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The Confession
The Confession by Guy de Maupassant
Suzanne stays at the bedside of her dying sister, who she has lived with her whole life.
Suzanne stays at the bedside of her dying sister, who she has lived with her whole life.
5 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 1964
2 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Guy de Maupassant
7,565 books3,070 followersHenri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer. He is one of the fathers of the modern short story. A protege of Flaubert, Maupassant's short stories are characterized by their economy of style and their efficient effortless dénouement. He also wrote six short novels. A number of his stories often denote the futility of war and the innocent civilians who get crushed in it - many are set during the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870s.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 15, 2019
Well written and sad short story about jealousy and forgiveness.
August 24, 2020
j'ai lu cette conte au lycée .
mais j'ai oubliée la fin.
durant des années cette contes reste comme un mystère ..
aujourd'hui grâce à mes chères amis je la trouvée.
quand j'ai commence la lecture.
des milliers des images.des pensées me traversent:
souvenirs d'une adolescente.
🌸L'amour était pour moi la vie de l'âme, comme l'air est la vie du corps. J'eusse préféré mourir plutôt que d'exister sans tendresse, sans une pensée toujours attachée à moi.🌸
24/août/20
mais j'ai oubliée la fin.
durant des années cette contes reste comme un mystère ..
aujourd'hui grâce à mes chères amis je la trouvée.
quand j'ai commence la lecture.
des milliers des images.des pensées me traversent:
souvenirs d'une adolescente.
🌸L'amour était pour moi la vie de l'âme, comme l'air est la vie du corps. J'eusse préféré mourir plutôt que d'exister sans tendresse, sans une pensée toujours attachée à moi.🌸
24/août/20
November 24, 2024
Excellent.
This was really good, but not going to review it.
For the moment at least.
It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1882] [10p] [Classics] [3.5] [Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
★★★★★ The Necklace [4.5]
★★★★☆ Un parricida y otros cuentos [3.5]
★★★☆☆ The False Gems [3.5]
-----------------------------------------------
Excelente.
Esto estuvo muy muy bien, pero no voy a reseñarlo.
Al menos por ahora.
Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1882] [10p] [Clásicos] [3.5] [Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
This was really good, but not going to review it.
For the moment at least.
It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1882] [10p] [Classics] [3.5] [Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
★★★★★ The Necklace [4.5]
★★★★☆ Un parricida y otros cuentos [3.5]
★★★☆☆ The False Gems [3.5]
-----------------------------------------------
Excelente.
Esto estuvo muy muy bien, pero no voy a reseñarlo.
Al menos por ahora.
Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1882] [10p] [Clásicos] [3.5] [Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
March 15, 2022
MASTERPIECE
May 27, 2023
Guy de Maupassant's "The Confession" was actually written by Maizeroy and is about a good for nothing husband and what he expects from his wife.
Story in short- Monsieur de Champdelin had returned to his old ways after he marries.
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30309
Monsieur de Champdelin had no reason to complain of his lot as a married man; nor could he accuse destiny of having played him in a bad turn, as it does so many others, for it would have been difficult to find a more desirable, merrier, prettier little woman, or one who was easier to amuse and to guide than his wife. To see the large, limpid eyes which illuminated her fair, girlish face, one would think that
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30312
her mother must have spent whole nights before her birth, in looking dreamily at the stars, and so had become, as it were, impregnated with their magic brightness. And one did not know which to prefer — her bright, silky hair, or her slightly restroussé nose, with its vibrating nostrils, her red lips, which looked as alluring as a ripe peach, her beautiful shoulders, her delicate ears, which resembled mother-of-pearl, or her slim waist and rounded figure, which would have delighted and tempted a sculptor.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30316
And then she was always merry, overflowing with youth and life, never dissatisfied, only wishing to enjoy herself, to laugh, to love and be loved, and putting all the house into a tumult, as if it had been a great cage full of birds. In spite of all this, however, that worn out fool, Champdelin, had never cared much about her, but had left that charming garden lying waste, and almost immediately after their honeymoon, he had resumed is usual bachelor habits, and had begun to
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌ spoiler alert
Monsieur de Champdelin who is a terrible libertine leaves his wife to a lonely life and expects her to remain that way but he finds out while locked in a church confessional hears his wife tell of her sin of loving another. Monsieur de Champdelin is outraged and a divorce is in the future which is preferable for his wife, and he can just go to the dogs himself.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30319
lead the same fast life that he had done of old. It was stronger than he, for his was one of those libertine natures which are constant targets for love, and which never resign themselves to domestic peace and happiness. The last woman who came across him, in a love adventure, was always the one whom he loved best, and the mere contact with a petticoat inflamed him, and made him commit the most imprudent actions. As he was not hard to please, he fished, as it were, in troubled
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30323
waters, went after the ugly ones and the pretty ones alike, was bold even to impudence, was not to be kept off by mistakes, nor anger, nor modesty, nor threats, though he sometimes fell into a trap and got a thrashing from some relative or jealous lover; he withstood all attempts to get hush-money out of him, and became only all the more enamored of vice and more ardent in his lures and pursuit of love affairs on that account. But the work- girls and the shop-girls and all the tradesmen’s wives
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30326
in Saint Martéjoux knew him, and made him pay for their whims and their coquetry, and had to put up with his love-making. Many of them smiled or blushed when they saw him under the tall plane-trees in the public garden, or met him in the unfrequented, narrow streets near the Cathedral, with his thin, sensual face, whose looks had something satyr-like about them, and some of them used to laugh at him and make fun of him, though they ran away when he went up to them. And when some friend or other, who was
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30330
sorry that he could forget himself so far, used to say to him, when he was at a loss for any other argument: “And your wife, Champdelin? Are you not afraid that she will have her revenge and pay you out in your own coin?” his only reply was a contemptuous and incredulous shrug of the shoulders. She deceive him, indeed; she, who was as devout, as virtuous, and as ignorant of forbidden things as a nun, who cared no more for love than she did for an old slipper! She, who did not even venture on
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30333
any veiled allusions, who was always laughing, who took life as it came, who performed her religious duties with edifying assiduity, she to pay him back, so as to make him look ridiculous, and to gad about at night? Never! Anyone who could think such a thing must have lost his senses. However, one summer day, when the roofs all seemed red-hot, and the whole town appeared dead, Monsieur de Champdelin had followed two milliner’s girls, with bandboxes in their hands from
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30337
street to street, whispering nonsense to them, and promising beforehand to give them anything they asked him for, and had gone after them as far as the Cathedral. In their fright, they took refuge there, but he followed them in, and, emboldened by the solitude of the nave, and by the perfect silence in the building, he became more enterprising and bolder. They did not know how to defend themselves, or to escape from him, and were trembling at his daring attempts, and at his kisses, when he saw a confessional whose doors were open, in one of the side chapels. “We should be much more comfortable in there, my little dears,” he said, going into it, as if to get such an unexpected nest ready for them. But they were quicker than he, and throwing themselves against the grated door, they pushed it to before he could turn round, and locked him in. At first he thought it was only a joke, and it amused him; but when they began to laugh heartily and putting their tongues at him, as if he had been a monkey in a cage, and overwhelmed him with insults, he first of all grew angry, and then humble,
offering to pay well for his ransom, and he implored them to let him out, and tried to escape like a mouse does out of a trap. They, however, did not appear to hear him, but naively bowed to him ceremoniously, wished him good night, and ran out as fast as they could. Champdelin was in despair; he did not know what to do, and cursed his bad luck. What would be the end of it? Who would deliver him from
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30347
that species of prison, and was he going to remain there all the afternoon and night, like a portmanteau that had been forgotten at the lost luggage office? He could not manage to force the lock, and did not venture to knock hard against the sides of the confessional, for fear of attracting the attention of some beadle or sacristan. Oh! those wretched girls, and how people would make fun of him and write verses about him, and point their fingers at him, if the joke were discovered and got noised abroad!
