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Mademoiselle Fifi
By Guy de Maupassant
Contents
Page
Preface . . . . . . . 7
Mademoiselle Fifi . . . . 11
Boule de Suif . . . . . 33
Preface
Guy de Maupassant
Guy de Maupassant was born at the Chateau de Miromesnil, nearDieppe, on August 5th, 1850. The Maupassants were an old Lorrainefamily who had settled in Normandy in the middle of the EighteenthCentury. His father had married in 1846 a young lady of the richbourgeoisie, Laure Le Poittevin. With her brother Alfred, she hadbeen the playmate of Gustave Flaubert, the son of a Rouen surgeon,who was destined to have a directing influence on her son's life.She was a woman of no common literary accomplishments, very fond ofthe Classics, especially Shakespeare. Separated from her husband,she kept her two sons, Guy and his younger brother Hervé.
Until he was thirteen years old Guy lived with his mother atEtretat, in the Villa des Verguies, where between the sea and theluxuriant country, he grew very fond of nature and out door sports;he went fishing with the fishermen of the coast and spoke patoiswith the peasants. He was deeply devoted to his mother. He firstentered the Seminary of Yvetot, but managed to have himself expelledon account of a peccadillo of precocious poetry. From his earlyreligious education he conserved a marked hostility to Religion.Then he was sent to the Rouen Lycée, where he proved a good scholarindulging in poetry and taking a prominent part in theatricals.The war of 1870 broke out soon after his graduation from College;he enlisted as a volunteer and fought gallantly. After the war, in1871, he left Normandy and came to Paris where he spent ten yearsas a clerk in the Navy Department. During these ten tedious yearshis only recreation was canoeing on the Seine on Sundays and holidays.Gustave Flaubert took him under his protection and acted as a kindof literary guardian to him, guiding his debut in journalism andliterature. At Flaubert's home he befriended the Russian novelistTourgueneff and Emilie Zola, as well as many of the protagonists ofthe realistic school. He wrote considerable verse and short plays.In 1878 he was transferred to the Ministry of Public Instructionand became a contributing editor to several leading newspaperssuch as Le Figaro, le Gil Blas, le Gaulois and l'Echo de Paris.He devoted his spare time to writing novels and short stories. In1880 he published his first masterpiece, "Boule de Suif", which metwith an instant and tremendous success. Flaubert characterized itas "a masterpiece that will remain."
The decade from 1880 to 1891 was the most fertile period ofMaupassant's life. Made famous by his first short story, he workedmethodically and produced two and sometimes four volumes annually.By a privilege of nature and his Norman origin, he combined talentand practical business sense, which brought him affluence and wealth.In 1881 he published his first volume of short stories under thetitle of "La Maison Tellier"; it reached its twelfth edition in twoyears; in 1883 he finished his first novel "Une Vie", twenty-fivethousand copies of which were sold in less than a year. Glory andFortune smiled on him. In his novels, he concentrated all hisobservations scattered in his short stories. His second novel"Bel Ami", which came out in 1885, had thirty-seven editions infour months. His editor, Havard, commissioned him to write newmasterpieces and, without