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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
- 101 Ledantec was standing in front of me, his face convulsed with horror, his hair standing on end and his eyes staring out of his head, and he shouted to me:-- "Let us escape! Let us escape!" Whereupon I opened my eyes wide, and found myself lying
- 102 Then he smiled, and turning to the waiter who had just come in, he said: "Meanwhile, open us another bottle of champagne, and make the cork pop!It will, at any rate, somewhat accustom us to the day when we shall all be blown up with dynamite ourselve
- 103 With such tastes, it was only natural that this pilgrim followed and pushed up against women in the large shops, and whenever there was a crowd, and that he especially looked out for those ladies of easy virtue, for nothing is more exciting than those hal
- 104 "'Yes,' the old man replied with a smile; and then he added in his harsh, tremulous voice: 'I resemble her in everything. I am only sixty, and I feel as if I should have l.u.s.ty, hot blood in me until I am seventy.'"And then
- 105 "Your name is no longer Anna, Mrs. Greenfield; for the future you shall be called Jezabel. I only regret that I have twelve times mingled my blood with your impure blood." And then, seized by pity, he added: "If you were only in a state of
- 106 "While speaking, she had a.s.sumed a demure, saintly air; and resting on the cus.h.i.+ons, she stretched herself out at full length, with her head on my shoulder and her dress pulled up a little, so as to show her red silk stockings, which the fire-l
- 107 "'Have you forgotten that this is the day, at the _Hotel de Bade_, between five and six o'clock? In an hour, Madame de Lauriere will be at the office of the Police Commissary in the Rue de Provence, with her uncle and Maitre Cantenac ...�
- 108 Champdelin was in despair; he did not know what to do, and cursed his bad luck. What would be the end of it? Who would deliver him from that species of prison, and was he going to remain there all the afternoon and night, like a portmanteau that had been
- 109 Charlotte Guindal's medical man was Doctor Rabatel, one of those clever men who appear to know everything, but whom a country bone-setter would reduce to a "why?" by a few questions; one of those men who wish to impress everybody with their
- 110 "Most certainly I do, my friend."A COUNTRY EXCURSION For five months they had been talking of going to lunch at some country restaurant in the neighborhood of Paris, on Madame Dufour's birthday, and as they were looking forward very impatie
- 111 One of the boating men made a martyr of himself and took the mother."Let us go to the little wood on the _Ile aux Anglias_!" he called out, as he rowed off. The other skiff went slower, for the rower was looking at his companion so intently, tha
- 112 I It was after Bourbaki's defeat in the East of France. The army, broken up, decimated and worn out, had been obliged to retreat into Switzerland, after that terrible campaign, and it was only the short time that it lasted, which saved a hundred and
- 113 "Good morning, captain, good morning, all of you," he said. "Ah! the scoundrels, the wretches! Why twenty of them came to surprise us.""Twenty, do you say?""Yes, there was a whole band of them, and that is why I disobeye
- 114 I set off with all speed, and when I arrived, there was a Prussian patrol at the cottage, and when I asked what it all meant, I was told that there was a captain of _Franc-tireurs_ and his wife inside, both dead. I gave their names; they saw that I knew t
- 115 "'Vive la France!' And I felt really moved. I do not know why, except that I thought it a pretty and gallant thing to say.""It seemed to me as if we had just saved the whole of France, and had done something that other men could n
- 116 "Then we will go and have a chat on the roof.""I shall be delighted."Just as we got onto the terrace, I saw the crescent moon rising behind the mountains, and around us, the white houses, with their flat roofs, descending down towards
- 117 "I went away," he replied simply. And we remained sitting side by side for a long time without speaking, only dreaming! ...I have retained an impression of that evening that I can never forget.All that I saw, felt, and heard, our fis.h.i.+ng exc
- 118 And then, her mind was as simple as two and two are four, and a sonorous laugh served her instead of thought.Instinctively proud of her beauty, she hated the slightest covering, and ran and frisked about my house with daring and unconscious immodesty.When
- 119 THE a.s.sIGNATION Although she had her bonnet and jacket on, with a black veil over her face, and another in her pocket, which she would put on over the +other as soon as she had got into the cab, she was beating +the top of her little boot with the point
- 120 She wetted the gum, fastened it carefully, and addressed it to: "Viscount de Martelet, 240 Rue Miromesnil," and then, giving it back to the Baron, she said: "Now, will you be kind enough to throw this into the telegram box."AN ADVENTUR
- 121 "Your habit.""Yes, my habit, and hers also. She is married to an excellent man, whom I also value very much, a very cordial fellow. A capital companion! I may say, I think that my life is bound up with that house.""Well?"&quo
- 122 "A very annoying visit.""I saw that she would not tell me the true reason, and as she was very calm, I did not trouble myself any more about it, and hoped to make up for lost time with the other, the next day, and on the Tuesday, I was very
- 123 The next moment, the old man, terrible in his rage, rushed out of his hiding place with clenched fists and a s...o...b..ring mouth, threw himself on the startled son, and pointing to the door with a superb gesture, he said: "You are a dirty scoundrel
- 124 They saw a great deal of company, and he called himself Du Pontel now, and he even had thoughts of buying a t.i.tle from the Pope; he only read certain newspapers, kept up a regular correspondence with the Orleans Princes, was thinking of starting a racin
- 125 He was an old man of about sixty-five, and his rags and the wallet over his shoulder denoted a beggar, but Sonia immediately noticed that there was a certain amount of affectation in his wretchedness. His hair and beard were not s.h.a.ggy and ragged, like
