but he jumped up and ran after Peter, waving a rake and calling out,
+'Stop thief!'
+
+
+Peter was most dreadfully frightened; he rushed all over the garden,
+for he had forgotten the way back to the gate.
+
+He lost one of his shoes among the cabbages, and the other shoe
+amongst the potatoes.
+
+After losing them, he ran on four legs and went faster, so that I
+think he might have got away altogether if he had not unfortunately
+run into a gooseberry net, and got caught by the large buttons on his
+jacket. It was a blue jacket with brass buttons, quite new.
+
+
+Peter gave himself up for lost, and shed big tears; but his sobs were
+overheard by some friendly sparrows, who flew to him in great
+excitement, and implored him to exert himself.
+
+Mr. McGregor came up with a sieve, which he intended to pop upon the
+top of Peter; but Peter wriggled out just in time, leaving his jacket
+behind him.
+
+
+And rushed into the tool-shed, and jumped into a can. It would have
+been a beautiful thing to hide in, if it had not had so much water in it.
+
+Mr. McGregor was quite sure that Peter was somewhere in the
+tool-shed, perhaps hidden underneath a flower-pot. He began to turn
+them over carefully, looking under each.
+
+Presently Peter sneezed--'Kertyschoo!' Mr. McGregor was after him in
+no time.
+
+
+And tried to put his foot upon Peter, who jumped out of a window,
+upsetting three plants. The window was too small for Mr. McGregor, and
+he was tired of running after Peter. He went back to his work.
+
+Peter sat down to rest; he was out of breath and trembling with
+fright, and he had not the least idea which way to go. Also he was
+very damp with sitting in that can.
+
+After a time he began to wander about, going lippity--lippity--not
+very fast, and looking all round.
+
+
+He found a door in a wall; but it was locked, and there was no room
+for a fat little rabbit to squeeze underneath.
+
+An old mouse was running in and out over the stone doorstep, carrying
+peas and beans to her family in the wood. Peter asked her the way to
+the gate, but she had such a large pea in her mouth that she could not
+answer. She only shook her head at him. Peter began to cry.
+
+Then he tried to find his way straight across the garden, but he
+became more and more puzzled. Presently, he came to a pond where Mr.
+McGregor filled his water-cans. A white cat was staring at some
+gold-fish, she sat very, very still, but now and then the tip of her
+tail twitched as if it were alive. Peter thought it best to go away
+without speaking to her; he had heard about cats from his cousin,
+little Benjamin Bunny.
+
+
+He went back towards the tool-shed, but suddenly, quite close to him,
+he heard the noise of a hoe--scr-r-ritch, scratch, scratch, scritch.
+Peter scuttered underneath the bushes. But presently, as nothing
+happened, he came out, and climbed upon a wheelbarrow and peeped over.
+The first thing he saw was Mr. McGregor hoeing onions. His back was
+turned towards Peter, and beyond him was the gate!
+
+Peter got down very quietly off the wheelbarrow; and started running
+as fast as he could go, along a straight walk behind some
+black-currant bushes.
+
+Mr. McGregor caught sight of him at the corner, but Peter did not
+care. He slipped underneath the gate, and was safe at last in the wood
+outside the garden.
+
+
+Mr. McGregor hung up the little jacket and the shoes for a scare-crow
+to frighten the blackbirds.
+
+Peter never stopped running or looked behind him till he got home to
+the big fir-tree.
+
+He was so tired that he flopped down upon the nice soft sand on the
+floor of the rabbit-hole and shut his eyes. His mother was busy
+cooking; she wondered what he had done with his clothes. It was the
+second little jacket and pair of shoes that Peter had lost in a
+fortnight!
+
+
+I am sorry to say that Peter was not very well during the evening.
+
+His mother put him to bed, and made some camomile tea; and she gave a
+dose of it to Peter!
+
+'One table-spoonful to be taken at bed-time.'
+
+
+But Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail had bread and milk and
+blackberries for supper.

stories/The_Tale_of_Tom_Kitten.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+The Tale of Tom Kitten
+
+Once upon a time there were three little kittens, and their names were
+Mittens, Tom Kitten, and Moppet.
+
+They had dear little fur coats of their own; and they tumbled about the
+doorstep and played in the dust.
+
+But one day their mother--Mrs. Tabitha Twitchit--expected friends to tea;
+so she fetched the kittens indoors, to wash and dress them, before the
+fine company arrived.
+
+
+First she scrubbed their faces (this one is Moppet).
+
+Then she brushed their fur, (this one is Mittens).
+
+
+Then she combed their tails and whiskers (this is Tom Kitten).
+
+Tom was very naughty, and he scratched.
+
+Mrs. Tabitha dressed Moppet and Mittens in clean pinafores and tuckers;
+and then she took all sorts of elegant uncomfortable clothes out of a
+chest of drawers, in order to dress up her son Thomas.
+
+
+Tom Kitten was very fat, and he had grown; several buttons burst off. His
+mother sewed them on again.
+
+When the three kittens were ready, Mrs. Tabitha unwisely turned them out
+into the garden, to be out of the way while she made hot buttered toast.
+
+"Now keep your frocks clean, children! You must walk on your hind legs.
+Keep away from the dirty ash-pit, and from Sally Henny Penny, and from the
+pig-stye and the Puddle-Ducks."
+
+
+Moppet and Mittens walked down the garden path unsteadily. Presently they
+trod upon their pinafores and fell on their noses.
+
+When they stood up there were several green smears!
+
+"Let us climb up the rockery, and sit on the garden wall," said Moppet.
+
+They turned their pinafores back to front, and went up with a skip and a
+jump; Moppet's white tucker fell down into the road.
+
+
+Tom Kitten was quite unable to jump when walking upon his hind legs in
+trousers. He came up the rockery by degrees, breaking the ferns, and
+shedding buttons right and left.
+
+He was all in pieces when he reached the top of the wall.
+
+Moppet and Mittens tried to pull him together; his hat fell off, and the
+rest of his buttons burst.
