Fifth Business Study Guide

The narrator dates the beginning of his involvement with Mrs. Dempster from December 27, 1908, at which time he was ten years and seven months old. The narrator explains that he recalls the date so clearly because he had been sledding with his "lifelong friend and enemy Percy Boyd Staunton." (pg. 3) Percy had been upset because his expensive, new, Christmas sled refused to go faster than the narrator's older, cheaper sled. Percy, the son of the village's richest residents, is already, at ten years old, accustomed to having his own way about everything. The sled's refusal to cooperate angers Percy. The narrator goes home for dinner, and Percy follows him all the way, throwing taunts and snowballs at the narrator's back. (read more)