American Short Stories for the EFL Classroom
THE RICHER, THE POORER
Over the years Lottie had urged Bess to prepare for her old age. Over the years Bess had lived each day as if there were no other. Now they were both past sixty, the time for summing up. Lottie had a bank account that had never grown lean. Bess had the clothes on her back, and the rest of her worldly possessions in a battered suitcase.
Lottie had hated being a child, hearing her parents’ skimping and scraping. Bess had never seemed to notice. All she ever wanted was to go outside and play. She learned to skate on borrowed skates. She rode a borrowed bicycle. Lottie couldn’t wait to grow up and buy herself the best of everything.
As soon as anyone would hire her, Lottie put herself to work. She minded babies, she ran errands for the old.
She never touched a penny of her money, though her child’s mouth watered for ice cream and candy. But she could not bear to share with Bess, who never had anything to share with her. When the dimes began to add up to dollars, she lost her taste for sweets.
By the time she was twelve, she was clerking after school in a small variety store. Saturdays she worked as long as she was wanted. She decided to keep her money for clothes. When she entered high school, she would wear a wardrobe that neither she nor anyone else would be able to match.
But her freshman year found her unable to indulge so frivolous a whim, particularly when her admiring instructors advised her to think seriously of college. No one in her family had ever gone to college, and certainly Bess would never get there. She would show them all what she could do, if she put her mind to it.
She began to bank her money, and her bankbook became her most private and precious possession.
In her third year high she found a job in a small but expanding restaurant, where she cashiered from the busy hour until closing. In her last year high the business increased so rapidly that Lottie was faced with the choice of staying in school or working full time.
She made her choice easily. A job in hand was worth two in the future.
Bess had a beau in the school band, who had no other ambition except to play a horn. Lottie expected to be settled with a home and family while Bess was still waiting for Harry to earn enough to buy a marriage license.
That Bess married Harry straight out of high school was not surprising. That Lottie never married at all was not really surprising either. Two or three times she was halfway persuaded, but to give up a job that paid well for a homemaking job that paid nothing was a risk she was incapable of taking.
Bess’s married life was nothing for Lottie to envy. She and Harry lived like gypsies. Harry playing in second-rate bands all over the country, even getting himself and Bess stranded in Europe. They were often in rags and never in riches.
Bess grieved because she had no child, not having sense enough to know she was better off without one. Lottie was certainly better off without nieces and nephews to feel sorry for. Very likely Bess would have dumped them on her doorstep.
That Lottie had a doorstep they might have been left on was only because her boss, having bought a second house, offered Lottie his first house at a price so low and terms so reasonable that it would have been like losing money to refuse.
She shut off the rooms she didn’t use, letting them go to rack and ruin. Since she ate her meals out, she had no food at home, and did not encourage callers, who always expected a cup of tea.
Her way of life was mean and miserly, but she did not know it. She thought she lived frugally in her middle years so that she could live in comfort and ease when she most needed peace of mind.
The years, after forty, began to race. Suddenly Lottie was sixty, and retired from her job by her boss’s son, who had no sentimental feeling about keeping her on until she was ready to quit.
She made several attempts to find other employment, but her dowdy appearance made her look old and inefficient. For the first time in her life Lottie would gladly have worked for nothing, to have some place to go, something to do with her day.
Harry died abroad, in a third-rate hotel, with Bess weeping as hard as if he had left her a fortune. He had left her nothing but his horn. There wasn’t even money for her passage home.
Lottie, trapped by the blood tie, knew she would not only have to send for her sister, but take her in when she returned. It didn’t seem fair that Bess should reap the harvest of Lottie’s lifetime of self-denial.
It took Lottie a week to get a bedroom ready, a week of hard work and hard cash. There was everything to do, everything to replace or paint. When she was through the room looked so fresh and new that Lottie felt she deserved it more than Bess.
She would let Bess have her room, but the mattress was so lumpy, the carpet so worn, the curtains so threadbare that Lottie’s conscience pricked her. She supposed she would have to redo that room, too, and went about doing it with an eagerness that she mistook for haste.
