Original Short Stories

In Short

This collection of nineteenth-century French short stories captures the tragic, absurd, and tender moments of daily life. Across various vignettes, Guy de Maupassant charts the lives of ordinary people—from penny-pinching wives and swindled brides to grieving mothers and tormented madmen. Set against the backdrop of provincial Normandy and bustling Paris, these tales examine human vanity, greed, and vulnerability. The book endures because of its clear, unflinching observation of human nature, blending sharp irony with sudden, profound compassion for society’s outcasts.

The Story

The collection opens with intimate domestic comedies that quickly turn dark, establishing a rhythm of ironic misfortune and social hypocrisy. In Normandy and Paris, modest clerks, farmers, and petty bourgeois families navigate petty anxieties and grand betrayals.

A tight-fisted woman named Mme. Oreille starves her household of pocket money and torments her husband over his worn umbrella. When he forces her to buy a costly silk replacement, it is immediately ruined by a mysterious burn hole. Desperate to recover her eighteen francs, she braves the intimidating halls of an insurance company, transforming her obsessive stinginess into a battle of nerve against unyielding bureaucracy.

Money and marriage remain tied together in tales of cold calculation. In a small town, a young woman named Jeanne marries a handsome clerk, bringing a heavy dowry meant to buy his legal practice. Upon arriving in Paris, her new husband vanishes from the top of an omnibus, taking her entire fortune with him and leaving her stranded, penniless, and utterly bewildered in the unfamiliar city.

Elsewhere, the humor takes on a surreal, rustic edge. A group of villagers travels by coach alongside an afflicted farmer who believes a bug has crawled into his ear and is eating his brain. The passengers, including a priest, a schoolmaster, and a heavy farmer, gather in a roadside kitchen to pour water, vinegar, and brandy into the man's ear in a chaotic attempt to drown the unseen pest.

Darker psychological landscapes emerge as the collection progresses. A respected judge keeps a secret journal documenting his sudden, uncontrollable impulse to murder, casually strangling a child in the woods and striking down a sleeping fisherman simply to watch the blood flow. In another quarters, a physician discovers the tragic secret of an old man who dresses in a youth mask to dance at public balls, driven by a desperate refusal to accept aging, while his wife waits at home, remembering the day she found his first white hair.

The collection closes on a tender note with young Simon, a boy mercilessly bullied at school because he has no father. Despondent, he wanders to the riverbank, contemplating drowning himself like a beggar he once saw pulled from the water. Instead, a kindly blacksmith named Philip finds him, comforts him, and eventually proposes to Simon's hard-working, solitary mother. The boy returns to school, proudly declaring his new father's name to his former tormentors.

How It Unfolds

The domestic battle Mme. Oreille starves her husband of pocket money until his colleagues mock his patched umbrella. She reluctantly buys an expensive silk replacement, only to find it ruined by a mysterious burn.

The bureaucrat's ordeal Terrified yet driven by financial panic, Mme. Oreille marches into an intimidating insurance office. She successfully maneuvers past stern officials to claim compensation for her damaged umbrella.

The village coach A countryside omnibus carries a colorful mix of peasants, a priest, and a schoolmaster. The journey devolves into chaos when a farmer claims an insect is devouring his brain from inside his ear.

The missing groom A newlywed bride arrives in Paris carrying her entire dowry to pay for her husband's new business. Her husband climbs onto the roof of an omnibus and disappears with the money, leaving her abandoned.

The judge's diary A respected magistrate records his terrifying transformation into a cold-blooded killer. He logs his unprovoked murders of a boy and a fisherman with eerie, detached satisfaction.

The masquerade revealed A doctor follows a collapsed dancer home, discovering the old man wears a youthful mask to pretend he is young. The man's devoted wife explains his tragic obsession with escaping old age.

The child at the river A fatherless boy named Simon suffers cruel teasing from his classmates. He walks down to the river to end his life, mesmerized by the quiet water and a jumping green frog.

