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
- 348 "Not more than your own, as it is her proper color."Then after many other questions, it was agreed that the parents should see this girl before coming to any decision and that the young fellow, whose period of services was coming to an end in th
- 347 "Madame, I--"Then he remembered.... What was he to do? He asked: "Did Monsieur Romantin come back?"The door-keeper shouted: "Will you take your dirty carca.s.s out of this so that he at any rate may not catch you here?"M. Saval said, in a state of c
- 346 Then he clasped her in his arms and kissed her hair, affected himself."Mathilde, my little Mathilde, listen. You must be reasonable. You know, if I give a supper-party to my friends, it is to thank these gentlemen for the medal I got at the Salon. I
- 345 "Since I have invited you, you are going to give me some help."The notary said emphatically: "Make any use of me you please. I am at your disposal."Romantin took off his jacket."Well, citizen, to work! We are first going to clean
- 344 Now, last year, according to his custom, he went to hear "Henry VIII."He then took the express which arrives in Paris at 4:30 p.m., intending to return by the 12:35 a.m. train so as not to have to sleep at a hotel. He had put on evening dress, a
- 343 The old Comtesse de Saville, living in retirement in her chateau of Rocher, in order to bring up her grand-children, after the successive deaths of her son and her daughter-in-law, was very much attached to her cure, and used to say of him: "He has a
- 342 And he began, in a tired voice, interrupted by frequent fits of coughing."Schopenhauer had just died, and it was arranged that we should watch, in turn, two by two, till morning."He was lying in a large apartment, very simple, vast, and gloomy.
- 341 "Will you let me go?""Irene ... is your resolution irrevocable?""Do let me go.""Tell me only whether this resolution, this foolish resolution of yours, which you will bitterly regret, is irrevocable?""Yes ... l
- 340 "Irene, Irene, what is the matter with you? I implore of you to tell me what is the matter with you?"Then, in the midst of her sobs she murmured, "I can no longer live like this."He did not understand."Live like this? What do you
- 339 "'Perhaps indeed that is so.'"And I, who had seen some very terrible things in my time, began to cry. And I felt, in the presence of this corpse, in that icy cold night, the midst of that gloomy pain, at the sight of this mystery, at t
- 338 The shadows of a balmy night were slowly falling. The women remained in the drawing-room of the villa. The men, seated or astride on garden-chairs, were smoking in front of the door, forming a circle round a table laden with cups and winegla.s.ses.Their c
- 337 "'No, not yet.'"And she went on drinking."She was so in a little while, not so tipsy as to lose her senses, but tipsy enough to tell the truth, as it seemed to me."To her confidences as to her emotions while a young girl succeeded more intimate conf
- 336 "You have become a race of serfs, a race of common people. Since the Revolution, it is impossible any longer to recognize society. You have attached big words to every action, and wearisome duties to every corner of existence; you believe in equality and
- 335 In a minute, the Prussian had found two comrades who carried pistols, and they made their way towards the ramparts.The Englishmen were continually looking at their watches, shuffling their feet, and hurrying on with the preparations, uneasy lest they shou
- 334 "Ha! and what is the name of this village?"The Prussian replied: "Pharsbourg."He added: "We caught these French blackguards by the ears."And he glanced towards M. Dubuis, laughing into his moustache in an insulting fas.h.i.+on.The train rolled on, a
- 333 He continued: "Here is the story. It is simple. Juliette had been subject for some time to serious attacks of the heart. We believed that she had disease of that organ, and we were prepared for the worst."One day she was carried into the house cold, lif
- 332 "'He did go away."'I have never seen one or the other of them since, monsieur, and thus I have lived for the last twenty years."'Can you imagine what all this meant to me? Can you understand this monstrous punishment, this slow perpetual laceration
- 331 MOTHER AND SON!!!We were chatting in the smoking-room after a dinner at which only men were present. We talked about unexpected legacies, strange inheritances. Then M. le Brument, who was sometimes called "the ill.u.s.trious master" and at other times t
- 330 And yet I imagined that I was in love for an hour, for a day. I had foolishly yielded to the influence of surrounding circ.u.mstances. I allowed myself to be beguiled by the mirage of an aurora. Would you like me to relate for you this short history?I met
- 329 Yes, it was an old lady, an old lady whom he did not recognize, and who, while she smiled, seemed ready to weep.He could not abstain from murmuring: "It is you, Lise?"She replied: "Yes, it is I; it is I, indeed. You would not have known me, isn't that
- 328 Then, she said, in nervous tones."I think you must be going mad! Let me alone!"He trembled with fury, so exasperated that he scarcely knew what he was saying, and, shaking her with all his strength, he repeated."Do you hear me? do you hear
- 327 He embraced her once more when she made this acknowledgment, and murmured: "What an a.s.s he was! You were not happy with him?"She answered: "No. He was not always jolly."Leuillet felt quite delighted, making a comparison in his own mi
- 326 I stared at this poltroon, who had worked himself into a fit of rage without knowing why, perhaps, owing to an obscure presentiment, the instinct of the deceived male who does not like closed doors. He had talked about her to me in a tender strain; now a.