When she was through upstairs, she was shocked to see how dismal downstairs looked by comparison. She tried to ignore it, but with nowhere to go to escape it, the contrast grew more intolerable.
She worked her way from kitchen to parlor, persuading herself she was only putting the rooms to right to give herself something to do. At night she slept like a child after a long and happy day of playing house. She was having more fun than she had ever had in her life. She was living each hour for itself.
There was only a day now before Bess would arrive. Passing her gleaming mirrors, at first with vague awareness, then with painful clarity, Lottie saw herself as others saw her, and could not stand the sight.
She went on a spending spree from the specialty shops to beauty salon, emerging transformed into a woman who believed in miracles.
She was in the kitchen basting a turkey when Bess rang the bell. Her heart raced, and she wondered if the heat from the oven was responsible.
She went to the door, and Bess stood before her. Stiffly she suffered Bess’s embrace, her heart racing harder, her eyes suddenly smarting from the onrush of cold air.
“Oh, Lottie, it’s good to see you,” Bess said, but saying nothing about Lottie’s splendid appearance. Upstairs Bess, putting down her shabby suitcase, said, “I’ll sleep like a rock tonight,” without a word of praise for her lovely room. At the lavish table, top-heavy with turkey, Bess said, “I’ll take light and dark both,” with no marveling at the size of the bird, or that there was turkey for two elderly women, one of them too poor to buy her own bread.
With the glow of good food in her stomach, Bess began to spin stories. They were rich with places and people, most of them lowly, all of them magnificent. Her face reflected her telling, the joys and sorrows of her remembering, and above all, the love she lived by that enhanced the poorest place, the humblest person.
Then it was that Lottie knew why Bess had made no mention of her finery, or the shining room, or the twelve-pound turkey. She had not even seen them. Tomorrow she would see the room as it really looked, and Lottie as she really looked, and the warmed-over turkey in its second-day glory. Tonight she saw only what she had come seeking, a place in her sister’s home and heart.
She said, “That’s enough about me. How have the years used you?”
“It was me who didn’t use them,” said Lottie wistfully. “I saved for them. I forgot the best of them would go without my ever spending a day or a dollar enjoying them. That’s my life story in those few words, a life never lived.
“Now it’s too near the end to try.”
Bess said, “To know how much there is to know is the beginning of learning to live. Don’t count the years that are left us. At our time of life it’s the days that count. You’ve too much catching up to do to waste a minute of a waking hour feeling sorry for yourself.”
Lottie grinned, a real wide open grin, “Well, to tell the truth I felt sorry for you. Maybe if I had any sense I’d feel sorry for myself, after all. I know I’m too old to kick up my heels, but I’m going to let you show me how. If I land on my head, I guess it won’t matter. I feel giddy already, and I like it.”
By Dorothy West
GLOSSARY:
lean thin, having no fat
battered worn by hard usege
skimping n. supplying in too small an amount, being very economical
scraping n. gathering slowly and with difficulty
variety store n. shop selling many different goods at low prices
indulge v. allow oneself to do, use, or have
frivolous adj. silly; of little worth or importance
whim n. a sudden notion or fancy
beau n. a suitor; lover
gypsies n. people who live by roaming or migrating from place to place
stranded adj. left in a strange or unfavorable place without means to depart
dump leave, unload
rack n. destruction
frugally adv. without waste; thriftily
dowdy adj. poorly dressed
self-denial n. limitation of one’s own desires or interests
lumpy adj. having lumps, swellings and uneven bulges
threadbare adj. worn away; frayed; old and shabby
pricked caused to feel remorse
dismal adj. dark and cheerless
parlor a room used for receiving guests
baste v. pour melted fat or butter on meat, etc., while roasting
lavish adj. very abundant, liberal; too free
magnificent adj. grand and splendid
finery n. showy clothing; ornaments; decoration
TRUE-FALSE
Some of the statements below are true and some are false. Choose the false statements and tell why they are incorrect.
