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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
- 1 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
- 2 "Would you like some, sir? It is hard to go on fasting all day."He bowed."Upon my soul, I can't refuse; I cannot hold out another minute. All is fair in war time, is it not, madame?" And, casting a glance on those around, he added
- 3 "You are wrong, madame, for your refusal may bring trouble not only on yourself but also on all your companions. It never pays to resist those in authority. Your compliance with this request cannot possibly be fraught with any danger; it has probably
- 4 "No, sir; the innkeeper gave me the order from him.""When?""Last evening, just as I was going to bed."The three men returned in a very uneasy frame of mind.They asked for Monsieur Follenvie, but the servant replied that on ac
- 5 Suddenly, at the end of the street, the officer appeared. His tall, wasp-like, uniformed figure was outlined against the snow which bounded the horizon, and he walked, knees apart, with that motion peculiar to soldiers, who are always anxious not to soil
- 6 "Is it all right?""Yes."Out of regard for propriety he said nothing to his companions, but merely nodded slightly toward them. A great sigh of relief went up from all b.r.e.a.s.t.s; every face was lighted up with joy."By Gad!"
- 7 Boule de Suif, in the haste and confusion of her departure, had not thought of anything, and, stifling with rage, she watched all these people placidly eating. At first, ill-suppressed wrath shook her whole person, and she opened her lips to shriek the tr
- 8 And they separated, to fetch their rods and lines.An hour later they were walking side by side on the-highroad. Presently they reached the villa occupied by the colonel. He smiled at their request, and granted it. They resumed their walk, furnished with a
- 9 They stood motionless, and did not open their lips.The Prussian, perfectly calm, went on, with hand outstretched toward the river: "Just think that in five minutes you will be at the bottom of that water. In five minutes! You have relations, I presum
- 10 "Come," said the captain, "those are all bad reasons. I mean to go and kill some Prussians; that is all I care about. If you do not wish to do as I do, well and good; only say so at once. I can quite well go by myself; I do not require anyb
- 11 We fixed our quarters there. It was terribly cold, and we did not go out much, and somebody had always to keep the female prisoner in sight.She was sullen, and never said anything, or else spoke of her husband, whom the captain had killed. She looked at h
- 12 The younger feared nothing, but her mother was always apprehensive, and repeated continually: "We'll come to grief one of these days. You see if we don't!"This evening she was, if possible, more nervous than ever."Do you know what
- 13 The door opened hastily, and Berthine appeared, barefooted and only half dressed, with her candle in her hand and a scared look on her face."There are the French," she stammered; "at least two hundred of them. If they find you here they
- 14 Then the troop of soldiers, with Long-legs at its head, set forth through the night and the snow toward the forest.She looked at the clock. "They may be here in an hour."A nervous impatience possessed her. The minutes seemed interminable. Would
- 15 Four heads appeared, soaking wet, four fair heads with long, sandy hair, and one after another the six Germans emerged-scared, s.h.i.+vering and dripping from head to foot.They were seized and bound. Then, as the French feared a surprise, they set off at
- 16 They didn't dare to offer their candies, which were slowly melting in Jean's pocket. Finally Luc, growing bolder, murmured: "We have brought you something."She asked: "Let's see it."Then Jean, blus.h.i.+ng to the tips of
- 17 Two Uhlans were found dead about a mile and a half from the farm. One of them was still holding his b.l.o.o.d.y sword in his hand. He had fought, tried to defend himself. A court-martial was immediately held in the open air, in front of the farm. The old
- 18 "Yes, I served my time. And then, you had killed my father, who was a soldier of the first Emperor. And last month you killed my youngest son, Francois, near Evreux. I owed you one for that; I paid. We are quits."The officers were looking at eac
- 19 Lieutenant Picart now appeared on the scene."The priest refuses to obey," he said. "He has even locked himself in the church with the s.e.xton and beadle."On the other side of the square, opposite the white, tightly closed town-hall, s
- 20 Everybody was talking about the affair. If the emperor were a prisoner, there must have been some kind of treason. They did not know exactly which of the republics had returned to power.Night fell.Toward nine o'clock, the doctor, alone, noiselessly a
