"A Christmas Tree and a Wedding" is a short story by Dostoevsky. It is narrated by an awkard outcast attending a Christmas party. This man, although invited, knows only the host and talks to no one. Dircectly due to his aloof nature, he observes the party's guest of honour take special interest in one of the children; the most beautiful girl. From this starting point Dostoevsky masterfully twists the story and concludes it with a masterful twist in the last sentence. A Christmas Tree and a Wedding is an artistically "perfect" short story in this sense. Fyodor Dostoevsky. ...

The story deals with child weddings. The 'guest of honor' is an old man, approaching fifty; yet he marries a 16 year old girl, having been planning the wedding since she was 11. The story is shocking; it is a haunting portrayal of the innocent girl who is just swept into a marriage she doesn't understand.