+
+
+While they were in difficulties, there was a pit pat paddle pat! and the
+three Puddle-Ducks came along the hard high road, marching one behind the
+other and doing the goose step--pit pat paddle pat! pit pat waddle pat!
+
+They stopped and stood in a row, and stared up at the kittens. They had
+very small eyes and looked surprised.
+
+
+Then the two duck-birds, Rebeccah and Jemima Puddle-Duck, picked up the
+hat and tucker and put them on.
+
+Mittens laughed so that she fell off the wall. Moppet and Tom descended
+after her; the pinafores and all the rest of Tom's clothes came off on the
+way down.
+
+"Come! Mr. Drake Puddle-Duck," said Moppet--"Come and help us to dress
+him! Come and button up Tom!"
+
+
+Mr. Drake Puddle-Duck advanced in a slow sideways manner, and picked up
+the various articles.
+
+But he put them on himself! They fitted him even worse than Tom Kitten.
+
+"It's a very fine morning!" said Mr. Drake Puddle-Duck.
+
+
+And he and Jemima and Rebeccah Puddle-Duck set off up the road, keeping
+step--pit pat, paddle pat! pit pat, waddle pat!
+
+Then Tabitha Twitchit came down the garden and found her kittens on the
+wall with no clothes on.
+
+
+She pulled them off the wall, smacked them, and took them back to the
+house.
+
+"My friends will arrive in a minute, and you are not fit to be seen; I am
+affronted," said Mrs. Tabitha Twitchit.
+
+She sent them upstairs; and I am sorry to say she told her friends that
+they were in bed with the measles; which was not true.
+
+
+Quite the contrary; they were not in bed: not in the least.
+
+Somehow there were very extraordinary noises over-head, which disturbed
+the dignity and repose of the tea party.
+
+And I think that some day I shall have to make another, larger, book, to
+tell you more about Tom Kitten!
+
+
+As for the Puddle-Ducks--they went into a pond.
+
+The clothes all came off directly, because there were no buttons.
+
+
+And Mr. Drake Puddle-Duck, and Jemima and Rebeccah, have been looking for
+them ever since.

story_downloader/clean_stories.py

@@ -0,0 +1,378 @@
+"""
+Clean downloaded Gutenberg story files for TTS audiobook use.
+
+Reference format: Three_LIttle_Pigs.txt
+  - Line 1: TITLE (all caps or title case)
+  - Line 2: blank
+  - Remaining: story text only (no metadata, illustrations, publisher info)
+
+This script:
+  1. Strips Gutenberg header (eBook preamble, author, language, credits, etc.)
+  2. Strips Gutenberg footer (license boilerplate)
+  3. Removes [Illustration] / [Illustration: ...] tags
+  4. Removes publisher info, title pages, "Note:" blocks
+  5. Removes _emphasis_ underscores (keeps the word)
+  6. Removes BOM characters, excessive blank lines
+  7. Writes cleaned files back in-place
+"""
+
+import os
+import re
+from pathlib import Path
+
+STORIES_DIR = Path(__file__).parent.parent / "stories"
+REFERENCE_FILE = "Three_LIttle_Pigs.txt"  # already clean, skip it
+
+# Patterns that mark the START of Gutenberg header material (first line is title)
+HEADER_PATTERNS = [
+    r"The Project Gutenberg eBook",
+    r"^\u feffThe Project Gutenberg",  # BOM variant
+    r"^This eBook is for the use of",
+    r"^Title:",
+    r"^Author:",
+    r"^Release date:",
+    r"^Language:",
+    r"^Credits:",
+    r"^Other information and formats:",
+    r"^Illustrator:",
+    r"^Editor:",
+    r"^Most recently updated:",
+]
+
+# Patterns that mark the START of Gutenberg footer
+FOOTER_MARKERS = [
+    "End of the Project Gutenberg",
+    "End of Project Gutenberg",
+    "Updated editions will replace",
+    "*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG",
+    "*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG",
+    "Uniform With This Volume",
+    "UNIFORMLY WITH THIS",
+    "PUBLISHED\nUNIFORMLY",
+    "* * * * *\n\n\nUniform",
+]
+
+# Lines to remove entirely (exact or pattern match)
+REMOVE_LINE_PATTERNS = [
+    re.compile(r"^\[Illustration[:\]].*$", re.IGNORECASE),  # [Illustration] or [Illustration: ...]
+    re.compile(r"^\[Illustration\]$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^Note:.*Project Gutenberg.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^E-text prepared by.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^Transcriber.s Note.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*https?://.*$"),  # bare URLs
+    re.compile(r"^\s*\(https?://.*\)\s*$"),  # (URLs)
+    re.compile(r"^\s*www\.gutenberg\.org.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*See \d+-h\.htm.*$"),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*Images of the original pages.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*Internet Archive.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    # Gutenberg metadata fields
+    re.compile(r"^\s*Author:.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*Editor:.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*Illustrator:.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*Title:.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*Release date:.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*Most recently updated:.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*Language:.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*Other information and formats:.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*Credits:.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*\*\s*\*\s*\*\s*\*\s*\*\s*$"),  # * * * * * dividers
+]
+
+# Publisher/title-page noise patterns (only applied in the header zone, before story starts)
+TITLE_PAGE_PATTERNS = [
+    re.compile(r"^\s*(BY|by)\s*$"),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*PRINTED IN.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*COPYRIGHT.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*PUBLISHED BY.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*FREDERICK WARNE.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*First published.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*Printed and bound.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*LONDON\.?\s*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*NEW YORK\.?\s*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*Dodd, Mead.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*One Shilling Net\.?\s*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*With Drawings by.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*With the Original Coloured.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*Containing\s*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*_MARKS.S EDITION\._\s*$"),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*SAALFIELD PUBLISHING.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*CHICAGO.*AKRON.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*Online Distributed Proofreading.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*Collections, University Libraries.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*Book Cover\s*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*Edited by.*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*An Old English\s*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*Folk Tale\s*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*Retold\s*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*and\s*$"),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*or\s*$"),
+    re.compile(r"^\s*Illustrated\s*$", re.IGNORECASE),
+]
+
+
+def is_title_line(line: str, title: str) -> bool:
+    """Check if a line is essentially a repetition of the story title."""
