The
Monkey's Paw
by W. W.
Jacobs
An
illustration for the story The Monkey's Paw by the author W. W. Jacobs
"Be
careful what you wish for, you may receive it." --Anonymous
Part I
Without,
the night was cold and wet, but in the small parlour of Laburnum villa the
blinds were drawn and the fire burned brightly. Father and son were at chess;
the former, who possessed ideas about the game involving radical chances,
putting his king into such sharp and unnecessary perils that it even provoked
comment from the white-haired old lady knitting placidly by the fire.
"Hark
at the wind," said Mr. White, who, having seen a fatal mistake after it
was too late, was amiably desirous of preventing his son from seeing it.
"I'm
listening," said the latter grimly surveying the board as he stretched out
his hand. "Check."
"I
should hardly think that he's come tonight, " said his father, with his
hand poised over the board.
"Mate,"
replied the son.
"That's
the worst of living so far out," balled Mr. White with sudden and unlooked-for
violence; "Of all the beastly, slushy, out of the way places to live in,
this is the worst. Path's a bog, and the road's a torrent. I don't know what
people are thinking about. I suppose because only two houses in the road are
let, they think it doesn't matter."
"Never
mind, dear," said his wife soothingly; "perhaps you'll win the next
one."
Mr. White
looked up sharply, just in time to intercept a knowing glance between mother
and son. the words died away on his lips, and he hid a guilty grin in his thin
grey beard.
"There
he is," said Herbert White as the gate banged to loudly and heavy
footsteps came toward the door.
The old man
rose with hospitable haste and opening the door, was heard condoling with the
new arrival. The new arrival also condoled with himself, so that Mrs. White
said, "Tut, tut!" and coughed gently as her husband entered the room
followed by a tall, burly man, beady of eye and rubicund of visage.
"Sargeant-Major
Morris, " he said, introducing him.
The
Sargeant-Major took hands and taking the proffered seat by the fire, watched
contentedly as his host got out whiskey and tumblers and stood a small copper
kettle on the fire.
At the
third glass his eyes got brighter, and he began to talk, the little family
circle regarding with eager interest this visitor from distant parts, as he
squared his broad shoulders in the chair and spoke of wild scenes and doughty
deeds; of wars and plagues and strange peoples.
"Twenty-one
years of it," said Mr. White, nodding at his wife and son. "When he
went away he was a slip of a youth in the warehouse. Now look at him."
"He
don't look to have taken much harm." said Mrs. White politely.
"I'd
like to go to India myself," said the old man, just to look around a bit,
you know."
"Better
where you are," said the Sargeant-Major, shaking his head. He put down the
empty glass and sighning softly, shook it again.
"I
should like to see those old temples and fakirs and jugglers," said the
old man. "what was that that you started telling me the other day about a
monkey's paw or something, Morris?"
"Nothing."
said the soldier hastily. "Leastways, nothing worth hearing."
"Monkey's
paw?" said Mrs. White curiously.
"Well,
it's just a bit of what you might call magic, perhaps." said the
Sargeant-Major off-handedly.
His three
listeners leaned forward eagerly. The visitor absent-mindedly put his empty
glass to his lips and then set it down again. His host filled it for him again.
"To
look at," said the Sargeant-Major, fumbling in his pocket, "it's just
an ordinary little paw, dried to a mummy."
He took
something out of his pocket and proffered it. Mrs. White drew back with a
grimace, but her son, taking it, examined it curiously.
"And
what is there special about it?" inquired Mr. White as he took it from his
son, and having examined it, placed it upon the table.
"It
had a spell put on it by an old Fakir," said the Sargeant-Major, "a
very holy man. He wanted to show that fate ruled people's lives, and that those
who interfered with it did so to their sorrow. He put a spell on it so that
three separate men could each have three wishes from it."
His manners
were so impressive that his hearers were conscious that their light laughter
had jarred somewhat.
"Well,
why don't you have three, sir?" said Herbert White cleverly.
The soldier
regarded him the way that middle age is wont to regard presumptuous
youth."I have," he said quietly, and his blotchy face whitened.
"And
did you really have the three wishes granted?" asked Mrs. White.
"I
did," said the seargent-major, and his glass tapped against his strong
teeth.
"And
has anybody else wished?" persisted the old lady.