1. Lottie is the more serious of the two sisters.
2. Lottie made money by looking after children.
3. Lottie worked only on Saturday at a variety store.
4. Lottie bought lots of beautiful clothes for high school.
5. When in high school, Lottie planned to go to college.
6. Lottie worked part-time in a restaurant.
7. Bess had a very secure married life.
8. Lottie lost money by buying her boss’s house.
9. Lottie didn’t want to retire from her job when she was sixty.
10. Harry left Bess with almost nothing.
11. Lottie decided to give Bess her own bedroom.
12. Before Bess arrived, Lottie did much to improve her appearance.
Key: 1. T; 2. Т; 3. F; 4. F; 5. Т; 6. Т; 7. F; 8. F; 9. T; 10. T; 11. F; 12. T
MEANING FROM CONTEXT
The italicized word in each sentence below is taken from the story. Choose from among the words that follow the best synonym for the word italicized.
1. We couldn’t believe that the dowdy old gentleman was really very rich.
a. fat b. smart c. poorly dressed
2. The spices enhanced the taste of the food.
a. add to b. burn c. eliminate
3. By living frugally, they were able to afford a new television set.
a. thriftily b. happily c. generously
4. The noise in the room became intolerable, so she told them to be quiet.
a. immeasurable b. unbearable c. unheard
5. They always indulged the child’s demands, and he became spoiled.
a. yield to b. reject c. answer
6. He had no family or friends; he led a boring and dismal life.
a. exciting b. frightening c. cheerless
7. Some soap and water transformed the dirty, old chair into a usable piece of furniture.
a. wash b. repair c. change
Key: l. c; 2. а; 3. а; 4. b; 5. a; 6. c; 7. с
CONTRASTS
The two sisters in the story are opposites in many ways. Read the contrasting statements about each sister listed below and decide who, Bess or Lottie, is being described. Then try to express the same idea about each person using words and expressions of your own.
a. prepares for old age vs. lives for today;
b. nothing but clothes on her back vs. bank account never lean;
c. didn’t notice parents’ skimping vs. hated parents’ skimping;
d. wanted to borrow vs. wanted to buy.
WHAT IS YOUR UNDERSTANDING?
1. Lottie, as a girl, makes many plans for the future; she desires a beautiful wardrobe, a college education, marriage. What keeps her from carrying out these plans?
2. Why was Bess better off not having children?
3. Lottie was “trapped by the blood tie.” What does this mean?
4. Why do you think Lottie enjoyed fixing up her house?
5. Bess makes no comment about Lottie appearance, or the house, or the food. “She had not even seen them.” Explain this statement.
6. How could the subjects of Bess’s stories be both “lowly” and “magnificent” at the same time?
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
Give an explanation of or an alternative way of saying each of the following idioms and expressions.
a. A job in hand was worth two in the future. (Are you familiar with the proverb “A bird in hand is worth two in the bush”?)
b. They were often in rags and never in riches.
c. Bess reaped the harvest of Lottie’s self-denial.
d. Lottie’s conscience pricked her.
e. I’ll sleep like a rock tonight.
f. Bess began to spin stories.
g. How have the years used you?
h. I’m too old to kick up my heels.
WHAT IS YOUR INTERPRETATION?
1. Lottie and Bess were both past sixty, time for summing up. What do you think is meant by this sentence?
2. Lottie has two powerful forces in her life – the desire to acquire wealth and to avoid risks. Are these the same thing? Are they related? How?
3. Lottie redid her house “with an eagerness that she mistook for haste.” How could one be mistaken for the other within the context of the story?
4. Explain Bess’s statement, “To know how much there is to know is the beginning of learning to live.”
5. Do you believe that Bess will be able to show Lottie how to live? In what ways might Lottie’s life change because of Bess’s moving in?
GETAWAY
Whenever I get sleepy at the wheel, I always stop for coffee. This time, I was driving along in western Texas and I got sleepy. I saw a sign that said GAS EAT, so I pulled off the road. It was long after midnight. I expected a place like most of the rest – where the coffee tastes like copper and the flies never sleep.
What I found was something else. The tables were painted and clean. They looked as if nobody ever spilled ketchup on them. The counter was spick-and-span. Even the smell was okay. Really.
