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The Works of Guy de Maupassant Novel Chapters
List of most recent chapters published for the The Works of Guy de Maupassant novel. A total of 348 chapters have been translated and the release date of the last chapter is Apr 02, 2024
Latest Release: Chapter 1 : The Works of Guy de Maupa.s.sant.Vol. 1.by Guy de Maupa.s.sant.INTRODUCTION BY ARTHUR SY
The Works of Guy de Maupa.s.sant.Vol. 1.by Guy de Maupa.s.sant.INTRODUCTION BY ARTHUR SYMONS The first aim of art, no doubt, is the representation of things as they are. But then things are as our eyes see them and as our minds make them; and it is thus o
- 248 What is it?"He blushed not knowing what to say, and she went on in an indignant tone: "You see very well that you are lying, you low brute." And with an angry gesture and tears in her eyes, she escaped him.He again caught her by the shoulders, and, in
- 247 The entrance of Clotilde created a sensation, due to the elegance of her toilet. The couples ceased whispering together, the three cab-drivers left off arguing, and the man who was smoking, having taken his pipe from his mouth and spat in front of him, tu
- 246 a lot of j.a.panese trifles on the walls, and he bought for five francs quite a collection of little fans and screens, with which he hid the most obvious of the marks on the wall paper. He pasted on the window panes transparent pictures representing boats
- 245 The two ladies were now going it strongly in their remarks. Madame de Marelle, with a native audacity which resembled a direct provocation, and Madame Forestier with a charming reserve, a modesty in her tone, voice, smile, and bearing that underlined whil
- 244 The clock struck three, and the journalist arose."Come often," said Madame de Marelle, "and we will chat as we have done to-day; it will always give me pleasure. But how is it one no longer sees you at the Forestiers?" He replied: "Oh! for no reason.
- 243 "It means that you pleased me, you old dear, and that we will begin again whenever you please.""To-day, if you like.""Yes, I am quite willing.""Good, but--" He hesitated, a little ashamed of what he was going to do."The fact is that this time I h
- 242 The other replied, simply enough: "No, my name is Thomas. It is in the office that they have nicknamed me Saint-Potin."Duroy, as he paid for the drinks, observed: "But it seems to me that time is getting on, and that we have two n.o.ble foreigners to c
- 241 His office was a large, gloomy room, in which gas had to be kept burning almost all day long in winter. It looked into a narrow court-yard, with other offices on the further side of it. There were eight clerks there, besides a sub-chief hidden behind a sc
- 240 He was at once ushered along a lengthy pa.s.sage, which brought him to a large room where four gentlemen were writing at a large green-covered table.Forestier standing before the fireplace was smoking a cigarette and playing at cup and ball. He was very c
- 239 But as he did not know where to commence, she began to question him as a priest would have done in the confessional, putting precise questions which recalled to him forgotten details, people encountered and faces merely caught sight of.When she had made h
- 238 "I shall feel in a better mood for it to-morrow. My thoughts are not clear to-night. Perhaps, too, I have had just a little too much to drink. One can't work well under those circ.u.mstances."He got into bed, blew out his light, and went off to sleep a
- 237 But suddenly, without any reason, Madame de Marelle called, "Laurine!"and the little girl came."Sit down here, child; you will catch cold near the window."Duroy was seized with a wild longing to kiss the child. It was as though some part of the kiss w
- 236 Faces grew red, and voices rose, as from time to time the man-servant murmured in the guests' ears: "Corton or Chateau-Laroze."Duroy had found the Corton to his liking, and let his gla.s.s be filled every time. A delicious liveliness stole over him, a
- 235 He stammered "By Jove!" without being able to say anything else.The three stood together, checking the movement, the current of which swept round them.All at once she asked: "Will you come home with me?"And he, quivering with desire, answered roughly:
- 234 When he approached the check-takers they bowed, and one of them held out his hand. The journalist asked: "Have you a good box?""Certainly, Monsieur Forestier."He took the ticket held out to him, pushed the padded door with its leather borders, and the
- 233 The Works of Guy de Maupa.s.sant.Vol. 6.by Guy de Maupa.s.sant.BEL AMI (A LADIES' MAN) I When the cas.h.i.+er had given him the change out of his five francpiece, George Duroy left the restaurant.As he had a good carriage, both naturally and from his mil