+    stripped = line.strip().strip("_").strip("*").strip().rstrip(".")
+    if not stripped or len(stripped) < 5:
+        return False
+    # Normalize both for comparison
+    norm_line = re.sub(r"[^a-z\s]", "", stripped.lower()).split()
+    norm_title = re.sub(r"[^a-z\s]", "", title.lower()).split()
+    if not norm_line or not norm_title:
+        return False
+    # The line must match the title closely (not just share a few words)
+    # At least 80% of title words must appear, and line can't be much longer
+    overlap = len(set(norm_line) & set(norm_title))
+    return overlap >= len(norm_title) * 0.8 and len(norm_line) <= len(norm_title) + 3
+
+
+def find_story_start(lines: list[str], title: str) -> int:
+    """Find where the actual story narrative begins, past all header/title-page material."""
+    # Strategy: look for the LAST occurrence of the title in the header zone
+    # (first 30% of file), then find the first real narrative paragraph after it.
+    # Limit search to header zone to avoid matching title words in story text.
+    header_zone_end = min(len(lines), max(50, len(lines) // 3))
+
+    last_title_line = 0
+    for i in range(header_zone_end):
+        if is_title_line(lines[i], title):
+            last_title_line = i
+
+    # Now find the first narrative line after the last title occurrence
+    # A narrative line is: not empty, not a metadata line, not all caps short line,
+    # and contains actual sentence-like text
+    search_start = max(last_title_line + 1, 1)
+    for i in range(search_start, len(lines)):
+        line = lines[i].strip()
+        if not line:
+            continue
+        # Skip short all-caps lines (chapter headings on title page)
+        if line.isupper() and len(line) < 60:
+            continue
+        # Skip [Illustration] lines
+        if line.startswith("[Illustration"):
+            continue
+        # Skip publisher/metadata lines
+        if any(p.match(line) for p in TITLE_PAGE_PATTERNS):
+            continue
+        if any(p.match(line) for p in REMOVE_LINE_PATTERNS):
+            continue
+        # Skip "Author of..." attribution lines
+        if re.match(r'^Author of\b', line, re.IGNORECASE):
+            continue
+        # Skip publisher names
+        if re.match(r'^Frederick Warne', line, re.IGNORECASE):
+            continue
+        # Skip dedication blocks
+        if re.match(r'^DEDICATED\b', line, re.IGNORECASE):
+            continue
+        # Skip partial title fragments (single title words on their own line)
+        if line.isupper() and len(line.split()) <= 4:
+            continue
+        # Skip table-of-contents style lines (semicolons separating titles)
+        if line.count(";") >= 2 and not re.search(r'[.!?]', line):
+            continue
+        # Skip lines ending with just a colon (TOC entries, subtitles)
+        if re.match(r'^[^.!?]+:$', line):
+            continue
+        # Skip lines that are just a year (e.g. "1907 by Frederick Warne")
+        if re.match(r'^\d{4}\b', line):
+            continue
+        # Must contain lowercase letters (actual prose)
+        if re.search(r"[a-z]", line) and len(line) > 20:
+            # Final check: would clean_line remove this?
+            if clean_line(lines[i]) is not None:
+                return i
+
+    return search_start
+
+
+def find_story_end(text: str) -> int:
+    """Find where Gutenberg footer begins. Returns char index or len(text)."""
+    for marker in FOOTER_MARKERS:
+        idx = text.find(marker)
+        if idx >= 0:
+            return idx
+    return len(text)
+
+
+def clean_line(line: str) -> str | None:
+    """Clean a single line. Returns None if line should be removed entirely."""
+    # Remove BOM
+    line = line.replace("\ufeff", "")
+
+    # Remove [Illustration] and [Illustration: ...]
+    line = re.sub(r"\[Illustration[:\s][^\]]*\]", "", line)
+    line = re.sub(r"\[Illustration\]", "", line)
+
+    # Remove _emphasis_ underscores but keep the word
+    line = re.sub(r"_([^_]+)_", r"\1", line)
+
+    # Remove Gutenberg eBook header line
+    if "Project Gutenberg eBook" in line:
+        return None
+    # Remove license preamble
+    if "This eBook is for the use of anyone" in line:
+        return None
+    # Remove proofreading/credit lines
+    if "Distributed Proofreading" in line or "Proofreading Team" in line:
+        return None
+    if "pgdp.net" in line or "dp.rastko.net" in line:
+        return None
+    if "Project Gutenberg License" in line:
+        return None
+    # Remove publisher lines that may appear mid-file
+    if re.match(r"^\s*Frederick Warne", line.strip()):
+        return None
+    if re.match(r"^\s*Author of\b", line.strip(), re.IGNORECASE):
+        return None
+    # Remove dedication lines
+    if re.match(r"^\s*DEDICATED\b", line.strip()):
+        return None
+    # Remove author name lines (all caps, short)
+    if re.match(r"^\s*BEATRIX POTTER\s*$", line.strip()):
+        return None
+    if re.match(r"^\s*WALTER CRANE\s*$", line.strip()):
+        return None
+    # Remove quoted title reference lines ("The Tale of...", &c.)
+    if re.match(r'^\s*["\u201c].*["\u201d],?\s*&c\.?\s*$', line.strip()):
+        return None
+    # Remove printer/publisher lines
+    if re.match(r"^\s*William Clowes", line.strip(), re.IGNORECASE):
+        return None
+    # Remove dedication lines (TO ALL / PICKLES / --ESPECIALLY...)
