Рассказ входит в сборник «Заведение Телье». В центре рассказа типичная семье мелкого чиновника Морского министерства. Среди череды незначительных событий происходит главное - смерть матери, патриарха семейства. Оно повергает всех в шок.
Henri 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.