“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,” grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.
“It’s so dreadful to be poor!” coughed Meg, looking down at her old dress.
“I don’t think it’s fair for some girls to have lots of pretty things, and other girls nothing at all,” added little Amy, with an injured sniff and productive sneeze.
“We’ve got father and mother, and each other, anyhow,” said Beth, contentedly, from her corner. From her perch, it seemed the shadows disappeared about Beth; it struck the girls that this occurred not just in front of the fireplace , but even under noonday sun - as if the world itself declined to darken around her.
The four young faces on which the firelight shone brightened at the cheerful words, but darkened again as Jo said sadly, –
“We haven’t got father, and shall not have him for a long time.” She didn’t say “perhaps never,” but each silently added it, thinking of father far away, where the fighting was.1
“…she thinks we ought not to spend money for pleasure, when our men are suffering so in the army…”
Nobody spoke for a minute; then Meg said in a febrile tone, –
“You know the reason mother proposed not having any presents this Christmas, was because it’s going to be a hard winter for every one; and she thinks we ought not to spend money for pleasure, when our men are suffering so in the army. We can’t do much, but we can make our little sacrifices, and ought to do it gladly. But I am afraid I don’t;” and Meg shook her head, as she thought regretfully of all the pretty things she wanted, such as boots or laudanum or whatever vain little girls wanted in the 1800s.
“But I don’t think the little we should spend would do any good. We’ve each got a dollar, and the army wouldn’t be much helped by our giving that. I agree not to expect anything from mother or you, but I do want to buy Undine and Sintram2 for myself; I’ve wanted it so long,” said Jo, who was a bookworm.
1The novel is set during the Civil War (1861-65). For further information about the Civil War, please reference the film “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.”
2Undine and Sintram: two tales by Friedrich de la Motte Foque (1777-1843), a prolific German Romantic Writer. Undine (1811) is the story of a water sprint, and Sintram (1815) is a knightly tale. They were immediately translated and at least fourteen editions with the title Undine and Sintram appeared in America before 1864. The point here being that Jo likes books,an important character trait for girls who are not like other girls.
Happy launch! Enjoy the first page, and see you Friday! Happy Holidays!
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