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30351
By and by, he heard the faint sound of prayers in the distance and through the green serge curtain that concealed him Monsieur Champdelin heard the rattle of the beads on the chaplets, as the women repeated their Ave Maria’s, and the rustle of dresses and the noise of footsteps on the pavement. Suddenly, he felt a tickling in his throat that nearly choked him, and he could not altogether prevent himself from coughing, and when at last it passed off, the unfortunate man was horrified at hearing
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30355
some one come into the chapel and up to the confessional. Whoever it was, knelt down, and gave a discreet knock at the grating which separated the priest from his penitents, so he quickly put on the surplice and stole which were hanging on a nail, and covering his face with his handkerchief, and sitting back in the shade, he opened the grating. It was a woman, who was already saying her prayers and he gave the responses as well as he could, from his boyish recollections, and was somewhat agitated by the delicious
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30359
scent that emanated from her half-raised veil and from her bodice; but at her first words he started so, that he almost fainted. He had recognized his wife’s voice, and it felt to him as if his seat were studded with sharp nails, that the sides of the confessional were closing in on him, and as if the air were growing rarified. He now collected himself, however, and regaining his self-possession, he listened to what she had to say with increasing curiosity, and with some uncertain, and necessary
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30362
interruptions. The young woman sighed, was evidently keeping back something, spoke about her unhappiness, her melancholy life, her husband’s neglect, the temptations by which she was surrounded, and which she found it so difficult to resist; her conscience seemed to be burdened by an intolerable weight, though she hesitated to accuse herself directly. And in a low voice, with unctuous and coaxing tones, and mastering himself, Champdelin said:
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30366
“Courage, my child; tell me everything; the divine mercy is infinite; tell me all, without hesitation.” Then, all at once, she told him everything that was troubling her; how passion and desire had thrown her into the arms of one of her husband’s best friends, the exquisite happiness that they felt when they met every day, his delightful tenderness, which she could no longer resist, the sin which was her joy, her only object, her consolation, her dream. She grew excited, sobbed, seemed enervated and worn
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30369
out, as if she were still burning from her lover’s kisses, hardly seemed to know what she was saying, and begged for temporary absolution from her sins; but then Champdelin, in his exasperation, and unable to restrain himself any longer, interrupted her in a furious voice: “Oh! no! Oh! no; this is not at all funny ... keep such sort of things to yourself, my dear!” Poor little Madame de Champdelin nearly went out of her mind with fright and astonishment, and
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30373
they are now waiting for the decree which will break their chains and let them part.
Story in short- Monsieur de Champdelin had returned to his old ways after he marries.
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30309
Monsieur de Champdelin had no reason to complain of his lot as a married man; nor could he accuse destiny of having played him in a bad turn, as it does so many others, for it would have been difficult to find a more desirable, merrier, prettier little woman, or one who was easier to amuse and to guide than his wife. To see the large, limpid eyes which illuminated her fair, girlish face, one would think that
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30312
her mother must have spent whole nights before her birth, in looking dreamily at the stars, and so had become, as it were, impregnated with their magic brightness. And one did not know which to prefer — her bright, silky hair, or her slightly restroussé nose, with its vibrating nostrils, her red lips, which looked as alluring as a ripe peach, her beautiful shoulders, her delicate ears, which resembled mother-of-pearl, or her slim waist and rounded figure, which would have delighted and tempted a sculptor.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30316
And then she was always merry, overflowing with youth and life, never dissatisfied, only wishing to enjoy herself, to laugh, to love and be loved, and putting all the house into a tumult, as if it had been a great cage full of birds. In spite of all this, however, that worn out fool, Champdelin, had never cared much about her, but had left that charming garden lying waste, and almost immediately after their honeymoon, he had resumed is usual bachelor habits, and had begun to
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌ spoiler alert
Monsieur de Champdelin who is a terrible libertine leaves his wife to a lonely life and expects her to remain that way but he finds out while locked in a church confessional hears his wife tell of her sin of loving another. Monsieur de Champdelin is outraged and a divorce is in the future which is preferable for his wife, and he can just go to the dogs himself.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30319
lead the same fast life that he had done of old. It was stronger than he, for his was one of those libertine natures which are constant targets for love, and which never resign themselves to domestic peace and happiness. The last woman who came across him, in a love adventure, was always the one whom he loved best, and the mere contact with a petticoat inflamed him, and made him commit the most imprudent actions. As he was not hard to please, he fished, as it were, in troubled
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30323
waters, went after the ugly ones and the pretty ones alike, was bold even to impudence, was not to be kept off by mistakes, nor anger, nor modesty, nor threats, though he sometimes fell into a trap and got a thrashing from some relative or jealous lover; he withstood all attempts to get hush-money out of him, and became only all the more enamored of vice and more ardent in his lures and pursuit of love affairs on that account. But the work- girls and the shop-girls and all the tradesmen’s wives
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30326
in Saint Martéjoux knew him, and made him pay for their whims and their coquetry, and had to put up with his love-making. Many of them smiled or blushed when they saw him under the tall plane-trees in the public garden, or met him in the unfrequented, narrow streets near the Cathedral, with his thin, sensual face, whose looks had something satyr-like about them, and some of them used to laugh at him and make fun of him, though they ran away when he went up to them. And when some friend or other, who was
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30330
sorry that he could forget himself so far, used to say to him, when he was at a loss for any other argument: “And your wife, Champdelin? Are you not afraid that she will have her revenge and pay you out in your own coin?” his only reply was a contemptuous and incredulous shrug of the shoulders. She deceive him, indeed; she, who was as devout, as virtuous, and as ignorant of forbidden things as a nun, who cared no more for love than she did for an old slipper! She, who did not even venture on
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30333
any veiled allusions, who was always laughing, who took life as it came, who performed her religious duties with edifying assiduity, she to pay him back, so as to make him look ridiculous, and to gad about at night? Never! Anyone who could think such a thing must have lost his senses. However, one summer day, when the roofs all seemed red-hot, and the whole town appeared dead, Monsieur de Champdelin had followed two milliner’s girls, with bandboxes in their hands from
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30337
street to street, whispering nonsense to them, and promising beforehand to give them anything they asked him for, and had gone after them as far as the Cathedral. In their fright, they took refuge there, but he followed them in, and, emboldened by the solitude of the nave, and by the perfect silence in the building, he became more enterprising and bolder. They did not know how to defend themselves, or to escape from him, and were trembling at his daring attempts, and at his kisses, when he saw a confessional whose doors were open, in one of the side chapels. “We should be much more comfortable in there, my little dears,” he said, going into it, as if to get such an unexpected nest ready for them. But they were quicker than he, and throwing themselves against the grated door, they pushed it to before he could turn round, and locked him in. At first he thought it was only a joke, and it amused him; but when they began to laugh heartily and putting their tongues at him, as if he had been a monkey in a cage, and overwhelmed him with insults, he first of all grew angry, and then humble,
offering to pay well for his ransom, and he implored them to let him out, and tried to escape like a mouse does out of a trap. They, however, did not appear to hear him, but naively bowed to him ceremoniously, wished him good night, and ran out as fast as they could. Champdelin was in despair; he did not know what to do, and cursed his bad luck. What would be the end of it? Who would deliver him from
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30347
that species of prison, and was he going to remain there all the afternoon and night, like a portmanteau that had been forgotten at the lost luggage office? He could not manage to force the lock, and did not venture to knock hard against the sides of the confessional, for fear of attracting the attention of some beadle or sacristan. Oh! those wretched girls, and how people would make fun of him and write verses about him, and point their fingers at him, if the joke were discovered and got noised abroad!