- 126 Is there any stronger feeling than curiosity in a woman? Oh! Fancy seeing, knowing, touching what one has dreamt about! What would a woman not do for that? When once a woman's eager curiosity is aroused, she will be guilty of any folly, commit any im
- 127 "You surprise and interest me very much, Monsieur. Shall I be indiscreet if I ask you to tell me the facts of the case? If I am troubling you, think that I have said nothing about the matter."The gentleman took my arm familiarly."Not at all
- 128 "Their arrogance knew no bounds, and when they were questioned about their acts, they only replied by menaces or raillery, and this state of affairs lasted for twenty years, when, as war was imminent with Lucca, the Council raised troops and enrolled
- 129 The Works of Guy de Maupa.s.sant.Volume IV.by Guy de Maupa.s.sant.THE OLD MAID Count Eustache d'Etchegorry's solitary country house had the appearance of a poor man's home, where people do not have enough to eat every day in the week, where
- 130 "It is a matter of importance."I got up, therefore, and followed him to the other end of the boat, and then he said: "Monsieur, when winter comes, with its cold, wet and snowy weather, your doctor says to you constantly: 'Keep your fee
- 131 "As discipline const.i.tutes the princ.i.p.al strength of an army, it is very important for every superior to obtain absolute respect, and instant obedience from his inferiors."He did not resist, but accustomed himself thus to become a sort of M
- 132 "Everything happened as he had foreseen. Suddenly, the corn-crake found itself on the borders of the clover, and it could not go any further without showing itself; Medor stood and pointed, half-looking round at me, but at a sign from me, he drew up
- 133 "At the end of that time, nothing, absolutely nothing occurred. I always lost the game.... I waited for a fortnight, three weeks, continually hoping. In the restaurants, I ate a number of highly seasoned dishes, which upset my stomach, and ... and it
- 134 "Oh! That is capital! Really capital!""And he can send his old father and mother the money as usual, and thus morality is satisfied."THE RELIC _To the Abbe Louis d'Ennemare, at Soissons._ "My Dear Abbe: "My marriage with
- 135 "Madame d'Arville, who takes the matter seriously, said to me the other day: "'Poor Gilberte will never marry.'"My dear old schoolfellow, will you allow your cousin to die the victim of a stupid piece of business on my part?
- 136 I One of my friends had said to me:-- "If you happen to be near Bordj-Ebbaba while you are in Algeria, be sure and go to see my old friend Auballe, who has settled there."I had forgotten the name of Auballe and of Ebbaba, and I was not thinking
- 137 "'Yes, _mo'ssieuia_,' he repeated, seriously."I must acknowledge that during the whole day I was in a state of aggressive excitement at the recollection of that Arab girl lying on the red carpet, and when I went in at dinner time,
- 138 "'Yes, _mo'ssieuia_.'"That was all."An hour later, my beautiful Arab was installed in a large, airy, light room, and when I went in to see that everything was in order, she asked me in a supplicating voice, to give her a ward
- 139 "'Do you know where Allouma is?'"'No, _mo'ssieuia_ ... it is not possible ... is Allouma lost?'"A few moments later, my Arab came into my room, so agitated that he could not master his feelings, and I said: "&#
- 140 "'Do you want to return home again?'"'Yes.'"'And you did not dare to tell me?'"'I did not venture to.'"'Go, if you wish to; I give you leave.'"She seized my hands and kissed t
- 141 This rather upset Caravan, who did not speak again until the tram put them down at their destination, where the two friends got out, and Chenet asked his friend to have a gla.s.s of vermouth at the _Cafe du Globe_, opposite, which both of them were in the
- 142 "Just look at her hand; I never make a mistake, you may be quite sure of that."Caravan fell on the bed, and almost bellowed, while his wife, still whimpering, did what was necessary.She brought the night-table, on which she spread a table napkin
- 143 "Ah!" the other exclaimed, and as a customer at the other end of the establishment asked for a gla.s.s of Bavarian beer, he went to attend to him, left Caravan almost stupefied at his want of sympathy.The three domino players were sitting at the
- 144 He put the marble on his shoulder with a considerable effort, and they left the room. Caravan had to stoop in the door-way, and trembled as he went downstairs, while his wife walked backwards, so as to light him, and held the candlestick in one hand, whil
- 145 An embarra.s.sing silence followed. They entered the dining-room, and in a few minutes they all sat down to an improvised dinner.Only M. Braux had retained his self-possession; his gorilla features grinned wickedly, while he let fall some words of double
- 146 During an interval in the music, an elderly gentleman, with the ribbon of an order in his b.u.t.ton-hole, came up to the table, and from the manner in which he greeted them, it was evident that he was an old friend. From their conversation, which was carr
- 147 The next morning, as the Count, with several other ladies and gentlemen, was accompanying the Princess home from the pump-room, the fair coquette let her pocket-handkerchief fall just outside her house. The young officer took this for a hint, so he picked
- 148 Again they had supper alone, without any company, had some music and pleasant talk and separated at half-past eleven. The hussar, however, only went to his room for form's sake; he loaded his pistols, and when all was quiet in the castle, he crept do
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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,
- 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
- 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
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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:
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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;
- 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