Teen Reader
“The Princess and the Puma” (1903)
“The Princess and the Puma” Text Version
“The Princess and the Puma” Audio Version
O. Henry
O. Henry (born September 11, 1862, Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S.—died June 5, 1910, New York, New York) was an American short-story writer whose tales romanticized the commonplace—in particular the life of ordinary people in New York City. His stories expressed the effect of coincidence on character through humor, grim or ironic, and often had surprise endings, a device that became identified with his name and cost him critical favor when its vogue had passed.
Porter attended a school taught by his aunt, then clerked in his uncle’s drugstore. In 1882 he went to Texas, where he worked on a ranch, in a general land office, and later as teller in the First National Bank in Austin. He began writing sketches at about the time of his marriage to Athol Estes in 1887, and in 1894 he started a humorous weekly, The Rolling Stone. When that venture failed, Porter joined the Houston Post as reporter, columnist, and occasional cartoonist.
In February 1896 he was indicted for embezzlement of bank funds. Friends aided his flight to Honduras. News of his wife’s fatal illness, however, took him back to Austin, and lenient authorities did not press his case until after her death. When convicted, Porter received the lightest sentence possible, and in 1898 he entered the penitentiary at Columbus, Ohio; his sentence of five years was shortened to three years and three months for good behaviour. As night druggist in the prison hospital, he could write to earn money for support of his daughter Margaret. His stories of adventure in the southwest U.S. and Central America were immediately popular with magazine readers, and when he emerged from prison W.S. Porter had become O. Henry.
“The Princess and the Puma” Discussion Questions
How are the king, queen, and princess different from tradition in this story?
“In those days in the Nueces country a man was a man.” What does the story mean when it says this?
What is Mr. Givens’s motive when he lies about the lion’s pet status?
Why does Josephina play along with the lie?
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