The Christmas Tree and a Wedding
A young couple, Ivan and Liza, are preparing for their wedding on Christmas Eve. As they decorate the Christmas tree, they reflect on their relationship and the challenges they face. Meanwhile, a poor old man, who has been living under the bridge nearby, is invited to join them for the celebration. The story explores themes of love, poverty, and the importance of human connection during the holiday season.
By Fyodor Dostoevsky · First published 1847 · Genre: Short Story, Drama, Psychological Fiction · 3,902 words
First lines
The other day I saw a wedding. But no! I'd better tell you about the Christmas tree. The wedding was all right; I liked it very much, but the other affair was much better. I don't know how it was that, looking at the wedding, I should have remembered the Christmas tree. It happened like this. Exactly five years ago, on New Year's Eve, I was invited to a children's party. The person who had invited me was a well-known business man, a man of good connections, a man with an influential circle of acquaintances, a man who knew all there was to know about pulling strings, so that there was good reason to believe that the children's party was merely an excuse for the parents to get together and have a talk about other interesting matters in an innocent, casual, unpremeditated sort of way. I was a stranger there; I had no interesting matters to discuss, and for that reason I spent the evening more or less as I pleased. There was another man there who, too, apparently had neither friends nor relations and who, like me, just happened to be present on that happy family occasion. He was the first to catch my eye-a tall, spare man, very serious, very decently dressed. But it was quite evident that he was in no mood for fun or happy family occasions. Indeed, whenever he found himself alone in some corner he left off smiling at once and knit his bushy, black brows. Apart from our host, he did not know a single soul at the party. One could see that he was terribly bored, but he kept up valiantly and to the bitter end the part of a perfectly happy man who was having a really good time. I found out afterwards that he was from the provinces and had come up to town on some extremely important and highly complicated business. He had brought a letter of introduction to our host who extended his patronage to him by no means con amore, and who invited him to his children's party out of mere courtesy. There were no card games, no one offered him a cigar, no one engaged him in conversation, having, perhaps, recognised at a distance the sort of awkward customer he was, and for that reason the poor fellow, not knowing what to do with his hands, was forced to spend the whole evening stroking his whiskers. His whiskers were indeed extremely handsome. But he stroked them with such enthusiasm that one could not help feeling that his whiskers were brought into the world first, and the gentleman himself was only afterwards attached to them in order to stroke them.
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The Christmas Tree and a Wedding is listed on Textopian as a short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky, dated 1847 CE.
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- Work type: Short story
- Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Date: 1847 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Short Story, Drama, Psychological Fiction, Romantic Fiction
- Length: 3,902 words
- Structure: 1 section, 44 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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- Work identity for The Christmas Tree and a Wedding by Fyodor Dostoevsky
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Genres
- Short Story — The work is not a lengthy one but captures its story within a limited frame, meeting the characteristics of a short story.
- Drama — The story follows the interactions of characters at a wedding, it includes complexity within characters and their society, making it fall under the drama genre.
- Psychological Fiction — Fyodor Dostoevsky's work often delves into the psychological motivations of characters. The characters' thoughts and emotions are explored, fitting the genre of psychological fiction.
- Romantic Fiction — The story includes elements of love, romance and relationships, forming part of the romantic fiction genre.
Tags
Romance · Fiction · Short Story · Holiday Theme · Wedding · Family · Relationships · Russian Literature · Classic Literature · Drama · Mystery · Intrigue