Les malheurs de Sophie

Fleurville #1

by Comtesse de Ségur, Pénélope Bagieu (Illustrator)

Remplacer du sucre par de la craie, couper ses sourcils ou laisser fondre sa poupée... Pour faire des sottises, Sophie est douée d'une grande imagination ! Si elle prenait exemple sur son gentil cousin Paul ou sur ses amies Camille et Madeleine, elle serait sans doute moins souvent punie. Mais la pauvre Sophie a bien des malheurs. Deviendra-t-elle un jour une enfant modèle ?

Genres: Classics, France, Childrens, Fiction, French Literature, Novels, Middle Grade

192 pages, Pocket Book

First published January 1, 1857

About the author

Sophie, Countess of Ségur (née Countess Софья Фёдоровна Ростопчина; Saint Petersburg, 1 August 1799 - Paris, 9 February 1874) was a French writer of Russian birth.

She is best known today for her novel Les Malheurs de Sophie ("Sophie's Misfortunes"). The action takes place in a castle in the French countryside during the Second French Empire, where Sophie lives with her parents Mr and Mrs de Réan. Curious and adventurous, she does one silly thing after another, with the critical help of her cousin Paul, who is good and tries to show her the right path. She has two friends, Camille and Madeleine de Fleurville, 'good little girls' whom she tries hard to imitate. But she will learn that life is not a bed of roses ... Therese Martin (1873-1897), known as St. Therese of Lisieux, was an avid reader as a child of the novels of the Countess of Segur.

The novels of the Countess of Ségur were published from 1857 to 1872 in the "Bibliothèque rose illustrée" by the publishing house Hachette. They were collected together in 1990 under the title Œuvres de la comtesse de Ségur in the collection "Bouquins" (publisher: Robert Laffont).

Un bon petit diable
Les Malheurs de Sophie
Diloy le chemineau
Mémoires d'un âne
Jean qui grogne et Jean qui rit
Le Mauvais Génie
François le bossu
Les Caprices de Gizelle
Pauvre Blaise
La Fortune de Gaspard
Quel amour d'enfant !
Les Petites Filles modèles
La sœur de Gribouille
Blondine
Après la pluie, le beau temps

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Les malheurs de Sophie will forever have a special place in my heart, because it was the book which started it all. My love of reading, my desire to collect books and build my own library, my obsession with the 19th century, my preference for all things historical...this is an important book.

I received it for my 10th birthday, and it was the very first novel I ever owned. At that age, I was already a certified book-lover and I loved reading short novels and comics. I was the kid who got giddy when the teacher told us to read quietly in class, and "library class" was the best thing ever (that period once a week where you got to go to the library and check out a few books during school time). So, I was extremely happy when I received my first novel, and I remember diving into it immediately and devouring it in a few days. I was completely hooked and wanted more of la Comtesse de Ségur's books. Over the years I've read all of them, and still own most of them. It became a tradition to receive one or two of her works for my birthday or Christmas.

Set in 19th century France, Les Malheurs de Sophie is a wonderful collection of a mischievously delightful little girl's antics. At four years old, Sophie is vain, proud, lazy, and disobedient. She gets angry easily, she hits people, she lies, and best of all, she has the most active imagination ever and always, always gets horrendous ideas that put her and her cousin Paul into serious trouble. In other words, Sophie is a perfectly normal four-year-old. She wants to be thought pretty, loves to push her maman to her limits to see how far she can get away with her "ideas", doesn't think twice before acting, hits her cousin whenever he teases her and, like all the other four-year-olds who ever drew breath, lies to try to get out of punishments. Completely normal things.

True, Sophie is nonetheless a pest and always ends up causing trouble, but she is so adorable anyways that you can't help but love her and find her irresistibly cute. At least, my 20 year-old self thinks so, but I'm pretty sure 10 year-old me saw her as only a little troublemaker who came to her just desserts after each of her follies (minus the whipping of course...*shudders*...thanks goodness such practices are out of style now!).

