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Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant Novel Chapters
List of most recent chapters published for the Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant novel. A total of 284 chapters have been translated and the release date of the last chapter is Apr 02, 2024
Latest Release: Chapter 1 : Maupa.s.sant Original Short Stories (180).by Guy de Maupa.s.sant.VOLUME I.GUY DE MAUPa.s
Maupa.s.sant Original Short Stories (180).by Guy de Maupa.s.sant.VOLUME I.GUY DE MAUPa.s.sANT A STUDY BY POL. NEVEUX "I entered literary life as a meteor, and I shall leave it like a thunderbolt." These words of Maupa.s.sant to Jose Maria de Her
- 101 "With pleasure. You know that I wander about Paris a great deal, like book collectors who ransack book stalls. I just look at the sights, at the people, at all that is pa.s.sing by and all that is going on."Toward the middle of September-it was beautifu
- 102 "'Where?'"'In a good restaurant on the Boulevard.'"She demurred a little. I insisted. She yielded, saying by way of apology to herself: 'I am so lonely-so lonely.' Then she added: "'I must put on something less sombre, and went into her bedroom
- 103 "What! Don't you know? Haven't you heard about Mademoiselle Pearl?""No.""Didn't your father ever tell you?""No.""Well, well, that's funny! That certainly is funny! Why, it's a regular romance!"He paused, and then continued: "And if you onl
- 104 After a slight pause he continued: "By Jove! She was pretty at eighteen-and graceful-and perfect. Ah! She was so sweet-and good and true-and charming! She had such eyes-blue-transparent-clear-such eyes as I have never seen since!"He was once more silent
- 105 "And one day, after one of those interminable cotillons, where the couples do not leave each other for hours, and can disappear together without anybody thinking of noticing them, the poor fellow at last discovered what love was, that real love which tak
- 106 He shrank back from this couple that still advanced with arms intertwined. Yet it was his niece. But he asked himself now if he would not be disobeying G.o.d. And does not G.o.d permit love, since He surrounds it with such visible splendor?And he went bac
- 107 "I paid my devoirs to the Cafe de Medicis.""What next?""Next I crossed the water and came here.""Why did you take that trouble?""What do you mean? One cannot remain all one's life in the Latin Quarter. The students make too much noise. Now I sha
- 108 "You are fond of children, M. le Cure," said the comtesse."Very fond, madame."The old woman raised her bright eyes toward the priest."And-has your solitude never weighed too heavily on you?""Yes, sometimes."He became silent, hesitated, and then ad
- 109 Customs are modified in course of time, fas.h.i.+ons succeed one another, but such variations are taken no account of in the placid family circle where traditional usages prevail year after year. And if some scandalous episode or other occurs in the neigh
- 110 "Come quickly! Madame Rosset is dying."Bertha appeared at her door, and with trembling lips replied: "Go back to her alone; she does not need me."He looked at her stupidly, dazed with grief, and repeated: "Come at once! She's dying, I tell you!"Ber
- 111 "She got out at Saint-Cloud, and I followed her. She went and delivered her parcel, and when she returned the boat had just started. I walked by her side, and the warmth of the 'air made us both sigh. 'It would be very nice in the woods,' I said. 'In
- 112 "I believe you, every three months, each quarter."M. Saval could not restrain himself any longer, and in a hesitating voice said: "I beg your pardon for intruding on you, monsieur, but I heard your name mentioned, and I would be very glad to know if yo
- 113 "Have you got five francs about you?"M. Saval replied: "Why, yes."The artist said: "Well! you'll go out and buy for me five francs' worth of wax-candles while I go and see the cooper."And he pushed the notary in his evening coat into the street. A
- 114 A tall young fellow, fair-haired and bearded to the nose, interrupted him: "What's your name, my friend?"The notary, quite scared, said: "I am M. Saval."A voice exclaimed: "You mean Baptiste."A woman said: "Let the poor waiter alone! You'll end b
- 115 For four years more the husband and wife, hara.s.sed by poverty, knew no other distraction than the Sunday walk in the Champs-Elysees and a few evenings at the theatre (amounting in all to one or two in the course of the winter) which they owed to free pa
