Melchior's Dream and Other Tales

Christmas Eve brings little cheer to the eldest boy in a family of ten children. Comparing his holiday with a friend's more generous treats, he resents the limits imposed by his father's household budget and wishes he were an only son. Juliana Horatia Ewing opens this collection with an allegory about gratitude, using sibling quarrels, festive preparations and familiar domestic disappointments to give a moral lesson a concrete setting.

The other tales broaden that concern with conduct and sympathy. In the French setting of "Monsieur the Viscount's Friend," the Viscount objects to the existence of ugly toads, while his priest urges him to respect the creatures around him. A later scene moves into an anxious street in 1792, where a starving young man offers a valuable watch. These children's stories suit readers interested in family relationships, Christian moral teaching and the way nineteenth-century writers connected everyday feelings with larger responsibilities.