The setting was an instant hit with me nonetheless; I LOVED that it was set in castle in France in the 19th century, and although I knew nothing of the time period and didn't know at first what a "bonne" was, or why Sophie always had to appear in the "salon" before going in to dinner, I quickly picked it up and started to develop my knowledge of how things worked back then. But now that I've read a bit more about that era, a few things struck me as odd upon this re-read.

*Although Sophie has a bonne (a nursemaid), there is never mention of a nursery. She is free to bounce in her mother's room, she eats with the grown-ups, meets the guests, overall does a great many things with her mother and is often without surveillance. Either the French had a different way of doing things, or the Comtesse wrote it like that to better illustrate certain points. Or maybe something else that eludes me.

*The language. Sophie is three years old at the start of the story, and four by the end, and she talks like this: "Quel mal veux-tu que j'ai fait? Tu n'as qu'à regarder; tu ne trouveras rien de mal. Je ne sais pas pourquoi tu dis que j'ai fait quelque chose de mal; tu as toujours des idées ridicules." which translates into "What wrongdoing would you think I have done? You have only to look; you shall find nothing wrong. I do not know why you say I have done something wrong; you always have ridiculous ideas." Her cousin Paul, who is only five, replies with "Comme tu te fâches! C'est une plaisanterie que j'ai faite. Je t'assure que je ne crois à aucune mauvaise action de ta part, et tu n'as pas besoin de me regarder d'un air si farouche.", which means "How you get angry! It was a jest I made. I assure you that I do not believe in any wrongdoing on your part, and you do not need to look at me with such a wild air." -- Now, either we have become unbelievably dimwitted now in the 21st century, and correct me if I'm wrong, but little kids do not talk like that. Three-year-olds are usually barely intelligible, and five-year-olds may talk well, but not eloquently.

*The amount of chores done by the masters of the house; M. et Mme de Réan are clearly affluent people who live in a castle full of servants, yet Mme de Réan often takes on duties that you would think would be left to the servants, like feeding the horses. It gave her a somewhat modern portrayal, coupled with her telling Sophie that it was okay not wear a hat and gloves outside, and letting her roam about the gardens like a wildcat, and bringing her on long walks with her.

*Moreover Mme de Réan also comes in the light of the authority of the house rather than her husband, who is barely present in the story. Although it makes sense that she be the one in charge of Sophie's education (she is probably too young for a governess yet) for now, it hinted at a certain modernism that clashed a little with the time period. Unless of course, I have it all wrong and the story takes place in the 1930's ;)

*Wait, but M. de Réan does do something...he gives Sophie a pocket-knife. Don't even ask me why...Needless to say they all regretted it soon enough.

I'm pretty sure that la Comtesse de Ségur meant all her books to be fun stories with strong morals, to encourage children to behave well and to demonstrate that filial obedience is/should be justly rewarded. I saw that when I was 10, and over the years as I re-read it, and I see it especially now, as I read it aloud to my youngest brother over the last week, in the hopes that he would be discouraged in further imitations of Sophie, whom he has unknowingly used as a role model any time these last 8 years. I tell you, he is the male version of little Sophie. So now that he's old enough, I've decided he could do with a good dose of la Comtesse de Ségur, but so far all it has served to do was to make him laugh out loud and decide he'd love to have many pets like Sophie did. *sigh*

Will have to keep trying by reading Les petites filles modèles next, which is the sequel to this one and which tells the story of GOOD little girls. Maybe that will have more of the desired effect ;)

Nevertheless I was so glad to do another re-read of this wonderful little book. It's priceless and just so fun!

*This one is also available in English, under the title Sophie's Misfortunes. Book 1 of the Fleurville trilogy (I believe all three books have been translated in English).

**There is even a TV series for kids that was made after this book -- I saw a few episodes some years ago and they were just like the book - delightful and so amusing.

[Dann · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was so cool to revisit these children’s stories that I spent most of my childhood reading over and over.

While this short collection about Sophie’s silly adventures is not exactly the best thing I’ve ever read, 6-year-old me did think they were the best ever.

