The Old Apple Dealer (From "Mosses from an Old Manse")

"The Old Apple Dealer (From 'Mosses from an Old Manse')" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a short story published in 1843. This piece appears in Hawthorne's collection *Mosses from an Old Manse*, known for its allegorical tales exploring the darker aspects of human nature. Like many stories in the collection, it reflects what Herman Melville called Hawthorne's "blackness of darkness"—a persistent shadow beneath any surface brightness. The work exemplifies Hawthorne's distinctive style of moral complexity and psychological depth, characteristic of his mid-career literary output.

The Old Apple Dealer (From "Mosses from an Old Manse"), by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Republished by OpenStories from Project Gutenberg eBook #9234.