+    stripped_check = line.strip()
+    if re.match(r"^(TO ALL|PICKLES|--ESPECIALLY)", stripped_check):
+        return None
+    if re.match(r"^GET UPON MY", stripped_check):
+        return None
+
+    # Check if line matches any remove pattern
+    stripped = line.strip()
+    for pattern in REMOVE_LINE_PATTERNS:
+        if pattern.match(stripped):
+            return None
+
+    return line
+
+
+def clean_story(filepath: Path) -> bool:
+    """Clean a single story file. Returns True if modified."""
+    with open(filepath, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+        raw = f.read()
+
+    # The first line is the title (from our download script)
+    lines = raw.split("\n")
+    title = lines[0].strip().replace("\ufeff", "")
+
+    # Find where footer starts and cut it
+    footer_pos = find_story_end(raw)
+    if footer_pos < len(raw):
+        # Find the line index corresponding to footer_pos
+        char_count = 0
+        footer_line = len(lines)
+        for i, line in enumerate(lines):
+            char_count += len(line) + 1  # +1 for \n
+            if char_count >= footer_pos:
+                footer_line = i
+                break
+        lines = lines[:footer_line]
+
+    # Find where actual story starts
+    story_start = find_story_start(lines, title)
+
+    # Extract just the story lines
+    story_lines = lines[story_start:]
+
+    # Clean each line
+    cleaned = []
+    for line in story_lines:
+        result = clean_line(line)
+        if result is not None:
+            cleaned.append(result)
+
+    # Collapse multiple blank lines into max 2
+    final_lines = cleaned
+    output_lines = []
+    blank_count = 0
+    for line in final_lines:
+        if line.strip() == "":
+            blank_count += 1
+            if blank_count <= 2:
+                output_lines.append("")
+        else:
+            blank_count = 0
+            output_lines.append(line)
+
+    # Strip trailing blank lines
+    while output_lines and output_lines[-1].strip() == "":
+        output_lines.pop()
+
+    # Build final text: TITLE\n\nstory_text\n
+    story_text = "\n".join(output_lines)
+
+    # Clean up any remaining artifacts
+    # Remove "Transcriber's Note" blocks at the end
+    story_text = re.sub(
+        r"\n\s*Transcriber.s Note.*$", "", story_text, flags=re.DOTALL | re.IGNORECASE
+    )
+
+    # Remove any "Obvious punctuation..." notes
+    story_text = re.sub(
+        r"\n\s*\*\s*Obvious punctuation.*$", "", story_text, flags=re.DOTALL | re.IGNORECASE
+    )
+
+    # Remove trailing publisher catalogs / book lists
+    story_text = re.sub(
+        r"\n\s*\*[\s*]+\*\s*\n.*$", "", story_text, flags=re.DOTALL
+    )
+    story_text = re.sub(
+        r"\n\s*PUBLISHED\s*\n.*$", "", story_text, flags=re.DOTALL | re.IGNORECASE
+    )
+    story_text = re.sub(
+        r"\n\s*Uniform With This.*$", "", story_text, flags=re.DOTALL | re.IGNORECASE
+    )
+    story_text = re.sub(
+        r"\n\s*UNIFORMLY? WITH THIS.*$", "", story_text, flags=re.DOTALL | re.IGNORECASE
+    )
+
+    # Remove trailing "THE END" marker
+    story_text = re.sub(r"\n\s*THE END\s*$", "", story_text, flags=re.IGNORECASE)
+
+    final = f"{title}\n\n{story_text.strip()}\n"
+
+    with open(filepath, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+        f.write(final)
+
+    word_count = len(story_text.split())
+    print(f"  Cleaned: {filepath.name} ({word_count} words)")
+    return True
+
+
+def main():
+    if not STORIES_DIR.exists():
+        print(f"Stories directory not found: {STORIES_DIR}")
+        return
+
+    files = sorted(STORIES_DIR.glob("*.txt"))
+    cleaned = 0
+    skipped = 0
+
+    for filepath in files:
+        if filepath.name == REFERENCE_FILE:
+            print(f"  Skipped (reference): {filepath.name}")
+            skipped += 1
+            continue
+
+        print(f"\n--- {filepath.name} ---")
+        try:
+            clean_story(filepath)
+            cleaned += 1
+        except Exception as e:
+            print(f"  ERROR: {e}")
+
+    print(f"\n=== Done: {cleaned} cleaned, {skipped} skipped ===")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()

story_downloader/download_stories.py

@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+"""
+Download 10 short children's stories from Project Gutenberg
+and save them as text files under ../stories/
+
+Uses direct cache URLs (more reliable than page scraping)
+and the GutenbergDownloader's parse_text_book to strip headers/footers.
+"""
+
+import sys
+import os
+import requests
+import time
+
+sys.path.insert(0, os.path.dirname(__file__))
+from gutenberg_downloader import GutenbergDownloader
+from pathlib import Path
+
+# 10 short children's stories known to have plain text on Gutenberg
+STORIES = [
+    {"id": 14838, "title": "The Tale of Peter Rabbit"},
+    {"id": 14407, "title": "The Tale of Benjamin Bunny"},
+    {"id": 14814, "title": "The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck"},
+    {"id": 14837, "title": "The Tale of Tom Kitten"},
+    {"id": 1988,  "title": "The History of Tom Thumb"},
+    {"id": 18155, "title": "The Story of the Three Little Pigs"},
+    {"id": 18735, "title": "The Little Red Hen"},
+    {"id": 25877, "title": "The Little Gingerbread Man"},
+    {"id": 23521, "title": "The Sleeping Beauty"},
+    {"id": 37529, "title": "The Adventures of Puss in Boots"},
+]
+
+# Direct URL patterns Gutenberg uses (try in order)
+URL_PATTERNS = [
+    "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/{id}/pg{id}.txt",
+    "https://www.gutenberg.org/files/{id}/{id}-0.txt",
+    "https://www.gutenberg.org/files/{id}/{id}.txt",
+]
+
+
+def download_raw(book_id: int) -> str | None:
+    """Try direct Gutenberg cache/file URLs to get plain text."""
