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A mysterious traveler with grand ambitions finds shelter with a humble mountain family, leading to deep conversations about legacy and mortality before an unexpected avalanche changes everything. Hawthorne's tragic tale explores how quickly life's dreams can vanish and the ironic twist of fate that erases all evidence of their existence.

• Set in a dangerous mountain pass where a family lives beneath a threatening mountainside
• A nameless ambitious young traveler arrives seeking shelter and connection
• Family members share their humble dreams and future aspirations around the hearth
• The stranger reveals his burning desire for lasting recognition and legacy
• Grandmother expresses her unusual wish to see herself properly prepared after death
• Sudden avalanche destroys everything, tragically killing all who sought safety outside
• Cottage remains intact with fire still burning, as if expecting the family's return
• The ambitious guest vanishes without trace, his greatest fear of anonymity fulfilled
• Story becomes a lasting mountain legend despite the characters' forgotten identities

If you enjoyed this reading of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Ambitious Guest," please subscribe to Ron Reads for more classic short stories from history's greatest authors.

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