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30351
By and by, he heard the faint sound of prayers in the distance and through the green serge curtain that concealed him Monsieur Champdelin heard the rattle of the beads on the chaplets, as the women repeated their Ave Maria’s, and the rustle of dresses and the noise of footsteps on the pavement. Suddenly, he felt a tickling in his throat that nearly choked him, and he could not altogether prevent himself from coughing, and when at last it passed off, the unfortunate man was horrified at hearing
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30355
some one come into the chapel and up to the confessional. Whoever it was, knelt down, and gave a discreet knock at the grating which separated the priest from his penitents, so he quickly put on the surplice and stole which were hanging on a nail, and covering his face with his handkerchief, and sitting back in the shade, he opened the grating. It was a woman, who was already saying her prayers and he gave the responses as well as he could, from his boyish recollections, and was somewhat agitated by the delicious
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30359
scent that emanated from her half-raised veil and from her bodice; but at her first words he started so, that he almost fainted. He had recognized his wife’s voice, and it felt to him as if his seat were studded with sharp nails, that the sides of the confessional were closing in on him, and as if the air were growing rarified. He now collected himself, however, and regaining his self-possession, he listened to what she had to say with increasing curiosity, and with some uncertain, and necessary
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30362
interruptions. The young woman sighed, was evidently keeping back something, spoke about her unhappiness, her melancholy life, her husband’s neglect, the temptations by which she was surrounded, and which she found it so difficult to resist; her conscience seemed to be burdened by an intolerable weight, though she hesitated to accuse herself directly. And in a low voice, with unctuous and coaxing tones, and mastering himself, Champdelin said:
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30366
“Courage, my child; tell me everything; the divine mercy is infinite; tell me all, without hesitation.” Then, all at once, she told him everything that was troubling her; how passion and desire had thrown her into the arms of one of her husband’s best friends, the exquisite happiness that they felt when they met every day, his delightful tenderness, which she could no longer resist, the sin which was her joy, her only object, her consolation, her dream. She grew excited, sobbed, seemed enervated and worn
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30369
out, as if she were still burning from her lover’s kisses, hardly seemed to know what she was saying, and begged for temporary absolution from her sins; but then Champdelin, in his exasperation, and unable to restrain himself any longer, interrupted her in a furious voice: “Oh! no! Oh! no; this is not at all funny ... keep such sort of things to yourself, my dear!” Poor little Madame de Champdelin nearly went out of her mind with fright and astonishment, and
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 30373
they are now waiting for the decree which will break their chains and let them part.
August 5, 2020
"Mon ami, vous m’avez demandé de vous raconter les souvenirs les plus vifs de mon existence. Je suis très vieille, sans
parents, sans enfants ; je me trouve donc libre de me confesser à vous. Promettez-moi seulement de ne jamais dévoiler mon nom.
J’ai été beaucoup aimée, vous le savez ; j’ai souvent aimé moi-même. J’étais fort belle ; je puis le dire aujourd’hui qu’il n’en reste rien. L’amour était pour moi la vie de l’âme, comme
l’air est la vie du corps. J’eusse préféré mourir plutôt que d’exister sans tendresse, sans une pensée toujours attachée à moi. Les femmes souvent prétendent n’aimer qu’une fois de toute la puissance du cœur ; il m’est souvent arrivé de chérir si violemment que je croyais impossible la fin de mes transports. Ils s’éteignaient pourtant toujours d’une façon
naturelle, comme un feu où le bois manque."
************
J'aime beaucoup le début de cette histoire parce que ces confessions sont très réalistes. Cette femme n'échappe pas à ses souvenirs, se mémoires concernant les échecs dans le chemin d'amour. En lisant cette petite histoire, l'envie m'est venue de lire plus de œuvres par ce auture magnifique. J'adore cette femme. Elle est intrépide et assez honnête avec elle-même.
parents, sans enfants ; je me trouve donc libre de me confesser à vous. Promettez-moi seulement de ne jamais dévoiler mon nom.
J’ai été beaucoup aimée, vous le savez ; j’ai souvent aimé moi-même. J’étais fort belle ; je puis le dire aujourd’hui qu’il n’en reste rien. L’amour était pour moi la vie de l’âme, comme
l’air est la vie du corps. J’eusse préféré mourir plutôt que d’exister sans tendresse, sans une pensée toujours attachée à moi. Les femmes souvent prétendent n’aimer qu’une fois de toute la puissance du cœur ; il m’est souvent arrivé de chérir si violemment que je croyais impossible la fin de mes transports. Ils s’éteignaient pourtant toujours d’une façon
naturelle, comme un feu où le bois manque."
************
J'aime beaucoup le début de cette histoire parce que ces confessions sont très réalistes. Cette femme n'échappe pas à ses souvenirs, se mémoires concernant les échecs dans le chemin d'amour. En lisant cette petite histoire, l'envie m'est venue de lire plus de œuvres par ce auture magnifique. J'adore cette femme. Elle est intrépide et assez honnête avec elle-même.
October 26, 2022
Jai deviner le plot donc cetait un peux ennuyant. Apres ça reste une très bonne lecture bien quelle soit courte que je conseille au personne qui souhaite s'intégrer dans la littérature classique avec douceur .