- 116 Hector started on his way with a policeman on either side of him, a third was leading his horse. A crowd followed them-and suddenly the wagonette appeared in sight. His wife alighted in consternation, the servant lost her head, the children whimpered. He
- 117 "In the Bois de Boulogne?""Most probably.""May I come with you?""The carriage belongs to you."Without being surprised at the tone in which she answered him, he got in and sat down by his wife's side and said: "Bois de Boulogne." The footman jum
- 118 He got up and throwing his table napkin on the table with a movement of exasperation, he turned round and flung his chair against the wall, and then went out without another word, while she, uttering a deep sigh, as if after a first victory, went on in a
- 119 "What?""The horrible punishment to which you have condemned me for the last six years?""What do you want? I cannot help it.""Then tell me which of them it is.""Never.""Think that I can no longer see my children or feel them round me, without ha
- 120 They had lunch at the Pet.i.t-Havre, a low house, buried under four enormous poplar trees, by the side of the river. The air, the heat, the weak white wine and the sensation of being so close together made them silent; their faces were flushed and they ha
- 121 On meeting they shook hands in a manner that was irresistibly funny; one could see that they were going through a series of secret, mysterious signs.Then my uncle would take his friend into a corner to tell him something important, and at dinner they had
- 122 This rather upset me, but I answered, nevertheless: "Very well, uncle; and what did you do after breakfast?""We played a game of bezique, and then he repeated his breviary while I read a little book which he happened to have in his pocket, and which wa
- 123 "It was a kind of religious boudoir where a silver lamp was burning before the Crucifix, my Crucifix, on a background of black velvet. The setting was charming and very clever. The child crossed herself and then said: "'Look, gentlemen. Isn't it beaut
- 124 "'My son? Where is my son?"'He made no reply. I stammered: "'Dead-dead. Has he committed suicide?"'No, no, I swear it. But we have not found him in spite of all my efforts."'Then, becoming suddenly exasperated and even indignant-for women are su
- 125 "'Are all these animals dangerous?'"He smiled: "'Oh, no! Man is the worst.'"And he laughed a good broad laugh, the wholesome laugh of a contented Englishman."'I have also frequently been man-hunting.'"Then he began to talk about weapons, and h
- 126 "But that is neither a climax nor an explanation! We will be unable to sleep unless you give us your opinion of what had occurred."The judge smiled severely: "Oh! Ladies, I shall certainly spoil your terrible dreams. I simply believe that the legitimat
- 127 "I shut myself in the room with it to feel it on my skin, to bury my lips in it, to kiss it. I wound it round my face, covered my eyes with the golden flood so as to see the day gleam through its gold."I loved it! Yes, I loved it. I could not be without
- 128 Then a head appeared, and two hands seized the leather straps hanging on either side of the door and slowly pulled up an enormous body, whose feet striking on the step, sounded like two canes. When the man had hoisted his torso into the compartment I noti
- 129 Every day his alarm clock, with a frightful noise of rattling chains, made him spring out of bed at 6 o'clock precisely.Twice, however, this piece of mechanism had been out of order-once in 1866 and again in 1874; he had never been able to find out the r
- 130 They talked over the affairs of the house exactly as if they were equals. Their princ.i.p.al subject of conversation and of worry was the bad disposition of the captain, soured by a long career which had begun with promise, run along without promotion, en
- 131 "You see, however great the love may be that unites them a man and a woman are always strangers in mind and intellect; they remain belligerents, they belong to different races. There must always be a conqueror and a conquered, a master and a slave; now t
- 132 And she was there, in that house veiled by flowers.I did not hesitate, but rang the bell.A small servant answered, a boy of eighteen with awkward mien and clumsy hands. I wrote in pencil on my card a gallant compliment to the actress, begging her to recei
- 133 "Come, now! come, tell me; I promise you that I will not laugh. I swear it to you-come, now!"She hesitated. I took her hands-those poor little hands, so thin and so cold!-and I kissed them one after the other, several times, as her lovers had once kisse
- 134 She was a young and pretty woman, certainly a native of the south of France, with splendid eyes, beautiful wavy black hair, which was so thick and long that it seemed almost too heavy for her head. She was dressed with a certain southern bad taste which m
- 135 "If you had counted her words you would have noticed that she used exactly six, two of which gave me to understand that she knew no French, so four remained, and much can be said in four words."Paul seemed quite unhappy, disappointed, and at sea, so to
- 136 "But we are going to the hotel.""Very well, let us all go to the hotel," she said, in a contemptuous voice.I turned to Paul, and said: "She wishes to know whether we should like her to come with us."My friend's utter surprise restored my self-posse
- 137 When we sat down to supper, I found that Paul was in a most execrable temper, and I could get nothing out of him but blame, irritable words, and disagreeable remarks.Mademoiselle Francesca ate like an ogre, and as soon as she had finished her meal she thr
- 138 But I refused. I could not, as I told him, leave the girl in that manner after such companions.h.i.+p for nearly three weeks. At any rate, I ought to say good-by to her, and make her accept a present; I certainly had no intention of behaving badly to her.
- 139 "All right, mamma; don't alarm yourself."She took my arm and we went wandering about the streets, just as I had wandered the previous year with her sister.We returned to the hotel for lunch, and then I took my new friend to Santa Margarita, just as I h
- 140 Monsieur Lantin, greatly disturbed, asked: "How much is it worth?""Well, I sold it for twenty thousand francs. I am willing to take it back for eighteen thousand, when you inform me, according to our legal formality, how it came to be in your possessio
- 141 We took dinner, sitting opposite each other, on a terrace facing the sea. I began to talk about this rich, distant, unknown land. He smiled, as he replied carelessly: "Yes, this country is beautiful. But no country satisfies one when they are far from th
- 142 "Why, I have nothing to tell. She is one of the most charming women, or, rather, girls, and the most admired in Paris. She leads a delightful existence and lives like a princess, that is all.""I love her," he murmured in a tone in which he might have
- 143 "'Mamma, listen to what I heard a little while ago during the ball.'"And she repeated word for word the conversation just as I told it to you."The comtesse was so stunned that she did not know what to say in reply at first. When she recovered her sel
- 144 She had taught her to tear him up and to devour him without even leaving any traces in her throat.Then, as a reward, she would give her a piece of sausage.As soon as she saw the man, Semillante would begin to tremble. Then she would look up to her mistres
- 145 "'Supposing we bathe?'"'Yes,' they said, 'but costumes.'"'Bah! we are in the wilderness.'"And we did bathe!"If I were a poet, how I would describe this unforgettable vision of those lissome young forms in the transparency of the water! The hi
- 146 It is very terrible, is it not, to be like that?Formerly I felt nothing of all that. I came home quite calm, and went up and down my apartment without anything disturbing my peace of mind. Had any one told me that I should be attacked by a malady-for I ca
- 147 The devil lived in a humble cottage on the hill, but he owned all the salt marshes, the rich lands where grow the finest crops, the wooded valleys and all the fertile hills of the country, while the saint a ruled only over the sands. Therefore Satan was r
- 148 "Yes.""You are not going out?""No."She entered with the air of a woman who knew the house. As soon as she was in the drawing-room, she sank down on the sofa, and, covering her face with her hands, began to weep bitterly.He knelt down at her feet, an
- 149 As she remained silent and cold as ice, he begged of her, implored of her to listen to him, to trust him, to follow his advice.When he had finished speaking, she only replied: "Are you disposed to let me go away now? Take away your hands, so that I may r
