Story summary
Résumé de La Lampe taillée et autres nouvelles des quatre millions
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Two New York girls, one at an iron and one at a lace counter, bet their futures on opposite kinds of luck.
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La Lampe taillée et autres nouvelles des quatre millions in short
Taken together, the twenty-five stories form a portrait of a city seen from street level. Shop girls, laundresses, bartenders, painters, tramps and firemen each get their moment. The author laughs at their schemes and vanity with obvious affection.
What La Lampe taillée et autres nouvelles des quatre millions is about
Two New York girls wait on a corner for a young electrician named Dan. One irons shirts for eighteen dollars and fifty cents a week. The other sells handkerchiefs for eight and copies a rich customer's walk. Which has chosen better?
O. Henry, the pen name of William Sydney Porter, asks that question in the first of twenty-five short stories in The Trimmed Lamp, and Other Stories of the Four Million. They follow the ordinary crowd of New York: shop girls, bartenders, tramps, firemen and painters. You get a warm, funny picture of the city and a narrator who jokes with you.
À qui s’adresse-t-il ?. Readers who enjoy short stories for a single sitting, busy city streets, working people, and humor that turns tender will love this collection.
The story in 10 parts
Key idea 1 · free to read
Two friends bet on opposite kinds of luck
Nancy and Lou come to the city from the country and share a boardinghouse. Lou irons in a hand laundry and earns eighteen dollars and fifty cents a week. Nancy sells lace and handkerchiefs for only eight.
Lou spends her wages on showy clothes, like a purple dress and a hat plume four inches too long. Nancy takes the opposite road. She studies a customer named Mrs. Van Alstyne Fisher and borrows her soft voice and her walk. Each girl thinks the other is a fool. The narrator refuses to pick a winner.
Dan, Lou's steady companion, is an electrician who earns thirty dollars a week. At the store, Nancy sizes up every man at her counter and turns away one who arrives in a twelve-horsepower car. Yet words like truth, honor and kindness begin to blur into dollar signs in her mind. A person can aim high and still be changed by what she sees along the way.
- 2Start free to read
A stranger at the table tests a kindness
Two stories begin with a meal offered to a hungry man.
- 3Start free to read
Marriages at home run on habit and surprise
Three stories look inside ordinary apartments.
- 4Start free to read
Bluffs and costumes fool others before their makers
Several stories follow people who dress up their lives.
- 5Start free to read
Love at first sight crosses the class line
Four stories explore romance shaped by money and mistaken expectations.
- 6Start free to read
Money and wishes shape small, strange fortunes
Four more stories treat money as a character.
- 7Start free to read
The city itself is a character with moods
Some stories are less about plot than about New York as a whole.
- 8Start free to read
Kindness and loyalty live among the poor
The warmest stories are set among people with almost nothing.
- 9Start free to read
Pretending is a tool and a trap
Almost every story involves someone playing a part.
- 10Start free to read
A joking narrator drives each story to its turn
The way these stories are told matters as much as what happens.
Read all 10 key ideas now
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Characters, plot and themes
Main characters
- Nancy A department-store clerk who copies the manners of the wealthy and keeps her lamp trimmed for a bridegroom worth waiting for.
- Lou Nancy's cheerful friend, a laundry ironer who earns well, loves bright clothes and trusts her good time more than any plan.
- Dan A steady, plain electrician who earns thirty dollars a week and is faithful to Lou, whatever she wears.
- Sue A young painter in Greenwich Village who nurses her sick friend Johnsy and tries to talk her out of a fatal idea.
- Behrman An old painter who has long talked about the masterpiece he will paint, and who watches over the two girls upstairs.
- Kid Brady A vain, strong Stovepipe Gang tough who tries to go straight for Molly and loves luxurious things.
- Raggles A tramp and self-styled poet of cities who wants to know the heart of Manhattan.
- Morley A penniless swindler who lives on confidence and a good tie, and believes everyone can be fooled.
How it ends (spoiler)
The stories close on sharp turns. In the title story, Nancy tells Lou she will marry Dan, and Lou sobs by a park fence. In The Last Leaf, Behrman's masterpiece is the painted leaf that saved Johnsy, and it cost him his life. In Elsie in New York, Mr. Otter's welcome is not kindness at all, and the story ends in warning rather than rescue.
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Questions about La Lampe taillée et autres nouvelles des quatre millions
What is The Trimmed Lamp and Other Stories of the Four Million about?
It is a collection of twenty-five short stories by O. Henry about ordinary New Yorkers, including shop girls, bartenders, tramps, painters and firemen. Each story follows a small hope or scheme in the city, often with a gentle surprise at the end.
What does the title The Trimmed Lamp mean?
The title story refers to the parable of the wise bridegroom's guests who keep their lamps trimmed and burning. In the story, Nancy keeps her lamp ready, which means she waits and prepares for the right match instead of settling.
Who is Mrs. Van Alstyne Fisher in the first story?
She is a wealthy customer at Nancy's department store. Nancy studies and copies her soft voice, her walk and her clothes, so the name stands for the polished society that Nancy hopes to join.
Are the stories easy to read?
Yes. Each story is short enough to read in one sitting, the plots are clear, and the narrator speaks to you in a lively, friendly voice. Many stories can be enjoyed on their own, in any order.
What is the main message of the collection?
The stories suggest that city life is built from small acts of pride, loyalty and kindness, and that many people wear a mask to protect something tender. O. Henry laughs at pretense but plainly admires generosity.
Cite this edition
Henry, O. The Trimmed Lamp, and Other Stories of the Four Million. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-trimmed-lamp-and-other-stories-of-the-four-million.
Henry, O. (2026). The trimmed lamp, and other stories of the four million. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-trimmed-lamp-and-other-stories-of-the-four-million (Original work published 1907)
Henry, O. The Trimmed Lamp, and Other Stories of the Four Million. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-trimmed-lamp-and-other-stories-of-the-four-million.
@book{henry2026trimmed,
author = {Henry, O.},
title = {The Trimmed Lamp, and Other Stories of the Four Million},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-trimmed-lamp-and-other-stories-of-the-four-million},
note = {First published 1907}
}
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