We have two Hemingway stories for you today.

A Canary for one, written in 1927, and My Old Man, written in 1925. Enjoy. Here's a little background on the

first story, A Canary for One. The story is narrated by an American man who is on a train

traveling through France with his wife, who is also American.

One of their fellow passengers is another American woman who strikes up a conversation with the man's wife. This woman, who is middle-aged and deaf, is worried about the speed at which the train,

known as the Rapide in France because of its high speed, is traveling. She has a canary with her,

which she bought in Sicily. It is kept in a cage in the railway carriage. The middle-aged

woman tells the couple that she initially thought they were English, but when she discovers

they are Americans, she's pleased, declaring that American men make the best husbands. She tells them that her daughter

fell in love with a foreigner in Vivei in Switzerland, a man whom she forbade her daughter from marrying.

She bought the canary as a present for her daughter after the engagement was broken off.

The story uses Hemingway's trademark plain, unadorn style to depict what appears to be an ordinary

snapshot of life, a couple traveling in a train, striking up a conversation with a fellow

passenger. Without revealing the plot, the behind-the-scenes story of this is that there's a latent

symbolism in the train journey, and the fact that its destination is the

capital city of love. But there was a real situation happening at the time that Hemingway wrote it,

with his own failing marriage to Hadley Richardson, who had been his wife since 1921. There's

a strong autobiographical element, too, a canary for one, because in early 1926, Hadley became aware that Hemingway

was having an affair with Pauline Fyfer and asked for a separation. Later that year,

while Hemingway was working on a Canary for One, she formally requested a divorce, rare in those times.

They divorced in January of 1927, and Hemingway married Pfeiffer.

This background provides the clue to the significance of the title of Hemingway's story.

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