November 3, 2024
3.71⭐
With one story below falsely attributed to Guy de Maupassant it is quite obvious that Monsieur Maupassant advocates for the proverb that "confession is good for the soul. *René Maizeroy on the other hand gives us a version of "Karma has a funny way of coming back around to bite you in the derrière" (pardon my French).
A Sister’s Confession 4.25⭐
AKA: La confession; (à l’origine : L’aveu) [Originally: The Confession]
Marguerite, who is fifty-six although she seems to be at least twenty years older, is on her deathbed and tells her elder sister to listen to the confession that she is about to make to the priest who has just arrived to administer the last rites. And it is a terrible confession about what she did in their youth that prevented either of them from ever marrying. Somber in the extreme, a sad tale of a sad crime committed by a deranged young woman.
A Woman’s Confessions (June 1882) 3.5⭐
AKA: A Wife’s Confession; Confessions d’une femme
An elderly woman who has had a very rich love life recounts to a friend a dramatic hunting incident during her first marriage that changed her life forever when her husband killed her maid's lover by mistake thinking it was his wife that was having an affair.
The Confession (July 1884) 3⭐
AKA: Confessing; L’aveu #2
Céleste Malivoire, a sturdy farm girl, and her mother are carrying heavy pails of milk on a very hot sunny day after milking the family’s many cows when Céleste collapses under the strain and confesses to her mother that she is pregnant. After getting a beating she explains the monetary conditions that led to this event. The mother is then faced with a moral dilemma that she quickly resolves.
The Confession #2 (August 1884) 3.5⭐
AKA: A Peculiar Case; La confession #2
The very serious, strict, austere and irreproachable Captain de Fontenne has married the vivacious young high-spirited (and wealthy) young Laurune d’Estelle, and in spite of everyone’s doubts about the chances of success of their marriage it turned out very well. She is very active in charitable work of all kinds from morning till night, and her only default is that she sometimes breaks out into peals of high-spirited uncontrollable laughter while describing her activities to her husband afterwards. At one point the Captain has to participate in a major military exercise and leave his young wife alone for a fortnight, and when he returns and reunites with her, she senses that something had gone wrong. Feeling a deep sense of remorse the Captain ends up confessing his infidelity to his wife. He tells her how he became intoxicated and ended up spending a night with an actress. Instead of reacting with anger or sadness, Laurine burst into spurts of uncontrollable laughter. She found the situation so amusing that she couldn't stop laughing, despite her husband's growing anger. A surprising reaction indeed from his wife.
A Father’s Confession 4.5⭐
AKA: After Death; La confession #3
The son and daughter of Monsieur Badon-Leremincé who was believed to be an honest man in his words, in his examples, his attitude and his behavior are gathered at their lawyer’s office to hear the last will and testament of their dearly beloved and recently deceased father. During the reading of the will, he confesses to them the horrific secret that he has hidden from them all their lives.
*Le Confession by René Maizeroy 3.5⭐
AKA: The Confession #3
This story was actually written by René Maizeroy and falsely attributed to Guy de Maupassant. Originally titled Le Confession it appears in his book titled En folie [In Madness] which is a collection of short stories published in 1894. You can find the French text and the attribution to René Maizeroy in the newspaper Le Supplément for 4th December 1906. https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt...
Monsieur de Champdelin cannot give up his bachelor habits after his marriage to a very lovely and happy young woman who adores him. He. however, continues to search incessantly for women to prey upon. One day he follows two young girls into a church and is so aggressive with them that they become frightened and manage to push him into a confessional booth and to lock him in there. And then another woman (who turns out to be Madame de Champdelin) comes into the other side of the confessional box and reveals to what she thinks is the priest that she’s having a passionate affair with one of her husband’s friends. Ooh La La! a nice twist of karma.
With one story below falsely attributed to Guy de Maupassant it is quite obvious that Monsieur Maupassant advocates for the proverb that "confession is good for the soul. *René Maizeroy on the other hand gives us a version of "Karma has a funny way of coming back around to bite you in the derrière" (pardon my French).
A Sister’s Confession 4.25⭐
AKA: La confession; (à l’origine : L’aveu) [Originally: The Confession]
Marguerite, who is fifty-six although she seems to be at least twenty years older, is on her deathbed and tells her elder sister to listen to the confession that she is about to make to the priest who has just arrived to administer the last rites. And it is a terrible confession about what she did in their youth that prevented either of them from ever marrying. Somber in the extreme, a sad tale of a sad crime committed by a deranged young woman.
