A Parisian Affair and Other Stories. Guy de Maupassant

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      A PARISIAN AFFAIR AND OTHER STORIES

      By GUY DE MAUPASSANT

      A Parisian Affair and Other Stories

      By Guy de Maupassant

      Print ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-7180-4

      eBook ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-7181-1

      This edition copyright © 2020. Digireads.com Publishing.

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

      Cover Image: a detail of “Boule de Suif”, by Paul Emile Boutigny, c. 1884, (oil on canvas) / Bridgeman Images.

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      CONTENTS

       Ball of Tallow

       A Parisian Affair

       A Wife’s Confession

       A Cock Crowed

       Clair De Lune

       At Sea

       A Million

       Paul’s Mistress

       M. Jocaste

       Two Friends

       The Awakening

       The False Gems

       A Traveler’s Tale

       Regret

       A Humble Drama

       The Christening

       A Coward

       Rose

       An Idyll

       Mother Sauvage

       Madame Husson’s “Rosier”

       A Meeting

       A Happy Life

       Indiscretion

       Love

       Hautot Senior and Hautot Junior

       A New Year’s Gift

       Le Horla

       Duchoux

       The Magic Couch

       Useless Beauty

       Who Knows?

       Tombstones

       The Diamond Necklace

       The Piece of String

       Madam Tellier’s Establishment

       Mademoiselle Fifi

       Miss Harriet

       A Way to Wealth

       My Uncle Jules

       Biographical Afterword

      Ball of Tallow

      For several days in succession fragments of a defeated army had passed through the town. They were mere disorganized bands, not disciplined forces. The men wore long, dirty beards and tattered uniforms; they advanced in listless fashion, without a flag, without a leader. All seemed exhausted, worn out, incapable of thought or resolve, marching onward merely by force of habit, and dropping to the ground with fatigue the moment they halted. One saw, in particular, many enlisted men, peaceful citizens, men who lived quietly on their income, bending beneath the weight of their rifles; and little active volunteers, easily frightened but full of enthusiasm, as eager to attack as they were ready to take to flight; and amid these, a sprinkling of red-breeched soldiers, the pitiful remnant of a division cut down in a great battle; somber artillerymen, side by side with nondescript foot-soldiers; and, here and there, the gleaming helmet of a heavy-footed dragoon who had difficulty in keeping up with the quicker pace of the soldiers of the line.

      Legions of irregulars with high-sounding names “Avengers of Defeat,” “Citizens of the Tomb,” “Brethren in Death”—passed in their turn, looking like banditti.

      Their leaders, former drapers or grain merchants, or tallow or soap chandlers—warriors by force of circumstances, officers by reason of their mustachios or their money—covered with weapons, flannel and gold lace, spoke in an impressive manner, discussed plans of campaign, and behaved as though they alone bore the fortunes of dying France on their braggart shoulders; though, in truth, they frequently were afraid of their own men—scoundrels often brave beyond measure, but pillagers and debauchees.

      Rumor