Maybe I would never have become the bookworm that I am if I had never come across this book.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I realise this book was written in another era, all the same, I found the mistreatment of Sophie's poor, short lived pets rather alarming and by the end of it, was quite angered at her stupid mother for allowing her young daughter to have yet another pet, which again suffered a horrible death, though the girl was given absolutley no instructions what-so-ever to care for them.

[Kirsti · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a French classic, but it kind of made me a little sick. In the course of 214 pages, Sophie kills or witnesses get killed a bowl of fish, a bee, a squirrel, a cat, a bullfinch, a donkey and a tortoise. Every time an animal was introduced I knew it would be dead in a few pages. One or two I can understand, but this macabre procession of dead animals would have terrified me as a child. There is nothing good in Sophie, she's like the spawn of the devil. She constantly lies, fights, disobeys and kills. I kind of wish I hadn't bought this one, it was far too cracked!

[إلهام مزيود · Rating 4 out of 5]

quelle fille cette Sophie !!
Elle me fait rire beaucoup :D

[Anastasia Wixson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Can we get an F for all of the pets that Sophie murdered?

[Jesús De la Jara · Rating 3 out of 5]

"LAS DESVENTURAS DE SOFÍA" de la Condesa de Ségur

"Las desventuras de Sofía" o "Las desgracias de Sofía" como quiera llamarse es el primer libro de la Serie de Fleurville que escribió Sofía Rostopchina, rusa de nacimiento que contrajo matrimonio con el conde de Ségur, francés, por el cual la conocemos más por ese nombre.
Ella es una autora muy famosa y todo un clásico hasta la actualidad en Francia que se dedicó a escribir libros para niños pero que realmente causa impresión más que los mensajes la manera de llevarlos a ellos.
Las acciones están ambientadas en la provincia francesa del Segundo Imperio Francés (Napoleón III) y los personajes principales son Sofía, su amigo - primo Paul, la Sra. Réan, la Sra. D'Aubert, madres respectivamente de los niños. Y las amigas de ambos Camila y Magdalena.
El relato es simple obviamente, muy entendible, llevadero, lleno de diálogos en los cuales se coloca por veces los nombres de los personajes (tipo teatro) y aunque el narrador está en tercera persona está bastante interiorizado los pensamientos de Sofía. Se nos cuenta todo lo que Sofía piensa y por qué hace las cosas (con sus innumerables errores de análisis de las situaciones que pasa).
Lo que da extrañeza es la cantidad de errores, "humillaciones", chascos que pasa la pobre Sofía siempre por su propio desatino, por hacer sus travesuras. Y es que el libro creo sería medio deprimente para cualquier niño que desee hacer cosas que su mamá no le diga. Tiene desde luego una intención moralista acorde a su época pero que seguro actualmente no gustaría pero que de todas maneras forma parte de la cultura de Francia.
En general creo más divierte que otra cosa y también es interesante la manera cómo la condesa de Ségur hace el relato bastante limpio pero a la vez introspectivo permitiendo saber todas las travesuras de Sofía desde muy dentro. De hecho que seguiré algún día con los demás libros.

[Dimah Kabbani · Rating 5 out of 5]

شاهدت في طفولتي فيلماً كرتونيّاً يحمل اسم صوفي، فتتني كطفلة ، فتنتني ذاك الرّسم الرائع المتقن الخلّاب تلك القصور الباريسية المميّزة و الأثواب المزركشة الجميلة التي استهوتني كطفلة و داعبت مخيّلتي الفتية .. ثمّ وجدت مرّة في إحدى دور النشر كتاباً للأطفال يحمل ذات الاسم فلم أقاوم رغبتي في اقتنائه و قراءته بشغف رغم أنه معدٌ أصلاً للأطفال ..
لربما حبي لهذا الكتاب مرتبط بطفولتي و بأيامٍ جميلة ،لكنني و على التأكيد لن أتردد في جعل أطفالي يقرؤونه في يوم من الأيام..:)

[سُلَيمى💕 · Rating 4 out of 5]

من ذكريات الاعدادي
حقاااااا روووعةةة

[Paula Koneazny · Rating 3 out of 5]

My edition of this rather delightful book is dated 1892 and was once owned by an Aileen Frank at Miss Burke's School. Given to me by a friend back in 1971 or 1972, and carried from house to house until its more-than-a-century-old binding is in tatters, I finally got around to reading Les Malheurs de Sophie.