- 21 LIEUTENANT LARE'S MARRIAGE Since the beginning of the campaign Lieutenant Lare had taken two cannon from the Prussians. His general had said: "Thank you, lieutenant," and had given him the cross of honor.As he was as cautious as he was brav
- 22 They made another halt; some conferences took place. It had stopped snowing. A cold wind was driving the clouds, and innumerable stars were sparkling in the sky behind them, gradually paling in the rosy light of dawn.A staff officer came forward to receiv
- 23 "The first match went out; we lighted a second. The man continued, as he turned out his pockets: "'A horn-handled pocketknife, check handkerchief, a snuffbox, a bit of pack thread, a piece of bread.'"The second match went out; we
- 24 "I have seen, in the Lipari Islands, the weird sulphur crater of the Volcanello, a giant flower which smokes and burns, an enormous yellow flower, opening out in the midst of the sea, whose stem is a volcano."But I have seen nothing more wonderf
- 25 But on arriving at the gate of the port the guards crossed their bayonets, commanding them to retire.Frightened, surprised, cowed with astonishment, they retired to deliberate; then, after having taken counsel one with the other, they came back cautiously
- 26 They went at once into the dining-room, which looked still more dismal in its dilapidated condition when it was lighted up; while the table covered with choice dishes, the beautiful china and gla.s.s, and the plate, which had been found in the hole in the
- 27 The Englishman, through politeness, replied simply: "Ah! yes."He went on: "In twenty years all Europe, all of it, will belong to us. Prussia is more than a match for all of them."The Englishmen, getting uneasy, no longer replied. Their
- 28 One of the Englishmen exclaimed: "Ah!" He was quivering with delight, with satisfied curiosity and joyous impatience. The other, who still kept his watch in his hand, seized M. Dubuis' arm and hurried him in double-quick time toward the sta
- 29 "'Who goes there?'"The whole detachment halted, and I advanced to give the countersign. We had reached the French lines, and, as my men defiled before the outpost, a commandant on horseback, whom I had informed of what had taken place,
- 30 At dinner one of them was worried to see that La Mere Sauvage still ate nothing. She told him that she had pains in her stomach. Then she kindled a good fire to warm herself, and the four Germans ascended to their lodging-place by the ladder which served
- 31 I sat down opposite him, and the fire in the grate was burning my nose and cheeks. "Where did you find this wood?" I asked. "Splendid wood," he replied. "The owner's carriage. It is the paint which is causing all this flame,
- 32 When I turned round, I saw a sight which was even more horrible than the death struggle of this unfortunate man; the three old women were standing up huddled close together, hideous, and grimacing with fear and horror. I went up to them, and they began to
- 33 "But it is a civil funeral, is it not?"The other gentleman, who evidently wished to tell me all about it, then said: "Yes and no. The clergy have refused to allow us the use of the church."On hearing this I uttered a prolonged "A-
- 34 For ten years the Inst.i.tution Robineau triumphed in the same fas.h.i.+on. Now my father, allured by these successes, sent me as a day pupil to Robineau's-or, as we called it, Robinetto or Robinettino's-and made me take special private lessons
- 35 "Well, he is in love with you!"She burst out laughing wildly, and exclaimed: "You are only fooling.""Oh! no, I am not fooling! He keeps talking of you all through the lesson. I bet that he'll marry you!"She ceased laughi
- 36 It was thus that these two silly creatures promised marriage to each other through the trick of a young scamp. But I did not believe that it was serious, nor, indeed, did they, perhaps."You know, I have nothing, not four sous," she said.He stamm
- 37 The baron, however, to avoid meeting his wife, travelled for a year, then spent the summer at the seaside, and the autumn in shooting, returning to Paris for the winter. He did not meet the baroness once.He did not even know what people said about her. In
- 38 He went on: "As you have acceded to my first request, shall we now talk without any bitterness?"She made a little movement of surprise."Bitterness? I don't feel any; you are a complete stranger to me; I am only trying to keep up a diff
- 39 Next day he did not come back.After long hours of waiting, stiffened with the cold, feeling that he was dying, the blind man began to walk. Being unable to find his way along the road, owing to its thick coating of ice, he went on at random, falling into
- 40 She continued: "Oh! please tell me. How many have you loved?""A few.""How many?""I don't know. How do you expect me to know such things?""Haven't you counted them?""Of course not.""
