Literacy International - Stories About Love - The Last Leaf - Two Christmas Gifts - When a Law Has Love

Jul 17, 2026

Upload by Liam

Collection of English love-themed stories by Literacy International. “The Last Leaf” explores illness, hope, and artistic deception through a fading vine leaf that symbolizes renewal. “Two Christmas Gifts” contrasts sacrifice and material exchange with the greater value of mutual love. “When a Law Has Love” presents a poor village’s strict sharing law and the chief’s moral reversal when punishment targets his own mother.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

The Last Leaf

Two Christmas Gifts

When a Law Has Love

Literacy International: Stories About Love Copyright © 2018 Literacy International [info@LiteracyInternational.net](info@LiteracyInternational.net) English Spiritual Literacy International: Stories About Love English Copyright © 2018, Literacy International [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) You are free to make commercial use of this work. You may adapt and add to this work, but you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one. You must keep the copyright and credits for authors, illustrators, etc. THE LAST LEAF It was cold. The wind blew through old houses and trees. It sounded like men and women crying in pain. Rain beat like a hammer. The rain and snow would not stop. Days were dark. Two young women lived in a small room. An old man lived in a room above them. They could all hear the sound of the wind. One of the women was very ill. Her doctor didn’t know why she did not get better. He said that she had no desire to live. He said she would die if she didn’t change her mind about living. Her friend bought food and medicine for both of them. She paid the rent. She waited. The sick woman had only one joy in her life. This was to look out the window at a green, leafy vine growing on a wall outside. The old man who lived above them wanted to be an artist. He dreamed that he could paint a perfect picture for the world. A masterpiece. He practiced and practiced. But he never sold any paintings. He cared alot about what happened to the two young women in the room below him. They were the only ones that he loved. One day the sick woman said,“I’m going to die. I’m 21 years old. Yesterday there were 21 leaves on that vine outside. Today there were only 14. I die a bit as each leaf blows away. When the last leaf goes... There is no hope for me.” Her friend carefully bought more food and tried hard to make her happy. Every day more leaves fell. One day the two women looked out the window. There was only one leaf left on the vine. That night there was a heavy storm. It was very cold and the rain was heavy. The sick woman woke up in the morning and looked out her window. The last leaf was still there on the wall! It gave her hope when she was dying. She began to get well. The last leaf never fell. Finally she was completely well. The doctor came to help the old man. He was very sick from being cold and wet. Then he died. No one knew how he got so sick. They couldn’t think how he could have gotten so cold and wet. The next day the two young women went outside to see why the last leaf never fell. It was not a real leaf at all! Someone had gone outside in the cold and rain and painted the leaf on the wall, such a good painting that it looked real. It was a masterpiece. TWO CHRISTMAS GIFTS A young man had a gold watch. It was a gift from his father. He kept it very safe. But he wished he had a watch chain to hold it. His wife had long beautiful hair. The hair was like silk and people would talk about it. Christmas time came. The man and his wife didn’t know what to give each other. They had very little money. “I’ll cut off my hair and sell it in town”, said the woman to herself.“Then I’ll have money to buy something for my husband. I love him. I want to make him happy.” But she cried about her hair. The husband saw some jewels in a window. They were in a comb.“I can buy it for my wife,” he thought.“She will look so beautiful.” They met at home late on Christmas Eve. He saw her short hair right away. He put the beautiful comb on their little table. Then she laid a new watch chain on the table. They looked long and hard at each other. He had sold his watch to buy a comb. She had cut her hair to buy a gold chain. Again they looked long and hard at each other. Then they laughed and laughed. Their love was worth far more than gold. WHEN A LAW HAS LOVE A small village was very poor.

FAQs

What is the central symbol in “The Last Leaf”?

A green leafy vine outside the window; the number of leaves shrinking mirrors the sick woman’s decline, until a painted “last leaf” restores hope.

How do the characters in “Two Christmas Gifts” prove their love?

They each sell or give up something precious—his watch and her long hair—to exchange gifts, then realize their love matters more than gold.

Why does the chief change his response in “When a Law Has Love”?

Although he insists the law must be obeyed, he refuses to punish his mother and accepts the beating himself instead.

Jul 17, 2026

Upload by Liam