The Monkey's Paw
By W. W. Jacobs
Mr. and Mrs. White lived with their son Herbert in a quiet house in the countryside. One stormy night, they received a visit from an old friend, Sergeant-Major Morris.
Over dinner, Morris told them a strange story about a magical monkey's paw he had brought from India. According to legend, it could grant three wishes to three different people—but at a terrible cost.
The Whites laughed at first.
"Is it really magical?" Mr. White asked.
Morris hesitated, then threw the monkey's paw into the fire.
Mr. White quickly pulled it out.
"If you had three wishes," Morris warned, "you might regret them."
Curious and excited, Mr. White made his first wish.
"I wish for two hundred pounds," he said jokingly.
Nothing happened.
The family laughed and went to bed.
The next day, Herbert went to work at a factory. Later that afternoon, a man arrived at their door with terrible news.
There had been an accident.
Herbert was caught in a machine and killed instantly.
As compensation, the company offered the family two hundred pounds.
Exactly the amount Mr. White had wished for.
Grief filled the house.
Days later, Mrs. White remembered the monkey's paw.
"You still have two wishes left," she whispered.
Driven by sorrow, she begged her husband to wish Herbert back to life.
With trembling hands, Mr. White made the second wish.
That night, there was silence.
Then—
A slow, heavy knock at the door.
Mrs. White screamed with hope.
"It's Herbert!"
She rushed to open the door.
But Mr. White remembered how badly his son had been injured.
Whatever stood outside might not be the Herbert they remembered.
As the knocking grew louder, Mr. White used his final wish.
The knocking stopped instantly.
When Mrs. White opened the door—
No one was there.
Only the empty road under the moonlight.
The monkey's paw lay still on the floor.
✨ Moral: Be careful what you wish for—every action has consequences.