THE TREASURE, a Short Story by Somerset Maugham
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- Опубликовано: 26 сен 2024
- Richard Harenger is a contented and responsible man working at the Home Office, living a life of moderation and enjoying simple pleasures like bridge, golf, and travel. He hires a competent house-parlourmaid named Pritchard, who becomes indispensable in managing his household with impeccable skill and discretion. Despite their professional relationship, a moment of kindness leads Richard to take Pritchard out for an evening, culminating in an unexpected romantic encounter. The next day, Richard regrets his actions, fearing ..... won't reveal more here.
I've been non-stop listening to these
Maugham short stories...❤
Me too! 😊
Me.1000.
So have I !!
It reminds me of those middle school days when mannerism in language and literature were seen as tools of social recognition.
@@monalisas1074 say what?
Imprisoned by convention, comfort and habits Richard Harrington was a very happy man as long as he wasn’t exposed to the possibility a true and deep human connection.
Thus is the happiness of the upper classes.
Absolutely right on comment. This is what I appreciate most about out Maugham short stories. I don’t see them as art in the way I see a sculpture, but as a news report on the society of the time. It it “timeless” in the way of artistic depiction of beauty? I don’t know what I think right now.
And Pritchard? How do you explain HER happiness?
Acceptance.
@@anitaholst7671she got what she said she wanted which was a good home. She was good at her job to the point that she made herself indispensable and if she was let go it would be with very good references as she'd come to him with and a decent pay off. She was now even going to get a night out and bed.
He was a civil servant, not upper class.
Somerset Maugham's skill was his ability to write interesting stories about boring people in boring situations in boring times
Well said
Indeed. I remember the last few years of those boring people in boring times. Very much missed.
She is smart and had her release of tension just as he did. There is no mysogeny here. She has a great job with him and is too smart and competent to stay if she is not happy.
Somerset Maugham is tops. Since my youth ( that being quite some time ago now), I have not read Somerset Maugham. It certainly is a treasure.
His stories never ended predictably, love dear Somerset Maughan. Yes I know he has now been dead for many years but his story telling will never die.
I’m impressed by the comfortable lifestyle he has on a home office salary.
Those were the days. Staff and good staff could be had.
Everything changed because of Hitler😢, damn.
@@Edo9River What????
Ha, civil servants earn plenty!!
He had some private money of his own.
A happy man...but a very lonely isolated man? Beautiful story ❤
I think most women learn men want everything without commitment. For her it was enough. I just hope he gave her a huge raise.
How very sexist.
I genuinely think she’s the kind of woman who didn’t want any commitment either.
and a huge long lasting orgasm
Eh?
I don't get it.
Victorian robot slaves or summat ?
I worked in corporate. Never slept with anyone to get a raise but I did get a raise because I was given additional tasks. However, regardless what is the big deal letting sharing more of his finances
Golly, this really touched me. Thank you for sharing with all of us. I appreciate Maugham more with every new short story.
I enjoyed this now thoroughly!
A nice ending.
Well appreciated, sincerely
What a fantastic story, almost unreal.
My feelings exactly
Listening to several of these stories, leads me to believe that Maugham was a good, dignified, and eminently reasonable man, somehow. You can’t say that about a lot of great writers.
The man was, apparently, an absolute shit. A sexual degenerate, snob and dilettante. He was a renowned seducer of young men and behaved in despicable fashion. It wasn't the embracing of his homosexual desires after abandoning his beard wife it was more the absolute selfishness of his entire life which made him such an unpleasant character.
Yet I enjoy his writing.....
Not
Somerset Maugham is one of my favorite authors. I have two big books of his short stories. I just discovered these on RUclips!
Same here! I found a book of Maugham’s short stories in a backpackers’ hostel many years ago. It’s always been my ‘go to’ book for an excellent short story. Likewise have just found these on RUclips; they are so easy to listen to and the pictures suit the story so well.
I love his books! His famous story "Rain" which was made into a movie starring Joan Crawford. The fantastic "Moon and Sixpence" about Gauguin and vaguely Van Gogh, their tempestuous relationship. "The Magician" based on the self-proclaimed Satanist Aleister Crowley; "Cakes and Ale", "The Razor's Edge". All wonderful stories. I particularly enjoyed the movie "The Painted Veil", a Merchant-Ivory production with Edward Norton and I believe it was Naomi Watts. He is an excellent narrator of human psychology and behavior.@@PamelaKerr-x5j
The time capsule he gives us is perfect. Thank you!
