Tonight, we’ll read a short story titled “The Great Carbuncle” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and published in 1835.

Set in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, a band of eight adventurers gathers together. They are each on a personal quest for the Great Carbuncle, a brilliant gem legendary in its elusiveness.

The story’s ensemble cast represents a spectrum of motivations—scientific curiosity, fame, greed, and reverence—each character convinced they deserve the Carbuncle more than the next. But it’s the quiet presence of a humble newlywed couple, seeking only to glimpse the stone and return to a modest life, that serves as the story’s moral compass.

While there was never a documented search for a mythical gemstone like the Great Carbuncle in New England, the region has long been home to mineral and gem prospecting. Hawthorne likely drew inspiration from this local landscape of rugged ambition and romantic wilderness to craft a legend that, though fictional, feels rooted in place.