- 232 "No, I have never been in Italy. "My brother, quite stunned, went on: "The Comte has requested me to give you this money, and tell you that it is all broken off. "She became serious again, calmly putting the money into her pocket, and, in an ingenuous
- 231 "For three months I saw her every morning without growing tired of her for a second, so well was she able incessantly to give variety and piquancy to her physical attractiveness. But one day I saw that her eyes were bloodshot and glowing with suppressed
- 230 The men of to-day have so little consideration for others and so little good manners that one must be always severe with them. We live indeed in an age of vulgarity. When they quarrel with one another, they attack one another with insults worthy of street
- 229 The peasant cast an uneasy glance towards his family, who remained in a listening att.i.tude behind him. He hesitated for another second or so, then all of a sudden, he came to a resolution on the matter."I came home one night about ten o'clock and the
- 228 "Look here, Delphine! Think of your daughters!"Then she turned on both of them a glance of sovereign contempt, and, after that, flying with a bound towards the staircase, she flung at them these scornful words: "You are a pair of wretches!"Left alone,
- 227 "Can you really be a coward? Can you be one of those who seduce a woman, and then throw her over, through sheer caprice?"He became pale, and renewed his arguments; he pointed out to her the inevitable consequences of such an action to both of them as lo
- 226 "One morning she was found in bed, lifeless, and already quite cold, with a cotton mask over her face."Her coffin was covered with flowers, the church was hung in white.There was a large crowd at the funeral ceremony."Ah! well, if I had known--but you
- 225 The postman still went on without giving any answer.Renardet went on: "I'll make your fortune, you understand--whatever you wish--fifty thousand francs--fifty thousand francs for that letter! What does it matter to you? You won't? Well, a hundred thous
- 224 He omitted nothing, not a single detail of the crime, not a single detail of the torments of his heart, and he ended by announcing that he had pa.s.sed sentence on himself, that he was going to execute the criminal, and begging of his friend, his old frie
- 223 "'Tis I."But he restrained himself. He went back, however, during the night, to fish up the dead girl's wooden shoes, in order to carry them to her mother's threshold.As long as the inquiry lasted, as long as it was necessary to guide and aid justice
- 222 He made this explanation in a slow tone, searching for his words, and speaking in a stupefied fas.h.i.+on.Then, he went off, saying: "Till to-morrow, my friends--till to-morrow."As soon as he had got back to his room, he sat down before his table, which
- 221 Then the magistrates returned to Roug, announcing that they would return next day at an early hour. The doctor and the cure went to their respective homes, while Renardet, after a long walk through the meadows, returned to the wood where he remained walki
- 220 The gendarmes appeared in the distance, coming on at a rapid trot, escorting their captain and a little gentleman with red whiskers, who was bobbing up and down like a monkey on a big white mare.The steward had just found M. Putoin, the examining magistra
- 219 "What a wretch! We must find the clothes."The doctor felt the hands, the arms, the legs. He said: "She must have been bathing, no doubt. They ought to be at the water's edge."The Mayor thereupon gave directions: "Do you, Princepe" (this was his sec
- 218 Then, he raised himself with the intention of hastening towards the Mayor's residence, but again another thought held him back. If the little girl was still alive, by any chance, he could not leave her lying there in this way. He sank on his knees very g
- 217 As he was rising up to go, he asked: "When would you like me to come back to speak about this business to you, Mam'zelle Donet?""If it is all the same to you, say next Thursday, Monsieur Cesar. In that way, I would lose none of my time, as I always ha
- 216 He no longer ventured to speak, keeping his eyes fixed on the table which stood in the center of the room, with three covers laid on it, one of which was for a child. He glanced at the chair which had its back turned to the fire. They had been expecting h
- 215 "Yes, father.""I tell you that she is an honest girl, and that, but for you, and the remembrance of your mother, and again but for the house in which we three lived, I would have brought her here, and then married her, for certain--listen--listen, my l
- 214 Hautot Senior answered: "As much as you like, especially in the Puysatier lands.""Which direction are we to begin at?" asked the notary, a jolly notary fat and pale, big paunched too, and strapped up in an entirely new hunting-costume bought at Rouen.