"The
first man had his three wishes. Yes, " was the reply, "I don't know
what the first two were, but the third was for death. That's how I got the
paw."
His tones
were so grave that a hush fell upon the group.
"If
you've had your three wishes it's no good to you now then Morris," said
the old man at last. "What do you keep it for?"
The soldier
shook his head. "Fancy I suppose," he said slowly." I did have
some idea of selling it, but I don't think I will. It has caused me enough
mischief already. Besides, people won't buy. They think it's a fairy tale, some
of them; and those who do think anything of it want to try it first and pay me
afterward."
"If
you could have another three wishes," said the old man, eyeing him
keenly," would you have them?"
"I
don't know," said the other. "I don't know."
He took the
paw, and dangling it between his forefinger and thumb, suddenly threw it upon
the fire. White, with a slight cry, stooped down and snatched it off.
"Better
let it burn," said the soldier solemnly.
"If
you don't want it Morris," said the other, "give it to me."
"I
won't." said his friend doggedly. "I threw it on the fire. If you
keep it, don't blame me for what happens. Pitch it on the fire like a sensible
man."
The other
shook his head and examined his possession closely. "How do you do
it?" he inquired.
"Hold
it up in your right hand, and wish aloud," said the Sargeant-Major,
"But I warn you of the consequences."
"Sounds
like the 'Arabian Nights'", said Mrs. White, as she rose and began to set
the supper. "Don't you think you might wish for four pairs of hands for
me."
Her husband
drew the talisman from his pocket, and all three burst into laughter as the
Seargent-Major, with a look of alarm on his face, caught him by the arm.
"If
you must wish," he said gruffly, "Wish for something sensible."
Mr. White
dropped it back in his pocket, and placing chairs, motioned his friend to the table.
In the business of supper the talisman was partly forgotten, and afterward the
three sat listening in an enthralled fashion to a second installment of the
soldier's adventures in India.
"If
the tale about the monkey's paw is not more truthful than those he has been
telling us," said Herbert, as the door closed behind their guest, just in
time to catch the last train, "we shan't make much out of it."
"Did
you give anything for it, father?" inquired Mrs. White, regarding her
husband closely.
"A
trifle," said he, colouring slightly, "He didn't want it, but I made
him take it. And he pressed me again to throw it away."
"Likely,"
said Herbert, with pretended horror. "Why, we're going to be rich, and
famous, and happy. Wish to be an emperor, father, to begin with; then you can't
be henpecked."
He darted
around the table, pursued by the maligned Mrs White armed with an antimacassar.
Mr. White
took the paw from his pocket and eyed it dubiously. "I don't know what to
wish for, and that's a fact," he said slowly. It seems to me I've got all
I want."
"If
you only cleared the house, you'd be quite happy, wouldn't you!" said
Herbert, with his hand on his shoulder. "Well, wish for two hundred
pounds, then; that'll just do it."
His father,
smiling shamefacedly at his own credulity, held up the talisman, as his son,
with a solemn face, somewhat marred by a wink at his mother, sat down and
struck a few impressive chords.
"I
wish for two hundred pounds," said the old man distinctly.
A fine
crash from the piano greeted his words, interrupted by a shuddering cry from
the old man. His wife and son ran toward him.
"It
moved," he cried, with a glance of disgust at the object as it lay on the
floor. "As I wished, it twisted in my hand like a snake."
"Well,
I don't see the money," said his son, as he picked it up and placed it on
the table, "and I bet I never shall."
"It
must have been your fancy, father," said his wife, regarding him
anxiously.
He shook
his head. "Never mind, though; there's no harm done, but it gave me a
shock all the same."
They sat
down by the fire again while the two men finished their pipes. Outside, the
wind was higher than ever, an the old man started nervously at the sound of a
door banging upstairs. A silence unusual and depressing settled on all three,
which lasted until the old couple rose to retire for the rest of the night.
"I
expect you'll find the cash tied up in a big bag in the middle of your
bed," said Herbert, as he bade them good night, " and something
horrible squatting on top of your wardrobe watching you as you pocket your
ill-gotten gains."
He sat
alone in the darkness, gazing at the dying fire, and seeing faces in it. The
last was so horrible and so simian that he gazed at it in amazement. It got so
vivid that, with a little uneasy laugh, he felt on the table for a glass
containing a little water to throw over it. His hand grasped the monkey's paw,
and with a little shiver he wiped his hand on his coat and went up to bed.
