Cover of Original Short Stories — Volume 02

Original Short Stories — Volume 02

  • Free to read
  • 2 hours to read
  • 11 chapters
  • Reading level: 7th grade

"Original Short Stories — Volume 02" by Guy de Maupassant is a collection of short stories written during the late 19th century. This volume includes various tales, each depicting human emotions and experiences, often set against the backdrop of contemporary French society. The stories range from romantic entanglements to existential musings, showcasing Maupassant's keen observation of character and social dynamics. At the start of this volume, the first story, "The Colonel's Ideas," introduces Colonel Laporte, who muses about the passionate nature of French men and their undying infatuation with women, even in the most trying circumstances. The narrative shifts to an anecdote from the Franco-Prussian War, where the colonel recounts a harrowing retreat indicative of soldierly bravery intertwined with a longing for feminine connection. The colonel’s reflections highlight themes of love, duty, and courage, setting the stage for the richly layered storytelling found throughout this collection.

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  • Short stories, French · Translations into English

Read the opening

The Colonel's Ideas

“Upon my word,” said Colonel Laporte, “although I am old and gouty, my legs as stiff as two pieces of wood, yet if a pretty woman were to tell me to go through the eye of a needle, I believe I should take a jump at it, like a clown through a hoop. I shall die like that; it is in the blood. I am an old beau, one of the old school, and the sight of a woman, a pretty woman, stirs me to the tips of my toes. There!

“We are all very much alike in France in this respect; we still remain knights, knights of love and fortune, since God has been abolished whose bodyguard we really were. But nobody can ever get woman out of our hearts; there she is, and there she will remain, and we love her, and shall continue to love her, and go on committing all kinds of follies on her account as long as there is a France on the map of Europe; and even if France were to be wiped off the map, there would always be Frenchmen left.

Keep reading Original Short Stories — Volume 02 →

Contents

  1. Volume II
  2. The Colonel's Ideas
  3. Mother Sauvage
  4. Epiphany
  5. The Mustache
  6. Madame Baptiste
  7. The Question of Latin
  8. A Meeting
  9. The Blind Man
  10. Indiscretion
  11. A Family Affair
  12. Beside Schopenhauer's Corpse

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About this edition

This free edition of Original Short Stories — Volume 02 by Guy de Maupassant comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #3078, released 2004-10-03. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Short Stories, French Literature.

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