The man behind the counter was the only person in the diner. I judged him to be about forty years old. His hair was just starting to get gray above the ears. I sat down at the counter and ordered coffee and apple pie. Right away he got me feeling sad.
I have a habit: I divide people up into two groups – winners and losers. This guy behind the counter belonged to the group of people who mean well; they can’t do enough for you. But their eyes have this gentle, faraway look, and they can’t win. You know? With their clean shirts and their little bow ties? It makes you sad just to look at them. But take my advice: Don’t feel too sad.
He brought the coffee steaming hot, and it smelled like real coffee. “Care for cream and sugar?” he asked.
I said, “Please.” The coffee was the best I had tasted for months. The pie was good too.
A car pulled up outside. The man glanced out to see if the people wanted gas, but they didn’t. The two men came right in. The tall one said, “Two coffees. Do you have a road map that we could look at?”
“I think so,” the man behind the counter said. He got their coffee first and then started looking through a pile of papers by the telephone, trying to find a map. It was easy to see he was the type who would go out of his way to help you. He was always pleased to be of service.
I’m the same type myself, if you want to know. I watched him hunting for a map, and I felt like I was looking in a mirror.
After a minute or two, he came up with one. “This one’s a little out of date, but...” He put it on the counter, beside their coffee cups.
The two men spread out the map and leaned over it. They were well dressed, similar to the people who sell animal feed to farmers. The tall one ran his finger along the Rio Grande River and shook his head. “I guess there’s no place to get across to Mexico this side of El Paso.”
He said it to his pal, but the man behind the counter heard him, and his face lit up like a light bulb. “You trying to find the best way south? I might be able to help you with that.”
“How?”
“Just a minute.’’ He spent a lot of time going through the papers by the telephone again. “Thought I might have a newer map,” he said. “Anything recent would show the Hackett Bridge. Anyway, I can tell you how to find it.”
“Here’s a town called Hackett,” the tall one said, still looking at the map. “It’s on the river, just at the end of a road. Looks like a pretty small place.”
“Not any more. It has just about doubled in size since they built the bridge.”
“What happens on the other side?” The short one asked the question, but both of them were paying close attention.
“Pretty fair road, clear to Chihuahua, Mexico. It joins up there with the highway out of El Paso and Juarez.”
The tall man finished his coffee, folded the map, put it in his pocket, and stood up. “We’ll take your map with us,” he said.
The man behind the counter seemed startled. However, he just shrugged and said, “Glad to let you have it.”
The two men had a little conference on their way out, talking in whispers. Then they suddenly whipped around, reached inside their jackets, and pulled out guns. “You sit where you are and don’t move,” the tall one said to me. “And, you, back up against the wall,” he said to the man behind the counter.
Both of us did exactly as he instructed. I told you we were a lot alike.
The short man walked over to the cash register. “Every little bit helps,” he said, and he scooped the money out of the drawer. The tall man set the telephone on the floor, put his foot on it, and jerked the wires out. Then they both ran to their car, got in, and took off.
I looked at the man behind the counter. He seemed a little pale, but he didn’t waste any time. He took a screwdriver out of a drawer and squatted down beside the telephone. I said, “It doesn’t always pay to be nice to people.”
He laughed and said, “Well, it doesn’t usually cost anything,” and went on taking the base plate off the telephone. He was a fast worker. In about five minutes, he had a dial tone coming out of the receiver. He dialed a number and told the police about the men and their car. “They did?” he said. “Well, well, well... No, not El Paso. They took the Hackett turnoff.” After he hung up, he said, “It turns out those guys robbed a bank in Wichita Falls.”
I shook my head. “They sure had me fooled. I thought they looked perfectly all right.”
The man got me another cup of coffee and opened himself a bottle of soda pop. “They fooled me, too, at first.” He wiped his mouth. “Then I got a glimpse of their shoulder holsters when they leaned on the counter to look at the map. Anyway, they had mean eyes, I thought. Didn’t you?”
“Well, I didn’t at the time.”
