xi-1st- MODEL MILLIONAIRE BIJAN SIR ONE LINER

 

The Model Millionaire

Title – The Model Millionaire
Author – Oscar Wilde (Irish writer, poet, playwright, 1854–1900)
Genre – Short story / Social satire with humour and irony
First Published – 1887, in The Court and Society Review
Main Characters –

• Hughie Erskine – handsome but poor young man, no profession
• Laura Merton – daughter of a retired Colonel, in love with Hughie
• Colonel Merton – strict father, demands £10,000 before marriage
• Alan Trevor – painter and Hughie’s friend
• Baron Hausberg – one of the richest men in Europe, disguised as beggar

One-liners from The Model Millionaire

1. Hughie never said a brilliant or even an ill-natured thing in his life.
2. He was wonderfully good-looking with crisp brown hair, clear-cut profile, and grey eyes.
3. His father left him a cavalry sword and a History of the Peninsular War in fifteen volumes.
4. Hughie tried the Stock Exchange for six months but failed.
5. He also tried being a tea-merchant, but soon tired of pekoe and souchong.
6. Later he tried selling dry sherry, but the sherry was too dry.
7. Ultimately, he became a delightful, ineffectual young man with a perfect profile and no profession.
8. Hughie was in love with Laura Merton.
9. Laura was the daughter of a retired Colonel.
10. The Colonel had lost his temper and digestion in India and never found them again.
11. Laura adored Hughie, and he was ready to kiss her shoe-strings.
12. They were the handsomest couple in London, but had not a penny-piece between them.
13. The Colonel liked Hughie but refused to allow an engagement.
14. One morning, Hughie went to Holland Park to visit his friend Alan Trevor.
15. Trevor was a painter and a true artist.
16. Trevor was a member of the Palette Club.
17. Hughie entered the Palette Club at about eleven o’clock.
18. Trevor was a strange rough fellow with a freckled face and a red ragged beard.
19. Trevor earned two thousand guineas for his painting.
20. (Currency fact) – 1 guinea = 21 shillings.

21. Hughie Erskine was wonderfully good-looking.
22. He had no profession and no income of his own.
23. Hughie lived on £200 a year from an old aunt.
24. He tried Stock Exchange for six months but failed.
25. He also tried being a tea-merchant but got tired.
26. He tried selling dry sherry but was unsuccessful.
27. Finally, he became an ineffectual young man with a perfect profile.
28. Hughie was in love with Laura Merton.
29. Laura was the daughter of a retired Colonel.
30. The Colonel had lost his temper and digestion in India.
31. The Colonel demanded £10,000 of Hughie’s own for marriage.
32. Hughie looked glum whenever he heard this.
33. Hughie’s close friend was Alan Trevor, a painter.
34. Alan Trevor was rough-looking but had a kind heart.
35. Hughie often visited Trevor’s studio.
36. One day, Trevor was painting a beggar-man.
37. The beggar wore a coarse brown cloak full of tatters.
38. The beggar’s boots were patched and cobbled.
39. The beggar leaned on a rough stick.
40. He held a battered hat for alms.
41. Hughie pitied the beggar’s piteous expression.
42. Hughie asked Trevor, “How much does a model get?”
43. Trevor replied, “A shilling an hour.”
44. Trevor himself was to get two thousand guineas for the picture.
45. Hughie laughed that the model deserved a percentage.
46. While Trevor went out, Hughie searched his pockets.
47. Hughie had only a sovereign and some coppers.
48. He secretly gave the sovereign to the beggar.
49. The beggar said softly, “Thank you, sir.”
50. Later that night, Trevor told Hughie that the beggar asked about his life.
51. Trevor revealed the beggar was actually Baron Hausberg.
52. Baron Hausberg was one of the richest men in Europe.
53. The Baron had houses in every capital.
54. The Baron could dine off gold plate.
55. The Baron could even prevent Russia going to war.
56. Hausberg had commissioned Trevor to paint him as a beggar.
57. Hughie exclaimed, “Good heavens! I gave him a sovereign!”
58. Trevor laughed loudly at Hughie’s generosity.
59. Hughie felt he had made a fool of himself.
60. Trevor consoled him saying it showed his philanthropic spirit.
61. Next morning, Hughie got a visitor’s card.
62. The card bore the name Monsieur Gustave Naudin.
63. Gustave Naudin came on behalf of Baron Hausberg.
64. He delivered a sealed envelope to Hughie.
65. On it was written, “A wedding present to Hugh Erskine and Laura Merton, from an old beggar.”
66. Inside was a cheque of £10,000.
67. This solved Hughie’s marriage problem.
68. Hughie married Laura Merton with the Baron’s gift.
69. At the wedding, Alan Trevor was the best man.
70. Trevor remarked, “Millionaire models are rare, but model millionaires are rarer still.”