- 325 He told me his history. He had not intended to return home this evening, as he had brought with him that very morning a stock of goods to last him three or four days. But he had been so fortunate in disposing of them that he found it necessary to get back
- 324 I no longer read much; I am too old for that; but I am constantly thinking, or rather dreaming. I do not dream as I used to do long ago.You may recall to mind any wild fancies, the adventures our brains concocted when we were twenty, and all the horizons
- 323 Now, one evening, just after dinner, Herve, who appeared to be extraordinarily gay, with a sly sort of gaiety, said to me: "Would you like to spend three hours out with the guns, in order to shoot a fox who comes every evening to eat my hens?"I
- 322 "A man who speaks with such facility and who is always in good humor could not have such a crime on his conscience."Touched by his argument, the others who were present reflected, and they recalled to mind the long conversations with this man wh
- 321 It seemed to her that till now he had been like a person in a hesitating frame of mind who had suddenly arrived at a determination.This idea came to her one evening as she met his glance, a fixed singular glance which she had not seen in his face before.T
- 320 "That's a very good joke, too! Am I to bother my brains about a devil-dodger? At any rate, do me the favor of not ever again having such an old fogy to dinner. Curses on his impudence!""But, my friend, remember his sacred character.&qu
- 319 "Will you be kind enough, dear Monsieur, to cut this cake?"He displayed the utmost readiness, and took off his gloves, flattered at such an honor being conferred on him."Oh, to be sure Madame, with the greatest pleasure."Some distance
- 318 An infinite peace, a divine melancholy, a silent serenity surrounded this dead woman, seemed to emanate from her, to evaporate from her into the atmosphere outside and to calm Nature itself.Then the magistrate, still on his knees, his head pressed against
- 317 Then I beheld an astonis.h.i.+ng landscape. Beyond another forest, a valley, but a valley such as I had never seen before, a solitude of stone ten leagues long, hollowed out between two high mountains, without a field or a tree to be seen. This was the Ni
- 316 MOONLIGHT Madame Julie Roubere was awaiting her elder sister, Madame Henriette Letore, who had just returned after a trip to Switzerland.The Letore household had left nearly five weeks ago. Madame Henriette had allowed her husband to return alone to their
- 315 DREAMS It was after a dinner of friends, of old friends. There were five of them, a writer, a doctor, and three rich bachelors without any profession.They had talked about everything, and a feeling of la.s.situde came on, that feeling of la.s.situde which
- 314 She pulled herself up, went to her son and offered him first one and then another cheek of white wax which he kissed without saying a word.Then he shook hands with Mme. Rosemilly and his brother, asking: "And when is the wedding to be?""I d
- 313 "To America.""A very fine country, they say."And that was all!Really he was very ill-advised to address her on such a busy day; there were too many people in the cafe.Pierre went down to the sea. As he reached the jetty he descried the
- 312 He felt that it was odious, indecent, and brutal, and yet it was a relief to him to have uttered it.He never met the eyes either of his mother or his brother; to avoid his gaze theirs had become surprisingly alert, with the cunning of foes who fear to cro
- 311 Jean made no reply. He was thinking of the man he had hitherto believed to be his father; and possibly the vague notion he had long since conceived, of that father's inferiority, with his brother's constant irony, the scornful indifference of ot
- 310 "What should hinder you?""I know no one in the Transatlantic s.h.i.+pping Company."Roland was astounded: "And what has become of all your fine schemes for getting on?"Pierre replied in a low voice: "There are times when
- 309 She turned to Jean: "You had better go to call him, my child; it hurts his feelings if we do not wait for him.""Yes, mother. I will go."And the young man went. He mounted the stairs with the fevered determination of a man who is about
- 308 "And at once. You must, this minute. Do not leave me. I am so afraid of him--so afraid.""Yes, yes; I will hit on some plan. I promise you I will.""But at once; quick, quick! You cannot imagine what I feel when I see him."Then
- 307 "Mother, mother, mother!" And through all her efforts to free herself she was saying: "No, no. I am not your mother now. I am nothing to you, to anybody--nothing, nothing. You have neither father nor mother now, poor boy--good-by."It s
