The Apricot Tree E-Book

anonymous

• Herausgeber: DigiCat
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

In "The Apricot Tree," the anonymous author intricately weaves a tapestry of human experience set against the backdrop of a small village in a world caught between tradition and modernity. The narrative unfolds with lyrical prose, blending vivid imagery with poignant reflections on loss, love, and the passage of time. This rich tapestry reflects elements of magical realism, inviting readers to explore the intersection of the mundane and the extraordinary, all while delving into the symbolic significance of the apricot tree—a metaphor for resilience and renewal in the face of adversity. The anonymity of the author invites intrigue, yet one can sense a profound personal connection to the themes explored within the text, perhaps drawn from the author's own life experiences or cultural heritage. This voice echoes the collective memory of countless generations, fostering a sense of communal introspection and shared identity. By choosing to remain unnamed, the author elevates the narrative, allowing the story and its themes to take precedence over any single identity. I highly recommend "The Apricot Tree" to readers seeking a deeply resonant literary experience that offers both aesthetic beauty and profound philosophical insight. This novel stands as a testament to the enduring power of storytelling and the universal truths lurking within the folds of our everyday lives.

Leseprobe

Anonymous

The Apricot Tree

 

EAN 8596547335054

DigiCat, 2022 Contact: [email protected]

Table of Contents

Cover

Titlepage

Text

"

It was a fine evening in the beginning of autumn. The last rays of the sun, as it sunk behind the golden clouds, gleamed in at the window of a cottage, which stood in a pleasant lane, about a quarter of a mile from the village of Ryefield. On each side of the narrow gravel walk that led from the lane to the cottage-door, was a little plot of cultivated ground. That on the right hand was planted with cabbages, onions, and other useful vegetables; that on the left, with gooseberry and currant-bushes, excepting one small strip, where stocks, sweet-peas, and rose-trees were growing; whose flowers, for they were now in full bloom, peeping over the neatly trimmed quick-hedge that fenced the garden from the road, had a gay and pretty appearance. Not a weed was to be found in any of the beds; the gooseberry and currant-bushes had evidently been pruned with much care and attention, and were loaded with fine ripe fruit. But the most remarkable thing in the garden was an apricot-tree, which grew against the wall of the cottage, and which was covered with apricots of a large size and beautiful colour.

The cottage itself, though small and thatched with straw, was clean and cheerful, the brick floor was strewed with sand, and a white though coarse cloth was spread on the little deal table. On this table were placed tea-things, a loaf of bread, and some watercresses. A cat was purring on the hearth, and a kettle was boiling on the fire.

Near the window, in a large arm-chair, sat an old woman, with a Bible on her knees. She appeared happy and contented, and her countenance expressed cheerfulness and good temper. After reading for some time with great attention, she paused to look from the window into the lane, as if expecting to see some one. She listened as if for a footstep; but all was silent. She read again for about ten minutes longer, and then closing the Sacred Volume, rose, and, having laid the Book carefully on a shelf, opened the door, and went out into the garden, whence she could see farther into the lane, and remained for a considerable time leaning over the little wicket gate, in anxious expectation.

"What can be the reason that Ned is so late?" she said, half aloud, to herself. "He always hastens home to his poor old grandmother as soon as he has done work. What can make him an hour later than usual? I hope nothing has happened to him. But, hush!" she continued, after a few minutes' pause, "surely I hear him coming now."

She was not mistaken, for in a minute or two Ned appeared, running quite fast up the lane, and in a few moments more he was standing by her side, panting and breathless.

"Dear grandmother," he exclaimed, as soon as he had recovered breath enough to speak, "I have a great deal of good news to tell you. Farmer Tomkyns says he will employ me all through the winter, and pay me the same wages that he does now. This is one piece of good news. And the other is, that Mr. Stockwell, the greengrocer, will buy all my apricots, and give me a good price for them. I am to take them to him next market-day. I had to wait more than half-an-hour before I could speak to him, and that made me so late. O how beautiful they are!" continued he, gazing with admiration at the tree. "O grandmother, how happy I am!"

His grandmother smiled, and said she was glad to hear this good news. "And now come in and have your tea, child," she added; "for I am sure you must be hungry."

"O grandmother," said Ned, as they sat at tea, "now that Mr. Stockwell will buy the fruit, you will be able to have a cloak to keep you warm this winter. It often used to grieve me, last year, to see you obliged to go to church such bitter cold weather, with only that thin old shawl on. I know you said you could not spare money to get a cloak for yourself, because you had spent all you could save in buying me a jacket. My tree has never borne fruit till this year; and you always said that when it did, I should do what I pleased with the money its fruit would fetch. Now, there is nothing I should like to spend it on better than in getting a cloak for you."

"Thank you, Ned," replied his grandmother; "it would indeed be a very great comfort. I do not think I should have suffered so much from rheumatism last winter, if I had had warmer clothing. If it was not for your apricot-tree, I must have gone without a cloak this winter also; for, what with our pig dying, and your having no work to do in the spring, this has been but a bad year for us."

"The money Mr. Stockwell is going to give me," resumed Ned, "will be enough all but sixpence; and I have a new sixpence, you know, in a little box upstairs, that my aunt gave me last June, when I went to spend the day with her; so when I carry him the fruit, I shall take that in my pocket, and then when I come home in the evening I can bring the cloak with me. O that will be a happy day!" continued Ned, getting up to jump and clap his hands for joy.

"There is another thing I am very glad of," said he, sitting down again. "Master is going to turn Tom Andrews away next week."

"You ought not to be glad of that, Ned. Tom is one of a large family; and his father being very poor, it must be a great help to have one of his children earning something."

"But he is ill-natured to me, and often plagues me very much. It was only yesterday he broke the best hoe, by knocking stones about with it, and then told master it was my doing. Besides, he is idle, and does not mind what is said to him, and often gets into mischief."