Mammon and the Archer - O Henry - 94 / 365 of reading one short story every day.

#TreezShort


94 / 365 of reading one short story every day.


​
​​
Mammon and the Archer

This story of money vs love is from 1906, collection of stories of O Henry. A soap manufacturer, Anthony Rockwall devotes his energy and time to ‘Mammon’, money above everything else. However his son is all​​ about the things outside of money and the world of wealth. He is the ‘Archer’ of the story’s title - Cupid, the god of love.


Rockwall tells his son Richard that money can buy him anything in life, but Richard points out that the girl he loves is leaving in a few days’ time and he hasn’t managed to win her hand. He takes a ring with him, which his mother left to him in her will, with the intention of asking his sweetheart to marry him, but he drops the ring and … O. Henry’s gift for twist endings turns things around.



Summary adapted from Interesting literature.​

On Horseback and Other Stories -by Guy de Maupassant - 93 / 365 of reading one short story every day. TreezShort

#TreezShort

93 / 365 of reading one short story every day.

On Horseback and Other Stories -by Guy de Maupassant

On Horseback is a short story by popular French writer Guy de Maupassant ( 1850 - 1893). The stories in this collection give an overview of contemporary Paris and Parisian society. They also show the imitating and aspirational trait in humans - the desire to have the same thing which someone else has. A need for want and possession things beyond our means can bring us down and cause calamity.

 
Mr de Griblen and his wife are poor noblemen, and with meagre means they attempt to scrape through their life. Mr. Griblen one day gets extra income from hsi manager and he is overjoyed. It is like a bright day amongst many dark days for him and he wants to spend it. He consults his wife and they decide to treat themselves to a day out horse riding. Derbys and horse riding was considered a sign of wealth of noblemen. Since Mr. Griblen was not born poor, he had some good memories of a life lived once. Hence he wants to live in those glorious days again.

They rent a carriage for Mrs. de Griblen and the children and for the husband - the saddle-horse. But a good day turns into an unfortunate one. Mr Griblen, unable to control the horse or rather not used to it, manages to hit a sixty year old lady. He ends up paying for her hospital expenses and he realizes that what he attempted in spending, turned into futility.


A tale of want and dreams said in a sweet and funny way, Maupassant's writing is non complicated and non preachy. I look forward to reading the collection very soon.

This is day 93 of my reading project for 2022. The previous days - Day 1 to Day 92 is up on my Instagram page. I plan to continue the rest of the project on my blog here so that I can give a longer viewpoint and summary of the stories read. Join me if you like and comment your suggestions and views!