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Theodule Sabot's Confession
"Theodule Sabot's Confession" is a short story by Guy de Maupassant. Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a popular 19th-century French writer, considered one of the fathers of the modern short story and one of the form's finest exponents. A protégé of Flaubert, Maupassant's stories are characterized by their economy of style and efficient, effortless dénouements. Many of the stories are set during the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870s and several describe the futility of war and the innocent civilians who, caught in the conflict, emerge changed. He authored some 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books, and one volume of verse. His first published story "Boule de Suif" ("Ball of Fat", 1880) is often considered his masterpiece. He delighted in clever plotting, and served as a model for Somerset Maugham and O. Henry in this respect. His stories about expensive jewellery ("The Necklace", "La parure") are imitated with a twist by Maugham ("Mr Know-All", "A String of Beads") and Henry James ("Paste"). Taking his cue from Balzac, Maupassant wrote comfortably in both the high-Realist and fantastic modes; stories and novels such as "L'Héritage" and Bel-Ami aim to recreate Third Republic France in a realistic way, whereas many of the short stories (notably "Le Horla" and "Qui sait?") describe apparently supernatural phenomena. The supernatural in Maupassant, however, is often implicitly a symptom of the protagonists' troubled minds; Maupassant was fascinated by the burgeoning discipline of psychiatry, and attended the public lectures of Jean-Martin Charcot between 1885 and 1886. This interest is reflected in his fiction. Maupassant is notable as the subject of one of Leo Tolstoy's essays on The Works of Guy de Maupassant. Friedrich Nietzsche's autobiography mentions him in the following "I cannot at all conceive in which century of history one could haul together such inquisitive and at the same time delicate psychologists as one can in contemporary I can name as a sample – for their number is by no means small, ... or to pick out one of the stronger race, a genuine Latin to whom I am particularly attached, Guy de Maupassant."
- GenresShort Stories
26 pages, Paperback
Published September 8, 2014
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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 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 23, 2022
Guy de Maupassant’s “Theodule Sabot’s Confession” is a short story about greed coming before principal and conforming to satisfy this desire.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8510
When Sabot entered the inn at Martinville it was a signal for laughter. What a rogue he was, this Sabot! There was a man who did not like priests, for instance! Oh, no, oh, no! He did not spare them, the scamp. Sabot (Theodule), a master carpenter, represented liberal thought in Martinville.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8516
The priest, a stout man and also very tall, dreaded him on account
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8516
of his boastful talk which attracted followers. The Abbe Maritime was a politic man, and believed in being diplomatic. There had been a rivalry between them for ten years, a secret, intense, incessant rivalry. Sabot was municipal councillor, and they thought he would become mayor, which would inevitably mean the final overthrow of the church. The elections were about to take place. The church party was shaking in its shoes in Martinville. One morning the cure set out for Rouen, telling his servant that he
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8520
was going to see the archbishop. He returned in two days with a joyous, triumphant air. And everyone knew the following day that the chancel of the church was going to be renovated. A sum of six hundred francs had been contributed by the archbishop out of his private fund. All the old pine pews were to be removed, and replaced by new pews made of oak. It would be a big carpentering job, and they talked about it that very evening in all the houses in the village. Theodule Sabot was not laughing.
🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻spoiler alert 🔻🔻
Sabot looks to be in political office and destroy the church. He is a carpenter and when he finds out the cure has come back from seeing the archbishop, he is given money to hire a carpenter to build new pews but Sabot is not thought to be a good fit because of his beliefs. Sabot starting to see the wealth from this project, approaches the cure for him to do the work, but the cure requires religious requirements which the greedy Sabot agrees.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8524
When he went through the village the following morning, the neighbors, friends and enemies, all asked him, jokingly: “Are you going to do the work on the chancel of the church?” He could find nothing to say, but he was furious, he was good and angry.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8528
Two days later, they heard that the work of renovation had been entrusted to Celestin Chambrelan, the carpenter from Percheville. Then this was denied, and it was said that all the pews in the church were going to be changed. That would be well worth the two thousand francs that had been demanded of the church administration. Theodule Sabot could not sleep for thinking about it. Never, in all the memory of man, had a country carpenter undertaken a similar piece of work. Then a rumor spread abroad that the cure felt very grieved that he had to give this work
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8532
to a carpenter who was a stranger in the community, but that Sabot’s opinions were a barrier to his being entrusted with the job.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8555
“Is it you — you — you, Sabot — who have come to ask me for this . . . You — the only irreligious man in my parish! Why, it would be a scandal, a public scandal! The archbishop would give me a reprimand, perhaps
transfer me.” He stopped a few seconds, for breath, and then resumed in a calmer tone: “I can understand that it pains you to see a work of such
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8558
importance entrusted to a carpenter from a neighboring parish. But I cannot do otherwise, unless — but no — it is impossible — you would not consent, and unless you did, never.” Sabot now looked at the row of benches in line as far as the entrance door. Christopher, if they were going to change all those! And he asked: “What would you require of me? Tell me.” The priest, in a firm tone replied:
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8562
“I must have an extraordinary token of your good intentions.” “I do not say — I do not say; perhaps we might come to an understanding,” faltered Sabot. “You will have to take communion publicly at high mass next Sunday,” declared the cure. The carpenter felt he was growing pale, and without replying, he asked: “And the benches, are they going to be renovated?” The abbe replied with confidence: “Yes, but later on.”
