Little Women by L.M. Alcott

Part I

On a cold evening in December, the girls are sitting near the fire in the dining room. Their mother has not come home yet, and the girls are talking about the New Year and the presents they want to give her.

Margaret, or Meg, as her sisters call her, is a very nice girl. She is sixteen years old. Meg teaches small children in the family of their friends. She gets some money for her work and helps her family. Meg wants to be a teacher.

Josephine, or Jo, is fifteen. She is tall and thin, with long thick hair. Jo wants to write stories and be a writer. Now she works in the house of an old woman. She looks after the woman, helps her in the house, reads books to her, and gets some money for her work.

Elizabeth, or Beth, is thirteen. She is a small girl with brown eyes. Beth likes music and is learning to play the piano. She wants to teach music. She helps her mother in the house — dusts the tables, the chairs, and the bookcases, sweeps the floor, and washes the plates.

Amy is twelve. She has fair hair and large blue eyes. Amy goes to school. Some girls laugh at her old dresses, and she does not like school. She wants to be an artist. Amy helps her mother in the kitchen.

Part II

It is six o'clock in the evening — the time when their mother usually comes home. Meg brings the lamp into the dining room. Jo puts her mother's shoes near the fire. She looks at the old shoes and says, "The shoes are very old." "Mother must have new shoes."

"I want to give Mother new shoes for the New Year," says Beth.

"No," says Amy. "I want to give Mother new shoes."

"I am the eldest," begins Meg, but Jo goes on, "I take the place of the man in the family now, when Father is far from home. I am going to give Mother new shoes."

Then Meg looks at her hands and says, "I am going to give Mother new gloves."

"I have some nice handkerchiefs for Mother," says Beth.

Amy looks at her sisters and then tells them, "I am going to give Mother a little bottle of perfume." "I have a dollar and I can buy it."

At that moment, the door in the hall opens and their mother comes in. She is a tall woman. Her clothes are old, but the girls look at her and see the most beautiful woman in the world.