10 h 46 minAudiobook6 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the promise of a fortune turns a happy home into a workshop of restless dreams?
Mark Twain’s The $30,000 Bequest, and Other Stories brings together humorous, ironic tales. Its title story begins in friendly Lakeside, where bookkeeper Saladin Foster and his wife, Electra, enjoy a comfortable family life. She grows their savings with care. By night, they share romantic tales and imagine a world far grander than their own.
Then a letter from their relative Tilbury Foster promises an inheritance—with strange conditions. They must keep silent about it and make no inquiries about his health. Saladin dreams of spending; Electra plans investments in coal mines. Soon, pencils replace their evening reading, and the prospect of wealth draws their attention away from the life they already love.
What you’ll discover
- A fortune with conditions Meet a sour relative who hopes his money will bring trouble rather than comfort.
- Dreamers behind sensible faces Discover how Saladin and Electra tuck grand romantic longings beneath their practical daily routines.
- Pencils instead of romances Watch an ordinary evening fill with competing plans for money that has not arrived.
- A shrewd household manager Follow Electra from garden plots and careful savings toward dreams of profitable coal investments.
- Humour close to home Find the irony in affectionate people whose imagined fortune distracts them from their children.
Who will love it
This book will delight readers who enjoy dry humor, comic exaggeration and sharp little portraits of human folly, and anyone who likes a collection they can dip into for a tale, a joke or a quiet moment of feeling.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Letter Promises Thirty Thousand Dollars
- Imaginary Wealth Takes Over Their Lives
- A Dog Keeps Her Mother's Last Request
- Two Aunts Face the Cost of Truth
- A Dreadful Book And A Haunted Cottage
- Small Tales of Habit and Choice
- Twain Turns His Wit on Himself
- Hoaxes, Letters, and Pointed Essays
- Adam and Eve Keep Their Diaries
Who’s who
- Sally FosterA bookkeeper in Lakeside who longs to spend the bequest and cannot stop his tongue from speaking ill of his rich uncle.
- Aleck FosterSally's wife, a shrewd planner and pious dreamer who invests the money in her imagination and weighs suitors for her daughters.
- Aileen MavoureenA kind dog who tells her own story and tries to live by her mother's rule of helping others in danger.
- Hester and Hannah GrayTwin aunts of sixty-seven who live by strict truth and adore their niece Helen, until love tests their rule.
- Edward MillsAn orphan raised to be pure, honest, sober, and industrious, who follows the rule of his adoptive parents.
- Major ElfonzoA fiddling war hero in a Georgia romance who goes back to school and wants to marry Ambulinia Valeer.
- AdamThe first man, who wants peace and quiet and cannot understand why the new creature keeps talking and naming things.
- EveThe first woman, curious and full of wonder, who thinks she is an experiment and follows Adam to learn what he is.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 6 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
Il lascito di 30.000 dollari e altri racconti
by Mark Twain · 1906
A bookkeeper and his wife spend a dream fortune, but the paper brings no news of their uncle's death.
Medium level10–20 hours to readItaliano
Excellent
- Read or listen
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
What if a letter could change how you live without handing you a single coin? Mark Twain, the American humorist who died in 1910, fills this book with tales, sketches, mock reviews, essays and two diaries kept by Adam and Eve.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Letter Promises Thirty Thousand Dollars
Lakeside is a pleasant little town in the Far West. Saladin Foster, called Sally, keeps the books at the leading store. His wife Electra, called Aleck, is the sharper mind in the house. She has built a small income from careful savings and a bit of land.
Then great news arrives. Tilbury Foster, a sour bachelor of seventy, writes that he will soon die and leave Sally thirty thousand dollars. He does it without love. Money has caused him most of his troubles, and he wants it to go on doing harm.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 6 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1906
- Language
- Italiano
- Level
- Medium level
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Il lascito di 30.000 dollari e altri racconti
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is the title tale of this collection about?
It follows Sally and Aleck Foster of Lakeside, who learn that a rich uncle will leave them thirty thousand dollars. Aleck invests the money in her imagination, and the couple spend it on dream palaces and royal marriages for their daughters.
What other stories are in the collection?
The book includes A Dog's Tale, Was It Heaven? Or Hell?, A Cure for the Blues, The Californian's Tale, Edward Mills and George Benton, and many sketches and essays, ending with the diaries of Adam and Eve.
Is the review of The Innocents Abroad a real review?
No. Twain wrote it himself as a mock review after reading that a London paper had seriously criticized his travel book. It appeared in The Galaxy and fooled many readers, and Twain later explained the joke.
The author
Mark Twain
1835–1910 · American humorist and novelist
Mark Twain was the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, an American author born in Missouri in 1835. He lived in Hartford, Connecticut, from 1874 to 1891. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and The Prince and the Pauper (1881). He died in Redding, Connecticut, in 1910.
More by Mark Twain
All 23 booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