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8581
“In — that box, over there in the corner? The fact is — is — that it does not suit me, your box.” “How is that?” “Seeing that — seeing that I am not accustomed to that, and also I am rather hard of hearing.” The cure was very affable and said: “Well, then! you shall come to my house and into my parlor. We will have it just the two of us, tete-a-tete. Does that suit you?” “Yes, that is all right, that will suit me, but your box, no.”
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8590
“I must go to confession this evening.” And his troubled mind, the mind of an atheist only half convinced, was bewildered with a confused and overwhelming dread of the divine mystery.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8616
“‘God’s name in vain thou shalt not take Nor swear by any other thing.’ “Did you ever swear?” “No-oh, that, no! I never swear, never. Sometimes, in a moment of anger, I may say sacre nom de Dieu! But then, I never swear.” “That is swearing,” cried the priest, and added seriously: “Do not do it again. “‘Thy Sundays thou shalt keep In serving God devoutly.’
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8621
“What do you do on Sunday?” This time Sabot scratched his ear. “Why, I serve God as best I can, m’sieu le cure. I serve him — at home. I work on Sunday.” The cure interrupted him, saying magnanimously: “I know, you will do better in future. I will pass over the following commandments, certain that you have not transgressed the two first. We will take from the sixth to the ninth. I will resume: “‘Others’ goods thou shalt not take
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8626
Nor keep what is not thine.’ “Have you ever taken in any way what belonged to another?” But Theodule Sabot became indignant. “Of course not, of course not! I am an honest man, m’sieu le cure, I swear it, for sure. To say that I have not sometimes charged for a few more hours of work to customers who had means, I could not say that. To say that I never add a few centimes to bills, only a few, I would not say that. But to steal, no! Oh, not that, no!”
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8641
They were silent a few seconds, then, in a lower tone, as though a doubt had arisen in his mind, he resumed: “When I go to town, to say that I never go into a house, you know, one of the licensed houses, just to laugh and talk and see something different, I could not say that. But I always pay, monsieur le cure, I always pay. From the moment you pay, without anyone seeing or
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8644
knowing you, no one can get you into trouble.” The cure did not insist, and gave him absolution. Theodule Sabot did the work on the chancel, and goes to communion every month.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8510
When Sabot entered the inn at Martinville it was a signal for laughter. What a rogue he was, this Sabot! There was a man who did not like priests, for instance! Oh, no, oh, no! He did not spare them, the scamp. Sabot (Theodule), a master carpenter, represented liberal thought in Martinville.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8516
The priest, a stout man and also very tall, dreaded him on account
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8516
of his boastful talk which attracted followers. The Abbe Maritime was a politic man, and believed in being diplomatic. There had been a rivalry between them for ten years, a secret, intense, incessant rivalry. Sabot was municipal councillor, and they thought he would become mayor, which would inevitably mean the final overthrow of the church. The elections were about to take place. The church party was shaking in its shoes in Martinville. One morning the cure set out for Rouen, telling his servant that he
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8520
was going to see the archbishop. He returned in two days with a joyous, triumphant air. And everyone knew the following day that the chancel of the church was going to be renovated. A sum of six hundred francs had been contributed by the archbishop out of his private fund. All the old pine pews were to be removed, and replaced by new pews made of oak. It would be a big carpentering job, and they talked about it that very evening in all the houses in the village. Theodule Sabot was not laughing.
🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻spoiler alert 🔻🔻
Sabot looks to be in political office and destroy the church. He is a carpenter and when he finds out the cure has come back from seeing the archbishop, he is given money to hire a carpenter to build new pews but Sabot is not thought to be a good fit because of his beliefs. Sabot starting to see the wealth from this project, approaches the cure for him to do the work, but the cure requires religious requirements which the greedy Sabot agrees.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8524
When he went through the village the following morning, the neighbors, friends and enemies, all asked him, jokingly: “Are you going to do the work on the chancel of the church?” He could find nothing to say, but he was furious, he was good and angry.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8528
Two days later, they heard that the work of renovation had been entrusted to Celestin Chambrelan, the carpenter from Percheville. Then this was denied, and it was said that all the pews in the church were going to be changed. That would be well worth the two thousand francs that had been demanded of the church administration. Theodule Sabot could not sleep for thinking about it. Never, in all the memory of man, had a country carpenter undertaken a similar piece of work. Then a rumor spread abroad that the cure felt very grieved that he had to give this work
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8532
to a carpenter who was a stranger in the community, but that Sabot’s opinions were a barrier to his being entrusted with the job.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8555
“Is it you — you — you, Sabot — who have come to ask me for this . . . You — the only irreligious man in my parish! Why, it would be a scandal, a public scandal! The archbishop would give me a reprimand, perhaps
transfer me.” He stopped a few seconds, for breath, and then resumed in a calmer tone: “I can understand that it pains you to see a work of such
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8558
importance entrusted to a carpenter from a neighboring parish. But I cannot do otherwise, unless — but no — it is impossible — you would not consent, and unless you did, never.” Sabot now looked at the row of benches in line as far as the entrance door. Christopher, if they were going to change all those! And he asked: “What would you require of me? Tell me.” The priest, in a firm tone replied:
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8562
“I must have an extraordinary token of your good intentions.” “I do not say — I do not say; perhaps we might come to an understanding,” faltered Sabot. “You will have to take communion publicly at high mass next Sunday,” declared the cure. The carpenter felt he was growing pale, and without replying, he asked: “And the benches, are they going to be renovated?” The abbe replied with confidence: “Yes, but later on.”
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8581
“In — that box, over there in the corner? The fact is — is — that it does not suit me, your box.” “How is that?” “Seeing that — seeing that I am not accustomed to that, and also I am rather hard of hearing.” The cure was very affable and said: “Well, then! you shall come to my house and into my parlor. We will have it just the two of us, tete-a-tete. Does that suit you?” “Yes, that is all right, that will suit me, but your box, no.”
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8590
“I must go to confession this evening.” And his troubled mind, the mind of an atheist only half convinced, was bewildered with a confused and overwhelming dread of the divine mystery.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8616
“‘God’s name in vain thou shalt not take Nor swear by any other thing.’ “Did you ever swear?” “No-oh, that, no! I never swear, never. Sometimes, in a moment of anger, I may say sacre nom de Dieu! But then, I never swear.” “That is swearing,” cried the priest, and added seriously: “Do not do it again. “‘Thy Sundays thou shalt keep In serving God devoutly.’
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8621
“What do you do on Sunday?” This time Sabot scratched his ear. “Why, I serve God as best I can, m’sieu le cure. I serve him — at home. I work on Sunday.” The cure interrupted him, saying magnanimously: “I know, you will do better in future. I will pass over the following commandments, certain that you have not transgressed the two first. We will take from the sixth to the ninth. I will resume: “‘Others’ goods thou shalt not take
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8626
Nor keep what is not thine.’ “Have you ever taken in any way what belonged to another?” But Theodule Sabot became indignant. “Of course not, of course not! I am an honest man, m’sieu le cure, I swear it, for sure. To say that I have not sometimes charged for a few more hours of work to customers who had means, I could not say that. To say that I never add a few centimes to bills, only a few, I would not say that. But to steal, no! Oh, not that, no!”
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8641
They were silent a few seconds, then, in a lower tone, as though a doubt had arisen in his mind, he resumed: “When I go to town, to say that I never go into a house, you know, one of the licensed houses, just to laugh and talk and see something different, I could not say that. But I always pay, monsieur le cure, I always pay. From the moment you pay, without anyone seeing or
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 8644
knowing you, no one can get you into trouble.” The cure did not insist, and gave him absolution. Theodule Sabot did the work on the chancel, and goes to communion every month.
August 18, 2024
3.25⭐
AKA: The Convert; Making a Convert
Théodule is an accomplished carpenter and famous in his village for his aggressive anti-clericalism. The municipal elections are approaching and the Church is worried that Théodule might get elected as mayor, which would be bad news indeed for the Church of Rome, and they come up with the idea of completely renovating the stalls and benches in the church, a lucrative and hard-to-resist contract for a carpenter, who however could obviously not be a declared enemy of the Church. So Théodule and the curé have to come to an agreement, somehow.
AKA: The Convert; Making a Convert
Théodule is an accomplished carpenter and famous in his village for his aggressive anti-clericalism. The municipal elections are approaching and the Church is worried that Théodule might get elected as mayor, which would be bad news indeed for the Church of Rome, and they come up with the idea of completely renovating the stalls and benches in the church, a lucrative and hard-to-resist contract for a carpenter, who however could obviously not be a declared enemy of the Church. So Théodule and the curé have to come to an agreement, somehow.
June 22, 2021
The same as A Father’s Confession. Project Gutenberg screwed-up.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews