Public-domain ebook
Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant
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Subjects
In: Short Stories·French Literature
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #3090.
About this book
The volume gathers the complete short stories of Guy de Maupassant, presented here in English translation. It opens with a vivid, war‑torn scene in which two Parisian friends, Morissot and Sauvage, attempt a quiet day of fishing amid the siege of the capital. Their leisurely pastime is abruptly shattered by the distant thunder of Mont‑Valerien’s cannons, leading to a tense encounter with Prussian soldiers who mistake the anglers for spies. The narrative moves from the lyrical description of the river and the camaraderie of the two men to a stark, almost cinematic confrontation, setting the tone for Mau‑Mau’s blend of everyday realism and the sudden intrusion of violence that characterises much of his work.
Maupassant’s voice is spare yet richly detailed, his prose echoing the naturalist currents of late‑nineteenth‑century France. The stories combine crisp observation of ordinary life with an undercurrent of fatalism, often revealing the fragility of human hopes against the backdrop of war, poverty, and social change. Readers who appreciate finely wrought, psychologically acute tales, especially those interested in the French experience of the Franco‑Prussian War and its aftermath, will find this collection rewarding. The translation preserves the original’s subtle irony and moral nuance, making it an engaging entry point for lovers of classic short‑form literature.
Characters in Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant
- MorissotMiddle‑aged Parisian man in 1870s wool coat, flat cap, solemn expression, holding fishing rod
- SauvageYoung French gentleman, crisp shirt, dark waistcoat, straw hat, lean build, smiling while fishing
- CornudetRugged coachman in a battered leather coat, wide‑brimmed hat, grizzled beard, whistling fiercely
The opening · free to read
Two Friends
Besieged Paris was in the throes of famine. Even the sparrows on the roofs and the rats in the sewers were growing scarce. People were eating anything they could get.
As Monsieur Morissot, watchmaker by profession and idler for the nonce, was strolling along the boulevard one bright January morning, his hands in his trousers pockets and stomach empty, he suddenly came face to face with an acquaintance—Monsieur Sauvage, a fishing chum.
Before the war broke out Morissot had been in the habit, every Sunday morning, of setting forth with a bamboo rod in his hand and a tin box on his back. He took the Argenteuil train, got out at Colombes, and walked thence to the Ile Marante. The moment he arrived at this place of his dreams he began fishing, and fished till nightfall.
Every Sunday he met in this very spot Monsieur Sauvage, a stout, jolly, little man, a draper in the Rue Notre Dame de Lorette, and also an ardent fisherman. They often spent half the day side by side, rod in hand and feet dangling over the water, and a warm friendship had sprung up between the two.
Some days they did not speak; at other times they chatted; but they understood each other perfectly without the aid of words, having similar tastes and feelings.
In the spring, about ten o'clock in the morning, when the early sun caused a light mist to float on the water and gently warmed the backs of the two enthusiastic anglers, Morissot would occasionally remark to his neighbor:
“My, but it's pleasant here.”
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