"The $30,000 Bequest" is a satirical short story by Mark Twain. Saladin and Electra Foster, a modest couple from Lakeside, learn that a wealthy but miserly relative has left them a $30,000 bequest—provided they neither speak of it nor spend it prematurely. Overwhelmed by anticipation, the couple immerses themselves in elaborate fantasies, mentally investing the money until their imaginary fortune swells to billions, transforming their behavior, status, and social ambitions. When the expected inheritance proves worthless—the relative died penniless—they collapse under the shock. Through sharp humor, Twain exposes human greed, vanity, and the seductive, destructive power of imagined wealth.