- 213 "Make haste and drink up your coffee," she said as she placed the cup on the table. "Denis is waiting to take us to Les Peuples. I have to go over there on business."Jeanne was so excited that she thought she would have fainted, and, as she dressed he
- 212 She felt stunned, and it was some time before she could speak again."When did he leave?" she asked at last, controlling herself by a violent effort.The man was quite ready to tell her all he knew."About a fortnight ago," he replied. "They just walked
- 211 It was impossible for Jeanne to sleep, for the whole night she could hear the old dog moaning and scratching as he tried to get used to this new house which he found so different from his old home. Nothing would quiet him; his eyes were dim and it seemed
- 210 "But if he has not anything to eat?" murmured Jeanne, who was quietly weeping."He can come to us if he's hungry; there'll always be victuals and a bed for him. He'd never have got into trouble if you hadn't given him any money the first time he ask
- 209 "My poor mistress! Mam'zelle Jeanne, my poor mistress! Don't you know me?" she sobbed."Rosalie, my la.s.s!" cried Jeanne, throwing her arms round the woman's neck and kissing her; and, clasped in each other's arms they mingled their tears and sobs
- 208 Jeanne read it over twice, looked at the Jew, read it over again, then asked: "What does it mean?""I vill tell you," replied the man obsequiously. "Your son wanted a leetle money, and, as I know what a goot mother you are, I lent him joost a leetle t
- 207 Jeanne felt that she was being attacked, and replied: "But cannot one believe in G.o.d without constantly attending church?""No, madame. Believers go to pray to G.o.d in his church, as they would go to visit their friends at their houses.""G.o.d is e
- 206 Directly it had dashed upon the rocks at the bottom of the valley, the old beggar, who had seen it falling, began to make his way down through the brambles. He did not go straight to the shattered hut, but, like the cautious rustic that he was, went to an
- 205 Jeanne only bent her head in feeble resignation."What do you intend to do?" asked the priest."What do you wish me to do, Monsieur l'abbe?" she murmured."Throw yourself in the way as an obstacle to this guilty love," he answered, violently.She began
- 204 In spite of her determination to tell him all, Jeanne hardly knew how to explain herself."He--he refuses--to make me a mother."The priest understood at once; it was not the first time he had heard of such things, but he asked for all the details, and en
- 203 Then Paul fell ill, and Jeanne pa.s.sed twelve days in an agony of fear, unable to sleep and scarcely touching food. The boy got well, but there remained the thought that he might die. What should she do if he did?What would become of her? Gradually there
- 202 "You would feel much better if you would eat something," he went on again."Let someone go for papa, directly," she said as if she had not heard what he said; and he went out of the room to dispatch a mounted messenger to Rouen.Jeanne sank into a sort
- 201 When the post-chaise drew up before the door with the baron's smiling face looking out of the window, Jeanne felt fonder of her parents and more pleased to see them than she had ever been before; but when she saw her mother she was overcome with surprise
- 200 As Jeanne and Julien were driving home, well wrapped up in cloaks and rugs which the Fourvilles had lent them, "What a good-hearted man that giant is," said Jeanne, almost to herself."Yes," answered Julien; "but he makes too much show of his affectio
- 199 "Can't you give a straightforward answer?" he exclaimed. "Have you come to say you will marry the girl or not?"The man looked at his feet as though he expected to find advice there: "If it's as M'sieu l'cure says," he replied, "I'll have her;
- 198 The nurse and the doctor bent over her and took something away; and she heard the choking noise she had heard once before, and then the low cry of pain, the feeble whine of the new-born child filled her ears and seemed to enter her poor, exhausted body ti
- 197 "What is it? What is the matter?" he asked, in a voice which trembled in spite of his efforts to make it sound calm.The baron, who had been so violent just before, dared say nothing after the cure's argument, in case his son-in-law should quote his own
- 196 The doctor took her hand and said in a low voice: "Calm yourself, madame. Any violent emotion might have very serious results just now, for you are _enceinte_."Jeanne's tears ceased directly; even as the doctor spoke she fancied she could feel a moveme
- 195 Oh! she could not, she would not, see him again! Never again! From the abyss before her came the faint sound of the waves as they broke on the rocks. She stood up to throw herself over the cliff, and in a despairing farewell to life, she moaned out that l
- 194 "And we should have a nice reputation, shouldn't we, with our name and connections?" burst out Julien. "People would say that we encouraged vice, and sheltered prost.i.tutes, and respectable people would never come near us. Why, what can you be thinki
- 193 "That is true, my child," he replied; "but we cannot help it."The next day the baron and baroness went away, leaving Jeanne and Julien alone.VII The young couple got into the habit of playing cards; every day after lunch Jeanne played several games of
- 192 The s.h.i.+elds on both carriage-doors were finished the next morning about eleven o'clock. Everyone came to look at the work now it was done, and the carriage was drawn out of the coach-house that they might the better judge of the effect. The design wa
- 191 "It's to kill my brother-in-law with."And with a smile on her face, she quickly unbandaged the arm she could not use, and showed Jeanne the soft, white flesh which had been pierced right through with a stiletto, though the wound had nearly healed."If