- 306 "No! For a long time I have been wanting to give you my whole mind!you have given me an opening--so much the worse for you. I love the woman; you know it, and laugh her to scorn in my presence--so much the worse for you. But I will break your viper
- 305 "If humanity alone, if the instinct of natural benevolence which we feel toward all who suffer, were the motive of the acquittal we expect of you, I should appeal to your compa.s.sion, gentlemen of the jury, to your hearts as fathers and as men; but
- 304 She did not venture to speak to Pierre, knowing that he would return some hard answer; and he dared not address his mother, knowing that in spite of himself he should speak violently. He sat twitching the water-worn pebbles with the end of his cane, switc
- 303 The path, now less steep, was here almost a road, zigzagging between the huge rocks which had at some former time rolled from the hilltop.Mme. Rosemilly and Jean set off at a run and they were soon on the beach. They crossed it and reached the rocks, whic
- 302 She did not answer, but seemed racked by some deep and dreadful grief.Her husband tried to take her hands from her face, but she resisted him, repeating: "No, no, no."He appealed to his son."But what is the matter with her? I never saw her
- 301 He was seized with a dread, a sudden and horrible dread of this shame being unveiled, and, turning about just as the door opened, he took the little painting and slipped it under the clock without being seen by his father and brother.When he met his mothe
- 300 Pierre replied: "What does that matter? Is that a reason for living as fools do? If my fellow-townsmen are stupid and ill-bred, need I follow their example?A woman does not misconduct herself because her neighbor has a lover."Jean began to laugh
- 299 He went in. She was sitting up in bed, while, by her side, Roland, with a silk handkerchief by way of nightcap and his face to the wall, still lay sleeping. Nothing ever woke him but a shaking hard enough to pull his arm off. On the days when he went fis.
- 298 She had loved him. Why not? She was his mother. What then? Must a man be blind and stupid to the point of rejecting evidence because it concerns his mother? And she had been frail. Why, yes, since this man had had no other love, since he had remained fait
- 297 "It was in fifty-eight, old man. Pierre was three years old. I am quite sure that I am not mistaken, for it was in that year that the child had scarlet fever, and Marechal, whom we then knew but very little, was of the greatest service to us."Ro
- 296 It was, in fact, possible that the girl at the beer-shop had had an evil suspicion--a suspicion worthy of such a hussy--on hearing that only one of the Roland brothers had been made heir to a stranger; but have not such natures as she always similar notio
- 295 "The devil!" exclaimed Pierre as he sat down. "We are celebrating the accession of Jean the Rich."After the soup, Madeira was pa.s.sed round, and already every one was talking at once. Beausire was giving the history of a dinner he had
- 294 He found her dozing on a chair in the beer-shop, which was almost deserted. Three men were drinking and smoking with their elbows on the oak tables; the book-keeper in her desk was reading a novel, while the master, in his s.h.i.+rt-sleeves, lay sound asl
- 293 Pierre, who was relapsing into nervous irritation, wanted to know what Marowsko meant by this phrase.Why would it not look well? What was there to look badly in the fact that his brother had come into the money of a friend of the family?But the cautious o
- 292 Out on the deep water, the limitless water, darker than the sky, stars seemed to have fallen here and there. They twinkled in the night haze, small, close to sh.o.r.e or far away--white, red, and green, too. Most of them were motionless; some, however, se
- 291 No one could talk; they had too much to think about and nothing to say. Mme. Roland alone attempted a few commonplace remarks. She gave an account of the fis.h.i.+ng excursion, and sang the praises of the _Pearl_ and of Mme. Rosemilly."Charming! char
- 290 "Did you, in Paris, know a certain M. Marechal--Leon Marechal?"M. and Mme. Roland both exclaimed at once: "I should think so!""He was a friend of yours?"Roland replied: "Our best friend, monsieur, but a fanatic for Paris
- 289 "A gentleman from the lawyer's.""What lawyer?""Why M'sieu' Canu--who else?""And what did this gentleman say?""That M'sieu' Canu will call in himself in the course of the evening."M
- 288 She said as she returned the gla.s.s: "I never could see with that thing. It used to put my husband in quite a rage; he would stand for hours at the window watching the s.h.i.+ps pa.s.s."Old Roland, much put out, retorted: "Then it must be