Part II
In the
brightness of the wintry sun next morning as it streamed over the breakfast
table he laughed at his fears. There was an air of prosaic wholesomeness about
the room which it had lacked on the previous night, and the dirty, shriveled
little paw was pitched on the side-board with a carelessness which betokened no
great belief in its virtues.
"I
suppose all old soldiers are the same," said Mrs White. "The idea of
our listening to such nonsense! How could wishes be granted in these days? And
if they could, how could two hundred pounds hurt you, father?"
"Might
drop on his head from the sky," said the frivolous Herbert.
"Morris
said the things happened so naturally," said his father, "that you
might if you so wished attribute it to coincidence."
"Well
don't break into the money before I come back," said Herbert as he rose
from the table. "I'm afraid it'll turn you into a mean, avaricious man,
and we shall have to disown you."
His mother
laughed, and following him to the door, watched him down the road; and
returning to the breakfast table, was very happy at the expense of her
husband's credulity. All of which did not prevent her from scurrying to the
door at the postman's knock, nor prevent her from referring somewhat shortly to
retired Sargeant-Majors of bibulous habits when she found that the post brought
a tailor's bill.
"Herbert
will have some more of his funny remarks, I expect, when he comes home,"
she said as they sat at dinner.
"I
dare say," said Mr. White, pouring himself out some beer; "but for
all that, the thing moved in my hand; that I'll swear to."
"You
thought it did," said the old lady soothingly.
"I say
it did," replied the other. "There was no thought about it; I had
just - What's the matter?"
His wife
made no reply. She was watching the mysterious movements of a man outside, who,
peering in an undecided fashion at the house, appeared to be trying to make up
his mind to enter. In mental connection with the two hundred pounds, she noticed
that the stranger was well dressed, and wore a silk hat of glossy newness.
Three times he paused at the gate, and then walked on again. The fourth time he
stood with his hand upon it, and then with sudden resolution flung it open and
walked up the path. Mrs White at the same moment placed her hands behind her,
and hurriedly unfastening the strings of her apron, put that useful article of
apparel beneath the cushion of her chair.
She brought
the stranger, who seemed ill at ease, into the room. He gazed at her furtively,
and listened in a preoccupied fashion as the old lady apologized for the appearance
of the room, and her husband's coat, a garment which he usually reserved for
the garden. She then waited as patiently as her sex would permit for him to
broach his business, but he was at first strangely silent.
"I -
was asked to call," he said at last, and stooped and picked a piece of
cotton from his trousers. "I come from 'Maw and Meggins.' "
The old
lady started. "Is anything the matter?" she asked breathlessly.
"Has anything happened to Herbert? What is it? What is it?
Her husband
interposed. "There there mother," he said hastily. "Sit down,
and don't jump to conclusions. You've not brought bad news, I'm sure sir,"
and eyed the other wistfully.
"I'm
sorry - " began the visitor.
"Is he
hurt?" demanded the mother wildly.
The visitor
bowed in assent."Badly hurt," he said quietly, "but he is not in
any pain."
"Oh
thank God!" said the old woman, clasping her hands. "Thank God for
that! Thank - "
She broke
off as the sinister meaning of the assurance dawned on her and she saw the
awful confirmation of her fears in the others averted face. She caught her
breath, and turning to her slower-witted husband, laid her trembling hand on
his. There was a long silence.
"He
was caught in the machinery," said the visitor at length in a low voice.
"Caught
in the machinery," repeated Mr. White, in a dazed fashion,"yes."
He sat
staring out the window, and taking his wife's hand between his own, pressed it
as he had been wont to do in their old courting days nearly forty years before.
"He
was the only one left to us," he said, turning gently to the visitor.
"It is hard."
The other
coughed, and rising, walked slowly to the window. " The firm wishes me to
convey their sincere sympathy with you in your great loss," he said,
without looking round. "I beg that you will understand I am only their
servant and merely obeying orders."
There was
no reply; the old woman’s face was white, her eyes staring, and her breath
inaudible; on the husband's face was a look such as his friend the sargeant
might have carried into his first action.
"I was
to say that Maw and Meggins disclaim all responsibility," continued the
other. "They admit no liability at all, but in consideration of your son's
services, they wish to present you with a certain sum as compensation."