- 190 Over there, at St. Helena, I hear he is always speaking of the perfume of his country; he belongs to my family."And the captain took off his hat and saluted Corsica, and then, looking across the ocean, he saluted the great emperor who was a prisoner on t
- 189 She felt a little rea.s.sured, and raised her head, which was covered with a cloud of lace."I love you already, dear," she said, with a smile.He took his wife's little slender fingers in his mouth, and, his voice changed by this living gag, he asked:
- 188 "Are not your dear little feet cold?" he asked affectionately.Aunt Lison's fingers trembled so they could no longer hold the work; her ball of wool rolled across the floor, and, hiding her face in her hands, she began to sob convulsively. For a moment
- 187 "Tell me," he said, "will you be my wife?"She hung her head, and he pleaded: "Do not keep me in suspense, I implore you."Then she slowly raised her eyes to his, and in that look he read her answer.IV The baron went into Jeanne's room before she was
- 186 The nearer their hearts drew to one another the more studiously did they address each other as "monsieur" and "mademoiselle"; but they could not help their eyes smiling and their glances meeting, and it seemed to them that new and better feelings were
- 185 The vicomte bowed, expressed the desire he had long felt to make their acquaintance, and began to talk with the ease of a man accustomed to good society. His face was one that women raved about and that all men disliked. His black, curly hair fell over a
- 184 They entered the sloping woods which go right down to the sea, and soon the village of Yport came in sight. The women, sitting at their doors mending clothes, looked up as they pa.s.sed. There was a strong smell of brine in the steep street with the gutte
- 183 The works of Guy de Maupa.s.sant.Vol. 5.by Guy de Maupa.s.sant 1850-1893.INTRODUCTION By Edmund Gosse The most robust and masculine of recent French novelists is a typical Norman, sprung from an ancient n.o.ble family, originally of Lorraine, but long set
- 182 "I entered the apartment. She rose up the moment she heard my name p.r.o.nounced; and suddenly our eyes met in a fixed look of astonishment. "I sat down. "I uttered in a faltering tone some commonplaces which she seemed not to hear. I did not know what
- 181 The yard door reopened, old Amable again presented himself. As soon as he had come in, he looked round on every side with the air of an old dog on the scent. He was in search of Victor Lecoq. As he did not see him, he took the candle off the table, and ap
- 180 Old Amable pursued a little path across the fields. He watched the young wheat and the young oats, thinking that his son was now under the clay, his poor boy. He went on at his customary pace, dragging his legs after him in a limping fas.h.i.+on. And, as
- 179 "Where's your father?" he replied with embarra.s.sment."He couldn't move on account of the pains."And the farmers tossed their heads with an incredulous and waggish air.They directed their steps towards the Mayor's office. Behind the pair about to
- 178 Cesaire had disappeared, taking advantage of the door being open. He did not want to listen, so much was he afraid, and he did not want his hopes to crumble with each obstinate refusal of his father. He preferred to learn the truth at once, good or bad, l
- 177 "Well, my boy, what's there to prevent you?""The father won't have it.""Your father?""Yes, my father.""What does your father say?""He says she has a child.""She's not the first to whom that happened, since our Mother Eve.""A child by Vic
- 176 "Go see the cure.""I will.""Go at once!""I will."And they stared at each other. He held the child in his arms all the time. He kissed it once more, and then put it down again on the woman's clothes.In the distance, between two farm-houses, could
- 175 And Mordiane was reminded of a little woman, fair-haired, slight, with a somewhat melancholy look, and a tender fas.h.i.+on of murmuring, "My darling," of which the mere remembrance made the blood stir in his veins.She had loved him pa.s.sionately, madl
- 174 About one o'clock in the afternoon, he arrived in a landau which he had hired at Ma.r.s.eilles, in front of one of those houses of Southern France so white, at the end of their avenues of plane-trees that they dazzle us and make our eyes droop. He smiled
- 173 "When you married me through generosity, I gave myself to you through grat.i.tude, and I loved you with all my girlish heart. I loved you as I loved my own father--almost as much; and one day, while I sat on your knee, and you were kissing me, I called y
- 172 "The one who attended at my table was quite young, pretty, and merry-looking. I asked her to take a drink, and she at once consented.She sat down opposite me, and gazed at me with a practiced eye, without knowing with what kind of a male she had to do. S
- 171 He said: "I would not have recognized you myself--you were such a little thing then, and here you are so big!--but how is it that you did not recognize me?"She answered with a despairing movement of her hands: "I see so many men that they all seem to m
- 170 "Do you know Duclos?""Yes, I do know him."She still hesitated; then in a very gentle tone: "Good! That's good!""What do you want with him?""Listen!--you will tell him--nothing!"He stared at her, more and more perplexed. At last, he put this que
- 169 She nodded, still without opening her lips. "Where is it you come from?" She appeared to be thinking, to be searching her memory, then said falteringly: "From Perpignan." He was once more perfectly satisfied, and said: "Ah! yes." In her turn she ask
- 168 He stopped.She asked: "Then?... What?"He answered: "Then ... what would you think?... what ... what.... What would you have answered?"She broke forth into a peal of laughter, which made the sugar juice run off the tips of her fingers on to the carpet.