- 287 But her husband shook his head in denial, though at the same time he glanced complacently at the basket where the fish caught by the three men were still breathing spasmodically, with a low rustle of clammy scales and struggling fins, and dull, ineffectua
- 286 The Works of Guy de Maupa.s.sant.Volume VIII.by Guy de Maupa.s.sant.OF "THE NOVEL"I do not intend in these pages to put in a plea for this little novel.On the contrary, the ideas I shall try to set forth will rather involve a criticism of the cl
- 285 He rushed at her, and, holding her down, struck her as though striking a man. She left off shouting, and began to moan beneath his blows. She no longer stirred, but hid her face against the bottom of the wall and uttered plaintive cries. He left off beati
- 284 He replied, sadly: "It is no use howling. He has run away with her, he has dishonored her. The best thing is to give her to him. By setting to work in the right way no one will be aware of this escapade."She repeated, shaken by terrible emotion:
- 283 "Oh! no.""Your father was very angry when you said no?""I should think so. He wanted to send me back to the convent.""You see that it is necessary to be energetic.""I will be so."She looked at the vast hor
- 282 Monsieur Walter could not get over it, and watched Du Roy with startling eyes, thinking: "Hang it, here is a fellow to be looked after."George went on: "I am now free. I have some money. I shall offer myself as a candidate at the October el
- 281 The other was silent. He held the sheet close up to his neck, and rolled his startled eyes. His little, curled-up moustache showed up black upon his blanched face.The commissary continued: "You will not answer, eh? Then I shall be forced to arrest yo
- 280 He rose, and stammered: "Thanks, thanks; do not say 'yes' to anyone yet, I beg of you; wait a little longer, I entreat you. Will you promise me this much?"She murmured, somewhat uneasily, and without understanding what he wanted: "
- 279 When they arrived Madame Walter was alone in the little Louis XVI.boudoir she had adopted for the reception of personal friends. Dressed in black, she had powdered her hair, which rendered her charming. She had the air at a distance of an old woman, and c
- 278 He wanted to refuse, observing: "No, I will not take that money."Then she grew indignant. "Ah! so you won't take it now. It is yours, yours, only. If you do not take it, I will throw it into the gutter. You won't act like that, Ge
- 277 "Yes. A million between us. Forty thousand francs' income. We cannot even keep a carriage on it."They had reached the last of the reception-rooms, and before them lay the conservatory--a huge winter garden full of tall, tropical trees, shel
- 276 And the journalist, after giving his address, added: "You will have the monogram, G. R. C., engraved on the chronometer under a baron's coronet."Madeleine, surprised, began to smile, and when they went out, took his arm with a certain affec
- 275 George bowed, saying: "Yes, sir."Then he bowed again ceremoniously, ushered out his wife, who had remained silent, and went out himself with so stiff an air that the notary no longer smiled.As soon as they got home, Du Roy abruptly closed the do
- 274 His wife had not come home, and he went to bed and fell asleep.Madeleine came in towards midnight. George, suddenly roused, sat up in bed. "Well?" he asked.He had never seen her so pale and so deeply moved. She murmured: "He is dead."&
- 273 She looked at him disconsolately, saying, "Oh, George, can't I even kiss you?"He replied, "No, not to-day. I have a headache, and it upsets me."She sat down again docilely between his knees, and asked, "Will you come and dine
- 272 George stimulated her imagination, excited it to irony and they understood one another marvelously. She kept appealing to him every moment, "I say, Pretty-boy. Come here, Pretty-boy."He would at once leave the mother and go to the daughter, who
- 271 "Where are we?" she asked."Get out and come into this house," he replied. "We shall be more at ease there.""But where are we?""At my rooms," and here we will leave them to their _tete-a-tete_.XIII Autumn h
- 270 Du Roy replied: "Really, I am not quite certain. I think within the last twenty or five-and-twenty years. It is, besides, the first time I ever was inside it.""It is the same with me. I have never seen it."The journalist, whose interes
- 269 Madame Du Roy answered slowly: "Not over much."The guests were taking their leave. Madame Laroche-Mathieu looked like a housemaid from the country. She was the daughter of a notary, and had been married to the deputy when he was only a barrister
- 268 She was shocked, and murmured: "Oh, George!"He wore an insolent and chaffing air as he said: "Well, what? Did you not admit to me the other evening that Forestier was a cuckold?" And he added: "Poor devil!" in a tone of pity.