The blacksmith's promise A big-hearted blacksmith named Philip stops Simon from drowning and walks him home. Philip courts Simon's solitary mother, giving the boy a name and a father to stand up to his bullies.

The People

• Mme. Oreille: A remarkably thrifty, short-tempered woman who experiences physical pain whenever she spends money. Her obsessive desire to preserve eighteen francs forces her to overcome her deep terror of public institutions.
• Maitre Simon Lebrument: A stylish provincial clerk who marries for financial gain. He disappears into the crowds of Paris, callously abandoning his naive new wife after running off with her entire three-hundred-thousand-franc dowry.
• Jeanne Cordier: A fresh-faced, awkward young bride. She is left bewildered and penniless on a city street when the husband she trusted vanishes with her life savings.
• Belhomme: A tall, thin farmer who suffers from a agonizing earache. He becomes convinced a live bug is eating his brain, driving his fellow travelers to perform bizarre countryside remedies on him.
• The Mad Judge: A wealthy, highly regarded magistrate who conceals a monstrous secret. He feels an addictive, intoxicating urge to commit random, unprovoked acts of violence.
• The Masked Dancer: An aging man who refuses to accept his fading youth. He disguises himself behind a youthful mask to dance at public halls, exhausting his feeble body.
• His Wife: A faithful, hard-working woman who endured her husband's vanity for forty years. She loves him despite his foolishness and cares for him when his nightly excursions leave him helpless.
• Simon: A sensitive young boy teased relentlessly by his peers because he lacks a father. His despair drives him toward self-destruction until he finds protection in an unexpected father figure.
• Philip Remy: A strong, generous blacksmith with a loud voice and a kind heart. He steps into Simon's life, offering marriage to the boy's mother and giving the child a proud identity.

In Its Own Voice

"It really pained Mme. Oreille to see any money spent; it was like tearing at her heartstrings when she had to take any of those nice crown-pieces out of her pocket..."

This quiet domestic detail captures the intense, almost physical anguish that drives Mme. Oreille's relentless stinginess.

"He got off at the Madeleine. He got rid of you, all right! Ha! ha! ha!"

The omnibus conductor's casual cruelty highlights the complete isolation of a young bride stranded alone in Paris after losing her dowry.

"'My papa,' said he in a clear voice, 'is Philip Remy, the blacksmith, and he has promised to pull the ears of all who does me any harm.'"

Young Simon's proud declaration to his classmates brings a rare moment of triumph and emotional resolution to the collection.

What It's Really About

Underneath its dramatic plots, the collection explores the fragility of human dignity across different social classes. It examines how society punishes the vulnerable—the fatherless child, the abandoned bride, the lonely old woman—while often rewarding or ignoring quiet cruelties. Money acts as a driving force throughout the stories, functioning as an object of obsession, a tool for deception, or a substitute for genuine love. The stories also dwell on the fear of aging and isolation, showing how people build elaborate disguises, whether physical masks or social pretenses, to shield themselves from uncomfortable truths. Ultimately, the collection asks whether compassion can survive in a world driven by self-interest and social judgment.

Why Read It Today

This collection remains strikingly accessible to modern readers because of its swift pacing, sharp observations, and complete absence of unnecessary filler. Maupassant cuts straight to the heart of every scene, offering vivid sketches of French life that feel immediately recognizable. The stories move fluidly between light-hearted irony and dark psychological tension, ensuring that the narrative dynamic constantly shifts.

Readers should be prepared for period attitudes and social prejudices reflected in nineteenth-century provincial life, particularly regarding gender roles, illegitimate children, and harsh rural gossip. However, these elements grounding the narrative serve to heighten the emotional impact of the characters' struggles. The book appeals to anyone who enjoys concise, powerful character studies, sharp plot twists, and stories that illuminate the strange complexities of human nature. Long after reading, what remains is the author's ability to uncover unexpected depth in the briefest, most ordinary human encounters.