Les Malheurs de Sophie is a 19th century French children's book, not a novel but rather a series of episodes intended to instruct. These are moral lessons, though much more amusing and less didactically dull than most. Sophie is a privileged girl and oh so naughty. She repeatedly disobeys her mother Mme de Rean. (As Sophie says, "It's so boring to obey!") After each of her many mishaps, she is contrite and promises to never again cause an accident or unfortunate event by indulging in one of "her ideas." Paul is Sophie's cousin, best friend, and often reluctant collaborator. He is as obedient and "good" as Sophie is disobedient and "bad." He often tries to save her from her own folly and, thus, spare her the scolding and punishment that is certain to be her due. Many of Sophie's misdeeds involve unwitting cruelty to animals, particularly a pet turtle and a much-prized donkey. It is easy to lose sight of the fact that Sophie is only 4 years old and Paul 6 since they enjoy a freedom of movement and range of activity(even though closely minded by maids and mothers)that would be foreign to most contemporary American four-year-olds.

[Laila Al-Sharnaqi · Rating 4 out of 5]

يا لصوفي المشاكسة. يا لصوفي المرحة، وَيَا لصوفي الطفلة اللذيذة.
تُصَوّر لنا الكاتبة في "آلام صوفي" الهيئة التي يرى فيها الطفل العالم من حوله، والتي نُترجمها نحن البالغون بصورة سيئة بقولها: إنه طفل؛ ولكم أن نظرة الأطفال للعالم ضيقة. بيّد أن ذلك غير صحيح، فالنظر نحو العالم من وجهة نظر الأطفال أوسع بكثير من نظرة البالغين للعالم. غير أنّا نحن البالغون يُصعبُ علينا أن نُدرك ذلك.

أحببتُ بل واستمتعتُ القراءة في هذا الكتاب، ولسوف أقتنيهِ لأطفالي يومًا ما ليحظوا بدورهم على السعادة البالغة التي شعرتُ بها حالما أتممّتُ قراءته.

[denudatio_pulpae]

Bardzo pomysłowa Zosia.

Na wychowaniu dzieci nie znam się wcale, więc może za dużo komentować nie będę, ale posiadanie takiego dziecka jak Zosia, to prawdziwe wyzwanie (delikatnie mówiąc). Tak przy okazji trochę się zastanawiam, kto o zdrowych zmysłach pozwala tak psotnej dziewczynce jeździć samej na ośle? Albo nie zwraca na nią uwagi podczas spaceru w lesie pełnym krwiożerczych wilków? Zosia bywała niemożliwa, ale jej matka momentami zachowywała się jak niepoczytalna.

Jak widać nie jestem zachwycona lekturą "Zosi w tarapatach". Na szczęście nie była zbyt długa, więc tragedii nie ma. Książka jest bardzo ładnie wydana, ilustracje też cieszą oko. Tylko tematyka zupełnie nie dla mnie.

[Ingrid Fasquelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

La petite Sophie ne manque pas d'idées pour occuper ses journées : elle coupe et sale les poissons adorés de sa maman avec le nouveau couteau que lui a offert son papa, laisse fondre sa belle poupée de cire au soleil avant de l'enterrer dignement, plonge ses pieds dans la chaux vive, se coupe les sourcils pour qu'ils repoussent plus épais, se mouille les cheveux à l'eau de pluie pour les faire friser et bien plus encore !

Curieuse et aventureuse, Sophie n'en fait qu'à sa tête ! Aidée de la complicité critique de son cousin Paul qui tente, sans beaucoup de succès, de la remettre dans le droit chemin, Sophie commet bêtise sur bêtise pour le plus grand bonheur des jeunes lecteurs !