+    for pattern in URL_PATTERNS:
+        url = pattern.format(id=book_id)
+        try:
+            r = requests.get(url, timeout=15)
+            if r.status_code == 200 and len(r.text) > 500:
+                print(f"  Found at: {url}")
+                return r.text
+        except requests.RequestException:
+            continue
+    return None
+
+
+def main():
+    downloader = GutenbergDownloader()
+    stories_dir = Path(__file__).parent.parent / "stories"
+    stories_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
+    success = 0
+    failed = 0
+
+    for story in STORIES:
+        filename = story["title"].replace(" ", "_").replace("'", "").replace("-", "_")
+        print(f"\n--- {story['title']} (#{story['id']}) ---")
+
+        raw = download_raw(story["id"])
+        if not raw:
+            print(f"  FAILED to download")
+            failed += 1
+            continue
+
+        # Use the downloader's parser to strip Gutenberg boilerplate
+        book_data = downloader.parse_text_book(raw)
+        text = book_data.get("main_text", raw) if book_data else raw
+        title = book_data.get("title", story["title"]) if book_data else story["title"]
+
+        output_file = stories_dir / f"{filename}.txt"
+        with open(output_file, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+            f.write(f"{title}\n\n{text}\n")
+
+        words = len(text.split())
+        print(f"  Saved: {output_file.name} ({words} words)")
+        success += 1
+        time.sleep(1)  # be polite to Gutenberg servers
+
+    print(f"\n=== Done: {success} succeeded, {failed} failed ===")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()

story_downloader/example_usage.py

@@ -0,0 +1,296 @@
+"""
+Project Gutenberg Downloader - Example Usage
+
+This script demonstrates how to use the GutenbergDownloader to download
+and process free e-books from Project Gutenberg.
+
+Project Gutenberg URLs:
+- https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11 - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
+- https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1342 - Pride and Prejudice
+- https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/98 - A Tale of Two Cities
+- https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/219 - Heart of Darkness
+- https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/514 - Little Women
+- https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4300 - Ulysses
+- https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1661 - Sherlock Holmes - A Study in Scarlet
+"""
+
+import json
+from pathlib import Path
+from gutenberg_downloader import GutenbergDownloader
+
+
+def example_1_single_book():
+    """Example 1: Download and process a single book."""
+    print("\n" + "=" * 70)
+    print("Example 1: Download and Process a Single Book")
+    print("=" * 70)
+
+    downloader = GutenbergDownloader(cache_dir="./gutenberg_cache")
+
+    # Download Alice in Wonderland
+    book_url = "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11"
+    print(f"\nDownloading from: {book_url}")
+
+    content = downloader.download_book(book_url, format_type="text")
+
+    if content:
+        print(f"Downloaded {len(content)} characters")
+
+        # Parse the book
+        book_data = downloader.parse_text_book(content)
+
+        print(f"\nBook Title: {book_data['title']}")
+        print(f"Chapters found: {len(book_data['chapters'])}")
+        print(f"Main text length: {len(book_data['main_text'])} characters")
+
+        # Display first chapter
+        if book_data['chapters']:
+            print(f"\nFirst chapter: {book_data['chapters'][0]}")
+
+        # Display first 500 characters of main text
+        print(f"\nFirst 500 characters of main text:")
+        print(book_data['main_text'][:500])
+
+        # Save to file
+        output_file = Path("./processed_books/alice.json")
+        output_file.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+        with open(output_file, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+            json.dump(book_data, f, indent=2, ensure_ascii=False)
+        print(f"\nSaved to: {output_file}")
+    else:
+        print("Failed to download book")
+
+
+def example_2_multiple_books():
+    """Example 2: Download and process multiple books."""
+    print("\n" + "=" * 70)
+    print("Example 2: Batch Download Multiple Books")
+    print("=" * 70)
+
+    downloader = GutenbergDownloader(cache_dir="./gutenberg_cache")
+
+    # List of books to download
+    books = [
+        ("https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11", "Alice in Wonderland"),
+        ("https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1342", "Pride and Prejudice"),
+        ("https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/98", "A Tale of Two Cities"),
+    ]
+
+    results = downloader.process_books(
+        [book_url for book_url, _ in books],
+        format_type="text",
+        output_dir="./processed_books"
+    )
+
+    print(f"\nProcessed {len(results)} books:\n")
+    for i, result in enumerate(results, 1):
+        if result['status'] == 'success':
+            print(f"{i}. {result['title']}")
+            print(f"   File: {result['file']}")
+
+            # Load and display stats
+            with open(result['file'], 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+                data = json.load(f)
+                print(f"   Chapters: {len(data['chapters'])}")
+                print(f"   Text length: {len(data['main_text'])} characters")
+        else:
+            print(f"{i}. FAILED: {result['url']}")
+        print()
+
+
+def example_3_process_and_extract():
+    """Example 3: Process a book and extract specific information."""
+    print("\n" + "=" * 70)
+    print("Example 3: Process and Extract Specific Information")
+    print("=" * 70)
+
+    downloader = GutenbergDownloader(cache_dir="./gutenberg_cache")
+
+    # Download Pride and Prejudice
+    book_url = "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1342"
+    print(f"\nDownloading: {book_url}")
+
+    content = downloader.download_book(book_url, format_type="text")
+
+    if content:
+        book_data = downloader.parse_text_book(content)
+
+        print(f"\nTitle: {book_data['title']}")
+        print(f"Format: {book_data['format']}")
+        print(f"Source: {book_data['source']}")
+
+        # Extract and display chapters
+        print(f"\n--- Chapter Titles ({len(book_data['chapters'])} found) ---")
+        for i, chapter in enumerate(book_data['chapters'][:10], 1):
+            print(f"{i}. {chapter[:60]}")  # Truncate for display
+
+        # Extract and display statistics
+        print(f"\n--- Content Statistics ---")
+        print(f"Total characters: {len(book_data['main_text']):,}")
+        print(f"Total words (approx): {len(book_data['main_text'].split()):,}")
+        print(f"Average chapter length: {len(book_data['main_text']) / len(book_data['chapters']):.0f} characters")
+
+        # Display text sample
+        print(f"\n--- Text Sample (first 800 characters) ---")
+        print(book_data['main_text'][:800])
+        print("...")