- 41 The conversation of the two men, from the Arc de Triomphe to Neuilly, was always the same, and on that day they discussed, first of all, various local abuses which disgusted them both, and the Mayor of Neuilly received his full share of their censure. The
- 42 But, suddenly, Caravan raised himself up, with his thin hair in disorder, and, looking very ugly in his grief, said: "But-are you sure, doctor? Are you quite sure?"The doctor stooped over the body, and, handling it with professional dexterity, a
- 43 The three domino players were sitting at the same table which they had occupied before dinner, totally absorbed in their game, and Caravan went up to them, in search of pity, but as none of them appeared to notice him he made up his mind to speak."A
- 44 When they were in their own room, she heaved a sigh."We have got over the worst part of the job," she said; "so now let us go and fetch the other things."But the bureau drawers were full of the old woman's wearing apparel, which t
- 45 His mother had not seen it! She was looking intently at her clock which stood on the mantelpiece, and the embarra.s.sment increased in midst of a dead silence. Turning her wrinkled face towards her daughter, the old woman, in whose eyes gleamed malice, sa
- 46 "'Did you see?'"'Yes, I saw.'"'Can it be that he is not dead?'"'Why, when the body is putrefying?'"'What are we to do?'"My companion said in a hesitating tone: "'We
- 47 "I washed my hands, after which I went out. The old woman was making a chicken frica.s.see for dinner in the large fireplace in which hung the iron pot, black with smoke."'You have travellers, then, at the present time?' said I to her.
- 48 "Wrapped in her plaid shawl, with a look of inspiration as she faced the breeze, the English woman gazed fixedly at the great sun ball as it descended toward the horizon. Far off in the distance a three-master in full sail was outlined on the blood-r
- 49 "I sat down at the table as usual. Miss Harriet was there, eating away solemnly, without speaking to any one, without even lifting her eyes. Her manner and expression were, however, the same as usual."I waited patiently till the meal had been fi
- 50 The former soldier, Mederic Rompel, familiarly called Mederic by the country folks, left the post office of Roily-le-Tors at the usual hour. After pa.s.sing through the village with his long stride, he cut across the meadows of Villaume and reached the ba
- 51 Their steps made no sound on the moss. Their eyes were gazing ahead in front of them.Suddenly the doctor, extending his arm, said: "See, there she is!"Far ahead of them under the trees they saw something white on which the sun gleamed down throu
- 52 "Well-well-look again, and find them-or you"ll have to answer to me."The man, knowing that the mayor would not brook opposition, set forth again with hesitating steps, casting a timid side glance at the corpse.Distant voices were heard unde
- 53 "I have nothing, nothing, nothing in the world, not even her little cap -her little cap."The cure, a young priest, had just arrived. He took it on himself to accompany the mother, and they went away together toward the village. The mother's
- 54 Then he went off, saying: "Till to-morrow, my friends-till to-morrow."As soon as he got back to his room he sat down at his table which his lamp lighted up brightly, and, burying his head in his hands, he began to cry.He remained thus for a long
- 55 Then, as evening approached, he was afraid of the shadow falling around him. He did not yet know why the darkness seemed frightful to him, but he instinctively feared it, he felt that it was peopled with terrors. The bright daylight did not lend itself to
- 56 Renardet said to him: "Good-morrow, Mederic.""Good-morrow, Monsieur le Maire.""I say, Mederic, I threw a letter into the box that I want back again. I came to ask you to give it back to me.""That's all right, Monsie
- 57 On the other side of the river, hidden behind the fogs, just opposite Frette, a slight noise from time to time broke the dead silence of the quiet morning. At times it was an indistinct plas.h.i.+ng, like the cautious advance of a boat, then again a sharp
- 58 The tiny shot struck the donkey's long ears and he began to shake them in order to get rid of the stinging sensation. The two men were doubled up with laughter and stamped their feet with joy. The woman, indignant, rushed forward; she did not want he
- 59 "Why should this good, simple, religious man have killed little children, and the very children whom he seemed to love the most, whom he spoiled and stuffed with sweet things, for whom he spent half his salary in buying toys and bonbons?"One mus
