One last tour through the short fiction of a country. This one was a bit more scattershot than the other two I read, but it still has some stories worth reading. From what I can tell, there are older works here, though the dates of authorship aren't given. Things seem fairly evenly split between war stories, humorous stories, tragic stories, and a few shockers.
"A Piece of Bread", by Francois Coppee - Somewhat cheesy war story explaining why a rich man never leaves bread on the ground.
"The Elixir of Life", by Honore de Balzac - Bizarre supernatural tale about the life and death of Don Juan.
"The Age for Love", by Paul Bourget - Decent vignette about a reporter getting an interview on false pretences with a famous author.
"Mateo Falcone", by Prosper Merimee - A rustic father exacts harsh punishment on his pre-teen son.
"The Mirror", by Catulle Mendes - Fable-like story about a kingdom with an ugly queen who forbids all mirrors.
"My Nephew Joseph", by Ludovic Halevy - Another reporter story, this more humorous. A young man's attempt to hide his profession from his family leads to a courtroom mixup.
"A Forest Betrothal", by Erckmann-Chatrian - Poignant little number about an old man who falls hopelessly in love with a young woman.
"Zadig the Babylonian", by Voltaire - The ideal secular humanist and man of reason tries to navigate the vicissitudes of fate and the traps laid by jealous enemies - sort of the flip side to Candide.
"Abandoned", by Guy de Maupassant - An older couple pays a clandestine visit to their grown illegitimate child to see how he has turned out.
"The Guilty Secret", by Paul de Kock - A new husband tries to please his wife but finds he must hide something from her...
"Jean Monette", by Eugene Francois Vidocq - Ho-hum tale of an attempted burglary in the poorer quarters of Paris.
"Solange: Dr. Ledru's Story of the Reign of Terror", by Alexandre Dumas - Romance, intrigue, and a macabre twist flavor this enjoyable yarn.
"The Birds in the Letter-box", by Rene Bazin - Humorous anecdote about an aging priest and the baby birds he cares for, to the detriment of his correspondence.
"Jean Gourdon's Four Days", by Emile Zola - Beautiful, poetic, and devastating portrait of the life of a simple French peasant. Zola, I clearly must read more of you.
"Baron de Trenck", by Clemence Robert - A bunch of happenings packed into a short story to no purpose, about an historical figure's idealized adventures.
"The Passage of the Red Sea", by Henry Murger - A wanna-be painter tries again and again to get his self-styled masteripiece accepted by the museum.
"The Woman and the Cat", by Marcel Prevost - Weird but predictable gothic tale about a shapeshifter.
"Gil Blas and Dr. Sangrado", by Alain Rene Le Sage - Except from the classic picaresque novel Gil Blas which sees the title character apprentice himself to a quack doctor.
"A Fight with a Cannon", by Victor Hugo - Excerpt from the novel Ninety-Three about the devastating effects of a loose cannon at sea.
"Tonton", by A. Cheneviere - A French soldier in Africa takes in a Touareg orphan.
"The Last Lesson", by Alphonse Daudet - As good the second time as it was the first time.
"Croisilles", by Alfred de Musset - Amusing but forgettable story about the impetuous dreams of a young bankrupt and his unlikely success with the daughter of the richest man in town.
"The Vase of Clay", by Jean Aicard - Simple, moving prose poem about art for art's sake.
Arbitrary rating: 3 out of 5 poignant little numbers
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