+
+
+def example_4_save_as_text():
+    """Example 4: Save extracted book as plain text file."""
+    print("\n" + "=" * 70)
+    print("Example 4: Save Book as Plain Text File")
+    print("=" * 70)
+
+    downloader = GutenbergDownloader(cache_dir="./gutenberg_cache")
+
+    # Download Little Women
+    book_url = "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/514"
+    print(f"\nDownloading: {book_url}")
+
+    content = downloader.download_book(book_url, format_type="text")
+
+    if content:
+        book_data = downloader.parse_text_book(content)
+
+        # Create output file
+        output_file = Path("./processed_books/little_women.txt")
+        output_file.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
+        with open(output_file, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+            # Write title
+            f.write(f"{'='*70}\n")
+            f.write(f"{book_data['title']}\n")
+            f.write(f"{'='*70}\n\n")
+
+            # Write chapter list
+            if book_data['chapters']:
+                f.write("CHAPTERS:\n")
+                for chapter in book_data['chapters']:
+                    f.write(f"  - {chapter}\n")
+                f.write("\n" + "="*70 + "\n\n")
+
+            # Write main text
+            f.write(book_data['main_text'])
+
+        print(f"Saved to: {output_file}")
+        print(f"File size: {output_file.stat().st_size:,} bytes")
+
+
+def example_5_extract_first_chapter():
+    """Example 5: Extract and save only the first chapter."""
+    print("\n" + "=" * 70)
+    print("Example 5: Extract and Save First Chapter")
+    print("=" * 70)
+
+    downloader = GutenbergDownloader(cache_dir="./gutenberg_cache")
+
+    # Download A Tale of Two Cities
+    book_url = "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/98"
+    print(f"\nDownloading: {book_url}")
+
+    content = downloader.download_book(book_url, format_type="text")
+
+    if content:
+        book_data = downloader.parse_text_book(content)
+
+        print(f"\nTitle: {book_data['title']}")
+        print(f"Chapters: {len(book_data['chapters'])}")
+
+        # Find first chapter marker in text
+        if book_data['chapters']:
+            first_chapter = book_data['chapters'][0]
+            print(f"\nFirst chapter: {first_chapter}")
+
+            # Save first chapter metadata
+            chapter_data = {
+                'book_title': book_data['title'],
+                'chapter_title': first_chapter,
+                'chapter_number': 1,
+                'text_preview': book_data['main_text'][:1000]
+            }
+
+            output_file = Path("./processed_books/chapter_extract.json")
+            output_file.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+            with open(output_file, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+                json.dump(chapter_data, f, indent=2, ensure_ascii=False)
+
+            print(f"\nSaved chapter data to: {output_file}")
+
+
+def example_6_api_usage():
+    """Example 6: Using the downloader as a Python API."""
+    print("\n" + "=" * 70)
+    print("Example 6: Python API Usage")
+    print("=" * 70)
+
+    # Initialize downloader
+    downloader = GutenbergDownloader(cache_dir="./gutenberg_cache")
+
+    # Download a book
+    print("\nDownloading book...")
+    content = downloader.download_book(
+        "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11",
+        format_type="text"
+    )
+
+    # Parse the book
+    print("Parsing book...")
+    book_data = downloader.parse_text_book(content)
+
+    # Access data programmatically
+    print(f"\nBook Title: {book_data['title']}")
+    print(f"Format: {book_data['format']}")
+    print(f"Source: {book_data['source']}")
+    print(f"Chapters: {len(book_data['chapters'])}")
+
+    # Use the data in your application
+    book_json = json.dumps(book_data, ensure_ascii=False)
+    print(f"\nJSON representation size: {len(book_json):,} bytes")
+
+
+def main():
+    """Run all examples."""
+    print("\n")
+    print("#" * 70)
+    print("# Project Gutenberg Downloader - Usage Examples")
+    print("#" * 70)
+
+    # Run examples
+    try:
+        example_1_single_book()
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"Example 1 error: {e}")
+
+    try:
+        example_2_multiple_books()
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"Example 2 error: {e}")
+
+    try:
+        example_3_process_and_extract()
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"Example 3 error: {e}")
+
+    try:
+        example_4_save_as_text()
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"Example 4 error: {e}")
+
+    try:
+        example_5_extract_first_chapter()
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"Example 5 error: {e}")
+
+    try:
+        example_6_api_usage()
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"Example 6 error: {e}")
+
+    print("\n" + "=" * 70)
+    print("All examples completed!")
+    print("=" * 70 + "\n")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()

story_downloader/gutenberg_downloader.py

@@ -0,0 +1,423 @@
+"""
+Project Gutenberg E-Book Downloader and Cleaner
+
+Downloads and processes free e-books from Project Gutenberg.
+Supports both Plain TEXT UTF-8 and EPUB formats.
+Outputs cleaned text with title, chapter titles, and main content.
+"""
+
+import re
+import requests
+import os
+import logging
+from typing import List, Dict, Optional, Tuple
+from pathlib import Path
+from urllib.parse import urljoin, urlparse
+import json
+
+# Try to import ebooklib for EPUB support
+try:
+    from ebooklib import epub
+    EPUB_SUPPORT = True
+except ImportError:
+    EPUB_SUPPORT = False
+
+# Try to import lxml for HTML parsing
+try:
+    from lxml import html
+    LXML_SUPPORT = True
+except ImportError:
+    LXML_SUPPORT = False
+
+# Configure logging
+logging.basicConfig(
+    level=logging.INFO,
+    format='%(asctime)s - %(name)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s'
+)
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class GutenbergDownloader:
+    """Downloads and processes e-books from Project Gutenberg."""