- 150 "I answered: "Yes, monsieur, you are not mistaken. "Then he quickly rose and came toward me with hands outstretched: "Well, old man, how are you? "As I did not recognize him at all I was greatly embarra.s.sed. I stammered: "Why-very well-and-you? "
- 151 "'So long!'"I spent the morning working in the office of the collector-general of the Department. The chief wished me to stay to luncheon, but I told him that I had an engagement with a friend. As he had to go out, he accompanied me."I asked him: "
- 152 How often during the last forty years had she wished to go and see him and to embrace him! She could not imagine to herself that he had grown! She always thought of that small human atom which she had held in her arms and pressed to her bosom for a day.Ho
- 153 "We are very thirsty," he said, "and madame is very tired. Can we not get something to drink?"The peasant woman gave them an uneasy and cunning glance and then she made up her mind."As you are here, I will give you some," she said, going into the ho
- 154 Sometimes during the week she would hire a carriage and take some of her girls into the country, where they used to enjoy themselves on the gra.s.s by the side of the little river. They were like a lot of girls let out from school, and would run races and
- 155 That decided her, and pulling up her dress she showed a thick leg fit for a milkmaid, in a badly fitting, coa.r.s.e stocking. The commercial traveller stooped down and fastened the garter. When he had done this, he gave her the lilac pair and asked: "Who
- 156 A child's shrill voice took up the reply, and from time to time a priest sitting in a stall and wearing a biretta got up, muttered something and sat down again, while the three singers continued, their eyes fixed on the big book of plain chant lying open
- 157 Rosa was chatting to the ex-mayor, kissing him and puffing; both his whiskers at the same time, in order to keep his head straight.Fernanae and Madame Tellier remained with the four men, and Monsieur Philippe exclaimed: "I will pay for some champagne; ge
- 158 Denis! What could he be doing? What did he want? What awful scheme could he now be carrying out?What was he doing? Well, he was was.h.i.+ng him in order to hide the traces of his crime! And he would now bury him in the garden, under ten feet of earth, so
- 159 "Well, your honor, what can you expect? Nowadays it's so hard to find good servants-I could never have found a better one."Denis was acquitted and put in a sanatorium at his master's expense.MY WIFE It had been a stag dinner. These men still came toge
- 160 "'Let us now examine the question from another point of view. Either you have misbehaved yourself-and then so much the worse for you, my boy; one should not go near a young girl-or else, being drunk, as you say, you made a mistake in the room. In this c
- 161 "'It was hardly worth while for me to go out of my way to come here.'"I wanted her to accept the ring which I had bought for her, but she replied haughtily: 'For whom do you take me, sir?' I blushed to the roots of my hair. She left without saying a
- 162 "A tall woman dressed in white, stood gazing at me from the back of the chair where I had been sitting an instant before."Such a shudder ran through all my limbs that I nearly fell backward. No one who has not experienced it can understand that frightfu
- 163 "Old Grabu already employed pretty Hortense who has just died here, and who was afterwards nicknamed Clochette. The a.s.sistant master singled out the pretty young girl, who was, no doubt, flattered at being chosen by this impregnable conqueror; at any r
- 164 His studies were not a success, and he failed in his examination for Bachelor of Arts; so, not knowing what to do, he married a pretty girl, as he had plenty of money of his own.They lived in Paris, as many rich middle-cla.s.s people do, mixing with their
- 165 "Oh! Why? Just explain-Whose overcoat is it? It is not mine, as it has the Legion of Honor on it."She tried to take it from him, terrified and hardly able to say: "Listen-listen! Give it to me! I must not tell you! It is a secret. Listen to me!"But he
- 166 Madame Bondel was growing uneasy; she snapped: "What? Who can a.s.sert it? Why, everybody! everybody! it's as clear as the nose on your face. Everybody knows it and is talking about it. There is not the slightest doubt."He was grinning: "For a long ti
- 167 "Yes, but I can a.s.sure you that she no longer bears you any ill-will. I am even convinced that it will be a great pleasure for her to see you thus, unexpectedly.""Really?""Yes, really!""Well, then! let us go along. I am delighted. You see, this m