- 60 When he was five years old some mountebanks pa.s.sed through the country and set up their tent in the town hall square.Jean, who had seen them pa.s.s by, made his escape from the house, and after his father had made a long search for him, he found him amo
- 61 To all questions he only answered this: "I had known the man for two years, the woman for six months. They often had me repair old furniture for them, because I am a clever workman."And when he was asked: "Why did you kill them?"He wou
- 62 "'You see! You are my parents. You have already rejected me once; would you repulse me again?'"Then, your honor, he struck me. I swear it on my honor, before the law and my country. He struck me, and as I seized him by the collar, he d
- 63 "'Oh! Very good. I see nothing against it.'"The poor man shook me heartily by the hand."'She is to be married next month,' he said."Monsieur Gaston du Boys de Lucelles was a scapegrace of good family, who, after hav
- 64 M. Marin seemed quite worried."But you will be absolutely drenched. Might I ask in which direction you are going?"The priest appeared to hesitate. Then he said: "I am going in the direction of the Palais Royal.""In that case, if y
- 65 THE DOOR "Bah!" exclaimed Karl Ma.s.souligny, "the question of complaisant husbands is a difficult one. I have seen many kinds, and yet I am unable to give an opinion about any of them. I have often tried to determine whether they are blind
- 66 "In a large room, all in disorder, in the midst of skirts, collars, waists lying around on the floor, stood a tall, dried-up creature. The lower part of her body was covered with an old, worn-out silk petticoat, which was hanging limply on her shapel
- 67 "Then we found Brument and Cornu fighting each other like two rams."Brument was bawling: 'It isn't true, I tell you that there is at least a cubic metre in it. It is the method that was no good.'"Cornu bawled: 'Four pail
- 68 The other day I was present at a musical evening at the Casino, given by a remarkable artist, Madame Ma.s.son, who sings in a truly delightful manner. I took the opportunity of applauding the admirable Coquelin, as well as two charming vaudeville performe
- 69 He was trying to take this poor pain-racked body in his arms. Maddened by remorse and sorrow, he stammered: "I swear to you that I will bring him up and love him. He shall never leave me."Then she tried to kiss Jacques. Powerless to lift her hea
- 70 "'Oh! You stole it? Where?'"'In the cathedral; in the very shrine of the Eleven Thousand Virgins.'"Her heart beat with pleasure, and she murmured: "'Oh! Did you really do that-for me? Tell me-all about it!'
- 71 His wife seemed annoyed at this idea. She reflected a few moments and then said: "He won't be buried till Sat.u.r.day, and that will give you all day tomorrow."The peasant thought the matter over and answered: "Yes, but to-morrow I
- 72 When they awoke, he was not yet dead.Then they began to be frightened. They stood by their father, watching him with distrust, as though he had wished to play them a mean trick, to deceive them, to annoy them on purpose, and they were vexed at him for the
- 73 "But during my short sojourns at the Pavilion-so I called the hut -Marius would give up his nook to an old woman from Ecorcheville, called Celeste, who used to come and cook for me, as old man Cavalier's stews were not sufficient for my healthy
- 74 "I knew that it was hopeless to try and turn the old man from his idea. I therefore let him have his own way."He got the rascal and brought him back by the ear."I was seated on a cane chair, with the solemn expression of a judge."Mariu
- 75 "As the fire crept toward the shed, I suddenly bethought me of my horse, and Cavalier ran to free it."Hardly had he opened the door of the stable, when a supple, nimble body darted between his legs, and threw him on his face. It was Marius, runn
- 76 One morning the postman brought her a letter, and as she had never received one in her life before she was so upset by it that she was obliged to sit down. Perhaps it was from him? But, as she could not read, she sat anxious and trembling with that piece
- 77 PART V From that day forward she had only one thought: to have a child another child; she confided her wish to everybody, and, in consequence of this, a neighbor told her of an infallible method. This was, to make her husband drink a gla.s.s of water with
- 78 "After breakfast I climbed across a little promontory, and then, as the tide was rapidly falling, I started out across the sands toward a kind of black rock which I could just perceive above the surface of the water, out a considerable distance."