+
+    GUTENBERG_URL = "https://www.gutenberg.org"
+
+    # Common Gutenberg headers/footers patterns to remove
+    FOOTER_PATTERNS = [
+        r'\*\*\*.*?END.*?PROJECT GUTENBERG.*?\*\*\*',
+        r'End of the Project Gutenberg.*',
+        r'This eBook is for the use of anyone.*?freely under.*?\.',
+    ]
+
+    HEADER_PATTERNS = [
+        r'\*\*\*.*?START.*?PROJECT GUTENBERG.*?\*\*\*',
+        r'Produced by.*?\n',
+        r'This eBook is for the use of anyone.*?freely under.*?\.',
+    ]
+
+    def __init__(self, cache_dir: str = "./gutenberg_cache"):
+        """Initialize downloader with optional caching."""
+        self.cache_dir = Path(cache_dir)
+        self.cache_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+        self.session = requests.Session()
+        self.session.headers.update({
+            'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36'
+        })
+
+    def download_book(self, book_url: str, format_type: str = "text") -> Optional[str]:
+        """
+        Download a book from Project Gutenberg.
+
+        Args:
+            book_url: URL of the book on Project Gutenberg
+            format_type: Either "text" for Plain TEXT UTF-8 or "epub" for EPUB format
+
+        Returns:
+            Content of the downloaded book or None if download fails
+        """
+        try:
+            logger.info(f"Downloading book from: {book_url}")
+
+            # Get the book page
+            response = self.session.get(book_url, timeout=10)
+            response.raise_for_status()
+
+            # Extract download links from the page
+            download_url = self._extract_download_url(response.text, format_type)
+
+            if not download_url:
+                logger.warning(f"Could not find {format_type} download link for {book_url}")
+                return None
+
+            # Ensure URL is absolute
+            if not download_url.startswith('http'):
+                download_url = urljoin(self.GUTENBERG_URL, download_url)
+
+            logger.info(f"Downloading from: {download_url}")
+
+            # Download the actual book file
+            response = self.session.get(download_url, timeout=30)
+            response.raise_for_status()
+
+            logger.info("Book downloaded successfully")
+            return response.text if format_type == "text" else response.content
+
+        except requests.RequestException as e:
+            logger.error(f"Error downloading book: {e}")
+            return None
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.error(f"Unexpected error: {e}")
+            return None
+
+    def _extract_download_url(self, page_html: str, format_type: str) -> Optional[str]:
+        """
+        Extract the download URL for the specified format from book page HTML.
+
+        Args:
+            page_html: HTML content of the book page
+            format_type: "text" or "epub"
+
+        Returns:
+            Download URL or None if not found
+        """
+        try:
+            if LXML_SUPPORT:
+                tree = html.fromstring(page_html)
+
+                if format_type.lower() == "text":
+                    # Look for UTF-8 plain text link
+                    links = tree.xpath('//a[contains(@href, "cache") and contains(@href, ".txt.utf-8")]/@href')
+                    if links:
+                        return links[0]
+                elif format_type.lower() == "epub":
+                    # Look for EPUB link
+                    links = tree.xpath('//a[contains(@href, ".epub.images") or contains(@href, ".epub")]/@href')
+                    if links:
+                        return links[0]
+            else:
+                # Fallback: use regex if lxml not available
+                if format_type.lower() == "text":
+                    match = re.search(r'href="([^"]*\.txt\.utf-8[^"]*)"', page_html)
+                    if match:
+                        return match.group(1)
+                elif format_type.lower() == "epub":
+                    match = re.search(r'href="([^"]*\.epub[^"]*)"', page_html)
+                    if match:
+                        return match.group(1)
+
+            return None
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.error(f"Error extracting download URL: {e}")
+            return None
+
+    def parse_text_book(self, content: str) -> Dict[str, any]:
+        """
+        Parse a plain text book and extract title, chapters, and content.
+
+        Args:
+            content: Plain text content of the book
+
+        Returns:
+            Dictionary with title, chapters, and cleaned text
+        """
+        try:
+            # Remove Project Gutenberg header and footer
+            cleaned = self._remove_gutenberg_boilerplate(content)
+
+            # Extract title (first non-empty line or from metadata)
+            title = self._extract_title(cleaned)
+
+            # Split into chapters
+            chapters = self._extract_chapters(cleaned)
+
+            # Clean content
+            main_text = self._clean_text(cleaned)
+
+            return {
+                'title': title,
+                'chapters': chapters,
+                'main_text': main_text,
+                'format': 'text',
+                'source': 'Project Gutenberg'
+            }
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.error(f"Error parsing text book: {e}")
+            return None
+
+    def parse_epub_book(self, content: bytes) -> Optional[Dict[str, any]]:
+        """
+        Parse an EPUB book and extract title, chapters, and content.
+
+        Args:
+            content: EPUB file content (bytes)
+
+        Returns:
+            Dictionary with title, chapters, and cleaned text
+        """
+        if not EPUB_SUPPORT:
+            logger.error("EPUB support not available. Install ebooklib: pip install ebooklib")
+            return None
+
+        try:
+            # Save to temporary file for ebooklib
+            import tempfile
+            with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(suffix='.epub', delete=False) as tmp:
+                tmp.write(content)
+                tmp_path = tmp.name
+
+            try:
+                # Read EPUB
+                book = epub.read_epub(tmp_path)
+
+                # Extract title
+                title = book.get_metadata('DC', 'title')
+                if title:
+                    title = title[0][0] if isinstance(title, list) else title
+                else:
+                    title = "Untitled"
+
+                # Extract chapters and content
+                chapters = []
+                main_text_parts = []
+
+                for item in book.get_items():
+                    if item.get_type() == epub.ITEM_DOCUMENT:
+                        text = self._extract_text_from_epub_item(item)
+                        if text.strip():
+                            main_text_parts.append(text)
+                            # Simple chapter detection
+                            if re.match(r'^(Chapter|CHAPTER|\d+)', text.strip()):
+                                chapters.append(text[:100])
+
+                main_text = '\n\n'.join(main_text_parts)
+                main_text = self._clean_text(main_text)
+
+                return {
+                    'title': title,
+                    'chapters': chapters,
+                    'main_text': main_text,
+                    'format': 'epub',
+                    'source': 'Project Gutenberg'
+                }
+            finally:
+                # Clean up temp file
+                os.unlink(tmp_path)
+
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.error(f"Error parsing EPUB book: {e}")
+            return None
+
+    def _extract_text_from_epub_item(self, item) -> str:
+        """Extract text content from an EPUB item."""