- 168 She was right. I became silent.She went on: "Come, now!"And I plied the oars once more.I began to think the night long and my position ridiculous.My companion said to me: "Will you make me a promise?""Yes. What is it?""To remain quiet, well-behaved
- 169 Then he would lower his head.But the moment her back was turned she once more felt that his eyes were upon her. Wherever she went, he pursued her with his persistent gaze.Sometimes, when she was walking in her little garden, she suddenly noticed him hidde
- 170 THE BEGGAR He had seen better days, despite his present misery and infirmities.At the age of fifteen both his legs had been crushed by a carriage on the Varville highway. From that time forth he begged, dragging himself along the roads and through the far
- 171 "Yes, master, the big gray rabbit, from the hutch on the left"; whereupon the farmer completely opened his left eye, and said, simply: "I must see about that."And off he went to inspect it. The hutch had been broken open and the rabbit was gone. Then
- 172 "No, thank you; I only want the skin of the rabbit that you are eating."She pretended not to understand, but she was trembling."What rabbit?"The brigadier had taken a seat, and was calmly wiping his forehead."Come, come, you are not going to try and
- 173 "Of course I do.""Oh! Then just tell me, M'sieu Cacheux, has my wife the right to go to bed with Polyte?""What, to go to bed with Polyte?""Yes, has she any right before the law, and, seeing that she is my wife, to go to bed with Polyte?""Why, of
- 174 "What?""Will you be frank, very frank with me?""Why yes, my dear.""Well then, tell me truly did you never feel tempted to-to-to deceive that imbecile Souris?"Mme. Leuillet said: "Oh!" pretending to be shocked and hid her face again on her husban
- 175 "Then we set out ceremoniously. My sisters marched on ahead, arm in arm. They were of marriageable age and had to be displayed. I walked on the left of my mother and my father on her right. I remember the pompous air of my poor parents in these Sunday wa
- 176 "'You have there an old sh.e.l.l opener who seems quite interesting. Do you know anything about him?'"The captain, whom this conversation began to weary, answered dryly: "'He is some old French tramp whom I found last year in America, and I brought
- 177 "But then, why did he marry her? For she was a cripple when she married, was she not?""Just so. He married her-he married her-just as every one marries, parbleu! because he was an idiot!""But why?""But why-but why, my friend? There is no why. Peopl
- 178 "'I do not choose to be treated like a common woman. You implored me to accept you. I asked you for nothing. Keep me with you!'"He stamped his foot."'No, that's a little too much! If you think you are going-'"I had seized his arm."'Keep still,
- 179 The cow had lain down again heavily, and he sat down by her side and stroked her head, grateful for the nourishment she had given him. The animal's strong, thick breath, which came out of her nostrils like two jets of steam in the evening air, blew on th
- 180 Madame Renard interrupted him: "And for good reasons, too; they laugh best who laugh last."He turned toward her frankly: "Well, I can't blame you, since you were not the cause of it."Then, facing the President again, he said: "I will continue. We us
- 181 Beyond it stretches out the region of peaks, and, farther on again the region of precipitous summits.The "Puy de Dome" is the highest of the domes, the Peak of Sancy is the loftiest of the peaks, and Cantal is the most precipitous of these mountain heig
- 182 "Let us go indoors. I think it is growing cool."And we made our way back to the hotel.IN THE WOOD As the mayor was about to sit down to breakfast, word was brought to him that the rural policeman, with two prisoners, was awaiting him at the Hotel de Vil
- 183 She, laced up in a corset which she wore only once a week, walked along erect, with her squeezed-in waist, her broad shoulders and prominent hips, swinging herself a little. She wore a hat trimmed with flowers, made by a milliner at Yvetot, and displayed
- 184 "Here I am, here I am, Martine!"She replied in gasps: "Oh, do not leave me, do not leave me, Benoist!"He looked at her, not knowing what to say, what to do. She began to cry out again: "Oh, oh, it is killing me. Oh, Benoist!"She writhed frightfully.