- 79 "So our anguish increased momentarily as the squalls grew stronger and stronger. Now the sea broke a little, and I saw in the darkness white lines appearing and disappearing, lines of foam, while each wave struck the Marie Joseph and shook her with a
- 80 "Yes, we are near the month of Mary.""Why, why," remarked Sabot and then was silent. He would have liked to retire now without saying anything, but a glance at the chancel held him back. He saw sixteen seats that had to be remade, six
- 81 "That is understood, that is all right, that is agreed on. To-morrow, monsieur le cure. Whoever draws back is a skunk!"And he held out his great rough hand which the priest grasped heartily with a clap that resounded through the church.Theodule
- 82 "When I go to town, to say that I never go into a house, you know, one of the licensed houses, just to laugh and talk and see something different, I could not say that. But I always pay, monsieur le cure, I always pay. From the moment you pay, withou
- 83 When Varajou saw that he would have to spend the evening tete-a-tete with his sister, endure her reproaches, listen to her sermons, without even a gla.s.s of liqueur to help him to swallow these remonstrances, he felt that he could not stand the torture,
- 84 He then remarked: "Are you all well?"The large lady, no doubt the mistress of the house, replied: "Very well, thank you!"He could think of nothing else to say, and they were all silent. But at last, being ashamed of his bashfulness, an
- 85 The day of the ball drew near and Madame Loisel seemed sad, uneasy, anxious. Her frock was ready, however. Her husband said to her one evening: "What is the matter? Come, you have seemed very queer these last three days."And she answered: "It annoys me
- 86 She wrote at his dictation.At the end of a week they had lost all hope. Loisel, who had aged five years, declared: "We must consider how to replace that ornament."The next day they took the box that had contained it and went to the jeweler whose name wa
- 87 "An ancient peer of France and former colonel of cavalry, it was said that he believed in neither G.o.d nor devil. Not believing, therefore, in a future life he had abused the present life in every way, and had become a live wound in my mother's heart.
- 88 At five o'clock sharp I entered the gas works of La Villette. It might have been mistaken for the colossal ruins of an old town inhabited by Cyclops. There were immense dark avenues separating heavy gasometers standing one behind another, like monstrous
- 89 The voice of some joker or of a crazy person answers: "In a balloon!""Where are we?""At Lille!"We were not mistaken. We are already out of sight of the town, and we see Roubaix to the right, then some well-cultivated, rectangular fields, of differen
- 90 "Just as the train was leaving, a big, fat lady, escorted by four little girls, got into my car. I hardly looked at this mother hen, very big, very round, with a face as full as the moon framed in an enormous, beribboned hat."She was puffing, out of bre
- 91 Jean continued: "Look how red the sun is. The great wolf will do some harm to-night."He had hardly finished speaking when his horse reared; that of Franqois began to kick. A large thicket covered with dead leaves opened before them, and a mammoth beast,
- 92 But the sun had disappeared behind the lofty crest of the Wildstrubel and the young man returned to the chalet. Daddy Hari was smoking, and when he saw his mate come in he proposed a game of cards to him, and they sat down opposite each other, on either s
- 93 Monsieur Parent, accidentally looking up at the church clock, saw that he was five minutes late. He got up, took the child by the arm, shook his dress, which was covered with sand, wiped his hands, and led him in the direction of the Rue Blanche. He walke
- 94 "She-she-has-gone--" he managed to stammer.His wife began to get angry. "What do you mean by gone? Where has she gone? Why?"By degrees he regained his coolness. He felt an intense hatred rise up in him for that insolent woman who was standing before h
- 95 Parent trembled, for he felt that his anger was getting the upper hand, but Limousin interposed, and turning toward the young woman, said: "My dear friend, you, are altogether unjust. Parent could not guess that you would come here so late, as you never
- 96 Then, by degrees he grew calmer, his mental torture diminished, the image that had appeared to his eyes and which haunted his nights became more indistinct and less frequent. He began once more to live nearly like everybody else, like all those idle peopl
- 97 And he went away gesticulating, talking to himself under the tall trees, in the quiet, the cool air, which was full of the fragrance of growing plants. He did not turn round to look at them, but went straight on, walking under the stimulus of his rage, un
- 98 Colombel, who was continually lifting his tired leg from place to place, muttered: "She is dreaming that she has children and a husband; it is the beginning of the death agony."The two sisters had not yet moved, surprised, astounded.The little maid excl
- 99 Cimme fell asleep, his well-rounded paunch bathed in the glow of the s.h.i.+ning sun.The dying woman once more began to talk in a loud voice. Then suddenly she shrieked.The two women and Colombel rushed in to see what was the matter. Cimme, waking up, did
- 100 "But we were all wildly anxious to find out where this African ex-prince procured his drinks. I discovered it in a singular manner."I was on the ramparts one morning, watching the horizon, when I perceived something moving about in a vineyard. It was ne