The Works of Guy de Maupassant, Volume III (of 8)

Guy de Maupassant

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This carefully edited collection has been designed and formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) was a popular French writer, considered one of the fathers of the modern short story and one of the form's finest exponents. Maupassant was a protégé of Flaubert and his stories are characterized by economy of style and efficient, effortless outcomes. He wrote some 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books, and one volume of verse. His first published story, "Boule de Suif" ("Ball of Fat"), is often considered his masterpiece. Table of Contents: Introduction to the Works of Guy de Maupassant by Leo Tolstoy Novels: A Life Bel-Ami (The History of a Scoundrel) Mont Oriol Notre Coeur - A Woman's Pastime Pierre and Jean Strong as Death Novellas and Short Stories: Boul De Suif Simon's Papa Suicides On The River Lieutenant Lare's Marriage Two Friends Father Milon A Coup D"Etat The Horrible Madame Parisse An Adventure in Paris The Awakening Crash My Landlady The Horla Our Letters Profitable Business A Fashionable Woman The Donkey A Mother of Monsters A Family Affair The Mad Woman The Bandmaster's Sister The Cripple A Cock Crowed Words of Love Miss Harriet Mademoiselle Fifi Pierrot ...and many more Plays: A Tale of Old Times A Comedy of Marriage Musotte Poems: Des Vers Travel Sketches: Au Soleil: African Wanderings La Vie Errante Sur L'Eau: In Vagabondia French Original Texts: Une Vie Pierre Et Jean Mont-oriol Notre Coeur Fort Comme La Mort Bel-ami Mademoiselle Fifi Madame Baptiste La Rouille Marroca La Bûche La Relique Le Lit Fou? Mots d'Amour Une Aventure Parisienne Deux Amis Nuit de Noël Le Remplaçant Boul De Suif La Maison Tellier Le Pere Milon Le Diable La Petite Roque Lui? Mademoiselle Pearl Le Horla Clair de Lune Des Vers Recollections of Guy de Maupassant by His Valet by François Tassart ...

Chapter 8 No.8

08-13 19:04

Chapter 1 No.1

Margot Fresquyl had allowed herself to be tempted for the first time by the delicious intoxication of the mortal sin of loving, on the evening of Midsummer Day.

While most of the young people were holding each others' hands and dancing in a circle round the burning logs, the girl had slyly taken the deserted road which led to the wood, leaning on the arm of her partner, a tall, vigorous farm servant, whose Christian name was Tiennou, which, by the way, was the only name he had borne from his birth. For he was entered on the register of births with this curt note: Father and mother unknown; he having been found on St. Stephen's Day under a shed on a farm, where some poor, despairing wretch had abandoned him, perhaps even without turning her head round to look at him.

For months Tiennou had madly worshiped that fair, pretty girl, who was now trembling as he clasped her in his arms, under the sweet coolness of the leaves. He religiously rememberd how she had dazzled him-like some ecstastic vision, the recollection of which always remains imprinted on the eyes-the first time that he saw her in her father's mill, where he had gone to ask for work. She stood out all rosy from the warmth of the day, amidst the impalpable clouds of flour, which diffused an indistinct whiteness through the air. With her hair hanging about her in untidy curls, as if she had just awakened from a profound sleep, she stretched herself lazily, with her bare arms clasped behind her head, and yawned so as to show her white teeth, which glistened like those of a young wolf, and her maiden nudity appeared beneath her unbuttoned bodice with innocent immodesty. He told her that he thought her adorable, so stupidly, that she made fun of him and scourged him with her cruel laughter; and, from that day he spent his life in Margot's shadow. He might have been taken for one of those wild beasts ardent with desire, which ceaselessly utter maddened cries to the stars on nights when the constellations bathe the dark coverts in warm light. Margot met him wherever she went, and seized with pity, and by degrees agitated by his sobs, by his dumb entreaties, by the burning looks which flashed from his large eyes, she had returned his love; she had dreamt restlessly that during a whole night she had been in his vigorous arms which pressed her like corn that is being crushed in the mill, that she was obeying a man who had subdued her, and learning strange things which the other girls talked about in a low voice when they were drawing water at the well.

She had, however, been obliged to wait until Midsummer Day, for the miller watched over his heiress very carefully.

The two lovers told each other all this as they were going along the dark road, and innocently giving utterance to words of happiness, which rise to the lips like the forgotten refrain of a song. At times they were silent, not knowing what more to say, and not daring to embrace each other any more. The night was soft and warm, the warmth of a half-closed alcove in a bedroom, and which had the effect of a tumbler of new wine.

The leaves were sleeping motionless and in supreme peace, and in the distance they could hear the monotonous sound of the brooks as they flowed over the stones. Amidst the dull noise of the insects, the nightingales were answering each other from tree to tree, and everything seemed alive with hidden life, and the sky was bright with such a shower of falling stars, that they might have been taken for white forms wandering among the dark trunks of the trees.

"Why have we come?" Margot asked, in a panting voice. "Do you not want me any more, Tiennou?"

"Alas! I dare not," he replied. "Listen: you know that I was picked up on the high road, that I have nothing in the world except my two arms, and that Miller Fresquyl will never let his daughter marry a poor devil like me."

She interrupted him with a painful gesture, and putting her lips to his, she said:

"What does that matter? I love you, and I want you ... Take me ..."

And it was thus, on St. John's night, Margot Fresquyl for the first time yielded to the mortal sin of love.