We drank without talking for a while, getting our nerves back in shape. A pair of patrol cars went roaring by outside and squealed their tires around the Hackett turnoff.
I got to thinking, and I thought of the saddest thing yet. “You knew there was something wrong with those guys, but you still couldn’t keep from helping them on their way.”
He laughed and said, “Well, the world’s a tough sort of place at best; that’s how I look at it.”
“Iean understand showing them the map,” I said. “But wouldn’t have told them about the bridge. Now there’s no chance of catching them. If you had kept your mouth shut, there would at least be some hope.”
“There isn’t any –”
“Not a shred,” I went on. “Not with a car as fast as they’ve got.”
The way the man smiled made me feel better about him and me. “I don’t mean there isn’t any hope,” he said. “I mean there isn’t any bridge.”
By John Savage
GLOSSARY:
spick-and-span adj. neat and clean; fresh
pal n. a close friend
scoop v. 1. dip; dig out 2. take out with or as if with a scoop, a shovel-shaped implement for digging or dipping 3. (Slang) publish a piece of news before a rival newspaper does
jerk v. to pull in a quick motion
screwdriver n. a tool for putting in or taking out screws by turning them
holster n. a leather case for a pistol
squeal v. make a sharp, shrill cry or noise
shred n. a very small piece torn or cut off; scrap; fragment
NOTES
Rio Grande river that separates the United States and Mexico in southwestern Texas
El Paso city in Texas on the border with Mexico
Juarezcity in northern Mexico
Wichita Falls city in Texas.
TRUE- FALSE
Some of the statements below are true and some are false. Choose the false statements and tell why they are incorrect.
1. The narrator of the story became sleepy while driving.
2. Usually the narrator stops in restaurants that serve good coffee.
3. At the diner where he stopped he did not find the quality of food he expected.
4. The narrator considered the man behind the counter to be a winner.
5. The two men who entered the diner were trying to get to Texas from Mexico.
6. The counterman said that Hackett had become a bigger town because of the construction of a bridge.
7. The men smashed the telephone in the diner so it could not be used.
8. The counterman was able to temporarily repair the telephone with a screwdriver.
9. The police followed the robbers who were on their way to El Paso.
Key: 1. T; 2. F; 3. T; 4. F; 5. F; 6. T; 7. F; 8. Т; 9. F
PARAPHRASING
Locate the items below in the story and give a paraphrase of the meaning. This exercise may be written or done orally as a basis for class discussion.
1. “...people who mean well...”
2. “...gentle, faraway look...”
3. “...go out of his way to help you.”
4. “...pleased to be of service.”
5. “...a little out of date...”
6. “...ran his finger along the Rio Grande River.”
7. “...his face lit up like a light bulb.”
8. “What happens on the other side?”
9. “...they suddenly whipped around...”
10. “Every little bit helps...”
11. “It doesn’t always pay to be nice...”
12. “It turns out...”
13. “They sure had me fooled.”
14. “...they had mean eyes...”
15. “...getting our nerves back in shape.”
16. “...the world’s a tough sort of place at best...”
WHAT IS YOUR UNDERSTANDING?
1. Explain the narrator’s remark that in most roadside restaurants “the coffee tastes like copper and the flies never sleep.” Do you think that this statement is literally true? Why?
2. Why did the man behind the counter make the narrator feel sad? Give examples and explain them.
3. Why did the narrator feel like he was looking in a mirror?
4. What did the man behind the counter use the screwdriver for? How was he able to accomplish this?
5. Describe how the patrol cars were being driven.
6. What does the narrator think is “the saddest thing yet”? Why?
WHAT IS YOUR INTERPRETATION?
1. The tone of this story is very informal. For example, the narrator addresses the reader directly by saying things like “...take my advice...” Find other examples of this informal style. Why would an author choose to write in a style like this?
2. “They were well dressed, similar to people who sell animal feed to farmers.” Beyond giving an idea of what the two men were wearing, what else might a passage like this contribute to the story?
3. What do you think the narrator means when he says, “The way the man smiled made me feel better about him and me”?