A Christmas Tree and a Wedding facts for kids

"A Christmas Tree and a Wedding" (Russian: Ёлка и свадьба, Yolka i svad'ba) is a short story written by the famous Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published in 1848. The story is told by a guest attending a fancy New Year's Eve party. He notices a very important guest who seems especially interested in one of the young children there.

What the Story is About

The story begins five years before the narrator tells it. It takes place at a New Year's Eve party. A rich businessman hosted this party. It was meant to be a children's ball. But the real reason was for adults to talk about business deals. Julian Mastakovich was the most important guest. Everyone else at the party looked up to him.

The narrator was also a guest. He felt like an "outsider" because he had no business to discuss. This allowed him to watch everyone closely. He saw the children gathered around a Christmas tree. Each child received gifts. The gifts matched their parents' social standing. An 11-year-old girl, whose father was very rich, got a beautiful doll. The son of a widowed governess received a plain book. It was not very exciting for a child.

Later, the governess's son tried to play with the other boys. But they were mean to him. His mother told him to stop bothering the other children. The boy then went into another room. He started playing with the rich girl and her doll.

The adults at the party were discussing the rich girl's future. Her father had already set aside a large sum of money for her. This money was called a dowry. It was 300,000 rubles. The narrator secretly watched Julian Mastakovich. Mastakovich quickly figured out how much the girl's dowry would grow. He calculated it would be 500,000 rubles by the time she turned 16.

Mastakovich then went up to the girl. He kissed her on the head. The girl pulled away from him. As he continued to bother her, she looked to the governess's son for help. But Mastakovich made the boy leave. Mastakovich himself left the room when he heard someone coming. He then focused on the governess's son. He scared the boy away. Soon after, Mastakovich was seen talking closely with the rich girl's parents. The other guests seemed very happy about this.

The last part of the story happens in the present time. The narrator walks past a church. He sees a wedding celebration. At first, he does not recognize the groom. But he soon realizes it is Mastakovich. The bride is the girl from the party, now 16 years old. The narrator notices she is beautiful. He also sees that she does not seem happy about the marriage. The crowd is talking about the girl's dowry. It is 500,000 rubles, just as Mastakovich had calculated. The narrator concludes that the marriage was a very good business deal for Mastakovich.

Film Version

A Christmas Tree and a Wedding was made into a movie. It has the same name as the story. Will Wallace directed the film. It was released in the year 2000.

See also

In Spanish: El árbol navideño y la boda para niños