Who else but AI would shout "Asterisk, asterisk, asterisk" in the middle of a classic short storyI? 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Explains how this channel posts so many stories in so short a time. Not saying that's a bad thing -- they're wonderfully entertaining!
That was so bizarre!
😂
He was born in 1874.🤦♀️
And the sudden burst of an American accent . . . .
Will look out for this, and put a time stamp on it ... cos this doesn't sound like AI to me. *Channel could have accumulated a lot of readings, so as to release at a regular, planned interval.*
Richard Harrington was an upper class cad. He didn't deserve any "treasure".
I get the feeling that after he's not feeling so afraid, he might ask her to the movies again.
She's married up- completely out of her class. And he can never do without her. Now, not even sexually. Smart woman.
This is what I love about Maugham. He allows the reader to take the story where it will go. 😊
I would like to think that they are friends. Mind you, she knows her place. But once a year, maybe on Chridtmas, they could go and have a night out. Delightful ❤
@@charlesj.shields9765 No, I do not think this sort of thing would repeat. Harenger was a careful man.
I am sure he will....he was just scared because it was the first time...this is likely to become a habit until he finds someone to marry!, and it won't be Pritchard...
I look so forward to these stories theey all are treasures. Thank you
The art hanging out with the upper class is in facial expressions. You have to look either entranced by their hypnotic cult behavior or underwhelmed by the constant literary references. You must brace yourself for the question. Oh, do not ask the question… It is always a step behind them, “I hope you don’t find me terribly boring.”
70 years ago my English teacher a great admirer of Somerset Maughan introduced him to us for years I was one of his followers and loved every one of his books. Can our BBC bring his books to life on the screen? I think not many authors can tell a story like him.
I have some videos on my shelf that I must get out to view. Yes I have a video player!!!
This is my second Somerset Maughan story in as many days.. who knew he was so good?? 👍😊
Enjoyed this story ,sad though.
And yet it suited them both all the same. The human is truly a complex machine 😂
Happier than most
A new Maugham story for me. Many thanks.
Only Sommerset Maugham frames it as such - enjoyable to the word.
Very enjoyable and well narrated. Thank you
The perfect maid, one who knew her station was denied of a decent marriage and knew it was unthinkable to marry Harenger that she probably was secretly in love with, counting from her yield to him. She certainly was not shy to deny him if she wanted to. Sad life for her.
A true vignette. Thank you for posting this.
Delightful!! ❤ most enjoyable story.
Love Somerset Maugham!
He took advantage of his position. She let him off the hook. The last sentence sums it up, "Richard was a happy man."
I bet.
In these days she didn’t have much choice if she didn’t want to loose her situation and reputation which would have meant abhorrent poverty, isolation and squalor.
I think you misunderstand. You are judging his POV from a 20th century perspective. He did not "take advantage of his position", he IS his position. There were things people could and could NOT do at every level of society then. Having sex with the help was one of them. For the master as well as the servant. Happiness has nothing to do with it. Harbinger was content, satisfied and certain within himself. For Maugham that is Happiness.
Accepting what you say that "he is his position" does not, in my view, mean that he cannot take advantage of that position. The rules of the game at this time were simply that you must adhere publicly to the accepted societal standards.If you choose to have relations with an employee, it is your business unless it becomes public knowledge. I think the telling incident is the employee chose ginger beer and the employer wine, meaning the employee meant to ensure their business would not become public knowledge.
🇨🇦What a discovery. This is changing my listening life. Here from Canada. BC remote location .
Another thoughtful probing story! 💚
A woman is like a well - provided table , Wich one looks at with a different eye before the meal ,than after!
This is a old french proverb, i have to admit have thought about more than I care for!
Yes fantasize to have such facility that has absolutely no strings ,at the same time the personal projection in society is securely guarded ! Wonderful! This story tells us that Somerset Maugham is also an ordinary human being like all of us !!
Don't forget that porter by the lift...who must have seen that they were tight! SM is having us on
I keep coming back to this one. What a sexy story, it's almost like i would want to live it myself. I think they loved or at least lusted after eachother from the beginning. The tention must have been delicious
I"m smitten with Pritchard too!