- 267 The a.s.sault-at-arms was given under the patronage of the wives of all the senators and deputies connected with the _Vie Francaise_, for the benefit of the orphans of the Sixth Arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of Paris. Madame Walter had promised to come with her daug
- 266 He promised himself, though, to keep a more careful watch in the future over Madame Walter's bearing towards him, without asking whether he might ever derive any advantage from this. All the evening he was haunted by the recollection of his love pa.s
- 265 He sat still, his arms crossed, his eyes turned skyward, his mind too agitated to think as yet. He only felt within him the rancor fermenting and the anger swelling which lurk at the heart of all mankind in presence of the caprices of feminine desire. He
- 264 Du Roy would not answer, but he was inwardly furious, and a sullen wrath sprang up in him against the dead man. Daddy Walter himself had declared, when astonishment was expressed at the flagrant similarity in style and inspiration between the leaders of t
- 263 "There," he said, "I had warned you. I ought not to have introduced you to Monsieur and Madame du Roy de Cantel, Senior."She began to laugh, too, and replied: "I am delighted now. They are good folk, whom I am beginning to like ve
- 262 The old woman recovered herself first, and stammered, without advancing a step: "Is't thou, boy?"The young fellow answered: "Yes, it is I, mother," and stepping up to her, kissed her on both cheeks with a son's hearty smack.
- 261 Duroy no longer listened, wholly absorbed by other thoughts. She stopped from time to time to follow out some inward train of ideas, and then went on: "In three or four years you can be easily earning thirty to forty thousand francs a year. That is w
- 260 He had lowered his eyes, and was preparing the beginning of his speech.He commenced in a low tone of voice: "My dear one, you see me very uneasy, very sad, and very much embarra.s.sed at what I have to admit to you. I love you dearly. I really love y
- 259 She suddenly became serious again, and placing her hand on his arm, murmured: "Do not let us speak of that yet a while."But he divined that she accepted, and falling at her knees began to pa.s.sionately kiss her hands, repeating: "Thanks, t
- 258 What luck the dead man had had to meet such an intelligent and charming companion! How had they become acquainted? How ever had she agreed on her part to marry that poor and commonplace young fellow? How had she succeeded in making someone of him? Then he
- 257 He persisted, repeating, "Oh, I am much better. I feel it."They pa.s.sed at first along some of those shady roads, bordered by gardens, which cause Cannes to resemble a kind of English Park, and then reached the highway to Antibes, running along
- 256 "Not at all well, sir. He cannot last much longer."The drawing-room, into which George was shown, was hung with pink and blue chintz. The tall and wide windows overlooked the town and the sea.Duroy muttered: "By Jove, this is nice and swell
- 255 "Oh, my darling! if you only knew what I felt when I saw the papers this morning. Oh, tell me all about it! I want to know everything."He had to give minute details. She said: "What a dreadful night you must have pa.s.sed before the duel.&q
- 254 The thought occurred to him to make a fire. He built it up slowly, without looking around. His hands shook slightly with a kind of nervous tremor when he touched anything. His head wandered, his disjointed, drifting thoughts became fleeting and painful, a
- 253 It was a huge house, in which they had to go up six flights of stairs.An old woman in a woolen jacket opened the door to them. "What is it you want with me now?" said she, on catching sight of Saint-Potin.He replied: "I have brought this ge
- 252 But having paused to allow a perfumed lady, alighting from her carriage and entering her house, to pa.s.s before him, he drew in with eager breath the scent of vervain and orris root floating in the air. His lungs and heart throbbed suddenly with hope and
- 251 The examination of the walls was over. The governor went to put down his lamp and welcome the last comer, while Duroy began to re-examine the pictures as if he could not tire of admiring them. He was quite upset.What should he do? Madame Forestier called
- 250 "Quite.""Well, go and see Madame Walter, who greatly appreciates you, and do your best to please her. You will find a place there for your compliments, although she is virtuous, you understand me, perfectly virtuous. Oh! there is no hope of
- 249 The cab slowly moved off, jolting over the paving stones. Clotilde, seized by a kind of hysterical attack, sat choking and gasping with her hands covering her face, and Duroy neither knew what to do nor what to say. At last, as he heard her sobbing, he st