Zona Gale (一八七四至一九三八）寫的小說 Miss Lulu Brett改編成舞台劇，榮獲一九二一年普立茲獎。

Bellard年輕時有一天衣著光鮮地走在郊區，看到一位瘦削、約六十歲的男人坐在門廊下破舊的椅子上看報，房子斑駁、客廳凌亂，他的太太忙著打掃。這個男人的生活顯然不好，但是他的臉上卻洋溢著笑容，這一幕讓Bellard感觸不已。Bellard渴望能經商致富，但是因為父親破產，他大學畢業後找個小差事就結婚了，住在公寓裡。所幸他的太太Lucile像朵山谷裡的百合花，安靜幽香地帶給他希望。雖然他厭煩工作，可是回到家，太太散發出恬靜澹泊和自信的氣息總讓他如置身天堂，感覺很幸福。
This girl had the quality of a flower. Bellard could not explain it, but she was silent and fragrant, and hopeful like a lily. He would go home from work hating his office, his routine, his fellows; but as soon as he entered the flat, there would be some breath of that air for which he saw other men dying. Her welcome, her abstraction, her silence, her confidences were all really heavenly. He worked hard, and went home on the subway with a sense of happiness.

他們育有一兒一女，不論是孩子有皮肉之傷或遇到大困難，Lucile總是不慌不忙地處理。她不像別的女人愛聊八卦、嘻笑怒罵，反而像花般吐露芬芳。日子這樣過去，孩子都結婚到外地工作，Bellard的公司卻垮了，他面臨失業，夫妻倆搬到郊區租個小屋，Bellard轉行進入房地產仲介業，更加辛苦地工作。他對Lucile說：「太太，我們沒錢再買東西了！」「買一堆東西反而要多花時間打掃照料！」「那妳最想要什麼？」她想了一下說：「我要你快樂，像我一樣。」他憶起年輕時夢想過當大老闆，現在夢已成空，但是他說：「我是全世界最快樂的人！」
He said to her: "You'll never have anything more than you have now, Lucile, do you realize that" She replied: "I don't want anything more to dust and take care of !" "What do you want most of anything in this world" She considered and answered: "I want you to be as happy as I am." He thought of his own early dream of being a great financier, and said: "I'm the happy one, you know." He thought: "This is what the world is dying for."

如今Bellard六十歲了。這一天他坐在破舊的門廊下，租屋的油漆掉落，凌亂的客廳擺著打掃的用具，Lucile穿著工作服站在門口。他在看報，抬起頭時看到一個穿著時髦的年輕人，年輕人看著他，眼神毫不掩飾地流露出無限的同情，好像同情他命運太悲慘了。Bellard露出燦爛的笑容望著年輕人，彷彿對著當年年輕的自己一般。
One day, when he was sixty, he was sitting on his mean little porch near the street. The house was small and unpainted, the hall was disordered with house cleaning, Lucile in an apron was in the doorway. Bellard, without a coat and reading a newspaper, lifted his eyes, and saw walking by the house, and wearing clothes in the extreme of the fashion, a youth who looked up at him with an excess of visible compassion. On this youth Bellard looked down and smiled, a luminous smile, a smile as bright as if he himself had been young.