A Good-For-Nothing

From infancy, Ralph Grimm has been treated as a future celebrity. His mother imagines literary fame, his father sees a military commander, and both turn his faults into signs of promise. Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen follows this indulged young gentleman from his family home to the capital, where elegant rooms and fashionable company prove easier to manage than preparation for the Military Academy. A conversation across a courtyard introduces Bertha, whose frankness gives Ralph a different measure of himself.

The story combines comic portraits of parental vanity with a sharper account of selfishness and social charm. Ralph's failed examination, a reckless wager involving six proposals, and his announced departure for America place the cost of his behavior in view. Readers interested in character studies will find a short narrative built around the gap between being admired and doing something useful, with Bertha's objections cutting through Ralph's polished manners.