Thank you for sharing!❤❤❤
I have just found these short stories. Read a couple in school long ago, but it's such a joy to find such a collection as audiobook, and no AI silly voices and mispronunciation! Yet. Thank you.
all these are brilliantly read and produced very interesting contrast with the mostly idiotic content on tube BRAVO
It was a good one...... Hi from newzealand 🎉
What a find ,this has made me a very happy boy.❤❤
Lovely story and thank you for adding it. Alas, I have never listened to a story/ play with so many adverts.
The stories are 🆓
She was so much more intelligent than everyone. Damn. If only.
He reminds me of Henry Higgins, attracted to the woman but he had to hide his feelings, even from himself.
Pritchard was a treasure, hope eventually someone found that out. He didn't deserve her !!!!
What a wonderfully written little story!! 👏😁
Great storytelling. The number of comments bemoaning the lack of love, sad ending, injustices of society, et. al., must all be from Americans.
Spoken like a true limey.
Very enjoyable listening. Thank you
Typical of that society in those days.
Knowing your class and knowing your place is everything.
???
BS!
what was accepted in the early 1930s (The Treasure, 1934) is ridiculous in the 21st century.
Doesn't mean modern readers can't enjoy Maugham, but please-
'Knowing ones place/class'??
@@poorthing Agree with your observation! People who say such things are usually delusional about their class status and place in society. Typically, such people think very highly of themselves for no good reason other than artifical standards they have established. Truly great people don't do this and can be found across the entire spectrum of humanity.
@@poorthing Agree totally with your observation! People who publicly comment on one's class and place in society are delusional and immediately mark themselves as being innately inferior/insecure. Truly great people do not feel the need to draw arbitrary divisions in society and can be found across the entire spectrum of humanity.
Obviously i didn't express myself well. I was observing that in this era knowing your place was everything. And I was marveling at it and thankful that in many societies, although sadly not all, this is no longer true.
This complicated story was superb! Keeping separate work from pleasure is difficult, it can be done.
Patience is a virtue
Interesting. That was the message for me from the sermon yesterday. 😊
I'm really enjoying the use of English vocabulary all but defunct today.
Perhaps this story is an insight into the rigidity of class division. Wha'eva...love a good yarn😅
It's Harenger who's the treasure that's been found, although he thinks it's the other way around. Pritchard kept moving, from position to position, until she got the right, rich dimwit. Class didn't limit her. And, unlike a conventional marriage, she can leave any time.
Yeah, and what do you think of her proficiency? She could have had any job. And after being known from his employment even more so. Her efficiency was nothing but perfect. The word treasure was applied to her not Harenger, he was the lucky one. All he did was pay her and then he could forget all his cares to the point where he did not even have to tell her if he did not want to talk with someone or accept their invitation to the choice of the perfect outfit with the suitable tie. Now, I say, that is a kind of achievement unheard of. I believe there were very few of this excellence.
@@42kellys It's unheard of because the story is a fairy tale. The "perfect servant" arrived, all right. She stayed, she took over, and got the life only the wealthy enjoy. Cinderella bangs the prince without having to marry him.
Frankly, I think they BOTH came out ahead of where they were- and neither was taken advantage of. They arrived at an unspoken understanding.
@@donnachristman2528 Ah, second most intelligent, perceptive comment. Thank you.
Charming! ❤
I'm smitten with Pritchard,,
💢Don’t read before you listen!!
Seems she felt the same as he did. or she had a lovely evening and left it at that. she knew how to keep her man.
i have always appreciated Maugham very much. his short stories are so different and interesting, while also being poignant. seems though that woman and man never become a couple. 🌷🌱
Prittchard had his entire life in her hands. The power to expose him as a seducer of serving staff!
You can be sure that he saw her in a new light afterwards, as when he gazed at her from behind his morning paper and watched her from behind.....
It leaves this snapshot of comfortable upper-middle class life before WW11 on a high note.
But it hardly ends there..... asterix, asterix, asterix.
So glad I found your channel. Maugham was amazing!!
I love his writing ❤
Reminds me of the movie “Remains of the Day.”
I must admit, until the height disparity between herself, her deceased husband and Harenger's, I was under the impression that Pritchard was Harenger's estranged wife. She seemed to know precisely how everything should be. Aside from what was learned from the cook, Pritchard appeared too flawless, leading me to believe that Harenger was oblivious to his wife's appearance. His wife dressed according to her station in life, in contrast to someone in his employment.