Ce n'est pas que Sophie soit méchante, mais c'est une enfant vive et un peu difficile, gourmande, entêtée, tête en l'air... qui pâtit de ses propres bêtises car la vie est ainsi faite que les enfants désobéissants finissent toujours par être punis !

Tandis que pleuvent les déconvenues et les châtiments, des générations d’enfants continueront à se régaler de ces leçons édifiantes et pleines de bon sens, que la Comtesse de Ségur avait écrites en son temps pour ses propres petits-enfants.

«Voici des histoires vraies d'une petite fille que grand'mère a beaucoup connue dans son enfance; elle était colère, elle est devenue douce; elle était gourmande, elle est devenue sobre; elle était menteuse, elle est devenue sincère; elle était voleuse, elle est devenue honnête; enfin, elle était méchante, elle est devenue bonne. Grand'mère a tâché de faire de même.»

Même si les mœurs en matière d'éducation ont bien changé depuis le Second Empire (les plus jeunes lecteurs s'étonneront par exemple que Sophie reçoive le fouet pour les bêtises qu'elle commet ou qu'elle vouvoie ses parents ainsi que ses oncle et tante), Les malheurs de Sophie reste une fable intemporelle sur l'apprentissage de la vie qui se savoure à tout âge, comme une friandise ! À partir de 10 ans.

[Francie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Les malheurs de Sophie were quite charming and I enjoyed the little more or less connected episodes. Sophie's (mis)adventure were rather hilarious though probably not quite suitable for delicate little children, from wearing a chain made of bugs to burying a doll and accidentally killing a bunch of pets over the course of the book, I sometimes couldn't help staring in mild disbelief.

Due to my poor French I struggled with the original version and ended up alternating between the French original and an absolutely horrible English translation (which would be an insult even to Google Translator) on my Kindle. I enjoyed the story nevertheless so I'm sure the original is delightful if you are capable of reading fluently in French.

[Dactylaura · Rating 1 out of 5]

ce livre est horrible??? j’ai peur en voyant certains retours, j’ai l’impression de pas avoir lu la même chose que les autres! 1/ laissez les animaux tranquilles et surtout loin de Sophie!!!, 2/ c’est tellement moralisateur au secours, 3/ aucune crédibilité sur l’âge de la gosse, impossible d’être comme ça à quatre ans je😭 bref heureusement Paul existe dans cet univers macabre et il a ensoleillé certains chapitres 💗 quelques unes des bêtises étaient drôles mais la plupart m’ont juste mise super mal à l’aise 😬 j’suis vraiment complètement passée à côté du truc et j’ai du mal à imaginer qu’un enfant puisse lire ça sans être traumatisé — à bon entendeur.

[Aysha · Rating 5 out of 5]

شيق للغاية ، آلام صوفي ، تقترف صوفي الأخطاء الفادحة بسبب تهورها وطبيعتها العنيدة فتتألم وتندم ندما شديدا وتقسم على نفسها ألا تعيد الكرة مجددا ، أضحكتني كثيرا أحيانا واحيانا أخرى أصابتني بالذهول من فظاعة شغبها ، ولكن الطفلة تبقى بريئة مضحكة مهما كانت أفعالها متهورة ولا تغتفر ، واضح الرقي في التعامل مع الطفلة من قبل الأم "السيدة دو ريان " يفصح الأسلوب المتحضر في التربية عن كاتب الرواية الذي صنع تلك الشخصية وسيّر سلوكها " الكونتسية دو سيغور " أحببت السرد والأسلوب في التعامل ومعالجة الأخطاء ، إنه أدب للناشئة ولكنه كما قال غيري تستفيد منه كل المراحل العمرية

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

am in the process of rereading this childhood book from "la bibliotheque rose"....interessant....
dubious. its not the old fashion that bothers me as much as the obvious impossibilities for a 4 yr old. Either that or kids were a lot more mature in those days-which i kinda doubt

[نور | NOUR · Rating 5 out of 5]

J’ai absolument adoré me replonger dans mon enfance à travers les aventures de Sophie.

