Paying Off

William Wymark JacobsProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 18K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Paying Off by W. W. JacobsAuthor: Jacobs, W. W. (William Wymark), 1863-1943,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Mar 1, 2004

Editor's review

This is another English short story by W. W. Jacobs, included in Project Gutenberg's public-domain ebook library. Jacobs excelled at writing about ordinary people worried about money and entangled in personal obligations; this story uses "paying off" as its thread, often building misunderstandings and reversals through seemingly trivial daily conversation, and typically leaves a sting behind the laugh. The work is short and colloquial; as a public-domain text it is freely available and suits extensive English reading or as an entry point to the English short story. Note that it is not a guide to personal finance or law; its treatment of debt and repayment is literary fiction and not real-world financial advice. The English original also poses some difficulty for beginning readers, so pace yourself according to your level.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy British humor and short stories with reversals
Learners doing extensive English reading and collecting colloquial expressions
Readers interested in classic short stories about ordinary people's lives

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking practical advice on debt or personal finance
Readers who rely entirely on Chinese and do not yet read English originals

Reading tips

On the first read, follow the story; on the second, note hints and misunderstandings in dialogue.
Record recurring colloquial expressions—more helpful for language sense than looking up rare words.
After reading, retell the ending twist in your own words to check whether you grasped the author's intent.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Can this story serve as a reference for personal finance or debt handling?

No. It is literary fiction that builds plot and humor around characters' situations, not real financial advice. For debt or finance knowledge, consult appropriate professional books or experts.

Is it by the same author as "Shareholders"?

Yes. Both are by W. W. Jacobs and are English public-domain short stories released by Project Gutenberg; their styles share common ground and they can be read together.

Is it long? How long does it take to finish?

It is a short story of modest length. Readers who read English smoothly can usually finish it in one or two sittings, making it suitable for fragmented time.

Comments

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About the author

William Wymark Jacobs Author · British · 1863–1943

William Wymark Jacobs (1863–1943) was a British short-story writer, born in London in 1863 and died there in 1943. In his early years he lived around the Thames docks and was familiar with the lives of sailors and dockworkers, which led him to write a great many humorous sea stories, often in a light and witty tone. His best-known work, The Monkey's Paw, is a classic horror short story included in The Lady of the Barge (1902); noted for its tight suspense and sudden twists, it is still widely anthologized in horror collections. The library holds 109 of his works, including The Lady of the Barge and Others, Ship's Company, A Tiger's Skin, Captains All, and Night Watches; his common category is inspirational growth. Public information is limited and details of his life are largely unavailable, yet his fiction is distinctive in subject, blending humor with horror, and has had a lasting influence on later short-story writing.