Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Pony Engine and Other Stories
    The Pony Engine and Other Stories
    The Pony Engine and Other Stories
    Ebook63 pages55 minutes

    The Pony Engine and Other Stories

    By William Dean Howells

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    "The little girl came into her papa's study, as she always did Saturday morning before breakfast, and asked for a story. He tried to beg off that morning, for he was very busy, but she would not let him. So he began: "Well, once there was a little pig… "She put her hand over his mouth and stopped him at the word. She said she had heard little pig-stories till she was perfectly sick of them. "Well, what kind of story shall I tell, then?" "About Christmas. It's getting to be the season. It's past Thanksgiving already."_x000D_ William Dean Howells (1837-1920) was an American realist author, literary critic, and playwright. Nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters", he was particularly known for his tenure as editor of the Atlantic Monthly as well as his own prolific writings, including the Christmas story "Christmas Every Day", and the novels The Rise of Silas Lapham and A Traveler from Altruria. "Christmas Every Day" is a short story by William Dean Howells about a young American girl, whose wish that Christmas would come daily is granted for an entire year, until she realizes the true meaning of the holiday season._x000D_ This unique and meticulously edited collection includes: Christmas Every Day_x000D_ Turkeys Turning the Tables_x000D_ The Pony Engine and the Pacific Express_x000D_ The Pumpkin Glory_x000D_ Butterflyfutterby and Flutterbybutterfly
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDigiCat
    Release dateMay 17, 2022
    ISBN8596547007937
    The Pony Engine and Other Stories
    Author

    William Dean Howells

    William Dean Howells was an American realist novelist, literary critic, and playwright, nicknamed the “Dean of American Letters.”  

    Related to The Pony Engine and Other Stories

    Related ebooks

    Children's Holidays & Celebrations For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Pony Engine and Other Stories

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Pony Engine and Other Stories - William Dean Howells

      Christmas Every Day

      Table of Contents

      The little girl came into her papa's study, as she always did Saturday morning before breakfast, and asked for a story. He tried to beg off that morning, for he was very busy, but she would not let him. So he began:

      Well, once there was a little pig—

      She put her hand over his mouth and stopped him at the word. She said she had heard little pig-stories till she was perfectly sick of them.

      "Well, what kind of story shall I tell, then?"

      About Christmas. It's getting to be the season. It's past Thanksgiving already.

      It seems to me, her papa argued, that I've told as often about Christmas as I have about little pigs.

      No difference! Christmas is more interesting.

      Well! Her papa roused himself from his writing by a great effort. Well, then, I'll tell you about the little girl that wanted it Christmas every day in the year. How would you like that?

      First-rate! said the little girl; and she nestled into comfortable shape in his lap, ready for listening.

      Very well, then, this little pig—Oh, what are you pounding me for?

      Because you said little pig instead of little girl.

      I should like to know what's the difference between a little pig and a little girl that wanted it Christmas every day!

      Papa, said the little girl, warningly, "if you don't go on, I'll give it to you!" And at this her papa darted off like lightning, and began to tell the story as fast as he could.

      Well, once there was a little girl who liked Christmas so much that she wanted it to be Christmas every day in the year; and as soon as Thanksgiving was over she began to send postal-cards to the old Christmas Fairy to ask if she mightn't have it. But the old fairy never answered any of the postals; and after a while the little girl found out that the Fairy was pretty particular, and wouldn't notice anything but letters—not even correspondence cards in envelopes; but real letters on sheets of paper, and sealed outside with a monogram—or your initial, anyway. So, then, she began to send her letters; and in about three weeks—or just the day before Christmas, it was—she got a letter from the Fairy, saying she might have it Christmas every day for a year, and then they would see about having it longer.

      The little girl was a good deal excited already, preparing for the old-fashioned, once-a-year Christmas that was coming the next day, and perhaps the Fairy's promise didn't make such an impression on her as it would have made at some other time. She just resolved to keep it to herself, and surprise everybody with it as it kept coming true; and then it slipped out of her mind altogether.

      She had a splendid Christmas. She went to bed early, so as to let Santa Claus have a chance at the stockings, and in the morning she was up the first of anybody and went and felt them, and found hers all lumpy with packages of candy, and oranges and grapes, and pocket-books and rubber balls, and all kinds of small presents, and her big brother's with nothing but the tongs in them, and her young lady sister's with a new silk umbrella, and her papa's and mamma's with potatoes and pieces of coal wrapped up in tissue-paper, just as they always had every Christmas. Then she waited around till the rest of the family were up, and she was the first to burst into the library, when the doors were opened, and look at the large presents laid out on the library-table—books, and portfolios, and boxes of stationery, and breastpins, and dolls, and little stoves, and dozens of handkerchiefs, and ink-stands, and skates, and snow-shovels, and photograph-frames, and little easels, and boxes of water-colors, and Turkish paste, and nougat, and candied cherries, and dolls' houses, and waterproofs—and the big Christmas-tree, lighted and standing in a waste-basket in the middle.

      She had a splendid Christmas all day. She ate so much candy that she did not want any breakfast; and the whole forenoon the presents kept pouring in that the expressman had not had time to deliver the night before; and she went round giving the presents she had got for other people, and came home and ate turkey and cranberry for dinner, and plum-pudding and nuts and raisins and oranges and more candy, and then went out and coasted, and came in with a stomach-ache, crying; and her papa said he would see if his house was turned into

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1
      pFad - Phonifier reborn

      Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

      Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


      Alternative Proxies:

      Alternative Proxy

      pFad Proxy

      pFad v3 Proxy

      pFad v4 Proxy