+        try:
+            content = item.get_content().decode('utf-8', errors='ignore')
+            if LXML_SUPPORT:
+                tree = html.fromstring(content)
+                text = tree.text_content()
+            else:
+                # Simple HTML tag removal
+                text = re.sub(r'<[^>]+>', '', content)
+            return text
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.warning(f"Error extracting text from EPUB item: {e}")
+            return ""
+
+    def _remove_gutenberg_boilerplate(self, content: str) -> str:
+        """Remove Project Gutenberg header and footer."""
+        # Remove header
+        for pattern in self.HEADER_PATTERNS:
+            content = re.sub(pattern, '', content, flags=re.IGNORECASE | re.DOTALL)
+
+        # Remove footer
+        for pattern in self.FOOTER_PATTERNS:
+            content = re.sub(pattern, '', content, flags=re.IGNORECASE | re.DOTALL)
+
+        return content
+
+    def _extract_title(self, content: str) -> str:
+        """Extract the book title from content."""
+        # Look for "Title:" at the beginning
+        match = re.search(r'^Title:\s*(.+?)(?:\nAuthor:|$)', content, re.MULTILINE)
+        if match:
+            return match.group(1).strip()
+
+        # Otherwise, use first non-empty line
+        for line in content.split('\n'):
+            line = line.strip()
+            if line and len(line) > 5 and len(line) < 200:
+                return line
+
+        return "Untitled"
+
+    def _extract_chapters(self, content: str) -> List[str]:
+        """Extract chapter titles from content."""
+        chapters = []
+
+        # Look for common chapter patterns
+        patterns = [
+            r'^(CHAPTER\s+\w+[:\.]?\s*.*)$',
+            r'^(Chapter\s+\d+[:\.]?\s*.*)$',
+            r'^(\d+\.\s+.+?)$',
+            r'^(Part\s+\w+[:\.]?\s*.*)$',
+        ]
+
+        for pattern in patterns:
+            for match in re.finditer(pattern, content, re.MULTILINE):
+                chapter = match.group(1).strip()
+                if chapter not in chapters:
+                    chapters.append(chapter)
+
+        return chapters[:20]  # Return first 20 chapters
+
+    def _clean_text(self, content: str) -> str:
+        """
+        Clean text content by removing extra whitespace and formatting artifacts.
+
+        Args:
+            content: Raw text content
+
+        Returns:
+            Cleaned text
+        """
+        # Remove multiple consecutive blank lines
+        content = re.sub(r'\n\n\n+', '\n\n', content)
+
+        # Remove lines that are just underscores/dashes/asterisks (decorative)
+        content = re.sub(r'^\s*[_\-*]+\s*$', '', content, flags=re.MULTILINE)
+
+        # Remove page break indicators
+        content = re.sub(r'\[\d+\]|\[Page\s+\d+\]', '', content)
+
+        # Clean up extra spaces within lines
+        content = re.sub(r' {2,}', ' ', content)
+
+        # Remove lines that are just whitespace
+        content = '\n'.join(line.rstrip() for line in content.split('\n'))
+
+        # Remove leading/trailing whitespace from the entire document
+        content = content.strip()
+
+        return content
+
+    def process_books(self, book_urls: List[str], format_type: str = "text",
+                      output_dir: str = "./processed_books") -> List[Dict]:
+        """
+        Download and process multiple books.
+
+        Args:
+            book_urls: List of Project Gutenberg book URLs
+            format_type: "text" or "epub"
+            output_dir: Directory to save processed books
+
+        Returns:
+            List of processed book data
+        """
+        output_path = Path(output_dir)
+        output_path.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
+        results = []
+
+        for url in book_urls:
+            logger.info(f"Processing: {url}")
+
+            # Download book
+            content = self.download_book(url, format_type)
+            if not content:
+                logger.warning(f"Skipping {url} - download failed")
+                continue
+
+            # Parse book
+            if format_type.lower() == "text":
+                book_data = self.parse_text_book(content)
+            elif format_type.lower() == "epub":
+                book_data = self.parse_epub_book(content)
+            else:
+                logger.error(f"Unsupported format: {format_type}")
+                continue
+
+            if not book_data:
+                logger.warning(f"Skipping {url} - parsing failed")
+                continue
+
+            # Save processed book
+            safe_filename = re.sub(r'[^\w\s-]', '', book_data['title']).replace(' ', '_')[:50]
+            output_file = output_path / f"{safe_filename}.json"
+
+            try:
+                with open(output_file, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+                    json.dump(book_data, f, indent=2, ensure_ascii=False)
+                logger.info(f"Saved to: {output_file}")
+                results.append({
+                    'url': url,
+                    'title': book_data['title'],
+                    'file': str(output_file),
+                    'status': 'success'
+                })
+            except Exception as e:
+                logger.error(f"Error saving book: {e}")
+                results.append({
+                    'url': url,
+                    'status': 'error',
+                    'error': str(e)
+                })
+
+        return results
+
+
+def main():
+    """Example usage of the downloader."""
+    downloader = GutenbergDownloader()
+
+    # Example: Download "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
+    books = [
+        "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11",  # Alice in Wonderland
+    ]
+
+    results = downloader.process_books(books, format_type="text")
+
+    for result in results:
+        print(f"\n{result}")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()