A Woman’s Confessions (June 1882) 3.5⭐
AKA: A Wife’s Confession; Confessions d’une femme
An elderly woman who has had a very rich love life recounts to a friend a dramatic hunting incident during her first marriage that changed her life forever when her husband killed her maid's lover by mistake thinking it was his wife that was having an affair.
The Confession (July 1884) 3⭐
AKA: Confessing; L’aveu #2
Céleste Malivoire, a sturdy farm girl, and her mother are carrying heavy pails of milk on a very hot sunny day after milking the family’s many cows when Céleste collapses under the strain and confesses to her mother that she is pregnant. After getting a beating she explains the monetary conditions that led to this event. The mother is then faced with a moral dilemma that she quickly resolves.
The Confession #2 (August 1884) 3.5⭐
AKA: A Peculiar Case; La confession #2
The very serious, strict, austere and irreproachable Captain de Fontenne has married the vivacious young high-spirited (and wealthy) young Laurune d’Estelle, and in spite of everyone’s doubts about the chances of success of their marriage it turned out very well. She is very active in charitable work of all kinds from morning till night, and her only default is that she sometimes breaks out into peals of high-spirited uncontrollable laughter while describing her activities to her husband afterwards. At one point the Captain has to participate in a major military exercise and leave his young wife alone for a fortnight, and when he returns and reunites with her, she senses that something had gone wrong. Feeling a deep sense of remorse the Captain ends up confessing his infidelity to his wife. He tells her how he became intoxicated and ended up spending a night with an actress. Instead of reacting with anger or sadness, Laurine burst into spurts of uncontrollable laughter. She found the situation so amusing that she couldn't stop laughing, despite her husband's growing anger. A surprising reaction indeed from his wife.
A Father’s Confession 4.5⭐
AKA: After Death; La confession #3
The son and daughter of Monsieur Badon-Leremincé who was believed to be an honest man in his words, in his examples, his attitude and his behavior are gathered at their lawyer’s office to hear the last will and testament of their dearly beloved and recently deceased father. During the reading of the will, he confesses to them the horrific secret that he has hidden from them all their lives.
*Le Confession by René Maizeroy 3.5⭐
AKA: The Confession #3
This story was actually written by René Maizeroy and falsely attributed to Guy de Maupassant. Originally titled Le Confession it appears in his book titled En folie [In Madness] which is a collection of short stories published in 1894. You can find the French text and the attribution to René Maizeroy in the newspaper Le Supplément for 4th December 1906. https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt...
Monsieur de Champdelin cannot give up his bachelor habits after his marriage to a very lovely and happy young woman who adores him. He. however, continues to search incessantly for women to prey upon. One day he follows two young girls into a church and is so aggressive with them that they become frightened and manage to push him into a confessional booth and to lock him in there. And then another woman (who turns out to be Madame de Champdelin) comes into the other side of the confessional box and reveals to what she thinks is the priest that she’s having a passionate affair with one of her husband’s friends. Ooh La La! a nice twist of karma.
May 11, 2025
Guy de Maupassant is not a writer, he's a painter he paints pictures with his words.
His short stories are like if a fairytale gets twisted mid way and becomes very dark and unsettling but still retains its manic charm and whimsical tone.
It's not a story it's an experience.
I have nothing to say about the plot it just left me starstruck.
His short stories are like if a fairytale gets twisted mid way and becomes very dark and unsettling but still retains its manic charm and whimsical tone.
It's not a story it's an experience.
I have nothing to say about the plot it just left me starstruck.
November 28, 2020
Une petite merveille
December 16, 2022
2.5 stars
February 3, 2023
c'était très intéressant.
December 18, 2023
«¿No es una desgracia ser sentimental hasta ese punto?»
March 6, 2024
What a cruelty.
May 15, 2024
Too sad story
April 12, 2025
Buenísimo último párrafo. Me encanta la pluma del autor.
February 28, 2016
Me gustó cómo está escrito, aunque no me quedó muy claro el final, o mejor dicho, el por qué de esa línea final.
September 27, 2014
Great!
Must read
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