- 185 He turned his attention to the other letters. They were of no importance.The whole day he kept thinking of this ghost of other days. What was she like now? How strange it was to meet in this way after twenty-five years! But would he recognize her?He made
- 186 Patin was a good sailor, but brutal. He used to frequent Father Auban's inn, where he would usually drink four or five gla.s.ses of brandy, on lucky days eight or ten gla.s.ses and even more, according to his mood. The brandy was served to the custom
- 187 Maitre Hauchecorne, of Breaute, had just arrived at G.o.derville and was making his way toward the square when he perceived on the ground a little piece of string. Maitre Hauchecorne, economical as are all true Normans, reflected that everything was worth
- 188 He brooded over it all night long.The next day, about one in the afternoon, Marius Paumelle, a farm hand of Maitre Breton, the market gardener at Ymauville, returned the pocketbook and its contents to Maitre Holbreque, of Manneville.This man said, indeed,
- 189 Whenever the gentry of Fecamp gave a dinner they always had at least one of Madame Toine's chickens to be in the fas.h.i.+on.But she was born ill-tempered, and she went through life in a mood of perpetual discontent. Annoyed at everyone, she seemed t
- 190 When twelve o'clock struck, he called out: "Hullo, mother, is the soup ready?""There's no soup for you, lazy-bones," cried the old woman from her kitchen.He thought she must be joking, and waited a while. Then he begged, impl
- 191 We had just left Gisors, where I was awakened to hearing the name of the town called out by the guards, and I was dozing off again when a terrific shock threw me forward on top of a large lady who sat opposite me.One of the wheels of the engine had broken
- 192 "What general?""General Blaumont! We had to have a statue. We are not 'the proud people of Gisors' for nothing! So we discovered General de Blaumont. Look in this bookseller's window."He drew me towards the bookstore, wh
- 193 When she came out, the people, flattered at this honor paid to a citizen of Gisors, shouted "Long live the dauphine!" But a rhymester wrote some words to a refrain, and the street retained the t.i.tle of her royal highness, for "The princes
- 194 I also learned that Clothaire II had given the patrimony of Gisors to his cousin, Saint Romain, bishop of Rouen; that Gisors ceased to be the capital of the whole of Vexin after the treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte; that the town is the chief strategic cent
- 195 Madame d'Hubieres, trembling with anguish, spoke of the future of their child, of his happiness, and of the money which he could give them later.The peasant asked: "This pension of twelve hundred francs, will it be promised before a lawyer?"
- 196 When the vicomte reached home he walked rapidly up and down his room for some minutes. He was in a state of too great agitation to think connectedly. One idea alone possessed him: a duel. But this idea aroused in him as yet no emotion of any kind. He had
- 197 "Thank you," said the vicomte.The marquis added: "Please excuse us if we do not stay now, for we have a good deal to see to yet. We shall want a reliable doctor, since the duel is not to end until a serious wound has been inflicted; and you
- 198 "After shaking my hands warmly, he took me into what he called his garden. It was at the end of another alleyway enclosed by high walls and was a little square the size of a pocket handkerchief, surrounded by houses that were so high that the sun, co
- 199 MOONLIGHT Madame Julie Roubere was expecting her elder sister, Madame Henriette Letore, who had just returned from a trip to Switzerland.The Letore household had left nearly five weeks before. Madame Henriette had allowed her husband to return alone to th
- 200 She gazes at the sky full of suns.h.i.+ne and swallows, at the zigzag summits of the Esterel over yonder, and at the sea, the blue, calm, beautiful sea, close beside her.She smiles again, and murmurs: "Oh! how happy I am!"She knows, however, tha