C'est un classique qui mérite d'être lu et qui se lit très vite. ❤️❤️

[Sarah Boude · Rating 1 out of 5]

Je voulais vraiment l'aimer, ce livre. Mais non. Je suis convaincue que Sophie est une enfant des enfers venue sur terre pour causer la destruction du monde animal.

[Sophie Isabelle Gaumond · Rating 5 out of 5]

«Sophie était étourdie ; elle faisait souvent sans
y penser de mauvaises choses.» Shoutout à ma mère qui m'a introduit à ce livre quand j'étais petite car elle trouvait que c'était assez représentatif de ma vie et des mes fausses bonnes idées ☺️
Par ex: je n'ai pas laissé de poupée au soleil pour une dose de vitamine D, mais j'ai pris un fer à repasser pour lisser les cheveux d'une Barbie et j'ai fait fondre le tapis en même temps (désastre que j'ai caché sous une table parce que pas conne la fille, mais ils ont découvert le tout le lendemain parce que pourquoi y'a une table random pas centrée dans le salon, alors un peu conne quand même)
L'histoire de l'empoisonnement d'amis au thé de bouette et crème de craie reste ma préf par contre, rien comme un peu d'empoisonnement alimentaire pour se rapprocher de ses potes ♥️

[Leandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Desconhecia totalmente esta maravilha!
Este livro, cheio de histórias deliciosas, conta episódios da vida de Sofia, uma menina de 4 anos, mas que parece bem mais crescida!
É claro que o livro tem de ser lido no contexto temporal em que foi escrito. Só assim faz sentido que a criada dê a Sofia água com umas gotinhas de vinho e açúcar e que o pai da menina lhe ofereça uma faquinha! 😁
Adorei as aventuras e tropelias que Sofia e o seu primo Paulo vivem.
Há uma certa insensibilidade na descrição de algumas situações, por exemplo, aquando da morte do gato Beau-Minon.
Os valores da amizade, solidariedade, honestidade, entre outros, que se estão a perder nos dias de hoje, estão bem presentes em todas as histórias aqui narradas.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's giving psychotic toddler Pippi Longstocking

[augustine · Rating 5 out of 5]

le livre de mon enfance, je l’ai lue beaucoup de fois et c’est toujours aussi bien

[وردٌ · Rating 4 out of 5]

صوفي ذات الأربعة أعوام هي كابوس كل أم، فهي طفلة مشاغبة عنيدة نهمة، ولذهنها قدرة عجيبة على اختراع الحماقات.


تعرفت إلى رواية الكونتس دو سيغور أول مرة كجزء من دروس الفرنسية، وشاهدتها من ثم كرسوم متحركة بالعربية وبالفرنسية. ورغم مضي السنين، جعلتني قراءتها أسترجع كل الذكريات الجميلة التي اختزنتها عن صوفي ومتاعبها التي لا تنتهي والعالم الجميل الذي تدور فيه حكاياتها.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an exceptional book about a naughty little girl living in france in the 1400's. It is the first book in the trilogy and it is written very well. Sophie gets into all amounts of trouble. It is suitable for ages 5-100 and it is very nice to read at night and hard to put down! I hope you enjoy it!

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was the very first book that got me into reading all those years ago back when i was very young , and I've loved it ever since. It has been translated into English it's called "Sophie's Misfortunes" definitely check other out (: I can't wait to re-read it and continue on with the trilogy x

[Hélène · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sophie...la tannante!
Elle me faisait peur avec ses bêtises.J'aurais voulu lui dire: Arrête et sois sage...(comme moi)
et en même temps je ne pouvais arrêter de lire ses épouvantables (à mes yeux) bêtises.
Je pourrais dire que Sophie, c'est mon premier Stephen King.

[Mabbcha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Livre que je lisais et relisais enfant ... avec du recul, je retrouve le bonheur de retrouver Sophie ... mais certains propos me choquent quelque peu ... comme le fait de battre quelqu'un le rendra meilleur ... hum !!!

[Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

So French and perhaps a little old-fashioned, but refreshingly so. Sophie is always getting up to mischief, and it's delightful reading about it!

[Lynn Plourde · Rating 4 out of 5]

My love of reading came from these books!