Mr. White
dropped his wife's hand, and rising to his feet, gazed with a look of horror at
his visitor. His dry lips shaped the words, "How much?"
"Two
hundred pounds," was the answer.
Unconscious
of his wife's shriek, the old man smiled faintly, put out his hands like a
sightless man, and dropped, a senseless heap, to the floor.
Part III
In the huge
new cemetery, some two miles distant, the old people buried their dead, and
came back to the house steeped in shadows and silence. It was all over so quickly
that at first they could hardly realize it, and remained in a state of
expectation as though of something else to happen - something else which was to
lighten this load, too heavy for old hearts to bear.
But the
days passed, and expectations gave way to resignation - the hopeless
resignation of the old, sometimes mis-called apathy. Sometimes they hardly
exchanged a word, for now they had nothing to talk about, and their days were
long to weariness.
It was a
about a week after that the old man, waking suddenly in the night, stretched
out his hand and found himself alone. The room was in darkness, and the sound
of subdued weeping came from the window. He raised himself in bed and listened.
"Come
back," he said tenderly. "You will be cold."
"It is
colder for my son," said the old woman, and wept afresh.
The sounds
of her sobs died away on his ears. The bed was warm, and his eyes heavy with
sleep. He dozed fitfully, and then slept until a sudden wild cry from his wife
awoke him with a start.
"THE
PAW!" she cried wildly. "THE MONKEY'S PAW!"
He started
up in alarm. "Where? Where is it? What’s the matter?"
She came
stumbling across the room toward him. "I want it," she said quietly. "You've
not destroyed it?"
"It's
in the parlour, on the bracket," he replied, marveling. "Why?"
She cried
and laughed together, and bending over, kissed his cheek.
"I
only just thought of it," she said hysterically. "Why didn't I think
of it before? Why didn't you think of it?"
"Think
of what?" he questioned.
"The
other two wishes," she replied rapidly. "We've only had one."
"Was
not that enough?" he demanded fiercely.
"No,"
she cried triumphantly; "We'll have one more. Go down and get it quickly,
and wish our boy alive again."
The man sat
in bed and flung the bedclothes from his quaking limbs."Good God, you are
mad!" he cried aghast. "Get it," she panted; "get it
quickly, and wish - Oh my boy, my boy!"
Her husband
struck a match and lit the candle. "Get back to bed he said unsteadily.
"You don't know what you are saying."
"We
had the first wish granted," said the old woman, feverishly; "why not
the second?"
"A
coincidence," stammered the old man.
"Go
get it and wish," cried his wife, quivering with excitement.
The old man
turned and regarded her, and his voice shook. "He has been dead ten days,
and besides he - I would not tell you else, but - I could only recognize him by
his clothing. If he was too terrible for you to see then, how now?"
"Bring
him back," cried the old woman, and dragged him towards the door. "Do
you think I fear the child I have nursed?"
He went
down in the darkness, and felt his way to the parlour, and then to the
mantlepiece. The talisman was in its place, and a horrible fear that the
unspoken wish might bring his mutilated son before him ere he could escape from
the room seized up on him, and he caught his breath as he found that he had
lost the direction of the door. His brow cold with sweat, he felt his way round
the table, and groped along the wall until he found himself in the small passage
with the unwholesome thing in his hand.
Even his
wife's face seemed changed as he entered the room. It was white and expectant,
and to his fears seemed to have an unnatural look upon it. He was afraid of
her.
"WISH!"
she cried in a strong voice.
"It is
foolish and wicked," he faltered.
"WISH!"
repeated his wife.
He raised
his hand. "I wish my son alive again."
The
talisman fell to the floor, and he regarded it fearfully. Then he sank
trembling into a chair as the old woman, with burning eyes, walked to the
window and raised the blind.
He sat
until he was chilled with the cold, glancing occasionally at the figure of the
old woman peering through the window. The candle-end, which had burned below
the rim of the china candlestick, was throwing pulsating shadows on the ceiling
and walls, until with a flicker larger than the rest, it expired. The old man,
with an unspeakable sense of relief at the failure of the talisman, crept back
back to his bed, and a minute afterward the old woman came silently and apathetically
beside him.
Neither
spoke, but lat silently listening to the ticking of the clock. A stair creaked,
and a squeaky mouse scurried noisily through the wall. The darkness was
oppressive, and after lying for some time screwing up his courage, he took the
box of matches, and striking one, went downstairs for a candle.
At the foot
of the stairs the match went out, and he paused to strike another; and at the
same moment a knock came so quiet and stealthy as to be scarcely audible,
sounded on the front door.
The matches
fell from his hand and spilled in the passage. He stood motionless, his breath
suspended until the knock was repeated. Then he turned and fled swiftly back to
his room, and closed the door behind him. A third knock sounded through the house.
"WHAT’S
THAT?" cried the old woman, starting up.
"A
rat," said the old man in shaking tones - "a rat. It passed me on the
stairs."
His wife
sat up in bed listening. A loud knock resounded through the house.
"It's
Herbert!"
She ran to
the door, but her husband was before her, and catching her by the arm, held her
tightly.
"What
are you going to do?" he whispered hoarsely.
"It's
my boy; it's Herbert!" she cried, struggling mechanically. "I forgot
it was two miles away. What are you holding me for? Let go. I must open the
door."
"For
God's sake don't let it in," cried the old man, trembling.
"You're
afraid of your own son," she cried struggling. "Let me go. I'm
coming, Herbert; I'm coming."
There was
another knock, and another. The old woman with a sudden wrench broke free and
ran from the room. Her husband followed to the landing, and called after her
appealingly as she hurried downstairs. He heard the chain rattle back and the
bolt drawn slowly and stiffly from the socket. Then the old woman’s voice,
strained and panting.
"The
bolt," she cried loudly. "Come down. I can't reach it."
But her
husband was on his hands and knees groping wildly on the floor in search of the
paw. If only he could find it before the thing outside got in. A perfect
fusillade of knocks reverberated throgh the house, and he heard the scraping of
a chair as his wife as his wife put it down in the passage against the door. He
heard the creaking of the bolt as it came slowly back, and at the same moment
he found the monkey's paw, and frantically breathed his third and last wish.
The
knocking ceased suddenly, although the echoes of it were still in the house. He
heard the chair drawn back, and the door opened. A cold wind rushed up the
staircase, and a long loud wail of disappointment and misery from his wife gave
him the courage to run down to her side, and then to the gate beyond. The
street lamp flickering opposite shone on a quiet and deserted road.
Biography of W. W. Jacobs
W. W. Jacobs (1863–1943) British
author mostly remembered for his macabre short story The Monkey's Paw. (1902)
William Wymark Jacobs was born 8 September 1863 in Wapping, London,
England. The eldest son of William Gage Jacobs, and his first wife, Sophia
Wymark, who would die when Jacob was very young. Jacob's father was the manager
of a South Devon wharf, and young Jacobs spent much time with his brothers and
sisters among the wharves observing the comings and goings of the tramp
steamers and their crews.
The Jacobs were a large family and poor; young W.W. as he came to be
called by his friends, was shy and quiet with a fair complexion. A respite now
and then from the dreary dockside life were holidays at a cottage near
Sevenoaks, and visiting relatives in the countryside of rural East Anglia,
reflected in his Claybury stories published in Light Freights. (1901)
Jacobs attended a private school in London then went on to Birkbeck
College. In 1879 he became a clerk in the civil service, then the savings bank
department from 1883 until 1899. A regular income was a welcomed change from
his childhood of financial hardship, but around 1885 he also started submitting
anonymous sketches to be published in Blackfriars. In the early nineties Jacobs
had some of his stories published in Jerome K. Jerome and Robert Barr's
illustrated satirical magazines The Idler and Today. The Strand magazine also
accepted some of his works. His early stories were tentative and naïve but they
were enough to show he had promise upon further development in a career as a
writer. Henry James, G. K. Chesterton, and Christopher Morley commented
favourably on his work.
In 1896 Jacobs' first collection of short stories was titled Many
Cargoes of whichPunch magazine said his favourite subjects were "men who
go down to the sea in ships of moderate tonnage." It was followed in 1897
by a novelette titled The Skipper's Wooing and in 1898 by another collection of
short stories Sea Urchins.By 1899 Jacobs was confident enough to resign from
the civil service to devote his full time to writing. In 1900 he married
suffragette Agnes Eleanor with whom he would have two sons and three daughters