- 167 What superhuman happiness must inundate your heart, when lips encounter lips for the first time, when the grasp of four arms makes one being of you, a being unutterably happy, two beings infatuated with one another.M. Savel was sitting down, his feet on t
- 166 "What do you mean? One cannot remain all one's life in the Latin Quarter.The students make too much noise. But I do not move about any longer.Waiter, a 'bock.'"I now began to think that he was making fun of me, and I continued: "Come now, be frank.
- 165 By a searching sweep of the eye I sought out a place where I would not be too much crowded, and so I went and sat down by the side of a man who seemed to me to be old, and who smoked a halfpenny clay pipe, which had become as black as coal. From six to ei
- 164 Saying this, the philosopher pretended to go away, but went into the house through the garden entrance at the back. When he got into the first room, he found a table laid for two, which had evidently only been left a short time previously. His wife was si
- 163 "And there ought to be no time for getting drunk, either, old guzzler."At this he got angry: "I am not a guzzler, and I am not drunk.""Not drunk?""No, I am not.""Not drunk? Why, you could not even stand straight;" and she looked at him angrily,
- 162 "This is it, Monsieur. Is it true that somebody stole one of your rabbits last week?""Yes, it is quite true, Severin.""Who stole the rabbit?""Polyte Ancas, the laborer.""Right! right! And is it also true that it was found under my bed ...""What
- 161 The gendarme smiled, pleased at his chief's idea, and Lecacheur also smiled now, for the affair of the shepherd struck him as very funny: deceived husbands are always amusing.Twelve o'clock had just struck when the brigadier, followed by his man, knocke
- 160 "Come, we will cure you," said she.Madeleine arose, and weeping all the while, but with fainter sobs, her head upon Pauline's shoulder, as though it had found a refuge in a closer and more certain affection, more familiar and more confiding, set off wi
- 159 He dared not call, knowing well that she would not respond, and he had also a frightful dread of discovering them all at once.The flourishes of the quadrilles, with the ear-splitting solos of the cornet, the false shriek of the flute, the shrill squeaking
- 158 As he was rumpling her dress she ended by disengaging herself, murmuring by way of compensation as she did so: "Go; I love you well, my puss."But he seized her by the waist and seized by madness, carried her rapidly away. He kissed her on the cheek, on
- 157 Then the hullaballoo was doubled, making the floating establishment tremble. The men took off their hats, the women waved their handkerchiefs, and all voices, shrill or deep, together cried: "Lesbos."One would have said that these people, this collectio
- 156 Thus they wrought the iron until nightfall, strong, powerful, happy, like hammers satisfied. But just as the great bell of a cathedral resounds upon feast days above the jingling of the other bells, so Phillip's hammer, dominating the noise of the others
- 155 A woman appeared and the workman instantly left off smiling, for he at once perceived that there was no more fooling to be done with the tall pale girl who stood austerely at her door as though to defend from one man the threshold of that house where she
- 154 La Blanchotte's son appeared in his turn upon the threshold of the school.He was seven or eight years old. He was rather pale, very neat, with a timid and almost awkward manner.He was on the point of making his way back to his mother's house when the gr
- 153 I slept so badly that I had a fit of nightmare every time I went off to sleep.As I did not wish to appear too restless or eager, I waited till 10 o'clock the next day before reporting myself to the police.The merchant had not reappeared. His shop remaine
- 152 This news pleased me. Why? Who knows? I was complete master of myself, bent on dissimulating, on telling no one of anything I had seen; determined on concealing and in burying in my heart of hearts, a terrible secret. I responded: "They must then be the
- 151 The flowers just mentioned, these flowers which adorn the vestibule of my mysterious pa.s.sions, are my servants and not my favorites.They salute me by the change of their color and by their first inhalations. They are darlings, coquettes, arranged in eig
- 150 If a woman of thirty-five, who has arrived at the age of violent, tempestuous pa.s.sion, were to preserve the slightest traces of the caressing archness of her love affairs at twenty, were not to understand that she ought to express herself differently, l
- 149 "At last it was time to go to bed, and while I was clearing the table, which had been laid in front of the fire, she undressed herself quickly, and got in. My neighbors were making a terrible din, singing and laughing like lunatics, and so I said to myse