This was an enjoyable read....Workplace romance.🌹💕
I agree, Harenger will invite Pritchard to the movies again.
Seriously? How likely would it be that his estranged wife, from his own class in society would willingly disguise herself as a parlor maid?? And to what end? To be his servant for life? Maugham would be rolling in his grave. The idea of "service" as a highly respected profession has long existed in England. I suggest you watch an episode of "Jeeves and Wooster" on RUclips or Downton Abbey.
Still, it would be an interesting twist, deploying the material given by Maugham at the start, as in a detective story! And men who are shorter than their dance partner probably often pretend they are not.
Fascinating document of class based misogyny in a different time.
Misogyny is Hatred or mistrust of women.
Hatred of women. Contrast misandry.
Hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. The story is about class and social status. It is not about hatred of women.
@@daywilliams1000exactly. Thank you 🙏
I heard no misogyny, only English class system and behavior.
@daywilliams1000 Wow. You really don't see it? Just wow
@@---Dana----
May i recommend the Nancy Drew mysteries for you.
Thank you, I enjoyed the story very much, including the narrator and the piano!
He had the "wife" and she, the "husband" that neither one wanted to be tied to Legally, but in a "partnership" that society accepted and approved - - He was happy and so was she .....
How wonderful to be such a woman ❤️
Really? I think one would have to be very very careful not to misstep.
So enjoyable. Thanks
Nice little beautifully worded story
What a sad story. Thank you for your extraordinary narration.
My pleasure, said the bot!
Perfect.
The snobbery and self indulgence of the narrator is absolutely terrifying. E. F. Benson wrote brilliantly about the snobbery of small towns in Mapp & Lucia, but he wrote humorously whilst this story is ice cold and savage. It's very hard to listen to this, the totally self centred life of a man who cares for nothing but his own comfort. But it's horribly well observed.
I thought it was appalling and the characters made of wooden cut out dummies. I also found the narration set my teeth on edge.
@@dianapeek6936 It's AI - no soul although beautifully read.
It seems like that to us today but that was only the attitude of the times . I do however find the AI voice excruciating.
❤❤❤What a devastating story that ends with the parlor maid slipping away.😮😮😮 have I been taught some lessons about women’s rights in merr😮y olde England?
this cat could be reciting the alphabet and sound like royalty
What a Paragon she was! Miss Marple would approve ;-)
Of course this brings you back to "The remains of the day".
Maugham is such a powerful commentator on social norms and prejudices. Like Forster, and Wilde, a teacher. But unlike Wilde, very very stern.
So enthralled by this short story. I wanted them to marry. Civil being the operative word ….
I met an eldery gentleman, a contemorary of Maugham who spent his working life in South East Asia.He said Maugham loved to collect the gossip/scandal of the "white society" much of which were reborn in his short stories and novels.
Thank you for this 😊
Thanks so much for these stories. I love them!
Excellent story and beautifully read, thanks 🙏
Lovely story, as always. 📖🤍📚🌷👸🌷
Most enjoyable. Thank you for sharing this.
❤❤
Wonderful.... ❤
I am a man born in the USA in the middle of the 20th century. Were I in the position of Mr. Harenger I would marry her. She is absolutely perfect. That was socially impossible in those times. What a loss for both of them.
Yeah. It’s what every guy wants, right? A woman to do everything his way and have no thoughts or ambitions of her own. Despicable.
He didn't love her, the way a husband should love a wife. As for Pritchard, she is that rare woman who can separate sex and love. Pritchard did not love him, either.
Thank you
A GENIUS!
Thank you.
He’s not even close to being a catch
Thanks, neuralsurfer; Thanks, RUclips! What a pleasure to hear these tales in your voice!
If possible; I didn't quite understand your last word: Richard Harenger was a very... guy; Maybe if I do a little looping.
Okay, thanks again!
Thank you 🙏
Incredible !!! Excellent !!!
Cute story
I've up graded from washer woman😂🤣🤣💃
SM really understood the privileged selfish male of the day
@@junestanich7888 It benefits them both.
What a very sad ending.
Thank you for this reading
Lovely story.
Quite right sir!
SM left out that, she became pregnant with lil' Pritchard. All that stored up tension between them.🤗Interesting story.
Also here,
Just the right time / length of the story for one go!!!!!!!
I find this story a bit heartbreaking, how social conventions retain two beings who obviously love one another, to live a happy life together.