The Monkey's Paw

It was a cold, wet night. Inside the small house, the fire was warm. Mr White was playing chess with his son Herbert. Mrs White was sitting by the fire.

A visitor came: Sergeant-Major Morris, an old friend. He had been in India for twenty-one years. He told them stories. Then Mr White asked him about a monkey's paw.

Morris took a small dry paw out of his pocket. Mrs White moved back and shuddered. Herbert laughed and held it.

An old holy man put a spell on it, Morris said. He wanted to show that people cannot change their fate. Three men can each have three wishes. Morris had already used his three. The first owner used his last wish to ask to die.

Mr White asked, "If it is so terrible, why do you keep it?" Morris threw the paw into the fire. Mr White quickly snatched it out. "Better let it burn," Morris said. But Mr White kept it — and Morris warned him twice to throw it away.

After Morris left, the family laughed about the paw. Herbert said, "Wish for two hundred pounds. Then the house is ours."

Mr White felt a little silly, but he held up the paw and wished for two hundred pounds. Then he shouted and dropped it. "It moved!" he said. "It turned in my hand, like a snake."

Herbert looked at the floor. "I can't see any money," he said. They laughed and went to bed.

The next morning, everything looked normal. Herbert went to work.

That afternoon, a well-dressed man stood outside the house. He did not want to come in. At last he came to the door. He worked at Maw and Meggins, where Herbert worked.

There had been an accident with the machines, he said. He spoke slowly and carefully. Mrs White understood. She asked if her son was in any pain. The man said no.

Then he said the company was not responsible — but they wanted to give the family some money. Mr White asked how much. "Two hundred pounds," the man said.

Two weeks passed. The house was very quiet and very sad.

One night, Mrs White sat up in bed. "The paw!" she said. "We have two wishes left. Wish him alive again!"

Her husband said no. He was afraid. He had seen his son after the accident, and he did not want to say what he was thinking. But his wife was desperate. So he went downstairs in the dark, found the paw, and wished.

Nothing happened. The candle went out. He went back upstairs and they waited in the cold and the dark.

Then he heard it. A quiet knock at the front door. Then another. Then a loud one, again and again, filling the house.

"It's Herbert!" his wife cried. She ran downstairs to open the door. But the bolt was high and she could not reach it. She called for a chair.

The knocking did not stop. And her husband was on the floor in the dark, feeling for the monkey's paw with his hands. He had one wish left.

He found it. He made his third wish. The knocking stopped at once. He heard the door open, and a cold wind came in. His wife gave a long, sad cry. He ran down to her. Outside, the street was quiet and empty.